Abstract

The researchers utilize social identity theory to investigate the effect that athlete endorsers have on both brand and team-related attitudes and intentions. As fans identify more strongly with an athlete, the more they intend to purchase the endorsed products. Additionally, a fan’s level of identification with an athlete is positively transferred to their attitude toward the team. The influence of athlete ID on team abandonment was fully mediated through attitude toward the team. However, fans who identified less with the athlete endorser were more likely to abandon the team’s market offerings than those fans who identified more with the athlete endorser. Athletes endorse products more often than any other celebrity category (i.e., musicians, actors, comedians, etc). While 20 percent of all ads feature a celebrity, approximately 60 percent of celebrity endorsed advertisements feature an athlete, thus demonstrating the dominance of athletes as endorsers. Furthermore, nearly 10 percent of advertising costs is spent on fees to these endorsers. Companies are willing to invest millions of dollars to associate their brand names with easily recognizable athletes. This study contributes to research on athlete endorsers by implementing a social identity theory framework and empirically evaluating the impact of fans’ identification with athlete endorsers on both brand and team-related outcomes. In a field study with 494 subjects, the authors tested a model that indicates that athlete identification influences brand purchase intentions and attitude toward the team, which thereafter influences team abandonment. The authors discuss the findings and provide suggestions for team and brand managers to improve endorsement-related decision making. Verf.-Referat (gekürzt und geändert)