<sec><title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</title>This study aimed to examine the effects of two sponsorship purpose articulations (commercially oriented vs noncommercially oriented) on attitude toward the sponsor via sponsor–property fit and the moderating effect of the overlapped mission between the sponsor and the property.

</sec><sec><title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</title>A 2 (purpose articulation type: commercially oriented vs noncommercially oriented) × 2 (mission overlap articulation condition: present vs absent) between-subjects experimental design with a control condition was employed with student sample (<italic>n</italic> = 171). The moderated mediation model was tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro model 8.

</sec><sec><title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</title>The commercially oriented purpose articulation did not improve sponsor–property fit as much as the noncommercially oriented purpose articulation, resulting in less favorable attitudes toward the sponsor. When the mission overlap was simultaneously articulated, the less positive effects of the commercially oriented purpose articulation were weaker.

</sec><sec><title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</title>The findings provided incongruent sponsors with insights on mixed articulation strategies with sponsorship purposes and the overlapped mission.

</sec><sec><title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</title>This study extends previous research by presenting the first understanding of the different processes in which two sponsorship purpose articulations developed attitudes toward the sponsor via sponsor–property fit and by investigating the moderating effect of the simultaneously articulated mission overlap on the processes.

</sec>