The Relationship between Financial Sponsor and Brand Equity

This research aimed at determining the relationship between Iran Furniture Market Company as the financial sponsor of Esteghlal Football Club and the customer-based brand equity. The research method was descriptive-correlational and Pearson correlation coefficient was used since the data was normal. The statistical sample of the present study was 375 students of Tehran universities who were selected using convenience sampling. In the present study, the face and content validity of the questionnaire were evaluated by faculty members with marketing expertise and corrections were applied to the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was obtained using Cronbach's alpha in a pilot study, 0.86 (P <0.01). The Pearson correlation between variables of Judgment (0.86), Imagination (0.85), Conformity (0.93) and Emotions (0.82) were obtained at the significant level of 0.05. Investigations on the attitude of Esteghlal fans and other teams toward the customer-based brand equity of Iran Furniture Market Company revealed that in all cases, Esteghlal fans have a better tendency towards Iran Furniture Market Company. Maintaining and developing brand equity is often a challenging and difficult task. Implementing brand equity management  requires that  a  broad  perspective  towards  different viewpoints to brand equity be adopted. The results showed that the sponsorship of Iran Furniture Market Company for Esteghlal Club led to brand equity. And, compared to other teams, the brand equity created for Iran Furniture Market Company has been greater amongst the fans of Esteglal Football Club.