The Moderating Roles of Time Pressure and Individualism for Retail Event Sponsorship: An Abstract

Event sponsorship is a form of promotion where the underwriting of a special event supports corporate objectives, such as stimulating sales of products (Javalgi et al. 1994). It has become an increasingly popular marketing strategy for retailers and other brands to provide an enjoyable experience and stimulate more purchasing. Although scholars have examined the general effects of event marketing and sponsorship on consumers’ purchase intentions, studies have not been conducted to investigate whether or not the effects of event marketing and retail sponsorship vary for: (1) shoppers in a hurry (vs. those with time available while shopping) or (2) shoppers from collectivist cultures (vs. those from individualist cultures). These questions are worth asking given that retail events, by nature, consist of some attributes (e.g., sensational or emotional) that are likely to be more appealing to some consumers depending on these two considerations. Therefore, this study examines the impact of shopping enjoyment (as a personality trait) on purchase intentions for retail sponsors as mediated by event entertainment. More importantly, time pressure while shopping (an individual difference—Model 1) and the individualism level of international tourist’s country-of-origin (a cultural difference—Model 2) are examined as moderators of the relationship between shopping enjoyment and event entertainment. The method is a set of field studies for a prominent retailer at a high-end shopping mall. This weekend-long filed study collects data from 21 fashion shows sponsored by the retailer (n = 583). The results show that shopping enjoyment positively affects event entertainment, which then leads to enhanced purchase intentions for the retail sponsor. Moreover, time pressure while shopping and individualism each moderates the role of shopping enjoyment on event entertainment. The effect of shopping enjoyment on event entertainment is found to be stronger for shoppers with more available time (vs. shoppers in a hurry). Meanwhile, the positive relationship between shopping enjoyment and event entertainment only exists for shoppers from collectivist cultures with low individualism scores. Both theoretical and practical implications are provided.