The move follows significant growth in the UK sponsorship market, which Carat said was worth more than £160m in 2007.
Thinkbox has created a cross-industry working group to steer the project and offer continuous feedback on the research. Members will come from MediaCom, Zenith-Optimedia, ITV, Channel 4, Five, AE Media, Performance Worldwide and the Branded Content Marketing Association.
The research will explore the relationship between TV sponsorship and spot advertising, and how existing attitudes towards the brand affect perception.
In addition, the research will probe the relationship between brands, the programme being sponsored and the creative execution, while the measurement of the effects of sponsorship will be explored.
The first stage of the research will examine 1,000 respondents' attitudes towards brands that have and haven't used sponsorship.
David Brennan, Thinkbox's research and strategy director, said it was the "right time" for an examination of sponsorship.
"Sponsorship and other editorial marketing techniques have seen a massive increase in revenue in recent years," he said.
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