Social media based sponsorship activation – a typology of
content

Chadwick, SM; Donlan, L; Anagnostopoulos, C

Abstract

This paper thematically categorises sports sponsorship-linked Twitter content and,
by drawing on uses & gratifications (U&G) theory, maps the extent to which these categories
cohere with known user motivations for consuming social media.
Methodology: Qualitative content analysis of a sample of 1502 Tweets by London 2012
Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsors posted between January 2011 and September 2012
was used to develop the typology of sponsorship-linked Twitter content.
Findings: From the data, a typology is developed, comprising 17 categories grouped under
four main types: informing, entertaining, rewarding and interacting. The majority of sponsor
Tweets (68%) fell into the informing type, with 17% categorised as interacting. While few
(2%) Tweets were categorised as entertaining, the link to the sponsored event implies a
degree of entertaining content even in ostensibly informative, rewarding or interactional
sponsorship-linked Tweets. Therefore, the typology categories highlight Twitter content
produced by sponsors which engages customers, fostering dialogue alongside providing
informative and entertaining content.
Originality: The typology extends existing understanding of the use of social media within
sponsorship activation campaigns by thematically categorising content and mapping this
against known user motivations for consuming brand-related social media content.
Practical implications: The typology can inform practitioners’ future sports sponsorship
activation planning decisions and can also aid rights holders in tailoring appropriate
sponsorship opportunities to potential sponsors, based on an appreciation of the nature of
content sought by brand followers.

Citation

content. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 7(3), 293-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-04-2016-0016

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 19, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 10, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 19, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 26, 2017
• Journal: Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal
• Publisher: Emerald
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 293-314
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-04-2016-0016
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SBM-04-2016-0016
• Related Public URLs: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journal/sbm