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

Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements Brent Evans, Shonice Pettaway, & Erika Rasile Queens University of Charlotte

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements Introduction: The objectives of this study revolve around the desire to discover what attracts people to certain athletic endorsers, and why this attraction promotes a

greater motivation to purchase brands and products endorsed by said athletes. This study is concerned with measuring how the perceived popularity of an athlete affects purchasing decisions and product usage, how the type of ad affects purchasing decisions and product usage, and how the athletes race or gender affects the purchasing decisions and product usage. The research in this study will be used in the endeavor to prove that people feel better using products that are endorsed by athletes they think are popular or whom they identify with. Therefore, this study will attempt to prove that people are more likely to both use and purchase these products because their purchase and usage gives them greater gratification and pleasure than using or purchasing products without celebrity endorsements. Theory: The theory that best relates to the research in this study is the Uses and Gratification Theory. The theorys basic overview is that different people have various reasons for using different mediums of media because of the different types of pleasure that is produced from using this media. People are able to view advertisements, and through the uses and gratification theory, they are able to decide what effects this has one specific person. Due to personal beliefs, people are able to select the type of media that is most applicable to their lives and observe how it affects them. The first study that was

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

noted to correspond directly with this theory was in 1948. The man behind this portion of the research was Lasswell. The three categories that the research was broken down into were; who is consuming the media, how they consumed it, and how it affected them (Wright, C. 1960). It was then broken down into 3 different functions. The actual gratification portion came into play in the 1960s. Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch brought this theory together and into existence in 1973. The reason was to get a deeper understanding of way people view and perceive mass communication in the many different ways. This has a close connection to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs because it helps explain why different people have different needs and that we need different things in order to survive. With more relevant research, it was noted that purpose, satisfaction, and some forms of behaviors visible. People have more control over what media they decide to consume and what they end up getting out of this media consumption. This could potentially help research for this study in order to better understand peoples uses and gratifications for purchasing certain items endorsed by athletes. The other theory that connects directly to a persons willingness to purchase a specific item is the social identity theory. The social identity theory states that a persons sense of who they are is based off of their group membership. For example, athletes are more likely to identify with other athletes because they consider themselves to be members of the same group, and thus, have specific commonalities. The consumer identifying themselves with the athletes connects directly to advertisements and their effectiveness, and this correlates directly with the amount of items that are purchased (Carlson, B. & Donavan, D. 2008. p.154.). Most athletes are picked based on the image

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

that they portray and the personal characteristic that they have in common with the buyer (Starcevic,S. 2012. p.147) As a buyer, you tend to support someone that is similar to yourself or someone you see as being a positive influence. Genders and races also play a tremendous role in whether or not a consumer purchases a specific item. If both the consumer and the athlete share the factors of common gender and race, it is likely that the consumer will be more likely to support the athlete based off of the Social Identity Theory. Literature Review: The literature for this project will consist of articles that focus around the effect of celebrity endorsers on the way in which consumers view certain types of products. There will be a specific focus on the impact of athlete endorsers, and how it affects sales of athletic gear and the image of a sports brand, such as Nike. Other sources will be evaluating what attracts people to identify with certain endorsers more than others based on variables such as race and gender. The different themes of the literature will all contribute to attempting to prove the hypotheses. The central theme will be attempting to evaluate, and subsequently prove that athletic endorsements are a key factor in spurring people to buy one brand or another or to identify with one celebrity or brand over another. The sources will be presented and organized thematically. The articles in the literature review will focus on the effects of the race and gender of an endorser and how that affects consumers attitudes and purchasing behavior of the brand, the subsequent sources will focus on the ways in which marketers get consumers to value a certain celebrity based off their

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

popularity, and therefore purchase the brand they endorse, and the final articles will explore the effects of athlete endorsements on how it affects public desire to use a certain product or brand. A factor that plays a huge role in the willingness of a consumer to trust a celebrity endorser, and thereby, the brand they endorse, is the celebritys gender or ethnicity. A lot of research has been done that proves there is a high correlation between the perceived credibility of the source and the effectiveness of the message (Boyd & Shank, 2004, p. 83). Credibility is different from just a celebritys reputation. Gender, race, and background play a huge role in how celebrity credibility is perceived by the public. In a study by Boyd and Shank, students were asked to evaluate a print ad that featured a specific celebrity, followed by a questionnaire that asked them to rank the celebritys attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise on a 7-point Likert scale (Boyd & Shank, 2004, p. 85). The study found that males were more influenced by other male athletes, and considered them more credible over female athletes. The study also revealed that male athletes were rated higher [in attractiveness] than female athletes on all dimensions (Boyd & Shank, 2004, p. 88). This can possibly be attributed to the fact that Americans have been socialized to appreciate the physical attributes of male athletes more than those of female athletes (Boyd & Shank, 2004, p. 88). However, females were found to be more trusting of female endorsers than male endorsers, despite the fact that males are seen as more attractive. This study effectively proved males are more likely to trust male endorsers, and females are more trusting of

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements female endorsers, despite rankings of attractiveness and expertise that rank men higher. This is a strong finding in support of the notion that gender matching between the endorser and the consumer is important in creating trust (Boyd & Shank, 2004, p. 90). In addition to Boyd and Shanks findings, another study by Parks, Peetz, and Spencer also explored the role of gender and how it factors into the effectiveness of athletes product endorsement. This is an important thing to consider since the effectiveness of an athletes endorsements of sport products depends upon

successful transfer of meaning from the athlete to the product and, ultimately to the consumer (Parks, Peetz, et. al, 2004, p. 142). The researchers conducted a study using 150 college students (68% of which were male) that was designed to study the effect of gender in the transfer of meaning and effectiveness of athletic endorsers, and subsequently, the effects these endorsers had on purchasing decisions. They were given scales that evaluated the level of fame of the athlete, whether the participants found a certain athlete more or less famous, and then also measured the participants level of identification with a certain athlete. The findings were incredibly interesting in that a majority indicated that endorsements by male athletes would influence their purchasing decisions.endorsement by female endorsers would not influence their decisions (Parks, Peetz, et. al, 2004, p. 145). The study also found that male participants were more likely to purchase products endorsed by male endorsers (Parks, Peetz, et al, 2004, p. 146). The study was conclusive with providing proof for the reserachers hypothesis, and ultimately

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements came to the conclusion that 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).

Yet another study by Kihan states that advertisers are always trying to use people that have the ability to relate to the potential consumers in order to better promote their products (Kihan, 2011, p.146). The more a consumer is able to connect to the person endorsing the product, the more likely they are to purchase the items. This could be evident through consumer support of their same race or someone that is the same gender. Boyd and Shank stated that people tend to support the same sex endorsers more than those of the opposite sex (Kihan, 2011, p.147). This connection creates a link between the two that makes them have something in common. Having common factors makes you more likely to identify with the person, and therefore, more likely to desire to purchase their product. All three of these articles indicate that there will most likely be data collected in this study suggest that purchase intentions rely on gender identification, which is something that can be tested in this study. These sources help to provide precedence for this idea, in that they proved the creation of trust by same-sex athletes makes ads more effective, and having an athlete of the same gender creates a greater transfer of meaning, which directly affects purchasing decisions. It can be suggested that having an athlete of the same gender will allow a consumer to identify with that brand and be more willing to purchase it.

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements The same goes for ethnicity. Wilson and Sparks study Its Gotta Be the Shoes examines the particular reason behind why the youth, particularly the African-American youth, are influenced by products endorsed by black superstar

athletes. These researchers cited findings from various other studies to help provide proof as to how peoples social constructs are important in how people interpret and interact with the media. Social constructs are especially important when evaluating youth consumption of the media, and thereby the brands and products associated with that media. For example, after popular basketball stars, such as Michael Jordan began appearing in sneaker commercials, consequently: sneakers have since become a widely recognized social artifact often associated with youth culture. Present symbolic and practical uses of the sneaker might be considered examples of symbolic creativity for the youth, who negotiate and create [social] meaning with sneakers and the athleticapparel commercials that shape their brand identities (Sparks & Wilson, 1996, p. 406). The creation of the social meanings of products like sneakers, athletic apparel, etc. are highly evident in the African-American community, especially when it comes to products advertised by black athletes, specifically basketball players. In this study, the researchers constructed a sample of seven different groups that comprised of both African-American males and non-African-American males. The participants were provided with six different representative athletic-apparel commercials featuring Black athletes (Sparks & Wilson, 1996, p. 410), and then the groups were asked about their interpretations of the ads in a focus group style discussion. The results of the study were conclusive to prove that Black

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements respondents appeared to identify with, support, and adulate the [black] celebrity athletes, at times seeing [them] as role models. The non-Blacks admired the athletes and enjoyed the apparel commercials, but did not appear to be influenced in the same way (Sparks & Wilson, 1996, p. 413). In addition, many of the black adolescents gave responses acknowledging the celebrity Black athletes definitive influence on popular style through athletic apparel and the athletic-apparel commercial (Sparks & Wilson, 1996, p. 414). African-Americans are a huge influential consumer group in America, and therefore, it is important to market to them as effectively as possible. The largest

minority group in the 1990 census was African Americans (Lee & Browne, 1995, p. 523). As this number increased, there was a bigger demand on African Americans to be visible in advertisements. This was due to the significant purchasing power of African Americans. In order to cater to this, advertisers began to use more African-American endorsers because African Americans consumers tend to more supportive of products that are used by endorsers of the same race (Lee & Browne, 1995, p.523). For companies like Nike, the uses of athletes like Michael Jordan are mainly targeted towards youth of his background for promotion. As stated by Waldrop, the importance of these items to these young people makes them began to want to consume the items so bad that they are now willing to kill (Lee & Browne, 1995, p.523). In a subsequent study in 2011 by Cheong and Kim, the researchers explored how the ethnic background of the athlete endorser affected the attitude of consumers and their purchasing decisions. The researcher in this study attempted

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to prove many different hypotheses, one of which included proving that the effects of the attitude toward the athlete on the post attitude toward the brand will be more profound when the ethnicity of the athlete matches rather than mismatches that of the audiences (Cheong & Kim, 2001, p. 147). The researchers sampled a total of 334 university students using a questionnaire, which measured participants preexisting attitudes towards a specific athlete and brand, and then provided them with an advertisement featuring an athlete that either matched or mismatched their race. They were then asked to rate their interest in the ad, athlete, and product on a seven-point scale. In the conclusion of this study, researchers found that the findings from this study demonstrate 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 (Cheong & Kim, 2001, p. 152). All three of these studies support the idea that consumers purchase intentions are greater when they encounter ads featuring athletes of their own ethnicity. The findings suggest that students identified more so with celebrity endorsers that matched their own race, which resulted in their supporting those brands and being more likely to purchase those products. Ciafone and Zhang explored this in their research, which involved analyzing the effectiveness of television advertising, celebrity endorsement, and a venues brand signage. Advertising greatly increases brand awareness, specifically when it involves a celebrity endorser. The emotional tie that fans have with the athlete carries over to the brands they endorse, whether or not the product usage is related

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements to the sport.The immediate brand recognition and identification that fans have

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with these athletes is a great benefit to the corporations that provide endorsement deals (Ciafone & Zhang, 2006, p. 325-326). Ciafone and Zhang studied the effects of these endorsement deals on the public by surveying 253 college students who chose to voluntarily participate. The researchers put them into groups where they were asked to watch different videos, and then were tested on brand recognition rates. Advertising was proven to produce the highest level of brand awareness, and celebrity endorsement also played a huge role in brand awareness and effectiveness of advertising. Athletic endorsements in the action sports realm by main sponsors with logos on the athletes jerseys also seems to be effective (Ciafone & Zhang, 2006, p. 341). In addition to this study, the earlier mentioned study by Parks, Peetz, and Spencer also addressed how more popular athletes endorsements helped to raise brand awareness, and in addition, increased the likelihood to purchase that brand. While this article addressed how gender affected meaning of ads with athlete endorsers, the researchers also set out to prove that participants would be more likely to correctly identify with more famous athletes, consider more famous athletes as experts, and be influence to purchase products endorsed by more famous athletes (Parks, Peetz, et. al, 2004, p. 143). The results of the study concluded that not only did the participants in the study better identify the famous athletes and their brands more than the less famous athletes brands, but also the analysis yielded a main effect for fame with participants being more likely to purchase products endorsed by the more famous athletes (Parks, Peetz, et. al, 2004,

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p. 143). Both these articles help to correlate and provide precedence for this study to attempt to prove that the popularity of a celebrity endorser has a direct effect on the sales of the brand they endorse. These studies provide evidence that students identify and are more attracted to brands based off of the celebrities who endorse them. It is clear from these two studies that the popularity of a celebrity increased not only awareness and popularity of the brand, but also increased peoples likelihood to buy it. Another somewhat related theme of our research is to study the effectiveness of the popularity of a certain athlete, and how this popularity affects the likelihood of people to purchase the brand. These studies below focus around how popular a specific athlete is, and the impact that their popularity has on the sales of the specific brand they are endorsed by such as: Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Under Armor, and so on. These articles are used to support the understanding that athlete endorsements are what triggers people to buy apparel from a specific brand. The literature helps to define who is considered to be a premier athlete and why brands tend to endorse them over average athletes in the sports world. According to Elberse and Verleun (2012), the most popular endorsers are sportspeople, and when it comes to performance, athletes success statistics are available more often over a short period time, which makes it easier to determine the impact of endorsers and the success of the brand they are endorsing over the period of time the athlete and brand have had a partnership. This shows a direct correlation of the affect that a particular athlete has on the sales of the apparel that is being advertised. Whether

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements or not the athlete has a positive or negative effect on the endorsements sales. Elberse and Verleun (2012) claim:

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endorsements are a key source of income for sports people in fact, the top three highest-paid American athletes in 2010, golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and basketball player LeBron James reportedly made over seven times as much from endorsements ($147 million) than from salaries and winnings and the stakes seem to go up every year to secure the services of the most sought-after endorsers, firms have started offering athletes bonus payments for major victories lifetime deals that extend beyond their active playing days, revenue-sharing deals, or equity stakes (Elberse & Verleun, 2012, p.150). Brands tend to reward the athletes that are the top performers in their respective sport. Athletes such as Olympic Gold Medalist, Michael Phelps or star tennis player, Roger Federer receive attention from brands because of their performance (Elberse & Verleun, 2012). Winning the MVP award or the championship of the league gives brands a reason to consider star athletes for their endorser positions. Brands also take a big risk when committing to an athlete because of the possibility of becoming injured, losing their form, or being involved with scandals (Elberse & Verleun, 2012). There are popular athletes whose performance are atop of their respective sport, but dont receive the same opportunities as other premier athletes because of the reputation they have built in the public eye outside of their sport. According to Elberse and Verleun (2012), a study done in 1995 examined 110 athlete endorsements that were announced between 1980 and 1992 showed a positive impact of 0.44% abnormal return on the date of the announcement, and a 0.54% abnormal return over a two-day period. This shows that when brands sign a new endorser, they particularly receive attention at the introduction period of the endorsement. However, these athletes were not identified as stars in their particular sports. When

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conducting a study similar to this there has to be a definition of what a premier athlete, an average athlete, and a bad athlete is because this affects the overall outcome of the study. The amount of money that brands pay endorsers to advertise their products are a direct representation of what the brand expects to receive from sales. 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. Branding companies take a risk when they select a new endorser because they are now responsible for the actions of the endorser, the words of the endorser, and the overall reputation of the endorser. Miller and Laczniak state: advertisers are more cautious than ever with endorsement deals because of the ongoing barrage of counterproductive pairings. A companys image can be negatively affected by the firms decision to retain an endorser who is involved in a negative event for which he is to blame (Miller & Laczniak, 2011, p.500). The reputation of the company becomes in jeopardy and this could have a shortterm effect on the stock prices (Miller & Laczniak, 2011). According to Miller and Laczniak (2011), Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, and Michael Phelps are perfect definitions of transgressors. These athletes were at the top of their respective sport being that Kobe Bryant won three NBA champions (2000-2002) within his first seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Phelps became the youngest male to set a world record in swimming at the age of 15, and Tiger Woods winning two tournaments in his first year at on the PGA Tour (Miller & Laczniak, 2011). In July 2003, Kobe Bryant was involved in a sexual assult case in Eagle, Corolado, soon after he was accused he admitted to

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having sex with the 19-year old hotel employee, but stated that it was consensual. In January 2009, Michael Phelps was photographed smoking marijuana, he apologized for using bad judgment, but suspended from competition for 3 months. In 2010, Tiger Woods was spotted at a Mississippi clinic that focuses on the treatment of sex addiction (Miller & Laczniak, 2011). With the antics that these endorsed athletes were participating in, some of their endorsement partners did not want to continue to be involved with the athletes and the reputation they were building. According to Miller and Laczniak (2011), Kobe Bryant discontinued from McDonalds, Sprite, and Nutella, Michael Phelps discontinued from Kelloggs, and Tiger Woods discontinued from Accenture and AT&T. Even though these companies decided to part ways with the athletes there were some companies that could not afford to do so because of the value that the particular athlete had. Kobe Bryant continued his partnership with Nike, Michael Phelps continued his partnership with Speedo, Omega, Hilton Hotels, and Visa, and Tiger Woods continued his partnership with Nike, EA Sports, and Upper Deck (Miller & Laczniak, 2011). Miller and Laczniak stated, For those firms that decided to keep their endorsements in place even in the face of presumed scandal, it seems clear that the celebritys meaning was still valuable to the brandmore so than acting in accordance with the ethical values they espoused (Miller & Laczniak, 2011, p.506). Athletes have been endorsers for as long as there have been professional athletes. According to McGhee (2012) in his article The rise and rise of athlete brand endorsements, a variety of things have changed in the last century since the first athlete endorsements, but the standard elements of first days of athlete endorsements are still

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relevant to companies and endorsers today. An endorsers image or name on the front of a brands product is all that consumers need to sway their opinions in purchasing the product. McGhee (2012) stated, brands are constantly looking for ways to connect to consumers, to tie into their passions and to evoke a response that leads to one or more marketing objectives (McGhee, 2012, p. 79). Whichever way possible, branding companies are trying to find the loophole in persuading possible consumers into buying their specific product. According to McGhee (2012), companies use athlete endorsers to increase awareness of a brand as a whole, to lead to trial and usage, or converting people to becoming long-term, loyal buyers. Celebrity athlete endorsers are often athletes that can have success in whatever branded product they are advertising. For instance, a consumer of Nike branded basketball shoes uses a particular type of shoe because the celebrity athlete endorser for the product is having success in their own personal game presumably by wearing the shoe. The popularity of an athlete endorser is an element that will always be stressed through the support that the athlete receives or the amount of success that an athlete has from their performance in their particular sports. According to McGhee (2012), Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame shortstop was the first profession athlete to ever become an endorser and sign an endorsement deal with a brand called Hillerich and Bradsby or H&B H&B hired Wagner in 1905 and provided his bats, The Louisville Slugger he used in his games in exchange for him lending his name to be branded on the companys bats. This plan by the brand, Hillerich and Bradsby could not have been less successful, but according to McGhee (2012), Wagner had success over the course of his career batting .327 and having more than 3,400 hitsH&B reaped the

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements benefit of their relationship because of Wagners personal achievements. Celebrity athlete endorsers deal with plenty of exploits that do not fit the athletes image as a

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whole, but there has been many athlete endorsers that have took on exploitation head first without hesitation. According to McGhee (2012), Babe Ruth displayed the power of celebrity endorsement to brands because as a baseball icon he was photographed with a cigar in his mouth while endorsing Girl Scout Cookies. This illustrates how valuable a celebrity athlete could be to a brand, regardless of an athletes flaws or character issue. According to McGhee (2012), even though the Babe had a little trouble with his character flaws, such as womanizing and carousing, his endorsement opportunities never seemed to suffer from these personal issues. McGhee (2012) stated, 15 percent of advertisements in the USA feature celebrities. The number is even higher in other countries such as India, 15 per cent and Taiwan, 45 per cent (McGhee, 2012, p.83). According to McGhee (2012), a brands sales can increase as much as 20 per cent after the endorsement deal has been announced, but the stock can rise as much as 0.25 percent on announcement day. Advertising in American has become something that is a part of society and something that we expect to see as consumers. Boyd and Koernig (2009) stated, consumers are exposed to over 1,500 advertising messages from a variety of sources: television, billboards, radio, flyers enclosed with credit card and utility bills, mobile phones, the grocery store floor, and even public restrooms (Boyd and Koernig, 2009, p.25). There are a variety of ways products can be advertised, consumers see their favorite celebrity athletes on a commercials on television, posters in their local store, and

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even magazine ads when using the bathroom. According to Boyd and Koernig (2009), commercial time during an hour-long television program has gradually increased to 21 minutes. A consumer can view over of an hour-long of television dedicated to commercials and advertisements of brand products. According to Boyd and Koernig (2009), LeBron James and Tiger Woods signed a multi-million endorsement with Nike; brand companies are willing to spend a large sums of money to invest into a celebrity athlete endorser to enhance a message or brand recall, to hold or gain consumer interest, increase the believability of ads, posoitive word of mouth communications are created, help improve purcgase likelihood, increase brand loyalty, and improve brand attitudes. Boyd & Koernig (2009) claimed, other research evidence indicates that ads with celebrities are rated as more interesting, strong, and effective; that products in the ads are rated as more pleasant and enjoyable; and that the celebrities themselves are rated as more trustworthy, attractive, and competent (Boyd & Koernig, 2009, p.26). In a study found by Boyd and Koernig (2009), an attractive endorser has a positive effect on the purchase intent of the consumer and the brand attitude. According to Boyd and Koernig (2009), as brand endorsers athletes are widely used to relate to products or brands that involve fitness or an athletic activity because athletes are said to have a high expertise in athletics which makes them more effective as endorsers for sport related brands because they have credibility. In a study found by Boyd and Koernig (2009), Joe Montana was rated as more credible than Paula Abdul for L.A. Gear Shoes, Abdul was compared with a non-famous male model, showing that the credibility was no different, and that an athlete was the most effective fit to advertise for the brand.

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements Additionally, there are articles that help prove the products advertised by star athletes increase peoples likelihood to use them. The previously mentioned

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article by Sparks and Wilson states that there is a correlation between star athletes advertised products and an increased desire for consumers to use these products. Sneakers, specifically Air Jordans as mentioned in the Sparks and Wilson article, became a form of expressing identity and culture after they were popularized by Michael Jordan and other star athletes. They became so widely used and so popular that in fact, many times youth would become violent: Newspaper accounts have linked celebrity athlete endorsements and the cult of the sneaker to a number of violent incidents among youth where the rule of order has been in the Statesif you cant afford them, you steal them (Sparks & Wilson, 1996, p.399). Though this is a tragic fact, it does demonstrate the overwhelming desire that people have for using products like Air Jordans, simply because they are endorsed by a star athlete. This helps to provide support for this study to explore the idea that there is a correlation between products endorsed by star athletes and the likelihood people will use those products. Clearly, this article demonstrates that simply because a pair of shoes is endorsed by Michael Jordan, it creates a culture in which there becomes an overwhelming desire to use a product simply because of who endorses it.

Based upon the literature collected for this study that relate to our topics of interest, the following hypotheses have been formulated, and will be tested through the research of this study.

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Hypothesis 1 (H1): The popularity of a specific athletic endorser has a direct effect on the sales for the brands they endorse. The independent variable for this hypothesis is the popularity of celebrity endorser. The conceptual definition for this variable is whether or not people think an athlete is talented and desire to follow his or her games on a regular basis. The operational definition for this variable is how many people follow and consider themselves fans of a specific athlete. The dependent variable is the sales of the brand. The conceptual definition of this variable is how successful the brand is perceived to be. The operational definition is defined as whether the participants in the survey actually desire to buy the brand endorsed by the athlete. Hypothesis 2 (H2): There is a correlation between products in ads featuring star athletes and the likelihood that people will use these products. The independent variable for this hypothesis is the ads featuring the star athlete. The conceptual definition for this variable is the types of ads the athlete is featured in. The operational definition for this variable is how many ads the athlete is featured in. The dependent variable is peoples likelihood to use the products. The conceptual definition for this variable is the types of products which people have a likelihood to use. The operational definition for this variable can be measured using a five-point Likert scale to evaluate how likely a participant is to use the product.

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Hypothesis 3 (H3): Students have a tendency to purchase products advertised by athletes of their same gender as the participants. The independent variable for this hypothesis is the gender of the athlete. The conceptual definition for this variable is how they express their gender to the public, whether more masculine or feminine. The operational definition is measuring how many athletic endorsers are biologically male or female. The dependent variable is the tendency to purchase the products. The conceptual definition for this is how a person chooses to spend their money and what they buy most frequently. The operational definition can be defined by evaluating on a fivepoint Likert scale Hypothesis 4 (H4): Students have a tendency to purchase products advertised by athletes of their same ethnicity. The independent variable for this hypothesis is the ethnicity of the athlete. The conceptual definition for this is how an athlete expresses his or her ethnicity in the public realm. The operational definition is the measurement of how many athletic endorsers are biologically of a specific ethnicity (i.e. African American, Hispanic, Asian etc.). The dependent variable is the tendency to purchase the products. The conceptual definition for this is how a person chooses to spend their money and what they buy most frequently. The operational definition can be defined as whether or not the survey participants will actually buy the products endorsed by athletes of their same gender.

The research questions for this study are as follows:

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements RQ 1: Is there a difference between print and broadcast ads and the effects of celebrity endorsements on the publics desire to purchase a product? The independent variable for this research question is the type of celebrity

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endorsed ad viewed by the public, be it print or broadcast. The conceptual definition for this is variable is how the ad creates and conveys a message through the differing mediums. The operational definition would be defined as how the participants interpret the message conveyed through the ads. The dependent variable is the effect the ads have on the publics desire to purchase a product. The conceptual definition for this variable can be defined as how a consumer chooses to react to the ad. The operational definition would be defined as whether or not the participants purchase the product. Methodology For this study, we will be using the method of a cross-sectional survey in the form of a questionnaire. This will allow us to collect data that will be relevant to help provide proof and further the discussion of the hypotheses. The sample will be a result of a convenience sampling of 100 students at Queens University of Charlotte. The data collected will be made possible by passing out the questionnaire to various student athletes on campus, and then observing them as they fill out the survey, in order to help answer any questions and insure they fully complete the questionnaire. Consent forms will also be distributed to every participant to ensure that they are fully aware of what is being asked in the questionnaire, that their

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements confidentiality will be ensured, and that they may choose to stop taking the

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questionnaire at any time. There are many pros to this method, the primary benefit being that it allow us to focus on the population we are interested in, while allowing for a fair amount of diversity of respondents. It also allows us to collect a fairly large amount of data quickly and efficiently, and it the questionnaire will allow us to more easily combine, average, and analyze the data we collect. The cons would include lack of a truly diverse population, since we are using convenience sampling. Other cons would include lack of descriptive and in depth answers, as the survey can only provide so much detail. In addition, there is a possibility of bias by the respondents who are answering the questionnaire, which could skew our results. After collecting the data from the surveys, the data will be entered into a spreadsheet on SPSS, values will be assigned, and the data will be analyzed using a Pearson Correlation TTest. Findings: After running a series of Pearson t-test correlations related to the data we collected using SPSS software, we were able to collect various findings related to our hypothesis (see Appendix 1 for charts and graphs). According to the correlation tests related to Hypothesis 1, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that 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. We found there was statistical significance to prove a correlation between buying endorsed products and buying products endorsed by the most popular athletes. We also found correlation to support that when companies

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choose the most popular athletes to endorse their brand that it makes consumers more likely to recognize that brand. Secondly, in relation to Hypothesis 2 the data resulted in finding that there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a correlation between ads featuring star athletes and the likelihood that people will use these products. This study shows that participants did not feel any desire to use products based off of whether or not the product was advertised by the most popular athletes or their favorite athletes. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between the participants expression of feeling better using an endorsed product and feeling better using a product endorsed by a premiere athlete. Therefore, although this study cannot provide evidence for H2, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a correlation between products in ads featuring star athletes and the likelihood that people will feel better when using these products. The findings for Hypothesis 3 and Hypothesis 4 were also inconclusive. There is not sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a correlation between shared gender and/or shared ethnicity and likelihood to purchase products. This study did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that people are more likely to buy products endorsed by athletes of their same race and/or gender. However, there was sufficient evidence to conclude that people do have a greater tendency to buy products from athletes that are like them who they follow on a regular basis. However, they could identify with these athletes based upon characteristics other than gender and ethnicity, such as if the participant plays a similar sport, if the athlete is from their home state, or if they are a fan of the athletes team. For example, when asked to write a brief explanation of why they identified with a specific athlete, one female participant responded: I

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identify with Jeremy Lin because he is a Texan, and I am a big Texan fan because I am from Houston. The findings surrounding the research question were also interesting because they did not negate the influence of print and TV ads, but rather found there was not a distinction between the two. According to the findings, there is no evidence to conclude that there is a difference between the effects of print ads and broadcast ads, as far as which one is more likely to cause consumers to buy the brand advertised. However, there is a significant correlation between the impact of a print or television and the likelihood that a consumer will buy the product. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the more impactful the participant found print or television ads, the more likely they would be to buy the product. In addition to these findings, we also found that there was statistical significance that provides 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. Thus, even though we did not have statistically significant information to prove our research question, we did find evidence to support that people buy products based off of how impactful an ad is (whether print or television), and also found evidence that the more one is exposed to ads for a particular brand the more likely they will be to purchase that brand.

Discussion:

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements With the data collected from respondents we were able to analyze whether or not our research question and hypotheses were either support or not supported. Through the data collected for H1, we were able to find direct evidence to that

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supported the popularity of a specific celebrity endorser having an effect directly on the likelihood of a consumer to purchase the brand or product they endorse. The stats that were collected showed significant in proving the correlation between buying endorsed products from the most popular athletes and buying endorsed products. We also have findings that support that companies use the most popular athletes to endorse their brands because it increases consumers likelihood to recognize the particular brand. Therefore, we can be 95% positive to conclude that the more popular an athlete is, the more likely the consumer will want to purchase the product. In addition, consumers will also be more likely to identify a brand endorsed by a popular athlete. Thus, it would be in a companys best interest to use popular, star athletes to endorse its products because the data from this study proves that these endorsements would boost profits because of the increased likelihood of people to purchase endorsed products. Looking at H2, there is not adequate evidence to support that there is a correlation between ads featuring star athletes and the likelihood that people will use these products. The data collected from the participants in the study supported the conclusion that people do not desire to use products solely based off whether or not the product was advertised by the most popular athlete or their personal favorite athlete. Although there is not enough evidence to draw a conclusion about

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H2, there is a significant correlation between the respondents expressions of feeling better using an endorsed product and feeling better using a product endorsed by a premier athlete. Even though the study provided no evidence that supported H2, there is adequate evidence to support the correlation between products that are endorsed by a star athlete and the likelihood that people feel better when using it. Therefore, when considering how athletic endorsed products impact people, further research should be done about why using endorsed products makes people feel good, but why endorsed products are not more likely to be used by people. Finding out the reasoning behind why these products make people feel good might help brands identify how to encourage the use of these endorsed brands, and thereby, sell more products. Dealing with H3 and H4 the findings from the correlation tests did not provide enough evidence to support any correlation between shared gender and likelihood to purchase products and shared ethnicity and likelihood to purchase products. The study did not find adequate evidence to conclude that people are more likely to buy products endorsed by athletes of their same race and/or gender. Despite the fact that there were not sufficient findings to support those correlations, there was evidence to support that people do have a greater tendency to buy products from athletes they identify with for other reasons and athletes whom they follow on a regular basis. The evidence of these correlations and of responses written by the participants suggest that people identified with particular athletes because they played the same sport and/or were fans the athletes team, with

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements gender and race playing a minor, but not significant role. For example, a black

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female participant testified that I identify with none of the athletes on the list, but I do identify with Michael Jordan because I grew up watching him play basketball. Basketball is one of my favorite sports and Jordan is one of the best players of all time. This participant perhaps identified racially with Jordan, however, she did not mention race, but focused on her childhood identification with the athlete and her love of basketball. Therefore, perhaps more research should be done to try and discover the true reasoning behind why people identify with athletic endorsers. Perhaps a shift should be made towards focusing advertising on emphasizing the sports and athletes themselves rather than the race or gender of a specific athlete. As far as our research question is concerned, the participants did not report differences in the effects of print ads versus broadcast ads dealing with the likelihood of a consumer purchasing the advertised products. There was significant correlation between the impact of television or print ads and the likelihood that a consumer will purchase the product. Evidence was found to make the conclusion that the more impactful the participant found print or television ads, then the more likely consumers would be to buy the product. Along with these finding, statistical significance was found that supplies sufficient evidence to conclude that the more frequently the participant was exposed to television or print ads for a specific product, the more likely participants were to desire to buy that product. Even though there was not significant information to make conclusions about our research question, further research should be done to study the influence of the

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frequency of ads and the impact that has on desire to purchase a product or brand. Also, research should be done to study what makes an ad impactful, and why impactful ads are the ones that have influence over consumers desire to purchase products. It is important to encourage further tests to research why frequency of an ad and how impactful the ad is seem to be leading factors in influencing purchasing decisions of consumers. Conclusion: In conclusion, there was 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, the type of sport an athlete plays, frequency of the ads, and impactful nature of the ad content seem to be much more influential when it comes to purchasing decisions. It is important to recognize the factors that do and do not influence purchasing decisions because these results would help advertisers for sports gear brands to determine the best way to target the college athlete consumer market in the most effective manner. Limitations: Due to our survey only being directed towards the student athletes of Queens University of Charlotte using the convenience sampling method, this made the amount of truly diverse responses much harder to receive. With our student body also being so small, athletic groups tend to be smaller in number as well. It also proved difficult to collect data from an equivalent number of diverse ethnic groups

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and varying genders. An issue that was encountered when distributing the surveys was that there were more men willing to take the survey than women. In Queens University athletics, there is a greater number of male athletes versus female athletes, and this makes it harder to obtain equality of gender data. In addition to the limitations dealing with the participants, there were also problems dealing with limited with resources and time, as surveys could only be distributed within the time frame of a few weeks during fall semester. Also there was a lack of sufficient funds to use more in depth methods of research or to supply a greater number of surveys to a greater variety of participants. Recommendations: The data collected in this study proves there was enough statistical significance to make conclusions concerning our hypotheses and research questions, and this makes the research significant. One issue that was already addressed was the fact that there was not equal representation of both male and female gender. With one of our questions being focused upon whether or not an athlete is supported based on their commonality through gender; it is very vital that both groups have the same amount of people that participate in these surveys. Another issue with this aspect of the survey was that some of the questions asked in the survey were not the most accurate way to measure the impact of gender. The chart of athletes used was not helpful to many participants, and thus, in the future should be eliminated and replaces with more free response questions where participants can briefly write down their perspectives. This will make sure that the data is even more accurate

RUNNING HEAD: Public Brand Perceptions: A Study of the Effects of Athlete Endorsements and specific to what we are trying to study. Another recommendation that presented itself based on the data analyzed was a lack of ethnic diversity of the survey participants. One thing that we did do was make sure that every possible ethnic group was included, but we did not make sure there was some type of equality in the number of people that comprised each group. Due to the lower

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numbers of people that represented the minorities, there should be a wider ethnic variety of students. Also, it can be recommended that future researchers look deeper into how athletic endorsements affect peoples use of the product, as well as how they feel when using it. Future researchers should also look into how the ads themselves impact consumers as far as both their impact and their frequency to make conclusions about how ads affect purchasing behaviors. Perhaps visual images of ads with athlete endorsers could also be included to provide participants with specific ads to reference when answering the various questions in the survey.

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