Paper Title
Different Sport Sponsorship Types and its Effect on Brand Equity: A Chinese Basketball Association Case Study

Abstract
The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of sport sponsorship towards brand equity during the 2011-2015 season China Basketball Association (CBA) on three different dimensions: sponsorship duration, level, and congruence. Purposive sampling methods were applied to 400 students in four institutions located in Guangzhou city during fall of 2015. An independent sample t-test was used to discern mean differences to further compare various sponsorship types (sponsorship level, duration, congruence) and brand equity (awareness, recognition, loyalty, association). The results of the current study concluded that: 1. Different sponsorship durations have different effects on brand equity with longer sponsorship periods having higher effectiveness for enhancing brand equity. 2. Different types of CBA sponsorships have different effects on brand equity with higher level sponsorship resulting in larger benefits for enhancing brand equity. 3. There was no difference between different CBA sponsorship congruence and brand equity. The effects of sponsorship length and level on brand equity were in line with previous literature but the congruence factor did not prove to be a significant variable to enhance brand equity in this case study. Keywords - Sport Sponsorship, Brand Equity, Sponsorship Types