Sports Celebrities and Their Influence on the Consumers Essay Example

footwear campaign by initially using the image of Michael Jordan and connecting that image to an already familiar product - athletic shoes.

Now, people from Saudi Arabia to Iceland respond to appeals to buy athletic gear endorsed by Michael Jordan. Nike continues to choose athletes to drive its brand globally with this endorsement strategy. Philip Knight, founder of Nike, Inc. , appears to have recognized the importance of celebrity athlete endorsement. Beginning with track star Steve Prefontaine, Nike has accumulated a remarkable lineup of professional athletes (e. g. , Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, & Bo Jackson) (Goldin, 1996).

Although most sports marketers will acknowledge that the impact of using athletes as endorsers cannot easily be measured in terms of revenues or sales, they rely on the belief that athletes have the power to enhance the image of their product (Oneal, Finch, Hamilton, & Hammonds, 1987). Although it may be difficult to measure an athlete endorser's success in terms of revenue and sales, it appears possible that other related impact measures may be affected.

Agrawal and Kamakura (1995) analyzed stock price movements and found that press releases announcing celebrity endorsement contracts resulted in an increased return. A famous face in an advertisement can help build a recognizable image for a company or its products and has been known to boost viewer recall (Sasseen, 1984). Indeed, if there is a “fit” between the athlete and the product, a celebrity endorser’s stamp of approval can bring added value to a brand's equity as well as create an emotional bond (Bradley, 1996).

Fact remains that numerous companies want to reach sports fans. Nike and Gatorade

are far and away the sports-product companies that most actively market to sports fans, but the appeal of sports is so broad that beer companies such as Anheuser-Busch, automakers such as Ford, credit card companies such as Visa, and telecommunications companies such as AT& T are among the largest advertisers of televised sports events. The appeal is not limited to consumer goods companies, either.

Technology-oriented companies like IBM and Nortel Networks advertise on and sponsor sports events in an attempt to put a human face on their businesses and reach busy corporate consumers during their downtime and, it could be argued, when their guard is down. The biggest advertisers have dedicated sports marketing departments that find suitable advertising, promotional, and sponsorship efforts that will reach targeted consumers and, short term, turn them into customers, while over the long term enhance the company’s or product’s brand.

A number of sports marketing companies, often with a particular focus, help smaller companies reach the niche they wish to capture. It is important to point out that associations are a vital part of brand value. These include personal associations; Gatorade's “Be Like Mike” campaign was a blatant example. With the help of Jordan Gatorade now has $2 billion in annual sales and it dominates the sports-drink market, and is the official sports drink of the MLB, NBA, NFL, U. S. Soccer, WNBA, and numerous other leagues, teams, and events.

Though Gatorade has always been keen to market its wares to athletes and sports fans via endorsements and sponsorships, it formally entered the big leagues of advertising when it created a television commercial, starring Michael Jordan, for

the 2003 Super Bowl. Current endorsees include Yao Ming, Mia Hamm, and Derek Jeter. Not just for companies, but sports celebrities also enjoy huge monetary benefits in these endorsements. Many American sports personalities make huge sums of money endorsing products and serving as advertising spokespeople.

Other big stars won’t appear in ads because they don’t want fans to think they’ve sold out. But many celebrities who resist the temptation to cash in on their fame in the United States are only too happy to appear in ads in foreign countries. And nowhere are ads starring American celebrities more prevalent than in Japan. Even the rich and famous have trouble saying no to Japanese advertisers who will pay them between $1 million and $3 million for a few hours’ work to make 15- to 30-second spots that their Western fans across the Pacific will never see (Rae, 1997).

As for the fans, the joy and wonder of seeing their sports heroes endorsing products is magnanimous. Wolburg and Pokrywczynski (2001) emphasized that the youth market is one of the most coveted of all segments due to their: (1) spending power, (2) ability to be trendsetters, (3) receptivity to new products, and (4) tremendous potential for becoming lifetime customers. In this case, the benefit of the fans should lie mostly on the psychological part as they are influenced by sports celebrities as though they are speaking in front of them.

Risks/Liabilities Celebrity endorsement and best practice for celebrity ad utilization have long been debated. The reasons for the success of one campaign over another are sensitive subjects. The value of investigating other potential explanations in

terms of how consumer attitudes and behaviors are influenced/altered through use of celebrities as endorsers is paramount. Tripp et al. (1994) viewed endorsement by focusing on credibility, physical attractiveness or expertise. Tripp et al. 1994) examined the effects of multiple product endorsements by celebrities; that is, whether endorsement of more than one product affects the attitudes and purchase intentions of the consumer. Surprisingly, perceptions of celebrity credibility, celebrity likeability and attitude towards the ad lessened significantly as the number of products endorsed by the celebrity increased. Logic suggests that the more one sees a face on television, the more likable and influential that person might become. However, this study discovered the opposite.

The expected outcome would be to limit the number of endorsements by one person, in order to enhance and maximize his/her effectiveness. Also, Friedman and Friedman (1979) found that celebrity endorsers, when compared to professional experts or typical consumers, enhanced brand name and advertisement recall and, therefore, should be used when recall is the advertiser's goal. Similarly, they stated that if the major risk inherent in the purchase of a product is social or psychological, the advertiser should choose a celebrity.

They argued that trustworthiness is probably the major dimension underlying source credibility. In the absence of trustworthiness, other qualities possessed by the communicator may not be effective in inducing attitude change. Some controversy exists over the popularity of celebrity athletes and the money expended to them to endorse products. According to Richard Leonard of the Zandl Group, aggressive inquiries by the media of anyone in the limelight have brought athletes back down to a more realistic level.

Although athletes

may continue to be perceived as heroes, no longer are they considered allusive, untouchable beings. Numerous incidents have contributed to consumers' growing skepticism of athletes. Athlete endorsers have been tarnished by reports of exorbitant salaries, lucrative endorsement deals, legal violations, and unpopular antics, all of which serve to attenuate their credibility as spokespersons. Changing consumer attitudes toward athletes have motivated some marketers to use more realistic advertisements featuring anti-heroes who tell the truth (Jensen, 1993).

The risks involved in using celebrity athletes as endorsers has created a movement toward event or team sponsorship (Walley, 1987) with marketers becoming more conservative in their selection of athlete endorsers. However, even with these concerns, it is unlikely that marketers will ever stop using athletes as endorsers (Actman, 1994). Forbes magazine stated that in 1998, “the 40 highest paid athletes pulled in $360 million in salary and winnings (to go along with $281 million in endorsements)” (Spiegel & Gallagher, 1999).

Endorsement contracts seem like a good thing for all of the parties involved: the players and teams that receive millions of dollars in fees, the companies whose products receive a high degree of visibility, and even the fans, who are treated to close-up and personal views of many of their favorite stars in their latest television commercials. But the practice raises a number of concerns, many of which deal with the effect that commercial endorsements have on young people.

Most alarming is the fact that teenage males -- most of them African Americans residing in or near the nation's largest cities -- have been robbed at gunpoint and killed by thieves who coveted the shoes and

clothing they were wearing (Putnam, 1999, p. 230). Despite that, it has been found that the use of celebrity endorsement appeals may generate more positive feelings among younger consumers than older consumers, thus younger consumers may be prime targets for celebrity endorsement appeals (Frieden, 1984).

However, a study conducted by Advertising Age counterargues this claim. In actuality, teens’ buying habits and loyalties may have little to do with the paid endorsements by media-hyped athletes. According to Advertising Age, the characteristic deemed most important to young consumers in their assessment of products is quality. The study reflects that young people may be more skeptical than they were in the past, and today they are more likely to discount advertising's persuasive power.

Teenagers seem to regard advertising as a form of entertainment rather than as a source of information. Furthermore, young people do not seem to be as willing to admit that their favorite stars have any impact on their purchases (Jensen, 1993). In sum, there is a long history of athletes becoming heroes in our culture. However, employing heroes as endorsers have had mixed results. There are documented instances where an athlete endorser has directly increased the bottom line of a company (e. g. Michael Jordan and Nike).

There are also documented instances where companies have had to dissolve a relationship with an athlete because of negative public perception (e. g. , O. J. Simpson and Hertz, Dennis Rodman and Converse). Future Trends and Conclusion In this research, it has been found that sports celebrities influence the consumers in a great way because they are considered as their “idols” or “heroes”. Thus, it

is believed that sports celebrity endorsements will still be a lucrative business in the future.

However, the future trend is towards trustworthiness and credibility of the sports celebrity endorsers. Credibility is the extent to which the fans sees the source as having relevant knowledge, skill, or experience and trusts the source to give unbiased, objective information. There are two important dimensions to credibility, expertise and trustworthiness. A communicator seen as knowledgeable—someone with expertise—is more persuasive than one with less expertise. But the source also has to be trustworthy—honest, ethical, and believable.

The influence of a knowledgeable source will be lessened if audience members think he or she is biased or has underlying personal motives for advocating a position (such as being paid to endorse a product). This is why sports superstars now carefully choose the products they are endorsing, as they stray away from cigarettes, liquors and other products with negative connotation. Likewise, companies now also choose their product endorsers who are good role models for the youth. Corporate sponsors are also finding ways to spend their money in the corners of the sports world where the amateurs compete too.

Youth sports leagues, which always operate on slim budgets, have offered sponsors access to the millions of children and parents who participate in their games in exchange for operating revenue. Rawlings Sporting Goods, Lever Brothers, Sunkist, and Quaker Oats are among the many consumer goods companies that have signed on. Their goal is to create loyalty to their products early in the lives of the young athletes in the hope that that loyalty will endure for a lifetime. At their best, sports

celebrities provide us with a sense of wonder at what the human body can achieve and a feeling of awe at what a group of people can accomplish together.

They give us a chance to think and relax at the same time, the opportunity to argue happily with total strangers, and a bridge with which to connect across generational, racial, ethnic, and class lines. Watching their games and television commercials sometimes creates moments of unwavering delight for fans and a set of intimate memories that can be shared with family members, friends, communities, and, sometimes, the entire country. This is why it should be emphasized that both companies and sports celebrities need to heed responsibility on imbuing positive values because of their huge influence among consumers.