Kansas State University

College of Business Administration dean receives distinguished career award from prestigious sports marketing group

Submitted by Brent Fritzemeier

Kevin Gwinner, Edgerley family dean in the Kansas State University College of Business Administration, has been recognized with the 2016 Distinguished Career Contribution to the Scientific Understanding of Sport Business Award from the American Marketing Association's Sport and Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Special Interest Group, or SPORTSIG.

The group sponsors research and brings together academic researchers that are interested in the field of sports marketing. The Career Contribution to the Scientific Understanding of Sport Business Award is the group's highest honor, and is voted on by former winners of the award. It recognizes longtime members of the group for the quality of their scholarship and their willingness to mentor students.

Gwinner's 1999 article "Building Brand Image Through Event Sponsorship: The Role of Image Transfer," which appeared in the Journal of Advertising, was the first to provide guidance for firms seeking to use sponsorship opportunities to aid in brand positioning efforts, and has been cited more than 800 times. His sports marketing related research has focused on brand image transfer in sponsorship, the influence of the fit between the event and the sponsoring brand, and the role of fan identification with the team on various sponsorship outcomes.

"I am very honored to be presented with a career contributions award by SPORTSSIG for my research in the area of sports marketing," Gwinner said. "I have been lucky to have had great co-authors and mentors who share this award with me."

The award will be presented at the 2016 American Marketing Association's Summer Marketing Educators Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, Aug. 6.