Effects of Athlete Endorsements on Brand Perceptions

Public Brand Perceptions:A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements Brent Evans, ShonicePettaway, & Erika Rasile

Introduction and Background • Elberse and Verleun (2012) claim, “endorsements are a key source of income for sports people” • Elberse and Verleun (2012)“the most popular endorsers are sportspeople” • Endorsements • Tiger Woods • LeBron James • Phil Mickleson • Combined made $147 million from endorsements which was seven times as much from winnings and salaries. • All of endorsement money came from the brand Nike

Background (continued) • According to Miller and Laczniak (2011), spending for sports sponsorship was $11.2 billion in 2009; Nike, which is known as the top sports branding company in the world spent $4 billion for the greatest athletes to represent its products in that same year. • BIG RISK!!!! • Owning Responsibility

Purpose • We are studying the affects of athlete endorsements on…. • Brand perceptions • People’s likelihood to buy a certain brand or product • People’s likelihood to use a certain brand or product • How the ad is received by the public • We are also studying which mediums of advertising are most effective: print or television • Through this study, we hope to better understand what motivates college athletes to buy or use certain sports gear brands based upon the athletes who endorse them

Theories • Uses and Gratification (Blumler & Katz) • different people have various reasons for using different mediums of media and the pleasure that is produced from it. • With different advertisements, people are able to decide which source is more effective for them. • Due to these consumptions, people are able to get some form of gratification from media (advertisements) that influences their decision on purchasing a specific item.

Theories • Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner) • a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership • With the consumer identifying themselves with a group of being an athletes through the advertisements of athletes, they are more likely to purchase items. • Most athletes that are visible in these advertisements are said to portray common characteristics with the consumer.

Literature Review:Sport Heroes as Sport Product Endorsers: The Role of Gender in the Transfer of Meaning Process for Selected Undergraduate Students • Conducted study of 150 college students that designed to study effects of gender on effectiveness of athletic endorsers • Evaluated athletes on degree of fame and level of identification with athlete • Findings: men were more likely to purchase products endorsed by male athletes and vice versa for women • “Gender played a role in every step of the transfer of meaning from hero to athletic endorser, to product expertise, to purchase intentions” (Parks, Peetz, et. al, 2004, p. 147).

Literature Review:Effects of Television Advertising on African American Teenagers • Conducted study that focused on how the increase of black population resulted in more black athlete endorsers for brands like Nike, which had profound effect on black youth • Black youth became more likely to buy products endorsed by athletes like Michael Jordan • “African Americans consumers tend to more supportive of products that are used by endorsers of the same race” (Lee & Browne, 1995, p.523). • See also Sparks & Wilson article & Cheong & Kim

Literature Review: Differential Effects of Television Commercials, Athlete Endorsements,&Venue Signage During a Televised Action Sports Event. • Conducted a study of 253 college students designed to test brand awareness based off of whether or not the brand was endorsed by a star athlete • Television advertising and athletic endorsements were proven to produce highest level of brand awareness • This resulted in a link to brand sales that produced a greater likelihood to purchase the product advertised • “The emotional tie that fans have with the athlete carries over to the brands they endorse, whether or not the product usage is related to the sport….The immediate brand recognition and identification that fans have with these athletes is a great benefit to the corporations that provide endorsement deals” (Ciafone & Zhang, 2006, p. 325-326).

Other Notable Studies to Consider: • Boyd. T & Shank, S. (2004). Athletes as Product Endorsers: The Effect of Gender and Product Relatedness. • Elberse & Verleun. (2012). The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements. • Sparks, R. & Wilson, B. (1996). "It's Gotta Be the Shoes": Youth, Race, and Sneaker Commercials

Research Question • Is there a difference between print and broadcast ads and the effects of celebrity endorsements on the public’s desire to purchase a product? IV: type of celebrity endorsed ad viewed by the public Conceptual: how the ad creates and conveys a message Operational: how the participants interpret the message DV: The public’s desire to purchase a product Conceptual: if the consumer expresses their desire to purchase the product Operational: if the consumer actually chooses to buy the product

Hypothesis 1 • The popularity of a specific celebrity endorser has a direct effect on the sales for the brands they endorse. • Independent Variable • Popularity of the celebrity endorser Conceptual Definition: How well known an athlete and if the athlete one that people follow on a regular basis Operational Definition: the actual amount of people who follow the athlete on a regular basis • Dependent Variable • Sales of the Brands Conceptual Definition: how successful a brand is based upon how much profit the brand makes Operational Definition: how many of our participants actually purchase the brands, which can be measured using our questionnaire and asking about buying behavior

Hypothesis 2 • There is a correlation between products in ads featuring star athletes and the likelihood that people will use these products. • Independent Variable • The ads featuring the star athlete Conceptual Definition: the type of ad the athlete is featured in Operational Definition: measuring how many ad of different types the athletes are featured in • Dependent Variable • People’s likelihood to use the productsConceptual Definition: if people express the desire to use the products Operational Definition: if our participants actually use the products which can be evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale

Hypothesis 3 • Students have a tendency to purchase products advertised by athletes of their same gender as the participants. IV: Gender of the athlete Conceptual: whether or not an endorser expresses being male or female Operational: how many athletic endorsers are biologically male or female DV: Tendency to purchase products advertised Conceptual: the likelihood that people will have the desire to purchase the products Operational: how many of our participants actually purchase the brands, which can be measured using our questionnaire and asking about buying behavior

Hypothesis 4 • Students have a tendency to purchase products advertised by athletes of their same ethnicity IV: Ethnicity of the athlete Conceptual: whether or not a person identifies as a specific ethnicity Operational: how many athletic endorsers are biologically of a specific ethnicity DV: Tendency to purchase products advertised Conceptual: the likelihood that people will have the desire to purchase the products Operational: how many of our participants actually purchase the brands, which can be measured using our questionnaire and asking about buying behavior

Methods • Cross-sectional survey  Questionnaire • 5-point Likert scale • Advantages: • Focus on the population of interest, fair amount of diversity • Collect large amount of data quickly & effectively • Easy to analyze Correlation Test • Disadvantages: • Limited diversity due to convenience sampling • Lack of in depth, descriptive answers • Possibility of bias

Data Collection • Surveyed 100 athletes at Queens University of Charlotte • Athletes participated in a variety of sports: basketball, soccer, swimming, cross country and track, lacrosse, and so on • Athletes surveyed were chosen using the convenience sampling method • Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS and we used a Basic Pearson T-Test correlation to analyze our data

Pilot Study • 6 surveys 4 girls and 2 boys. • 4 ethnic groups represented. • Not all of them were athletes. • Results • It would be more effective if this was just directed towards the student athletes. • There needed to be a question that separated the different brands themselves • A question is also added to separate whether the ad is televised or print form.

Findings • Numbers • Of the 100 student-athletes surveyed there were 61 men and 39 women represented in the survey • Gender Graph

Findings • Of the 100 participants: • 56% White • 27% Black • 8% Hispanic • 1% Asian • 8% Mixed • Ethnicity Graph

Findings • Hypothesis 1: The popularity of the specific athlete endorser has a direct effect on the brand they endorse • Was supported • Correlation: .339 • P-Value: .001 • Less than .01 The popularity of a specific celebrity endorser has a direct effect on the likelihood of a consumer to purchase the brand or product they endorse.

Findings • Statistical Significance of the correlation: buying endorsed produced and buying products endorsed by the most popular athlete • We also found correlation to support that when companies choose the most popular athletes to endorse their brand that it makes consumers more likely to recognize that brand.

Findings • Hypothesis 2: There is a correlation that between products in ads featuring star athletes and the likelihood that people will use these products • Was not supported • No correlation between a person’s desire to use and feeling better using an endorsed product/feeling better using an product endorse by a premiere athlete/ buying a product advertised by the best athletes. • Desire to use product endorsed by favorite or most popular athlete and feeling better using an endorsed product: no significant correlation

Findings • Desire to use product endorsed by favorite or most popular athlete and feeling better using a premiere athlete endorsed product • No significant correlation • Desire to use product endorsed by favorite or most popular athlete and buying a product advertised by the best brand • No significant correlation

Findings • Statistical Significance was found when it comes to the participants’ expression of feeling better using an endorsed product and feeling better using a product endorsed by a premiere athlete • Correlation: .261 • P-Value: .009 • Less than .01

Findings • Hypothesis 3: Students have a tendency to purchase products advertised by athletes of their same gender • Was not supported • No significant correlation can be concluded

Findings • Hypothesis 4: Students have a tendency to purchase products advertised by athletes of their ethnicity. • Was not supported • No significant correlation can be concluded

Findings • There was a statistical significance found that there is a greater likelihood that people buy products from athletes who are most like them who they follow on a regular basis • Due to these findings, it would be interesting to research: • Identify with athletes based on other characteristics then gender or race • participant plays a similar sport, if the athlete is from their home state, or if they are a fan of the athlete’s team

Findings • Research Question: Is there a difference between print and broadcast ads and the effects of celebrity endorsements on the public’s desire of the product? • Our study found that there no difference, as far as which one is more likely to cause consumers to buy the brand advertised • Both print and television ads seem to have the same effectiveness when it comes to the public’s desire to buy the product • Frequency of viewing ads • How impactful a consumer finds the ad

There was a significant correlation between the impact of a print or television ad and the likelihood that a consumer will buy the product From the participantsThe brands NIKE and UNDER ARMOR only showed a significant correlation between print and TV ads.

Findings • There was sufficient evidence to conclude that the more often the participant was exposed to print or television ads for a specific product, the more likely they were to buy that product • Correlation: .201 • P-Value: .045

Discussion • Social Identity Theory (Tajfael & Turner) • A person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership (hockey players, monks, preachers) Conclusion: greater tendency to buy products from athletes that are like them who they follow on a regular basis Conclusion: popular athletes are the ones people identify with and therefore, are more likely to buy products endorsed by these athletes • Main variables: Gender and Race • Others: participant plays the same sport and position as the athlete, participant and athlete is from the same home town, or a fan of the athlete’s team.

Discussion • Uses and Gratification Theory (Blumer & Katz) • Different people have various reasons for using different mediums of media and the pleasure that is produced from it Conclusion: There is no difference between whether participants view a print or television ad and the likelihood that a consumer will buy the product Conclusion: Participants did not report a greater likelihood of using products endorsed by star athletes, but they do feel better from using these products • Participants were impacted by NIKE and UNDER ARMOR, significantly in both televised and print ads. • IMPACT=$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Discussion and Conclusions • no evidence concluding that people were more likely to use endorsed products over non-endorsed products, nor that people buy products based on whether they are advertised by athletes of their same race or gender • Popularity of the athlete • Other common shared characteristics • Frequency of the ads • Impact of nature

Limitations • Lack of diversity • Each ethic group wasn’t represented equally. • Only directed towards student athletes • Due to student athletes being the ones that focus mainly on these aspects of products, it limited our research. • Size of our University • More men responders • 61 males and 39 females

Recommendations • Make sure that both men and women are represented equally. • Try to have a more equal diversity between the respondents. • Expanded this to more students athletes, all sports • Focus our questions more on the purchasing than using the item • Eliminate the athlete chart and come up with an alternate way to measure how participants identify with athletes • Future researchers should look into how the ads themselves impact purchasing behavior

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Effects of Athlete Endorsements on Brand Perceptions