Celebrity sports athlete endorsement on purchase intentions (2013)

The practice of employing celebrity athletes to endorse sport and non-sport products has increased rapidly in the past decades (Hsu and McDonald, 2002). Due increased media coverage and social visibility, celebrity athletes have embraced their star power in attempt to gain financial advantages from endorsing products. The purpose of the present study is to discover and define the effects a celebrity sports athlete endorser has on message acceptance and purchase intentions, in conjunction with perceived attractiveness and perceived expertise, when paired with a non-sport product. The results of present study show that the celebrity sports athlete was found most congruent with the non-sport consumer good, versus the showbiz celebrity. The predominance of perceived attractiveness was disproven, on the subject of acceptance and purchase intentions it was found to be of less importance for the celebrity sports athlete. Perceived expertise on the other hand was found to be of more importance. In relation to congruency, it is argued that the celebrity sports athlete is processed cognitively due high involvement of the receiver, evoked by recall of previous brand experiences.