Sports Celebrities and Their Influence on the Consumers Essay Example
Sports Celebrities and Their Influence on the Consumers Essay Example

Sports Celebrities and Their Influence on the Consumers Essay Example

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  • Pages: 12 (3080 words)
  • Published: February 18, 2017
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At present, sports in not just a game but it’s a big thriving business. This is especially true for numerous companies that have invested millions of dollars on renowned sports celebrities to endorse their products for the sake of product recall. For example, when someone says talks about Michael Jordan, another person would definitely relate his name to Nike Air. Fact is that famous athletes have “star power” and it works because celebrities embody “cultural meanings”.

They symbolize important categories such as status and social class (a classy golfer like Tiger Woods), gender (a sexy tennis player like Anna Kournikova), age (the aging yet still healthy boxer George Foreman), and even personality types (the eccentric Dennis Rodman). Ideally, the advertiser decides what meanings the product should convey (that is, how it should be po

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sitioned in the marketplace), and then chooses a celebrity who has come to embody a similar meaning. The product’s meaning thus moves from the manufacturer to the consumer, using the star as a vehicle (McCracken, 1989).

When we speak of product endorsements, this do not come in cheap but companies are still cashing in big investments just to get these sports superstars to promote their products. Why do sports celebrities command high fees in endorsements? It has been proven in a study by Buttle et al. (1999) that famous faces capture attention and are processed more efficiently by the brain than are “ordinary” faces. Another study by Kamins (1989) revealed that celebrities can increase awareness of a firm's advertising and enhance both company image and brand attitudes.

Thus, a sports celebrity endorsement strategy can be an effectiv

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way to differentiate among similar products; this is especially important when consumers do not perceive many actual differences among competitors, as often occurs when brands have already been existing for a long time and very vital when introducing a new product. In this study, we will try to take a peek into the history and trends of sports celebrity endorsements. By knowing these, we can draw out if they are indeed effective as endorsers and how they influence people into buying the products they endorse.

History of Sports Celebrity Endorsements To know the history of using athletes as product endorsers, it will be helpful to research into the history of endorsements in advertising. Tuchalsky (2004) found out that as early as 1899, celebrities are already endorsing cigars and patent medicines to promote local businesses. However, the earliest dated endorsements of products by celebrities have been thought to be by accident. It was when Kodas Tobacco Company started distributing baseball cards in their packs of cigarettes. These baseball cards were originally “intended as gifts to the loyal customers”.

When consumers started to take interest in these baseball cards, even children “began bribing adults to buy them cigarettes for the cards. This was the time when advertisers realized the potential of this new phenomenon. However, Haig (2004) identified that it was Converse that made the biggest influence on brand history is celebrity endorsement. In 1915, basketball legend Chuck Taylor set the way for Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods by becoming the first ever athlete endorser of a brand, paid to promote the Converse All Star shoe (p. 20).

Fact is that Converse is the

first company to name a shoe after a player with the launch of the Chuck Taylor All Star in 1923, over 60 years before Nike’s Air Jordan. However, it was not until the 1920s that advertisers seriously began to use famous athletes for product endorsements, specifically to sell goods to adoring fans (Fox, 1984). Adidas shoes became famous in the Olympics as early as 1928 because athletes loved to use the shoes. Indeed, athletic performance seemed to improve visibly with the arrival of Adidas.

When Jesse Owens dazzled the crowds (and dismayed a furious Hitler) by winning four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he was wearing Adidas running shoes. So was Armin Hary, when he became the first athlete to run the 100 metre sprint in 10 seconds (Haig 2004, p. 7). Even Babe Ruth helped to promote Red Rock Cola in the 1930s and another baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio, appeared in Avon ads in an attempt to promote men’s toiletries in the early 1950s. In the 60s and 70s, there were few athletes who gained prominence by endorsing products, particularly Olympic medalists.

However, according to WetFeet Incorporated (2003), it wasn’t until 1984 that sports management entered its golden age. That was the year Chicago Bulls rookie Michael Jordan entered into an endorsement deal with Nike. The resulting brand, Air Jordan, was a runaway success, and the company has been building ad campaigns, brands, and even retail outlets around the athlete ever since. Jordan also helped fuel Gatorade’s preeminence in the sports drink category. In 1991, when the Bulls superstar began pitching Gatorade, the company had $400 million in revenues.

justify">By 2002, that number had increased to $2 billion, due in large part to Jordan’s endorsement activities. On the top spot recently who’s earning the biggest bucks in endorsements is Tiger Woods, whose yearly income from endorsements alone is estimated at more than $60 million. His biggest agreement is with Nike, a deal worth more than $100 million over a five-year period ending in 2005 (Wetfeet 2003, p. 21). What makes sports celebrities tick with consumers? Maybe the answer lies in the importance of sports and the making of sports heroes can be attributed largely to the impact of television.

Hank Aaron, baseball’s all-time career home-run leader, certainly thought so. He said “TV is what creates the heroes today. If people turn on the TV and see you all the time, they’re going to think you’re something special” (Jay 2004, p. 241). Fact is that Americans value celebrity, people who make a splash and capture the imagination, even if only for a moment. Jay (2004) believed that Roone Arledge understood this way back in the 1960s, and he pioneered the now-common practice of turning a sporting event into a compelling narrative, complete with background on players’ families, educations, and the obstacles they had overcome.

Ironically, however, as sports heroes grew ever larger than life and more spectacular, many fans craved a sense of intimacy that television could not provide. Current Trends Since the trend at present is going global, many people worldwide are aware of and make daily use of products that once were known only in North America and other parts of the Western world. For instance, Nike made millions on its

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.

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