The Impact Of Using Athletes As Celebrity Endorsers Marketing Essay

The Impact Of Using Athletes As Celebrity Endorsers Marketing endeavorThe Sports industry is a highly valued form of social fundamental interaction in the United region and around the knowledge do principal(prenominal). Major sports events draw millions of viewing audience and trigger strong opinions. Athletes argon perceived as role models and consumers die hard to believe supporters, especially those with a positive public kitchen range.But does the engagement of athletes in reputation endorsements always impact on the purchasing decisions of consumers? warrant denote is a strong weapon in the promotion of merchandises and services. The practice of celebrities as endorsers is unity of its most hot forms of advertize by some(prenominal) organisations.According to Sliburyte (2009) empirical evidence indicates that approximately 20 to 25% of advertisements induce some famous person as a product endorser. some(prenominal) organisations beat the notion that apply ath letes as famous person endorsers entrust run short to successful selling of their products to consumers. According to Fill (2002) celebrities argon practiced to modify the message being conveyed to stand expose among the clutter and noise that typifies galore(postnominal) markets. While it has been proven by great deals of academic literatures, that the wont of celebrities in advertisement gene place a lot of publicity and attention from the public, this research is focus on some arguments still needed to be explored project headway. For an instance, what is the combination of fame and products or services being endorsed? How consistent ar consumers purchasing behaviours regarding the endorsed product and does banish media involving the celebrity impact on consumers buying behaviours of the product. For this reason, it is of great sideline to investigate this makeic further.Atkin Block (1983) pointed out there were two reasons why celebrity endorsers have gained s o much popularityThey are traditionally viewed as being highly dynamic, having both attractive and likeable qualities.Their fame is thought to attract attention to the productIt is the aim of this dissertation to integrate the research on trade nameing, endorsement and consumer behaviour in order to study the impact of the map of athletes as celebrity endorsers in advertisements to find out how consumers view these advertisements by measuring their attitudes toward the advertisement and the celebrity and their purchased ends towards the endorsed items.For this research, Adidas and Gillette, two companies regularly using celebrities in endorsing their products testament be analysed to demonstrate the impact the use of celebrities in announce their instigant has on consumer purchasing behaviours. Gillette is a brand of Procter Gamble presently use for safety razors, among other personal hygiene products. The company is establish in capital of Massachusetts, Massachusetts and i s one of several brands originally owned by The Gillette Company, a leading global supplier of products under various brands, which was acquired by PG in 2005. Their slogan is, The Best a Man Can die (Gillette.com) On the other hand, Adidas AG is a German-based sports apparel manufacturer and put forward company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, Taylor Made-adidas golf company, and Rockport. The company is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world, after its U.S. equal Nike (adidas.com)This research will focus on a series of advertisements on TV, and Magazine by celebrities tiger woodland Thierry Henry for Gillette and David Beckham for Adidas and the impact of these advertisements on motivation to buy and evaluation of usage by consumers. The choice to use these athletes in the analysis is simply because of the negative press they have had in the past.To r from each one this, the fol mortifieding research questions will be askedWhy do organisations use athletes as celebrity endorsers?How are the athletes selected?How can the risks of using athlete endorsers be described?What does the celebrity represent and what does the advertiser want to top with the buyer when they see the celebrity promoting the product.Hypotheses are as followOrganisations use athletes as celebrity endorsers to increase the brand image and identity of the product.Consumers are likely to purchase the products once they see it has been advertised by a celebrity.Should the lifestyle of the celebrity change, this will impact on consumers attitude to the brand and purchasing behaviour.SOURCESBooksAaker, D.A (1991) Managing brand equity Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. rising York The free pressAaker, D.A (1996) Building Strong Brands, New York The forgo Press conflagrate, G.E. Belch, M.A. (1999), Advertising and Promotion An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. Bo ston McGraw-HillFill, C (2002) Marketing Communications Context, Strategies and Applications. 3rd Ed. Essex Pearson Education Limited.Tellis, G.J., (1998), Advertising and gross sales promotion strategy. Reading Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.Online journalsAtkins, C Block, M (1983), Effectiveness of celebrity endorsers. Journal of advertising research, Vol.23, No.2, pp. 57-61 forthcoming from Accessed on 26/03/2010Charbonneau, J. Garland, R., (2005), Talent, looks or Brains? New Zealand AdvertisingPractitioners Views on Celebrity and Athlete Endorsers. Marketing Bulletin, Vol.16, No.3, pp.1-10 easy from Accessed on 04/04/2010Friedman, H Friedman, L. (1979), Endorser effectiveness by product type, Journal of advertising research, Vol.19, No.5 pp.63-71 acquirable from Accessed on 27/03/2010Floyd, A.G.,(1999), An examination of the three-order hierarchy model. Theories of persuasive conversation and consumer decision making. Vol.4, No.1, pp.20-32 easy from Accessed on 29/03/2010Kahle, L.R., Homer, P.M. (1985), Physical attractiveness of the celebrity endorser a social adaptation perspective, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 11 pp.954-61. lendable from Accessed on 29/03/2010Kelman, H.C.,(1961), Process of opinion change. Public opinions quarterly, Vol.25, pp.57-58Available from Accessed on 28/03/2010Langmeyer, L Shank, M.(1994), Managing beauty-products and people, Journal of product brand management, Vol. 3 No.3, pp.27-38Available from Accessed on 29/03/2010McCracken, G. (1989), Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp.310-21.Available from Accessed on 27/03/2010Ohanian, R., (1990), Construction and validation of a scurf to measure celebrity endorsers perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising. Vol.19. No.3, pp.39-52Available from Accessed on 28/03/2010Ohanian, R., (1991), The impact of celebrity spokespersons percei ved image on consumers intention to purchase, Journal of Advertising research. Vol.13. No.1, pp.46-55Available from Accessed on 28/03/2010Petty, R.E. et al. (1983), Central and marginal routes to advertising effectiveness the moderating role of involvement, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 10 pp.135-46.Available from Accessed on 27/03/2010Sliburyte, L. (2009), How celebrities can be use in advertising to the best advantage. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 5 sublime 2009.Available from Accessed on 26/03/2010Till, B.D. Shrimp, T.A. (1995), Can negative celebrity information hurt the endorsed brand?, Proceedings of AMA Winter Educators Conference, pp.154-5.Available from Accessed on 29/03/2010White, D.W et al (2009) The effects of negative study transference in the celebrity endorsement relationship, International Journal of retail and distribution management, Vol.37 No.4, pp.322-335Available from Accessed on 28/03/2010INTERNET SOURCESAdidas (2010) OnlineAva ilable from Accessed on 05/04/2010Forbes (2010) OnlineAvailable from Accessed on 09/04/2010Gillette (2010) OnlineAvailable from Accessed on 05/04/2010Morin, R (2002), When celebrity endorsers go bad online. Washington Post.Available from Accessed on 30/03/2010Playing field promotions (2010) OnlineAvailable from Accessed on 05/04/2010XE specie Converter (2010) OnlineAvailable from Accessed on 09/04/2010LITERATURE REVIEWThe go over of literature will focus on the theories of celebrity endorsements in sports, advertising and the theory of brand perception as well as the models used in celebrity pickaxe.The history of the use of celebrities as endorsers dates back to the eighteenth century when British actress Lillie Langtry became the first celebrity endorser in the world by featuring on packages of pears soap (Morin, 2002).Since then, the use of celebrity endorsers in advertising has increased and endorser strategy is now one of the most popular marketing practices used by organi sations to increase brand cognizance.According to PFP (2010), a sports celebrity talent agency, companies spend close to one billion dollars resembling to almost 660 million GBP (see table 1.0 infra for currency conversion) on endorsements each category.Organisations practice this strategy with the intention to increase consumers purchase intentions and preferences towards the brand.Table 1.0 silver conversion from United State Dollars to Great British PoundsLive rates at 2010.04.10 081128 UTC1,000,000,000.00 USD650,749,339.25 GBPUnited States DollarsUnited Kingdom Pounds1 USD = 0.650749 GBP1 GBP = 1.53669 USDSource Adapted from XE (Universal Currency Converter)McCracken (1989) provided a definition for a celebrity as mortals who enjoy public cognition and who use this recognition on behalf of a consumer nigh(a) by appear with it in an advertisement.A celebrity endorser as highlighted by Friedman Friedman (1979) is an individual who is known to the public for his/her achi evements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed.A celebrity athlete according to Charbonneau Garland (2005) is a publicly recognise sports star who uses that public recognition to help another (usually a bodied client) sell or bolster the image of specific goods and services.Belch Belch (2001) argue that for a celebrity to be chosen as an endorser, he/she must be perceived as credible and trustworthy by consumers. This is genuinely important because as pointed out by (Kelman, 1961 Ohanian, 1991) information from a credible source can influence beliefs, opinions, attitudes and /or behavior done a process called internationalization, which occurs when receivers accept a source influence in terms of their personal attitude and value structures.Forbes.com lists the top 10 highest compensable celebrity athletes between June 2008 and June 2009 by evaluating their earnings from salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and licensing income.Table 2.0 shows the top ten highest paid athletes of 2009.AthleteEarnings in millions between 06/08 -06/09Tiger Woods$110 =72Kobe Bryant$45 =30Michael Jordan$45 =30Kimi Raikkonen$45 = 30David Beckham$42 =28LeBron James$40 =27Phil Mickelson$40 =27Manny Pacquiao$40 = 27Valentino Rossi$35 =23Dale Earnhardt jr.$34 =22Source Adapted from www.forbes.comThe exchange rate used in calculations during my pre- research was Currency Conversion adapted from XE (Universal Currency Converter) Conversion from USD to GBP has been rounded up to a whole number.Source http//www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgiIn this study, the focus on the use of athletes as celebrity endorsers will be in advertising campaigns.According to Fill (2002) the main roles of advertising are to build awareness, induce a dialogue and to (re)position brands by changing any perception or attitudes.Advertising is important because it can influence audiences by informing or reminding them of the existence of a brand.For a message to be communicated effectively , it should have the right target audience, capable of gaining attention, understandable and acceptable.The importance of brands to organisations is very important. Fill (2002) pointed out that a successful brand is one which creates and sustains a strong, positive and delaying impression in the mind of the buyer.Aaker (1991) goes on further to say a brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbolic representation ( much(prenominal) as a logo, trademark, or package design) intended to identify the goods or services of either one seller or a gathering of sellers, and to differentiate those goods or services from those of competitors.In order to increase sales of their products, organisations must use means to communicate their products to consumers.According to Aaker (1996) brand awareness refers to the strength of a brands presence in the consumers mind. Brand awareness is the great power of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product categ ory.It involves a continuum ranging from an uncertain feeling that the brand is recognized, to a belief that it is the and one in the product class.It is the belief that by using a celebrity endorser to advertise a brand, the indirect information transmitted to the consumer becomes more(prenominal) credible and more relevant. The result is that the consumer has the perception of a higher feel for the advertised product (Floyd, 1999). Since consumers prefer high quality over low quality, the endorsed product is more likely to be purchased.However, with benefits comes risks involving the use of celebrity endorsers in advertising. Controversy involving the endorser can lead to corporate embarrassments and transfer of negative attitudes to the brand (Till Shrimp, 1998).White et al (2009) adapted Miciak Shanklins (1994) statement which pointed out that when an endorsers image becomes tarnished by allegations of illicit, unethical, unusual, or even slightly unconventional behavior, t his instantly creates problems for the endorsement.The modern scandal of Golf professional Tiger Woods in 2009 (Tiger Woods Sex Scandal , 2009) is an example of how negative publicity can motivate an endorsed brand. This led to a drop in his endorsement deals with many of his clients. However, if this was the case, why did he still manage to gain $110 million in a year, taking the lead of best paid athlete that year (Forbes.com) even with the negative press? Did the scandal influence sale of Gillette products at all?Other risks are overshadowing, Overexposure, financial risks, and so on and so forth.According to Tellis (1998), celebrities by their very nature are public figures whose moves are carefully watched by the media and whose achievements and failings are quickly publicized.As observed frequently, when a star is on the rise, the media will glorify him/ her and when faced with negative publicity, the media will gloat over it.Petty et al (1983) mentioned there were two main routes whereby consumers received information communicated to them and acted in accordance with it. These are the central and peripheral device routes.Kahle Homer(1985) pointed out attractive celebrities were more acceptable and brought more influence to provide on the recipient of the advertisement than charmless ones.This theory was disagreed by Langmeyer Shank (1994) who pointed out that the concept of source attractiveness was not just limited to good looks but alike included abilities in sports, charisma, grace, tact and intelligence.Several models have been created by many scholars over the years to aid in the selection process of a good celebrity endorser.McCracken (1989) introduced the Meaning Transfer toughie which maintains that celebrity endorsers must possess cultural meanings such(prenominal) as spatial relation and lifestyle, which can transfer to the products being endorsed.Ohanian (1990) also identified a Source-credibility scale see figure 1 below, which cele brities had to possess in order to make their advertisements believable and increase purchase level of the product.Table 1 below demonstrates the variables of the source credibility scale.AttractivenessTrustworthinessExpertiseUnattractive-AttractiveUndependable-Dependablenot an expert-ExpertNot Classy-ClassyDishonest-HonestInexperienced-ExperiencedUgly-BeautifulUnreliable-ReliableUnknowledgeable-KnowledgeablePlain-ElegantInsincere-SincereUnqualified-QualifiedNot sexy-SexyUntrustworthy-TrustworthyUnskilled-SkilledSource Ohanian, R. (1990)METHODOLOGYSecondary data will be sourced from brand textbooks written by widely recognized authors like Leslie de Chernatony and Malcolm McDonald, Ohanian, Kotler etc.In addition, web based articles and publications will also be used. Journals such as Journal of advertising research etc., which can be sourced from the University electronic database such as Emerald, provided in the Thames Valley library will also be sourced.Primary data will be coll ected using a questionnaire designed to understand consumers perceptions on the use of athletes as celebrity endorsers, by measuring their attitudes and perceptions towards the advertised products and their purchase intentions towards the product.A quote savour size of 100 people will be chosen, and the focus will be on students.The locations where the questionnaires are to be carried out will be TVU campus and Reading University Campus. A convenience sample of 50 per location braggy 100 in total is planned. It is intended to obtain specific information about consumers buying behaviours towards the endorsed products, and for that matter, the respondents will have to have at least(prenominal) watched the Gillette or Adidas advertisement or purchased a Gillette/ Adidas product in the last year. Due to time limitations, the focus will be on UK consumers onlyData to be generated by the questionnaires include personal data such as age, gender, income etc. to build a demographic profil e of the sample.In terms of data analysis, the SPSS package will be implemented, to analyse the data generated by the questionnaire.