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Why Athletes in Advertising Can Sell Junk

Greg Cormier
Franklin Pierce University
Consumer Behavior Professor Whitman
December, 2014

Introduction
Advertising is what keeps businesses running, and helps the products move off of the
shelves. Though there are many ways to help increase sales within advertising, the use of athletes
within advertisements boosts those sales tremendously. Approximately 20-25% of
advertisements involve a celebrity as an endorser (Sliburyte, 2009). The author of this paper
found professional studies that were based on athletes in the advertisement world of food and the
effect that it has on consumers. Each study has some kind of research done to help answer a
question related to athlete endorsements. While one study may focus on the effect athletes have
on kids in advertising, another study may conclude that athletes are sending the wrong message
through their endorsements. This number is most likely continuing to grow. It is an astonishing
fact that people could be fooled into buying fast food products for example, when the athlete
who is advertising it most likely does not eat that product. However, it is proven that these
advertisements do in fact work. Within each of these studies, there was actual research done to
come up with the conclusion that each author found.
Study 1
The first study was titled, Athlete Endorsements in Food Marketing. The several
authors of this study were named Marie A. Bragg, Swati Yanamadala, Christina A. Roberto,
Jennifer L. Harris, and Kelly D. Brownell. The authors of this first study quantified professional
athletes endorsement of food and beverages, evaluated the nutritional quality of endorsed
products, and determined the number of television commercial exposures of athlete-endorsement
commercials for children, adolescents, and adults. The study selected one hundred professional
athletes on the basis of Bloomberg Businessweeks 2010 Power 100 rankings, which ranks

athletes according to their endorsement value and prominence in their sport. (Bragg,
Yanamadala, Roberto, Harris, 2013) Endorsement information was gathered from the Power 100
list and the advertisement database Ad Scope. Endorsements were sorted into 11 endorsement
categories. (e.g., food/beverages) The nutritional quality of the foods featured in athleteendorsement advertisements was assessed by using a Nutrient Profiling Index, whereas
beverages were evaluated on the basis of the percentage of calories from added sugar. (Bragg,
Yanamadala, Roberto, Harris, 2013) Marketing data was collected from Ad Scope and Nielsen.
The result of this study was that of 512 brands endorsed by 100 different athletes, sporting
goods/apparel represented the largest category (28.3%), followed by food/beverages (23.8%) and
consumer goods (10.9%). Professional athletes in this sample were associated with 44 different
food or beverage brands during 2010. Seventy-nine percent of the 62 food products in athleteendorsed advertisements were energy-dense and nutrient-poor, and 93.4% of the 46 advertised
beverages had 100% of calories from added sugar. (Bragg, Yanamadala, Roberto, Harris, 2013)
Peyton Manning (professional American football player) and LeBron James (professional
basketball player) had the most endorsements for energy-dense, nutrient-poor products.
Adolescents saw the most television commercials that featured athlete endorsements of food.
Overall, youth are exposed to professional athlete endorsements of food products that are energydense and nutrient-poor.
Study 2
The second study was titled, When Healthy Athletes Promote Unhealthy Food. The
author of this study was Alexandra Sifferlin. This author discussed the contradiction of Michelle
Obamas Lets Move campaign by exemplifying how athletes in shape help advertise
unhealthy foods. In the report published by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale

University in the journal Pediatrics, researchers studied 100 professional athletes and their
endorsement contracts, ranking athletes based on their endorsement value and prominence in
their given sport. The author focused on athletes since they are theoretically the best role models
for active, healthy lifestyles for children. After sorting the deals by category, they determined
that among the 512 brands associated with the athletes, most involved sporting goods, followed
closely by food and beverage brands. (Sifferlin, 2013) The author found that sports drinks, which
are often high in sugar and calories, made up most of the food and drink deals, with soft drinks
and fast food filling out the remainder. Of the 46 beverages endorsed by professional athletes,
93% relied exclusively on sugar for all of their calories. If they do decide to join the fight
against childhood obesity, these athletes should send out a consistent message. Children clearly
view these athletes as role models, and tend to emulate their idols not just in their careers, but in
what they choose to eat and drink as well, said Alexandra Sifferlin The author also found that
advertisements featuring professional athletes and their endorsed products tend to get impressive
exposure, on TV, radio, in print and online. And in 2010, the researchers reported that children
ages 12 to 17 saw more athlete-endorsed food and beverage brand commercials than adults. The
study focused tremendously on the way children are affected by athlete endorsed food
advertisements. (Sifferlin, 2013) The author concluded that athletes should send out a consistent
message to an audience. The author also concluded that children look at athletes as role models
and are very likely to follow an athletes choice of food and drinks. Therefore, the author
believes that athletes should help the fight against obesity. (Sifferlin, 2013)
Study 3
The third study was titled, The Effects of Athlete-Endorsed Advertising: The
Moderating Role of the Athlete-Audience Ethnicity Match. This study looked at the use of

athletic endorsements and how it affects different races/ethnicities. The author of this study was
Kihan Kim from Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea as well as Yunjae Cheong
from the University of Alabama. In this study, two surveys were conducted to Anglo-Americans
and Asian-Americans for review (Kim, Cheong, 2011). A total of 168 responses from AngloAmericans, and 166 responses from Asian-Americans were obtained from a convenient sample
of undergraduate students recruited from introductory communication courses in two large public
universities in the U.S. (52% females; 48% male) (Kim, Cheong, 2011). Professional golfers
were selected as athlete product endorsers, because the appearance of golfers in advertising has
been one of the most popular practices in athlete-endorsed advertising. (Kim, Cheong, 2011).
Two stimulus advertisements were created, each of which incorporated either an Anglo- or
Asian-American golfer (Kim, Cheong, 2011). To select two golfers with similar levels of media
recognition, 2008 PGA Tour FedExCup Points were used(Kim, Cheong, 2011). From among the
top 20 players, one Anglo-American golfer and one Asian-American golfer sponsored by the
same company were selected (Kim, Cheong, 2011). After the first survey was completed, an
interval of seven days lapsed before the completion of the second survey to avoid potential carryover effects of a participants response to the first survey (Kim, Cheong, 2011). The second
survey measured the perceived athlete-brand fit, post-attitude toward the brand, and the purchase
intention (Kim, Cheong, 2011). In addition, the degree of ethnic self-referencing variable was
added and measured (Kim, Cheong, 2011). Overall, the author found that athlete endorsers add
to the persuasive impacts of advertising especially when there is an ethnicity match between the
athlete endorser and the target audience (Kim, Cheong, 2011). Specifically, the findings from the
full-sample path analysis demonstrated that more favorable attitudes toward the athlete and
stronger fit between the athlete and the brand resulted in more favorable post-attitudes toward the

brand, but these effects were only marginally significant (Kim, Cheong, 2011). This study also
showed that more favorable preexisting attitudes toward the brand resulted in more favorable
post-attitudes toward the brand, regardless of the athlete-participant ethnicity match; more
favorable post-attitudes toward the brand resulted in more favorable intentions to purchase the
brand (Kim, Cheong, 2011).
Conclusion
All in all, each study had a different conclusion. However, each one explained some of
the reasons as to why consumers are influenced to buy products that athletes essentially sell, such
as food. There is no doubt that children want to be the same as their role model. When the star
player of the league advertises a company like McDonalds, kids are fooled into thinking that
eating fast food will make them like the superstar athlete on their television. In most if not all
cases, the product being advertised by the athlete is simply an endorsement where they get paid
to act like they use it, but they never really do. This author concludes that many advertisements
with athletes will continue to work. People believe in a product that someone successful is
selling to them. As long as the athlete who is helping to advertise the product is credible to the
audience, the product will sell. This author believes that within the business world, athletes and
celebrities alike, will show no signs of slowing down within the advertisement world.

References

Bragg MA, Yanamadala S, Roberto CA, Harris JL (2013) Athlete Endorsements in Food
Marketing. American Academy of Pediatrics

Kim, K. (2011). The Effects of Athlete-Endorsed Advertising: The Moderating Role of the
Athlete-Audience Ethnicity Match. Journal of Sport Management, 25(2).

Renton, Karla Juliane, "The Impact of Athletic Endorsements on Consumers Purchase

Intentions" (2009). Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations. Paper 1896.

Sifferlin, Alexandra (2013) When Healthy Athletes Promote Unhealthy Food. Rudd Center for
Food Policy and Obesity

Sliburyte, L. (2009). How celebrities can be used in advertising to the best advantage. World
Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology, 58, 934-939.