• Brandweek, Monday, January 28, 2008 11:45 AM

Purchase intent--a customer's stated interest in buying a product--rose 11% to 52% among consumers who attended brand-sponsored events, including sports championships, walkathons and theme parks, according to a new survey released by the Advertising Research Foundation.

ARF studied 12 companies--including Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay and State Farm--that ran events. Harris Interactive polled about 5,000 consumers online afterwards to get the results. Sports-related events have the greatest impact, according to the study, especially for business-to-business events. The purchase intent among consumers who interacted with a brand at such events rose 34%.

Of the 2,000 consumers polled who attended trade shows in the spring or summer, 20% said they would have bought the brands that were exhibiting regardless of their attendance at the show. But purchase intent rose to 54% when customers interacted with the 14 different brands studied.

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