Subconscious (Un)Attachment to a Sponsor: An Irrational Effect of Facility Naming Rights.

As global sponsorship spending increases, so too do efforts to gauge effects of sponsorship. However, much of the sponsorship literature to date has emphasized the influence of sponsorship from a business perspective, thus neglecting to address the social and psychological influence of sponsorship on the consumer. Reasoning that such deep levels of consumer inquiry cannot be accomplished through (post)positivist inquiry, I pursue an interpretive ethnographic mode of inquiry, using Syracuse University fandom as a case study. In doing so, I engage in reflexive autobiography as a method of critical inquiry to interrogate my own (personal, professional, and academic) experience with sponsorship (specifically, facility naming rights) as a Syracuse fan. Through this introspection, I discover my perception of and connection to the sponsor are inherently complex, as I possess a subconscious yet meaningful attachment to the sponsor that contributes to my overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]