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Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements

Brent Evans, Shonice Pettaway, & 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 Peoples likelihood to buy a certain brand or product Peoples 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 persons 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 resulted in a link to brand sales that produced a greater likelihood to purchase the product advertised 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).

This

The

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 publics 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 publics 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 Peoples likelihood to use the products Conceptual 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

Gender Graph

Of the 100 student-athletes surveyed there were 61 men and 39 women represented in the survey

Findings

Of the 100 participants:

Ethnicity Graph

56% White

27% Black
8% Hispanic 1% Asian 8% Mixed

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 persons 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 athletes team

Findings

Research Question: Is there a difference between print and broadcast ads and the effects of celebrity endorsements on the publics 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 publics 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 participants The 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 persons 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 athletes 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 wasnt 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

+ References
Bailey, A. (2007). Public Information and Consumer Skepticism Effects on Celebrity Endorsements: Studies among Young Consumers. Journal of Marketing Communications. Vol. 13, Issue 2. p. 85-107. Boyd. T & Shank, S. (2004). Athletes as Product Endorsers: The Effect of Gender and Product Relatedness. Sports Marketing Quarterly. Vol. 13. Issue 2. p. 82-94. Carlson, B. & Donavan, T. (2013). Human Brands in Sport: Athlete Brand Personality and Identification. Journal of Sport Management, Vol. 27 (3), p. 193-206.

Lee, E. & Browne, L. (1995). Effects of Television Advertising on African American Teenagers. Journal of Black Studies, 25(5), 523-536.

McGhee, T. (2012). The rise and rise of athlete brand endorsements. Journal Of Brand Strategy. Vol. 1(1). p. 79-84.

Cheong, Y. & Kim, K. (2011). The Effects of the Athlete-Endorsed Miller, F. M., & Laczniak, G. R. (2011). The Ethics of Celebrity-Athlete Advertising: Moderating Role of the Athlete-Audience Ethnicity Match. Endorsement. Journal Of Advertising Research, Vol. 51(3). p. 499-510. Journal of Sports Management. Vol. 25. p. 143-155. Ciafone, B. & Zhang, J. (2006). Differential Effects of Television Commercials, Athlete Endorsements, And Venue Signage During a Televised Action Sports Event. Journal of Sports Management. Vol. 20, Issue 3. p. 322-345. Elberse, A. & Verleun, J. (2012). The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements. Journal Of Advertising Research. Vol. 52(2). p.149-165. Kihan, K. (2011). The Effects of Athlete-Endorsed Advertising: The Moderating Role of the Athlete-Audience Ethnicity Match. Journal Of Sport Management, 25(2), 143-155. Koernig, S. K., & Boyd, T. C. (2009). To Catch a Tiger or Let Him Go: The Match-up A Effect and Athlete Endorsers for Sport and Non-Sport Brands. Sports Marketing Quarterly. Vol. 18(1). p. 15-37. Parks, J., Peetz, T. & Spencer, N. (2004). Sport Heroes as Sport Product Endorsers: The Role of Gender in the Transfer of Meaning Process for Selected Undergradate Students. Sports Marketing Quarterly. Vol. 13. P. 141-150. Sparks, R. & Wilson, B. (1996). "It's Gotta Be the Shoes": Youth, Race, and Sneaker Commercials. Sociology of Sport Journal. Vol. 13. p. 398-428. Starcevic, S. (2012). The influence of celebrity endorsement on advertising effectiveness and brand image. Zbornik Radova Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Istocnom Sarajevu, Vol. 7, 147-161. Wright, C. (1960). Functional analysis and mass communication. Public OpinionQuarterly, Vol. 24, 605-620.