Gender Congruence in Sport Sponsoring

Abstract: This Master thesis investigated the perceived congruence between the gender of male and female football teams and the gender of the companies that are engaging in the sponsoring of these football teams. By applying the theory of brand gender, each sponsoring company has been classified in the feminine/masculine/androgynous gender domain, thereby allowing for the comparison between the gender of the brands and the football players. The results provide for interesting findings both focusing on the differences in the general sponsoring landscape between male and female football teams, as well as differences located in the domain of brand gender.