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International
Exploring the impact of athlete Journal of Sports
Marketing and
brand image on fans’ behavioural Sponsorship

outcomes: the role of emotional

attachment and perceived
price value Received 29 January 2024
Revised 11 March 2024
27 April 2024
Longzhao Zheng Accepted 28 April 2024
School of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, and
Ying Xu
School of Journalism and Communication, Minnan Normal University,
Zhangzhou, China

Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to explore the impact of athlete brand image on fans’ social media engagement,
purchase intentions, and also examines the mediating role of emotional attachment on these relationships, as
well as the moderating role of perceived price value between emotional attachment and purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach – The data are based on an online survey conducted in China (N 5 572).
The PLS-SEM (partial least squares structural equation model) and regression-based estimation method
(PROCESS) are employed to test the hypotheses.
Findings – The results indicate a positive relationship between athletes’ athletic performance and fans’ social
media engagement as well as purchase intentions. The impact of athletes’ attractive appearance and
marketable lifestyle on fans’ purchase intentions is sequentially mediated by emotional attachment and social
media engagement. Moreover, the mediation effect of athletes’ off-field image and purchase intentions is
contingent upon fans’ perceived price value.
Research limitations/implications – Athletes and marketers could integrate and leverage both the on-field
and off-field attributes to cultivate emotional connections with fans. Sports organizations and managers need
to pay attention to fans’ social media engagement and provide content that increases engagement and converts
into transactional behavioural intentions.
Originality/value – The study provides empirical evidence of the mediating role of emotional attachment
between athlete brand image and fans’ purchase intentions. The explanatory mechanisms involving emotional
attachment and social media engagement (non-transactional behavioural intentions) are anticipated to be a
noteworthy addition to the traditional fan transactional behavioural intentions framework. Moreover, the
research introduces and confirms perceived price value as a crucial moderating factor influencing the
relationship between emotional attachment and purchase intentions.
Keywords Athlete brand image, Emotional attachment, Perceived price value, Social media engagement,
Purchase intentions
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Human brands, including celebrities, due to their potential for professional management and
possession of associations and features akin to traditional brands, are commonly classified as
brands (Arai et al., 2014; Thomson, 2006). Notably, athletes have showcased considerable
commercial and social value in tandem with the commercialization of the sports industry, being
perceived as social symbols and conveyors of cultural significance (Mahmoudian et al., 2021).
International Journal of Sports
Marketing and Sponsorship
The authors thank three anonymous referees for their insightful comments. Thanks also to Bingrui © Emerald Publishing Limited
1464-6668
Huang at Xiamen University for his valuable suggestions. DOI 10.1108/IJSMS-01-2024-0030
IJSMS Numerous professional athletes who have attained celebrity status among fans, such as LeBron
James and Roger Federer, are also recognized as human brands (Carlson and Donavan, 2013).
Corporate brand strategies, exemplified by companies like Nike, leverage numerous elite
athletes to infuse the distinctive attributes of their respective sports into the endorsement
process (McCormick, 2018). However, human brands face challenges because humans are more
fragile and unpredictable than product brands due to their nature of instability, complexity, and
lack of control. They must balance their personal and professional lives, enduring continual
public scrutiny (Chang, 2018). Therefore, considering athlete brands solely as an offshoot of
celebrity endorsements would be imprudent, further research is essential to comprehend the
unique attributes of human brands (Osorio et al., 2020). Athlete branding’s emergence as a
potential marketing practice has become the focus of corporations and a topic of academic
inquiry. Despite the common understanding of athletes as brands, research on how using
athletes as brands affect consumer behaviour still requires further development to understand
fan reactions to athletes better (Kunkel et al., 2019).
Initial researchers focused on conceptualizing athlete brand image (Arai et al., 2013; Geurin-
Eagleman and Burch, 2016) and there seems to be agreement among researchers that on- and off-
field image are the two key dimensions to properly understand athlete brands (e.g. Parmentier
and Fischer, 2012). Previous studies have suggested that it exerts an influence on the emotional
and behavioural outcomes associated with connected entities, such as the athlete’s team and
sponsors (e.g. Carlson and Donavan, 2013). Recent studies by Hasaan et al. (2018) proposed a
framework centred on athlete on- and off-field images, albeit the model has yet to be empirically
proven. The other studies have examined the fans’ self-brand connection and its impact on the
relationship between athlete brand image and behavioural loyalty from the perspective of
consumers and brand relationships (Kunkel et al., 2019). However, empirical testing is required to
determine the unique influence of athletes’ on- and off-field brand image on fans’ attitudes and
behavioural intentions (Summers and Johnson Morgan, 2008; Kunkel et al., 2019).
In sport contexts, previous literature has focused on the impact of athlete sponsorship on
fans’ behavioural intentions, which are largely transactional in nature around core sport
products (e.g. Biscaia et al., 2013). As fans’ behavioural intentions with an athlete, there are
spillovers that include engagement with the team and online brand communities (Bowden et al.,
2017). Scholars (e.g. Doyle et al., 2022; McDonald et al., 2022) have recently extended the focus of
fan behavioural intentions from transactional (e.g. purchase intentions) to non-transactional
(e.g. volunteering). In parallel, scholars have increasingly recognized the rise of athlete brands
within the sport ecosystem (Su et al., 2020), with social media largely seen as the most essential
channel for athletes to establish and promote their brands. Geurin-Eagleman and Burch (2016)
demonstrated that sport consumers actively engage with sport objects and each other across
social media. Therefore, we attempt to incorporate non-transactional behavioural intentions (i.e.
social media engagement) into a traditional framework of fan transactional intentions to
examine the impact of athletes’ brand image on fans’ behavioural outcomes.
Sport, allows consumers to “engage” with multiple “points of attachment” that act as anchor
points to a sport entity. These foci include teams, events, athletes, or other fans (Kwon et al.,
2005). The sport literature has created numerous relevant constructs to understand fans’
attachment to sports teams, including team identification (Kwon et al., 2007) and team
commitment (Kunkel et al., 2019). Although prior research has focused on attachment to sports
teams, the same significance may apply to other sports entities such as athletes (e.g. Carlson
and Donavan, 2013; Hautbois et al., 2024). This is because athletes are among the most
prevalent types of human brands (Thomson, 2006) and have significant levels of social
influence, which has long-term effects on fans. Therefore, research related to building
connections with fans and athletes still deserves further exploration (Hofmann et al., 2021).
Individuals’ attachment experiences influence their thoughts, interactions with others, and their
actions (Hinson et al., 2019). In sport context, positive attitudes have been suggested to mediate
the relationship between athlete on- and off-field attributes and the subsequent behavioural International
intentions (Kunkel et al., 2019). Consequently, emotional attachment may play a mediating role Journal of Sports
in the relationship between athlete brand image and fan behavioural outcomes. Marketing and
At the same time, perceived price value has gotten a lot of attention in the sport marketing Sponsorship
literature as a key variable in explaining consumer behaviour (e.g. Chi and Kilduff, 2011; Kwon
et al., 2007). As athlete brands confer certain symbolic significance, there may be individual
differences in how consumers perceive them and how they affect fan behavioural intentions
concerning athlete brand image (Summers and Johnson Morgan, 2008). Previous studies have
demonstrated that perceived price value showed the most influential impact on the overall
consumer perceived value of sport products (Chi and Kilduff, 2011) and there has been a lack of
scholarly effort in assessing the moderating effect of perceived price value between the
relationships on athlete brand image, emotional attachment and purchase intentions among fans.
Therefore, perceived price value should be taken into account in order to advance the knowledge
of the antecedents to fans’ purchase intentions regarding athlete brand-related products.
Against this background, the purpose of this research was threefold. First, this research links
theories about the development of human brands (Thomson, 2006) with Arai et al. (2013)
conceptualization of athlete brand image, providing the individual level of fans’ emotional
attachment to athletes’ images insights, into which on- and off-field attributes influence fans’
behavioural intentions and examine whether these relationships were mediated by fans’
emotional attachment to the athletes. Second, we not only view fans as targeted objects for
transactional intentions but also emphasize the significance of their non-transactional
behavioural intentions (i.e. social media engagement) and their implications for purchase
likelihood. This enriches previous research, which has unilaterally focused on the impact of
athlete brand image on fans’ transactional or non-transactional behavioural intentions, and
confirms the sequential mediating role of emotional attachment and social media engagement in
the relationship between athlete brand image and purchase intentions. Third, we explore further
the perceived price value as a boundary condition regarding the effect of athlete brand image,
which demonstrates the critical role of fans’ perceived price value in sports marketing. This
study contributes to sports marketing research and practice, providing insights for athletes as
human brands, as well as organizations and marketers on how to manage athlete brands.

2. Theoretical background and hypothesis development

2.1 Human brand and brand image
Initially, human brands were defined as well-known personas, encompassing athletes,
politicians, and academics, serving as the focal points of marketing communications
(Thomson, 2006). Put differently, a human brand is a fusion of an individual and a
commercialized entity presented as a product in the marketplace (Fournier and Eckhardt,
2019). According to Keller (1993), brand knowledge originates from brand awareness and
brand image, and hence is directly related to brand equity or the aggregated information
customers have about a brand. Naturally, many of these associations not only pertain to the
functions or benefits of a brand, encompassing its quality but also incorporate identity-
reflecting symbolic aspects. As McCracken (1989) argues, celebrities have a “persona” that is
a composite of their various roles. Marketers can cultivate valuable brand images through
celebrity endorsements as a marketing communication strategy that leverages consumers’
knowledge-related associations with celebrities to benefit the brand (Keller, 2003).
Keller (1993) defined brand image as “perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand
associations held in consumer memory” (p. 3). Consumers’ decision-making behaviours
predominantly hinge on their understanding of the brand and the associations they form with
it. Brand associations are divided into attitudes, attributes [product attributes (essential
components that perform the function of the product or service) and non-product-related
IJSMS attributes (external aspects of the product or service)], and benefits, though he argues that most
associations are integrated into an “attributes” construct (Keller, 1993). The previous study
suggests that human brands serve identification and differentiation functions (Thomson, 2006).
Consequently, (potential) consumers can reduce their consumption uncertainty before
engaging with the human brand by relying on their perceptions of the brand image.
Keller’s (1993) well-established framework of brand knowledge and brand image pertains
to product brands. Thomson (2006) provides insights on the concept of human brands.
Hofmann et al. (2021) integrated these theories into an overall framework providing novel
insights into which attributes determine players’ human brand images. Building upon the
aforementioned concepts, we align human brand and athlete brand images, referring to the
framework established by Hofmann et al. (2021). Previous researchers have noted that an
athlete’s on-field attributes are critical to developing an athlete brand (Arai et al., 2014) and
that off-field activities can either enhance or impair an athlete’s image (Cortsen, 2013). In this
study, our emphasis is on defining athlete brand image based on product-related (on-field
image) and non-product-related (off-field image) attributes, incorporating the human brand
concept into a comprehensive framework.

2.2 Athlete brand image and fans’ behavioural outcomes

Athlete brand image is defined as “a consumer’s perception about athlete brand attributes”
(Arai et al., 2014, p. 4). Athletes attain brand status through their exceptional on-field
performance and also through off-field activities (Arai et al., 2013). Consequently, the
components of an athlete brand were categorized into two major groups to offer a structured
depiction of the essence of an athlete (Parmentier and Fischer, 2012). Attributes have been
proposed to represent controllable aspects of athlete brands and to be significant predictors
of consumers’ subsequent reactions to athletes and connected brands (Kunkel et al., 2019).
Researchers have suggested that both the on-field and off-field images of athletes are crucial
elements in forming and maintaining a connection with fans (e.g. Hasaan et al., 2018; Na et al.,
2020). For example, some studies have initiated investigations into the influence of athletes’
attributes on consumer behavioural loyalty (Mahmoudian et al., 2021) and have also delved
into how strategic management of athletes as human brands can enhance their brand image
and elevate their market value (Hofmann et al., 2021).
Prior research has focused on the shared characteristics of athletes that positively influence
brand image. These studies have typically emphasized consumer-brand relationship
perspectives, such as consumer-brand connection (Kunkel et al., 2019), brand identification
(Wu et al., 2012), and brand equity (Parmentier and Fischer, 2012). McCracken (1989) suggests
that a celebrity’s image (e.g. cultural meaning) will transfer to the endorsement outcomes.
Similarly, consumer differences that will occur with distinct points of attachment assessed by a
customer (e.g. at the athlete level vs the event level) also need to be taken into account
(McDonald et al., 2022). From a different perspective due to previous studies, the current study
focuses on the athlete level, investigating the psychological impact that the athlete brand image
has on fans (Vaatainen and Dickenson, 2019), as well as the downstream behavioural
tendencies triggered by the psychological factor. Moreover, the significance of social media in
the sports business is apparent in its role in facilitating interaction between athletes and fans.
Social media has transformed the relationship between athletes and consumers, diminishing
perceived barriers and bringing them into closer proximity (Pegoraro, 2010). Consequently,
there is a need to comprehend whether perceptions of an athlete’s brand image impact fans’
social media engagement and purchase intentions (Kunkel and Biscaia, 2020).
On-field attributes refer to the performance-related characteristics of an athlete (Arai et al.,
2014). Athletic performance comprises four dimensions: athletic expertise, competition style,
sportsmanship, and rivalry. Athletic expertise pertains to an athlete’s sporting
accomplishments and expertise in their field. Competition style encompasses the specific International
features that an athlete exhibits during competition. Sportsmanship is the symbolic Journal of Sports
representation of an athlete’s brand, presenting ethical behaviour. Finally, rivalry depicts the Marketing and
competition between a known team’s historical rivals and their contests over time, which has Sponsorship
always been thrilling (Arai et al., 2014).
Off-field activities typically contribute to an athlete’s broad public perception and are
important to brand status (Arai et al., 2014). Attractive appearance, one of the important
factors in the evaluation of athletes and brand image associations, has three main
dimensions: physical attractiveness, symbol and body fitness (Arai et al., 2013). Physical
attractiveness is a fan’s preference for a particular athlete. Symbol refers to the unique
apparent features of athletes. Body fitness reflects the physical talent demonstrated by an
athlete in the sports field. Marketable lifestyle refers to the qualities available on an athlete’s
off-field attributes that demonstrate the athlete’s value and personality in engagement with
social and cultural activities and media outreach (Na et al., 2020). This attribute includes three
dimensions: life story, role model and relationship effort (Arai et al., 2013). Life story pertains
to intriguing narratives about athletes that may contain a message reflecting their values.
Role model exhibit ethical behaviours associated with the social norms of the athlete, such as
community activities, etc. Relationship efforts demonstrate the athlete’s ability to cultivate
positive connections with fans or the general public.
Purchase intentions are defined by Spears and Singh (2004) as “a consumer’s conscious
plan or intentions to make an effort to purchase a product” (p. 56). In this research, we
conceptualized purchase intentions as consumers’ willingness to purchase the athlete’s
personally branded signature products. Wu et al. (2012) argue that an athlete’s brand image
serves as a potent stimulus to draw spectators and fans to sports events and cultivate the
intentions to purchase athlete-related products. Previous research has demonstrated that
athletes’ on-field athletic performance can profoundly impact fans’ behavioural loyalty
(Hasaan et al., 2018). Besides athletes’ on-field attributes, their off-field attributes (such as
attractive appearance and marketable lifestyle) are also instrumental in shaping the athlete’s
brand image and drawing more fans. Fans aim to emulate their favourite athletes’ styles and
behaviours, creating a perceived similarity to their idols by purchasing products endorsed by
athletes (Hasaan et al., 2016; Kunkel et al., 2019). Given these arguments, the following
research hypotheses are proposed:
H1. Fans’ perceptions of an athlete’s (a) athletic performance, (b) attractive appearance
and (c) marketable lifestyle are positively related to purchase intentions.
Sport consumption has long been recognized as a complex and engaging experience. Sport
marketers are increasingly designing activities to increase customer engagement (Yoshida
et al., 2014). Customer engagement is theoretically grounded in the expanded/transcending
perspective of relationship marketing (Brodie et al., 2013). This perspective envisions consumer
behaviour as centred on customers’ “interactive experiences occurring in complex, co-creative
environments” (Brodie et al., 2013, p. 106), surpassing the notion of passive consumers and
highlighting the crucial role of consumers’ agency. In addition to the transactional behavioural
intentions (i.e. purchase intentions), fan engagement (non-transactional behavioural intentions
including blogging, prosocial behaviour, and word of mouth) was identified as the most
relevant for investigating engagement as a process (McDonald et al., 2022). There are two major
approaches to evaluating consumer engagement. One can be viewed as a multidimensional
construct that typically includes cognitive, affective, and behavioural components and the
second approach that emerges is based exclusively on the behavioural manifestation toward an
organization or brand (see an overview, McDonald et al., 2022). On one hand, given its direct link
to brand strategy and the behavioural aspect of engagement, which is considered more
pertinent to management action, greater emphasis should be placed on the behavioural
IJSMS dimension (Hinson et al., 2019). On the other hand, in today’s highly expressive, participative,
and hyper-connected marketplace, consumer engagement emerges as a unique behavioural
construct (e.g. Pansari and Kumar, 2017) that focuses on consumers’ interactions in real and
virtual environments’ voluntary behaviours. Hence, we adopt consumer engagement based
exclusively on behavioural conceptualizations.
Social media is a critical medium for athletes to establish powerful and distinctive brands,
enabling communication with consumers and gaining broad visibility. The interactions have
been accelerated by the rise of social media allowing the provision of multiple additional
touchpoints to encourage fans’ ongoing engagement experiences (Dolan et al., 2016). In this
study, we align with existing literature that conceptualizes fans’ social media engagement as
the fans’ inclination to invest energy, time, and effort in activities associated with the brand
on social media (Leckie et al., 2016). A systematic literature review revealed a positive
association between athlete brand image and fan engagement (Linsner et al., 2021). A recent
study confirmed that athletic performance garnered increased fan engagement (Doyle et al.,
2022). Additionally, Na et al. (2020) emphasized the significance of source credibility (e.g.
attractive appearance) in influencing fans’ perceptions and engagement on social media.
Furthermore, the marketable lifestyle considered strategic in nature represents the athlete
publicizing their life stories, role models and relationship effort, including charitable activities
(Kunkel et al., 2019). These studies collectively suggest that a strong and consistent athlete
brand image can positively impact fan engagement. Formally, we opine:
H2. Fans’ perceptions of an athlete’s (a) athletic performance, (b) attractive appearance
and (c) marketable lifestyle are positively related to social media engagement.

2.3 The mediating role of emotional attachment

Attachment represents “the degree of connection an individual perceives between him/herself
and a particular object” (Schultz et al., 1989, p. 360). Drawing from attachment theory,
Thomson (2006) extended this to human brands and defined emotional attachment as an
emotion-laden bond between a person and an entity characterized by deep feelings of
connection, affection, and passion. In the marketing literature, the attachment theory has
been utilized to understand how consumers bond with brands (Mal€ar et al., 2011). Athletes
tend to display extraordinary personal characteristics that generate a long-lasting emotional
attachment with their fans. Initially, athletes with notable sports accomplishments may
attract a larger fan base (Mahmoudian et al., 2021). First, previous research has highlighted
the influences of athletic performance on fans’ psychological commitment to athletes (Kunkel
et al., 2019; Vaatainen and Dickenson, 2019). Second, multiple studies have shown that
attractive appearances can forecast fans’ attachment to a specific athlete and impact brand
preferences (Koo and Hardin, 2008). Third, marketable lifestyle mirrors their personality and
values, contributing to positive attitudes (Hasaan et al., 2016). When consumers relate to an
athlete, they develop an emotional attachment to the athlete (Charbonneau and Garland,
2006). Therefore, athlete image brands include both on-field and off-field images, making
athletes more relatable (Kunkel et al., 2019) and appealing to fans’ emotional attachment.
Thomson (2006) noted that celebrity endorsement impacts purchase intentions towards
the endorsed products due to a strong feeling of attachment to the fan with the celebrity
athlete. For example, A prior study has confirmed a strong relationship between emotional
attachment and purchase behaviours (Biscaia et al., 2013). The effects triggered by fans’
emotional attachment encompass recommendations, purchases, avoidance of negative
information, and brand defence (Vanmeter et al., 2018). When fans identify with the athlete,
they form an emotional attachment to the athlete, often leading to an increased purchase
intentions for associated athlete brands (Carlson and Donavan, 2013), even intentions to visit
their country-of-origin (Hautbois et al., 2024). Based on these findings, we argue that:
 H3. Emotional attachment mediates the relationship between (a) athletic performance, (b) International
attractive appearance, and (c) marketable lifestyle and purchase intentions. Journal of Sports
Marketing and
Emotional attachment signifies that fans believe an idol will fulfil their emotional needs as Sponsorship
fans and subsequently cultivate an imaginary relationship with them (Hinson et al., 2019).
Amid the surge in the use of social media, where people engage with others they may have
never met in person. This has implications for social media engagement, as many consumers
have the opportunity to emotionally connect with their favourite athletes (Dessart et al., 2015).
Attachment theory suggests that when fans are convinced by a celebrity’s image, are more
likely to form parasocial interaction relationships with a celebrity due to emotional bonds
(Hinson et al., 2019). For example, scholars have found that consumers’ perceived tie strength
positively influences engagement with brand communities (Shan and King, 2015). Therefore,
we argue that the athlete’s brand image may create emotional attachment, which results in
higher engagement on social media.
H4. Emotional attachment mediates the relationship between (a) athletic performance, (b)
attractive appearance, and (c) marketable lifestyle and social media engagement.
Thus far, we have argued the relationships between the athlete’s brand image on fans’
purchase intentions and social media engagement, in which emotional attachment is deemed
as a mediation mechanism. Fans are likely to develop emotional attachments to athletes when
they display their on-field and off-field attributes (Rosaen and Dibble, 2016). Similarly,
athletes can use their on-field and off-field attributes as impression management on social
media (Doyle et al., 2022), allowing fans of athletes can perceive a positive source of credibility
and subsequently enhance social media engagement with the athletes (Hinson et al., 2019).
More importantly, consumer engagement is identified as a vital antecedent of purchase
intentions (e.g. Hollebeek et al., 2014; Yoshida et al., 2014). In the sports context, fans can
benefit teams or fan-related entities by engaging in voluntary actions that go beyond
consumption (Pansari and Kumar, 2017). Previous studies have suggested that fan
engagement may play a role in driving merchandise consumption (Huiszoon et al., 2018;
Yoshida et al., 2014). For example, Huettermann and Kunkel (2022) demonstrated the
influence of non-transactional fan engagement (i.e. management cooperation, knowledge
generation, and emotional engagement) that has positive effects on merchandise purchase
intentions. Building on this foundation, we propose that social media engagement may
influence purchase intentions, and along these lines, it allows for an investigation of the
indirect effect of athlete brand image on fans’ purchase intentions through the serial
mediation of emotional attachment and social media engagement. Therefore, we opine:
H5. An athlete’s brand image is positively associated with emotional attachment and
social media engagement in sequence, which in turn positively predicts fans’
purchase intentions.

2.4 The moderating role of fans’ perceived price value

Perceived value (four dimensions including functional, social, price, and emotional value) has
received much attention in the marketing literature as a salient variable in explaining
consumption behaviour (e.g. Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). In the sports context, Chi and Kilduff
(2011) have demonstrated that perceived price value showed the most influential impact on
the overall consumer perceived value of sportswear compared to other dimensions. Also,
many scholars have revealed that perceived price value has a positive relationship with sport
consumer decision-making (e.g. Wakefield, 1995; Kunkel et al., 2017), which means an
individual would weigh the cost versus the benefit in a specific business transaction.
Therefore, we focus on the perceived price value and assume that even though fans develop
IJSMS emotional attachment to an athlete’s brand image leading to an increase in purchase
intentions, they are also able to make consumption decisions considering the price of the
product they consume.
Perceived price value refers to the utility derived from a product due to a reduction in its
perceived short-term and longer-term costs (Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). Previous empirical
studies have recorded that consumers’ satisfaction and consumption experiences are
moderated by perceived price value (Chang and Wang, 2011). Within the sport context,
previous research has amply demonstrated the importance of perceived value to fan
behavioural intentions, including the purchase of sport-related branded products (Kwon et al.,
2007; Chi and Kilduff, 2011) and game attendance (Kunkel et al., 2017; Ma and Kaplanidou,
2020). In this study, we contend that the perceived price value of an athlete’s personally
branded signature products may play a moderating role in increasing purchase intentions
when fans develop an emotional attachment to the athlete. When fans’ perceived price value
of athlete’s personally branded signature products is low, they need to spend more to
purchase the product, which will keep fans rational by detaching them from their emotional
attachment. This implies that despite the positive impact of emotional attachment to the
athletes’ brand image on purchase intentions, if an athlete’s personally branded signature
product price surpasses certain expectations, fans will weigh the cost and deem it not
worthwhile, thereby diminishing their inclination to purchase the product. When fans have a
high perceived price value, the price aligns with personal expectations, and they perceive the
purchase of the product as cost-effective. Therefore, fans’ purchase intentions become
stronger when stimulated by emotional attachment. Based on the above discussion, we
hypothesize (and the hypothesized model presented in Figure 1):
H6. Fans’ perceived price value moderates the relationship between emotional
attachment and purchase intentions. Specifically, the higher the perceived price
value, the stronger the connection between emotional attachment and purchase
intentions. The indirect relationship will be more pronounced at a higher level of
perceived price value compared to a lower level.

Figure 1.
Hypothesized model
3. Method International
3.1 Procedure and sample Journal of Sports
Due to Hasaan et al.’s (2018) suggestion that research on athlete branding may need to be Marketing and
tailored to specific sporting contexts, we focused on basketball players because China has seen Sponsorship
basketball become the most popular team sport in the country (Sun et al., 2021), as well as the
National Basketball Association (NBA) has achieved remarkable success in the Chinese market
(Zhou et al., 2017). Correspondently, a highly competitive basketball shoe market has emerged.
We selected a total of 10 athletes with personally branded signature basketball shoes based on
indicators provided by ESPN (e.g. individual accolades, team accomplishments, on-court
performance impact, etc.) and then included those names in the questionnaire. Of these, LeBron
James and Kevin Durant were chosen by 20.5 and 16.7% of participants, respectively, with
Kyrie Irving (12.2%), Stephen Curry (10.4%), James Harden (9.8%) and Klay Thompson (8.3%)
following. Other athletes with percentages included Damian Lillard (8.1%), Kawhi Leonard
(7.3%), Paul George (4.6%) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (2.1%).
The online questionnaire was distributed through the national online data collection service
Sojump in China, providing a broad and substantial nationwide sample. After explaining the
concept and purpose of the study to the participants, they were asked to choose one athlete from
the list who was most familiar to them and answer the following questions: “Have you ever
watched your favorite player play on TV or live?” and “Do you follow your favorite player on
social media channels?” Then, they were asked to answer questions about that athlete. To check
the quality of the questionnaire, Malhotra (2008) notes that the largest primary effect was found
among respondents who completed the questionnaire in less than 2.6 min. Therefore, responses
were omitted if participants completed the questionnaire in less than two minutes, chose the
same answer for each question, or failed the attention check for “How many NBA
championships has Kobe Bryant won? (Please choose 5 for this item)”. We had 572
participants for data analysis. Among the participants, 69.5% were male and 30.5% were
female, distributed across the following age groups: under 18 years (3.0%), 18–25 years (44.8%),
26–30 years (29.6%), 31–40 years (19.4%), and 41 and above (3.2%). This aligns with the fact
that the younger generation is often seen as the primary consumer of sports products and is
commonly utilized in brand research (Arai et al., 2013).

3.2 Measures
All measurements were adapted from the literature, and translation and back-translation
methods were used to accomplish cross-cultural adaptation of those measurements from English
to Chinese (Brislin, 1980). The instrument for measuring athlete brand image was adapted from
Arai et al. (2013). Emotional attachment was assessed with four items adapted from Sanchez-
Fernandez and Jimenez-Castillo (2021). Perceived price value was assessed using four items
adapted from Sweeney and Soutar (2001). Following Hinson et al. (2019), four items were
employed to assess respondents’ social media engagement. Purchase intention was assessed
using a four-item scale developed by Dodds et al. (1991) and Sanchez-Fernandez and Jimenez-
Castillo (2021). A Likert-type scale, anchored by 1 5 “strongly disagree” and 7 5 “strongly agree”,
was employed to gauge the respondents’ agreement with the questionnaire items, along with the
collection of demographic information (Refer to Table 1 for the scales of the main variables).

4. Results
4.1 Measurement model
We utilized Smart PLS 3.0 and followed Anderson and Gerbing’s (1988) two-step approach to
assessing the measurement and structural models. The first step is an evaluation of the
measurement model, ensuring reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity.
IJSMS Factor Cronbach’s
Constructs Items loading CR AVE alpha

Athletic 0.90 0.43 0.88

performance
Athletic expertise The athlete is a dominating player in 0.85 0.93 0.73 0.89
basketball
The athlete seems very knowledgeable in 0.89
basketball
The athlete has prominent athletic skills in 0.84
basketball
Competition style The athlete’s competition style is 0.87 0.94 0.84 0.90
distinctive from other players
The athlete’s competition style is exciting 0.88
to watch
The athlete’s competition style is 0.88
charismatic
Sportsmanship The athlete shows sportsmanship in 0.87 0.93 0.83 0.89
competition
The athlete shows respect for his 0.85
opponents and other players
The athlete shows fair play 0.90
Rivalry The rivalry match of this athlete is 0.86 0.93 0.73 0.89
exciting
The athlete does well against his major 0.83
rival
The rivalry match of this athlete is 0.72
dramatic
Attractive 0.89 0.48 0.86
appearance
Physical The athlete is physically attractive 0.81 0.86 0.67 0.86
attractiveness The athlete is beautiful looking 0.87
The athlete is sexy 0.78
Symbol The athlete’s private fashion is attractive 0.84 0.91 0.77 0.85
The athlete is stylish 0.90
The athlete’s fashion is trend 0.84
Body fitness The athlete is in good shape 0.85 0.92 0.81 0.88
The athlete’s body fits the basketball 0.82
The athlete’s body is well conditioned 0.86
Marketable 0.89 0.47 0.86
lifestyle
Life story The athlete’s has dramatic episodes in his 0.89 0.93 0.84 0.89
life
The athletes have a dramatic personal life 0.85
The athlete’s private lifestyle is newsy 0.84
Role model The athlete is socially responsible 0.86 0.94 0.84 0.90
The athlete is a good role model for others 0.87
The athlete is a good leader in our 0.86
community
Relationship effort The athlete shows appreciation for fans 0.86 0.94 0.84 0.91
Table 1. and spectators
Results of the The athlete is responsive to fans 0.88
measurement model The athlete tries to interact with fans 0.90
assessing construct
reliability (N 5 572) (continued )
 International
Factor Cronbach’s Journal of Sports
Constructs Items loading CR AVE alpha Marketing and
Emotional I feel emotionally connected to the athlete 0.86 0.93 0.76 0.89 Sponsorship
attachment that I like
I feel a bond with the athlete that I like 0.84
I am very attached to the athlete that I like 0.90
The athlete that I like is special for me 0.83
Perceived price This athlete’s basketball shoes are 0.91 0.94 0.83 0.93
value reasonably priced
This athlete’s basketball shoes offer value 0.88
for money
This athlete’s basketball shoes are a good 0.89
product for the price
This athlete’s basketball shoes would be 0.87
economical
Social media I like to read information about [athlete’s 0.90 0.94 0.81 0.92
engagement name] on social media
I like to talk/share with others about 0.88
[athlete’s name] information on social
media
I like to comment and fully support 0.91
[athlete’s name] on social media
I like to join [athlete’s name] online 0.90
community to communicate with others
Purchase If I were going to purchase basketball 0.81 0.94 0.77 0.91
intention shoes, I would consider buying this athlete
brand
If I were shopping for basketball shoes, the 0.79
likelihood I would purchase this athlete
brand is high
My willingness to buy this athlete brand 0.86
would be high if I were shopping for
basketball shoes
In the future, the probability I would 0.82
consider buying this athlete’s basketball
shoes is high Table 1.

Subsequently, a structural equation model was developed to scrutinize the relationships

among the constructs and use SPSS PROCESS for the moderated serial-mediation analysis.
As depicted in Table 1, all composite reliability values for latent variables ranged between
0.86 and 0.94, surpassing the threshold of 0.70 (Hair et al., 2010). Convergent validity was
evaluated through factor loadings and the average variance extracted (AVE). All the first-
order measurement items exceeded 0.60, and AVE values for variables surpassed the 0.50
cut-off (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). AVEs of the second-order (i.e. athletic performance,
attractive appearance, and marketable lifestyle) were 0.43, 0.48, and 0.47 respectively, which
can be acceptable. First, the AVEs were all above 0.4 and close to the 0.5 criterion for
convergent validity, which is consistent with previous research measuring scales in different
sport contexts (e.g. Biscaia et al., 2013; Pedragosa et al., 2023). Consistently, all path
coefficients from the second-order construct to the first-order constructs were significant, as
the CR was greater than 0.60 (see Figure 2), indicating adequate convergent validity (Fornell
and Larcker, 1981). Following Bagozzi and Yi (2012), second-order models are considered
appropriate when first-order factors are correlated with each other (see Table 2) and when
IJSMS

Figure 2.
Partial least squares
(PLS) path model

there is a theoretically justifiable higher-order factor. In this study, the use of second-order
constructs was strongly based on the athlete brand image scale proposed by Arai et al. (2013).
This is corroborated by Pedragosa et al. (2023), who also emphasize the importance of second-
order constructs to ensure parsimonious and interpretable models. In accordance with
measurement theory and consumer behaviour research, we employed the second-order
construct of on-field and off-field images to test structural relationships.
Discriminant validity was confirmed by comparing the square root of the AVE with the
correlation among latent variables. The square roots of the AVE for each construct exceeded
the correlation coefficients, affirming discriminant validity. Details of the square roots of
AVE values and correlation coefficients for the constructs are presented in Table 3.
To address common method bias, we performed Harmon’s one-factor test. The results
indicated that the newly introduced single factor explained 26.50% of the variance, which fell
below the 50% threshold commonly employed to identify the presence of common method
variance (McFarlin and Sweeney, 1992). We further tested common method bias based on the
unmeasured latent method construct technique (Liang et al., 2007). The results showed that
the average variance was 0.037 for the indicators, whereas the method-based average
variance was 0.001. The ratio of the substantive variance to the method variance was around
36:1 (see Appendix for details about common method bias analysis). Consequently, we deem
common method bias to be unlikely to pose a significant issue in this study.

4.2 Hypotheses testing

In the second step, the model can be further used for hypothesis testing. We used 5,000
samples to produce bias-corrected confidence intervals for each coefficient for this procedure.
We evaluated the predictability of the structural model through the variance R2 in the values
of all the dependent latent constructs. The R2 values for emotional attachment, social media
engagement, and purchase intentions are 0.11, 0.44, and 0.71, respectively.
H1 and H2 refer to the predictive effects of an athlete’s brand image on purchase intentions
and social media engagement, respectively. Our results showed that the athlete’s athletic
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Athletic performance
1. Athletic expertise 1
2. Competition style 0.369** 1
3. Sportsmanship 0.333** 0.331** 1
4. Rivalry 0.359** 0.388** 0.413** 1
Attractive appearance
5. Physical attractiveness 0.058 0.061 0.008 0.020 1
6. Symbol 0.014 0.065 0.028
0.020 0.450** 1
7. Body fitness 0.015 0.076 0.053
0.010 0.333** 0.403** 1
Marketable lifestyle
8. Life story 0.002 0.076 0.071 0.043 0.208** 0.210** 0.227** 1
9. Role model
0.040 0.023 0.046 0.038 0.212** 0.233** 0.287** 0.363** 1
10. Relationship effort
0.030 0.038 0.033
0.010 0.215** 0.252** 0.231** 0.338** 0.350** 1
Note(s): N 5 572; **p < 0.01(two-tailed)
International

Marketing and
Sponsorship
Journal of Sports

Table 2.
The correlation of first-
order constructs
IJSMS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Athletic performance 0.650

2. Attractive appearance 0.056 0.694
3. Marketable lifestyle 0.044 0.395** 0.688
4. Emotional attachment
0.084 0.258** 0.264** 0.871
5. Perceived price value 0.147** 0.407** 0.430** 0.415** 0.913
6. Social media engagement 0.167** 0.483** 0.422** 0.487** 0.666** 0.898
7. Purchase intention 0.187** 0.476** 0.498** 0.498** 0.704** 0.773** 0.896
Table 3. Mean 5.94 5.71 5.80 5.38 5.26 5.34 5.32
Mean, standard SD 0.82 0.93 0.90 1.14 1.39 1.27 1.32
deviation and Note(s): N 5 572; **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05 (two-tailed); the values on the diagonal are the AVE square root of each
correlation matrix construct

performance (β 5 0.08, p < 0.05), attractive appearance (β 5 0.07, p < 0.05) and marketable
lifestyle (β 5 0.14, p < 0.001) significantly influenced fans’ purchase intentions, and athlete’s
athletic performance (β 5 0.17, p < 0.001), attractive appearance (β 5 0.30, p < 0.001) and
marketable lifestyle (β 5 0.20, p < 0.001) positively related to social media engagement,
supporting H1 and H2.
H3 tests whether the fans’ emotional attachment mediates the effect of the athlete’s brand
image on purchase intentions. The results showed that the attractive appearance (β 5 0.19,
p < 0.05) and marketable lifestyle (β 5 0.20, p < 0.001) affect fans’ emotional attachment, while
athlete’s athletic performance was not significantly related to emotional attachment
(β 5
0.10, p 5 0.15). Emotional attachment was positively related to the fans’ purchase
intentions (β 5 0.13, p < 0.001). Specifically, emotional attachment had a mediating effect on
an athlete’s attractive appearance (β 5 0.03, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.014, 0.059]) and marketable
lifestyle (β 5 0.03, p < 0.05, 95% CI [0.016, 0.056]) on purchase intentions. Therefore, H3 was
partially supported.
H4 tests whether emotional attachment mediates the effect of the athlete’s brand image on
social media engagement. Emotional attachment was positively related to social media
engagement (β 5 0.37, p < 0.001). Table 4 shows that the indirect effect of emotional
attachment between an athlete’s attractive appearance (β 5 0.07, 95% CI [0.033, 0.114]),
marketable lifestyle (β 5 0.07, 95% CI [0.039, 0.112]) and fans’ social media engagement
respectively, was significant, partially supporting H4.
H5 refers to whether emotional attachment and social media engagement serially mediate
the effect of athlete brand image on fans’ purchase intentions. The result shows that the serial
mediation effects of emotional attachment and social media engagement on the relationship

Hypothesis Path Effect Boot LLCI Boot ULCI

H3 AA → EA → PI 0.03 0.014 0.059

ML → EA → PI 0.03 0.016 0.056
H4 AA → EA → SME 0.07 0.033 0.114
ML → EA → SME 0.07 0.039 0.112
H5 AA → EA → SME → PI 0.04 0.019 0.065
ML → EA → SME → PI 0.04 0.022 0.063
Table 4. Note(s): The LL (lower limit) and UL (upper limit) are at 95% confidence intervals; AA: attractive appearance;
Mediation effect ML: marketable lifestyle; EA: emotional attachment; SME: social media engagement; PI: purchase intention
between an athlete’s attractive appearance (β 5 0.04, 95% CI [0.019, 0.065]), marketable International
lifestyle (β 5 0.04, 95% CI [0.022, 0.063]) and fans’ purchase intentions were significant, Journal of Sports
partially supporting H6 (see Table 4). Marketing and
H6 predicts that fans’ perceived price value moderates the indirect positive effect of Sponsorship
emotional attachment on purchase intentions. The result shows that the moderated
mediation effect of perceived price value (β 5
0.07, p < 0.05, 95% CI [
0.131,
0.018]) was
significant. The moderated serial-mediation analysis was conducted further using Model 14
of SPSS PROCESS. Compared with Smart PLS, SPSS PROCESS can provide a simple-slope
result and estimate an index of moderated serial mediation that offers statistical evidence for
each conditional indirect effect. Figure 3 and Table 5 show that the mediation effects were
greater among fans who performed lower perceived price value and did not support H6.

5. Discussion
The present study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of how fans’ perceptions of
an athlete’s brand images influence their social media engagement and purchase intentions to
support that athlete, as well as the boundary conditions that affect purchase intentions.
Overall, key findings can be derived from our results.

5.1 Theoretical contributions

First, athletic performance has a significant effect on fans’ purchase intentions. This is
consistent with previous studies that have demonstrated that athletic performance directly
influences fans’ loyalty (Kunkel et al., 2019; Mahmoudian et al., 2021). However, athletic
performance is not significantly related to emotional attachment. This result can possibly be
interpreted for the reason that the attachment theory defines homophily, which states that

Figure 3.
The moderating role of
perceived price value

Moderator Indirect effect Effect Boot SE Boot LLCI Boot ULCI

Perceived price value M
1SD 0.1155 0.0023 0.0726 0.1642 Table 5.

M 0.0390 0.0213
0.0018 0.0838 Conditional mediation
Mþ1SD 0.0063 0.0063
0.0444 0.0057 effect
IJSMS persons with similar characteristics are more likely to attach than those with dissimilar
qualities (Kim and Altmann, 2017). Fans may feel reverence and personal unachievable due to
the athletes’ high levels of athletic performance, which may potentially prevent the
establishment of emotional attachment (Kunkel et al., 2019). Also, emotional attachment
mediates the relationship between athletes’ off-field images and purchase intentions.
According to Doyle et al. (2022), athletes’ off-field images as backstage content thereby
increasing their fans’ emotional attachment, which in turn influences purchase intentions.
Attractive appearance and marketable lifestyle have a significant positive effect on both
emotional attachment and purchase intentions; this finding enriches previous research on the
effect of off-field images on consumer behavioural loyalty (Hasaan et al., 2018; Kunkel et al.,
2019), validating athletes’ off-field attributes are key components of athletes’ brand images
(Arai et al., 2013).
Second, we attempt to extend previous research by incorporating social media
engagement into a traditional framework of sport consumer behavioural intentions, as
well as identifying the positive influence of the athlete’s brand image on fans’ social media
engagement. On one hand, the result revealed that both on-field and off-field images of the
athlete directly influenced fans’ social media engagement, which is consistent with previous
research on athlete image and consumer engagement (Pegoraro et al., 2018; Doyle et al., 2022).
On the other, our findings highlight the importance of fan emotional attachment as a key
mediator between the athlete’s off-field attributes and social media engagement. The finding
is echoed in Huiszoon et al.’s (2018) study of the mediating role of fan attitude toward the team
on supportive match behaviour intentions. This study enriches and supports consumer
engagement in sport context, including social media engagement in the examination of non-
transactional behavioural intentions (McDonald et al., 2022; Yoshida et al., 2014). In addition,
we confirmed the sequential mediation of emotional attachment and social media
engagement in athletes’ brand image and purchase intentions, where the link can be
estimated in terms of relationship marketing. When fans develop an emotional attachment to
an athlete, they are likely to express a favourable opinion of the athlete through social media,
reciprocate positive feelings towards the athlete’s brand, and increase their purchase
intentions (Hollebeek, 2011). The present study examines social media engagement and
purchase intentions in an integrated manner, providing empirical evidence for former
research on how social media engagement tends to contribute to increased purchase
intentions (Huiszoon et al., 2018; Yoshida et al., 2014).
Third, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on athlete brand image by
identifying an important moderator (i.e. perceived price value) that may influence fans’
purchase intentions. Contrary to our expectations, the findings show that fans’ perceived
price value negatively moderates the relationship between emotional attachment and
purchase intentions. The finding is consistent with Ma and Kaplanidou (2020) proposition,
such that even if fans with high identification think ticket prices are somewhat influential,
they would still like to consume sports products. In our case, we argue that fans’ emotional
attachment to athletes is triggered by their on-field and off-field images. This leads to a
motivation to promote their purchase intentions towards the athlete’s personally branded
signature products, which foster an internal perception of similarity to their idols and cultural
meaning (Mahmoudian et al., 2021; McCracken, 1989). Even if they have to spend more
money, fans are more likely to buy the product to bask in reflected glory (BIRGing), that is,
when the fan has a sense of achievement based on the glory of their favourite athlete, they are
likely to publicize their relationship with the athlete through the display of visible products,
regardless of price considerations. Furthermore, the study by Kunkel et al. (2017) revealed
that the consumers’ perceived price value was not a significant predictor of satisfaction with
sport teams, suggesting that fans’ value perceptions are less impacted by economic
considerations. This finding provides additional evidence for our study that fans are willing
to pay for products when they are emotionally attached to an athlete’s brand image, even if International
the perceived price value is not high. Journal of Sports
Marketing and
Sponsorship
5.2 Practical implications
From a practical perspective, this study illustrates the capacity of an athlete’s brand image to
facilitate effective brand communication and management. First, this research highlights the
influence of athletes’ achievements on fans’ purchase intentions, confirming its positive
impact on social media engagement and the intentions to purchase athlete’s basketball shoes,
indicating that when crafting personal brands for athletes, organizations should prioritize the
significance of their athletic achievements to attract fans’ purchase intentions. Second, this
study supports the idea that athletes’ off-field attributes form emotional bonds with fans, and
emotional attachment is a key factor explaining athletes’ persuasive influence on fans.
Athletes are able to evoke emotions and connect with fans, and this emotional link is valuable
for devising successful marketing strategies, so it is important for managers and marketers to
understand the importance of better assisting athletes in managing their on- and off-field
images and fostering fans to form passionate, intense, and long-lasting brand relationships
with the athlete’s brand (Geurin-Eagleman and Burch, 2016).
Third, the results from this article clearly demonstrate that purchase intentions are
affected by fans’ social media engagement. This is especially important with the proliferation
of social media where athletes ought to employ off-field attributes as branding tools to attract
fan engagement (Na et al., 2020). Given the significant impact of fan engagement, sports
marketers should begin to monitor and measure the level of engagement of targeted fans.
This information can be used in and integrated with marketing strategies. Sports marketers,
for example, can assess operational changes by collecting fan engagement on social media,
such as athletes’ comments, feedback on merchandise, and loyalty maintenance of fan
communities. In addition, the sequential mediation of emotional attachment and fans’ non-
transaction behavioural intentions between athletes’ brand image and purchase intentions
highlights how sport consumption can be facilitated by non-sport-related factors like their
relational bonds and social media engagement. Despite the prevalent belief that non-
transaction engagement benefits athlete brands, it is important to note that engagement
experiences take place in dynamic and iterative contexts with specific situational conditions
and complicated human components. Negatively influencing athlete brand occurs when fans
engage in dysfunctional behaviours while interacting with other fans through social media
(e.g. posting disrespectful messages, writing negative comments, unfavourable word-of-
mouth). Therefore, sport organizations and managers do not overlook fans’ engagement on
social media, they need to provide topics, photos and videos of engaging content that builds
commitment and loyalty and boosts fan engagement in virtual environments.
Furthermore, in terms of perceived price value, the study discovered that despite the low
perceived price value, they would still like to consume the athlete’s personally branded
signature products. Sport managers should be wary of operating under the assumption that
sport consumers, specifically die-hard fans, are not price-sensitive (Kwon et al., 2007). It is
tempting to believe that consumers emotionally attached to athletes have no ceiling on their
willingness to pay for an athlete’s personally branded signature products. However, fans might
be also concerned about the price of the products once the price exceeds their expectations and
has a much stronger impact on their purchasing decisions. Therefore, sport organizations
should invest in marketing efforts that seek to enact campaigns designed to improve fans’
perceptions of price value (e.g. the technology and materials used in products), because, with
limited budgets, they want to be given more information regarding a product so they can make
better decisions for their money. An additional idea would be to include athletes-related
products (e.g. T-shirts) as part of a package or give away some merchandise peripherals in
IJSMS order to foster a perception of price value by bundling various products together with
concessions.

5.3 Limitations and directions for future research

Despite these contributions, it is important to acknowledge several limitations in this
research. Firstly, this model is centred on the specific context of basketball athletes,
potentially limiting its generalizability to other sports. Subsequent studies should apply the
proposed model considering the particular context of the sports involved. Secondly, this
study relied on cross-sectional data obtained from a single group of participants. Future
research should encompass a broader spectrum of data spanning various sports segments
and athletes, employing a more diverse consumer base to enhance the external validity of the
results. Thirdly, purchase intentions often involve fans’ understanding of brand culture and
their perceptions of the brand. Further exploration of this aspect can offer additional insights
into the factors influencing purchase intentions, potentially requiring qualitative methods to
explore the significance of an athlete’s brand image for fans. Furthermore, while we
confirmed the moderating effect of perceived price value, it is important to note that not all
fans are affected by perceived price value in the sport environment, therefore a larger sample
of sport fans would allow for a more accurate assessment of the extent to which sport
consumers are price sensitive. Finally, we only considered the Arai et al. (2013) scale to
measure the athlete’s brand image. Future studies may focus on other attributes, including
team success, ethnicity and entertainment (Hasaan et al., 2018) to understand the full
implications of athlete brand image by fans.

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Corresponding author
Longzhao Zheng can be contacted at: zhenglongzhao@stu.xmu.edu.cn
Appendix International
Journal of Sports
Marketing and
Substantive factor loading (R1) R12 Method factor loading (R2) R22 Sponsorship
AE1 0.118 0.014 0.025 0.001
AE2 0.133 0.018 0.006 0.000
AE3 0.126 0.016
0.031 0.001
CS1 0.127 0.016 0.016 0.000
CS2 0.133 0.018 0.019 0.000
CS3 0.135 0.018
0.035 0.001
SP1 0.129 0.017 0.022 0.000
SP2 0.126 0.016
0.029 0.001
SP3 0.132 0.017 0.006 0.000
RI1 0.131 0.017
0.039 0.002
RI2 0.135 0.018 0.014 0.000
RI3 0.113 0.013 0.028 0.001
PA1 0.149 0.022
0.028 0.001
PA2 0.166 0.028 0.026 0.001
PA3 0.154 0.024 0.001 0.000
SY1 0.177 0.031
0.007 0.000
SY2 0.188 0.035 0.05 0.003
SY3 0.168 0.028
0.044 0.002
BF1 0.159 0.025 0.075 0.006
BF2 0.132 0.017
0.075 0.006
BF3 0.142 0.020
0.002 0.000
LS1 0.042 0.002
0.001 0.000
LS2 0.041 0.002
0.016 0.000
LS3 0.042 0.002 0.017 0.000
RM1 0.039 0.002
0.011 0.000
RM2 0.04 0.002 0.002 0.000
RM3 0.04 0.002 0.009 0.000
RE1 0.039 0.002 0.005 0.000
RE2 0.039 0.002
0.005 0.000
RE3 0.04 0.002
0.001 0.000
EA1 0.286 0.082 0.052 0.003
EA2 0.284 0.081
0.027 0.001
EA3 0.294 0.086 0.014 0.000
EA4 0.283 0.080
0.04 0.002
PPV1 0.278 0.077 0.033 0.001
PPV2 0.273 0.075
0.025 0.001
PPV3 0.273 0.075
0.02 0.000
PPV4 0.271 0.073 0.011 0.000
SME1 0.281 0.079 0.07 0.005
SME2 0.274 0.075
0.036 0.001
SME3 0.281 0.079 0.018 0.000
SME4 0.278 0.077
0.053 0.003
PI1 0.281 0.079
0.01 0.000
PI2 0.276 0.076
0.054 0.003
PI3 0.286 0.082 0.05 0.003
PI4 0.285 0.081 0.011 0.000
Average 0.037 0.001
Note(s): AE: athletic expertise; CS: competition style, SP: sportsmanship; RI: rivalry; PA: physical Table A1.
attractiveness, SY: symbol; BF: body fitness; LS: life story; RM: role model; RE: relationship effort; EA: Common method bias
emotional attachment; PPV: perceived price value; SME: social media engagement; PI: purchase intention analysis