Independent Research Study Presentation

1. Is It Just About The Product? The association between exposure to NASCAR and purchasing habits of fans Brad Holloman Dr. Anne Marx Department of Leisure and Sport Management Elon University, Elon, NC

2. Overview Introduction Guiding Theory Purpose and Hypotheses Literature Review Methodology Results Discussion

3. Introduction Emerged as fastest growing spectator sport in the United States (Levin, Joiner & Cameron, 2001) Increase in fan diversity (Howard, 2001) Identified as the most loyal fans of any entertainment entity (Mahar, Paul & Stone, 2005) Loyalty to the sport and its competitors

4. Corporate Involvement Most commercialized sport in the United States (Pruitt, Cornwell & Clark, 2004) Corporations invest more than $1 billion annually into the sport (Amato, Peters & Shao, 2005) Driving force behind NASCAR

5. Guiding Theory: Social Identity Theory Individuals’ definition of their identity (Dalakis & Levin, 2005) Identify with groups they like Social Categorization process Sense of belonging to the group (Stets & Burke, 2000) Common social identification Members of the same category Reference to their groups as “us” and “them” Company becomes part of the group through their partnership Fans of NASCAR are fans of the sponsors

6. Guiding Theory: Identity Salience Hierarchy of salience (Shamir, 1992) The more a fan identifies their own self as part of the group the more they support the group Fans look for ways to act in agreement with the identity of the group The more connected a NASCAR fan is the more likely they are to purchase sponsors’ products

7. Purpose To examine the relationship between exposure to NASCAR and fans’ conscious purchasing habits of products that: Sponsor NASCAR Sponsor their favorite driver

8. Hypotheses H1: The more races a person attended during the 2007 season the more often a person will purchase products that sponsor NASCAR H2: The more races a person watched on television during the 2007 season, the more often a person will purchase products that sponsor NASCAR H3: The more races a person listened to on the radio during the 2007 season, the more often a person will purchase products that sponsor NASCAR

9. Hypotheses H4: The more races a person attended during the 2007 season the more often a person will purchase products that sponsor their favorite driver H5: The more races a person watched on television during the 2007 season, the more often a person will purchase products that sponsor their favorite driver H6: The more races a person listened to on the radio during the 2007 season, the more often a person will purchase products that sponsor their favorite driver

10. Evaluating Marketing Strategies Sponsors evaluating NASCAR partnerships Roush Fenway Racing new deal with Ford Motor Company Eastman Kodak ending its sponsorship in NASCAR US Navy ending its sponsorship of JR Motorsports Different marketing opportunities in NASCAR On-Site activation; television spots; radio spots Competing national companies are involved Partnerships with other sports Do not show as great of a return (Mahar, Paul & Stone, 2004) NASCAR venues draw larger crowds

11. Targeting New Audiences Emergence as the fastest growing spectator sport in the United States (Levin, Joiner & Cameron, 2001) Steady increases of new fans Females (Weissman, 1999) Minority races (Howard, 2001) Homosexual fans (Amato, Peters & Shao, 2005) Fans with higher incomes (Dunnavant, 2001) Companies such as Rolex and Centurion Boats target individuals with higher income levels

12. Fan Loyalty NASCAR fans identified as the most loyal of any sport (Spann, 2003) Demonstrate loyalty to their favorite driver or team when the team isn’t successful Loyalties affect purchasing habits of sponsors’ products Positive emotions when a fan’s team is successful (Dalakas & Levin, 2005)

13. Methods Data were obtained from 128 attendees of the 2 NASCAR events in the Southeastern United States 83 men and 53 women were selected at random from infield campgrounds and speedway parking lots Sample isn’t representative of entire population

14. Instrumentation 4 sections of Questionnaire Exposure to NASCAR through attendance, television, and radio broadcast Fans’ favorite driver Fans’ conscious purchasing habits of sponsor products Demographics Data were analyzed using Statistical Analysis Software Spearman’s correlation was used to examine hypotheses

15. Results: Descriptive More than 70% of respondents attended 1 or 2 NASCAR events during the period Over 60 % of respondents watched NASCAR events on television more than 14 times during the period Over 60 % of respondents indicated they listened to NASCAR on the radio more than 14 times during the period

16. Results: Descriptive More than 71% of respondents indicated they sometimes or almost always consciously purchased products that sponsor NASCAR Nearly 70% of respondents indicated they consciously purchased products that sponsored their favorite driver. Percents, Means, and Standard Deviation for Purchasing Products Sponsoring NASCAR and Purchasing Products Sponsoring Favorite Driver * Means were calculated such that 1=“never”, 2=“almost never”, 3=“sometimes”, 4=“almost always” and 5=“always”.

17. Results: Inferential *significant at the <.05 level **significant at the <.0001 level

18. Discussion Value of advertising during NASCAR events Weaker correlations than expected Fan segments and media planning

19. Future Research Focus study female fans, fans with higher incomes and education levels purchasing habits Fan behaviors at tracks in larger markets including Las Vegas, California and New England Continue to examine fans of NASCAR and other sports

20. Works Cited Amato, C. H, Peters, C. O., & Shao, A. T. (2005). An exploratory investigation into NASCAR fan culture. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 14. Dalakas, V., & Levin, A. (2005). The balance theory domino: How sponsorships may elicit negative consumer attitudes. Advances in Consumer Research, 32. Dunnavant, K. (2001). Middle America at 170 mph. Mediaweek, 11. Howard , T. (2001). NASCAR hopes to driver up diversity in fan base. USA Today. Levin, A. M., Joiner, C., & Cameron, G. (2001). The impact of sports: Sponsorship on consumer's brand attitudes and recall: The case of NASCAR fans. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 23. Mahar, J., Paul, R., & Stone, L. (2005). An examination of stock market response to NASCAR race performance. Marketing Management Journal, 15. Pruitt, S. W., Cornwell, T. B., & Clark, J. M. (2004). The NASCAR phenomenon: Auto racing sponsorships and shareholder wealth. Journal of Advertising Research, 44. Shamir, B. (1992). Some correlates of leisure identity salience: Three exploratory studies. Journal of Leisure Research, 24. Spann, M. G. (2003). NASCAR racing fans: Cranking up an emperical approach. Journal of Popular Culture. Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2000). Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63. Weissman. R. (1999). The green flag is up. American Demographics, 21.

21. THANK YOU!!! Brad Holloman hollomanbrad@gmail.com Dr. Anne Marx amarx@elon.edu