Constructing Athlete identification and the effectiveness of Athlete endorsement on customer's purchase intention

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

CAO NHAT TUAN

CONSTRUCTING

ATHLETE IDENTIFICATION

AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF

ATHLETE ENDORSEMENT ON

CUSTOMER’S PURCHASE INTENTION

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

HO CHI MINH CITY - 2019

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

CAO NHAT TUAN

CONSTRUCTING

ATHLETE IDENTIFICATION

AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF

ATHLETE ENDORSEMENT ON

CUSTOMER’S PURCHASE INTENTION

Major : Business Administration

ID number : 60340102

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of

Master of Business

Administration

Dissertation Advisor

Associate Professor – PhD

(UK) Nguyen Minh Ha

HO CHI MINH CITY - 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1

1.1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1

1.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES................................................................................3

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................4

1.4. THE SCOPE OF STUDY AND THE TIME OF STUDY..................................4

1.4.1. The scope of study....................................................................................4

1.4.2. The time of study......................................................................................4

1.5. METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................................5

1.5.1. Qualitative Research.................................................................................5

1.5.2. Quantitative Research...............................................................................5

1.6. STUDY SIGNIFICANCE ...................................................................................6

1.7. STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................6

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................8

2.1. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS .....................................................................8

2.1.1. The concept of Human Brands.................................................................8

2.1.2. The concept of Athlete Brand ..................................................................9

2.1.3. The concept of Parasocial Relationship .................................................10

2.1.4. The concept of Athlete Identification.....................................................11

2.1.5. The concept of Athlete Endorsement .....................................................17

2.1.6. The concept of Athlete Transgression....................................................18

2.1.7. Meaning Transfer Process......................................................................18

2.1.8. The concept of Customer’s Purchase Intention......................................21

2.2. THEORETICAL MODEL ................................................................................21

2.2.1. The Brand Personality Model.................................................................21

2.2.2. Perceived Value Model ..........................................................................23

2.3. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT ..............................................24

2.3.1. Source Credibility Model and Athlete Personality hypothesis ..............24

2.3.2. Athlete Transgression.............................................................................28

2.3.3. Meaning Transfer Model........................................................................29

2.4. REVIEWING PREVIOUS STUDIES...............................................................30

2.4.1. Reviewing the remarks of previous studious .........................................30

2.4.2. Similarities and differences between the research and previous studies36

2.5. SUGGESTED RESEARCH MODEL...............................................................43

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................44

3.1. RESEARCH PROCEDURE..............................................................................44

3.2. METHODOLODY ............................................................................................45

3.2.1. Qualitative Research...............................................................................45

3.2.2. Quantitative Research.............................................................................46

3.3. THE SCALE OF THE RESEARCH.................................................................46

3.4. SAMPLE COLLECTION METHOD ...............................................................53

3.4.1. Sample Size ............................................................................................54

3.4.2. Sampling collection method...................................................................55

3.4.3. Data analysis methods............................................................................55

CHAPTER 4 – DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS................................................61

3.1. SAMPLE DEMOGRAPHIC.............................................................................61

3.2. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ..........................................................................65

3.3. RELIABILITY TEST........................................................................................73

3.4. MODIFIED MODEL AND ADJUSTED HYPOTHESES...............................85

3.5. EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA).............................................86

3.6. CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (CFA)..........................................93

3.7. STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING (SEM).........................................99

3.8. RESULT DISCUSSION..................................................................................103

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND LIMITATIONS..115

5.1. CONCLUSION................................................................................................115

5.2. RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................118

5.3. FUTURE RESEARCH AND LIMITATIONS ...............................................121

REFERENCES...........................................................................................................122

APPENDIX A .............................................................................................................133

APPENDIX B .............................................................................................................137

APPENDIX C .............................................................................................................139

APPENDIX D .............................................................................................................146

APPENDIX E .............................................................................................................148

APPENDIX E .............................................................................................................156

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 The previous studies......................................................................................32

Table 2.2 The comparison with the research of Brad and Todd....................................36

Table 2.3 The comparison with the research of Koernig and partners.........................37

Table 2.4 The comparison with the research of Till and partners ................................38

Table 2.5 The comparison with the research of Jessica and partners............................39

Table 2.6 The comparison with the research of Francois and Alain ............................40

Table 2.7 The comparison with the research of Baker and Tagg ..................................41

Table 2.8 The comparison with the research of Braustein and Zhang...........................42

Table 3.9 Variables of Trustworthiness, Expertise, Attractiveness, Toughness............47

Table 3.10 The variables of Transgression ....................................................................50

Table 3.11 The variables of Athlete Identification .......................................................51

Table 3.12 The variables of Athlete Endorsement.........................................................52

Table 3.13 The variables of Purchase Intention.............................................................53

Table 3.14 The Codes of Observed Variables ...............................................................56

Table 3.15 Model Fit Indices........................................................................................59

Table 4.16: Total numbers of questionnaires.................................................................62

Table 4.17 The summary of total income of respondents..............................................63

Table 4.18 The summary of age groups of respondents................................................64

Table 4.19 Descriptive Statistics of Expertise ...............................................................66

Table 4.20 Descriptive Statistics of Trustworthiness.....................................................67

Table 4.21 Descriptive Statistics of Attractiveness .......................................................68

Table 4.22 Descriptive Statistics of Toughness.............................................................69

Table 4.23 Descriptive Statistics of Transgression........................................................70

Table 4.24 Descriptive Statistics of Athlete Identification............................................71

Table 4.25 Descriptive Statistics of Athlete Endorsement ............................................72

Table 4.26 Descriptive Statistics of Customer’s Purchase Intention.............................73

Table 4.27 Reliability Statistics of Trustworthiness......................................................74

Table 4.28 Item-Total Statistics of Trustworthiness.....................................................74

Table 4.29 Reliability Statistics Re-test of Trustworthiness..........................................75

Table 4.30 Item-Total Statistics Re-test of Trustworthiness ........................................75

Table 4.31 Reliability Statistics of Expertise.................................................................76

Table 4.32 Item-Total Statistics of Expertise.................................................................76

Table 4.33 Reliability Statistics of Attractiveness........................................................77

Table 4.34 Item-Total Statistics of Attractiveness.........................................................77

Table 4.35 Reliability Statistics Re-test of Attractiveness.............................................78

Table 4.36 Item-Total Statistics Re-test of Attractiveness ...........................................78

Table 4.37 Reliability Statistics of Toughness...............................................................79

Table 4.38 Item-Total Statistics of Toughness ..............................................................79

Table 4.39: Reliability Statistics Re-test of Toughness.................................................80

Table 4.40 Item-Total Statistics of Toughness ..............................................................80

Table 4.41 Reliability Statistics of Transgression .........................................................81

Table 4.42 Item-Total Statistics of Transgression .........................................................81

Table 4.43 Reliability Statistics of Athlete Identification.............................................82

Table 4.44 Item-Total Statistics of Athlete Identification ............................................82

Table 4.45 Reliability Statistics of Athlete Endorsement.............................................83

Table 4.46 Item-Total Statistics of Athlete Endorsement.............................................83

Table 4.47 Reliability Statistics of Customer’s Purchase Intention ..............................84

Table 4.48 Item-Total Statistics of Customer’s Purchase Intention ..............................84

Table 4.49 The Adjusted Hypotheses ............................................................................86

Table 4.50 KMO and Bartlett's Test ..............................................................................87

Table 4.51 Total Variance Explained ...........................................................................88

Table 4.52 Pattern Matrix ..............................................................................................90

Table 4.53 The indices of CFA model fit ......................................................................95

Table 4.54 Standardized Regression Weights................................................................96

Table 4.55 The indices of C.R. and A.V.E ....................................................................98

Table 4.56 The indices of SEM goodness-of-fit..........................................................101

Table 4.57 Regression Weights (Group number 1 – Default model) ..........................102

Table 4.58 The Standardized Regression Weights ......................................................113

Table 4.59 The confirmed hypotheses.........................................................................114

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: The Athlete Identification............................................................................12

Figure 2.3: The Meaning Transfer Process....................................................................19

Figure 2.4: Brand Personality Model.............................................................................22

Figure 2.5: The Perceive Value Model ..........................................................................23

Figure 2.6: The suggested theoretical model .................................................................43

Figure 2.7: The research procedure................................................................................44

Figure 4.8: The proportions of Genders.........................................................................62

Figure 4.9: The proportions of Institution Types...........................................................63

Figure 4.10: The summary of education level of respondents.......................................65

Figure 4.11: The Adjusted model...................................................................................85

Figure 4.12: The Confirmatory Factor Analysis Model ................................................94

Figure 4.13: The Structural Equation Model ...............................................................100

ABSTRACT

The targets of this essay focus on the effectiveness of the athlete endorsement on the

purchase intention of customers as well as investigate the attributes of the athlete

identification. The issue as to whether the athlete endorsement is a main factor

affecting the customers’ purchase intention directly or first becoming an attribute of

customers’ perception with regard to the product before bringing a positive impact on

customers’ purchase intention. Four hundred and fifty respondents were surveyed a set

of questions in order to express their thinking toward the athlete endorser from a host

of perspectives. The athlete endorsement scale including trustworthiness, expertise,

attractiveness, toughness and transgression of the athlete help marketing decision

makers with a thorough look at the trend of athlete endorsement.

In this research, two main different software are applied to examine the theoretical

model, which are Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Analysis Of a

Moment Structures (AMOS) with the help of Excel Microsoft software. Four hundred

and twenty valid questionnaires were input in SPSS and AMOS in order to test

hypotheses as well as the whole suggested model.

As a result, findings show that five attributes include Athlete Trustworthiness, Athlete

Expertise, Athlete Attractiveness, Athlete Toughness, Athlete Transgression bring

considerable effects on Athlete Identification. Besides, Athlete’s Transgression also

brings some negative impacts on Athlete Endorsement. Finally, customers will buy

products with the appearance of the athlete endorser.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1. INTRODUCTION

Over the past decades, advertising has been given higher weight by specialists in

economy, especially marketers. Enterprises use the significant amount of their budget

in order to establish strong relationships between customers and their endorsers

(Zamudo et al, 2013), namely former footballers David Beckham and Pelé.

Furthermore, it has become far more commonplace for customers to enjoy the positive

impacts of the sport and leisure industry, which means that those who work in

marketing field could take advantage of customer’s interest to create advertising

campaigns that affect consumers’ purchase-making decisions. With regard to sport and

leisure industry, the athlete is not just only a person putting all his or her effort and

time on practicing and taking part in competitions, the athlete is also a communicator,

motivator who inspires others, especially sedentary workers, to get a better lifestyle

(Hodge and Walker, 2015). As a result, the cult of using athlete’s images, reputation

and success for endorsement is more popular than ever before (Bergkvist & Zhou,

2016). When a company uses the athlete as an endorser for goods or services in

marketing communications, they want to convey the attributes of the product like

wholesomeness, toughness or attractiveness to consumers. Besides, customers perhaps

buy items associated with the athletes as presents to illustrate their bonds with sports

people (Donavan et al, 2006). An observational evidence shows that there is a wide

range of companies that choose athlete endorsement as a part of their marketing

strategies such as Christiano Ronaldo for Nike, Usain Bolt for Puma or David

Beckham for H&M. Researchers also discovered the phenomenon that athlete

endorsement leads to favorable advertisement ratings and product evaluations, bringing

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some positive effects on financial returns for businesses (Bush et al, 2004; Kim & Na,

2007).

On the one hand, there are thousands of athletes in sports industry; however, the public

just know a few outstanding sports players and companies only uses the image, fame of

some famous athletes to endorse their products. These athletes are well-recognized

since they possess some attributes making the ordinary people admire such as their

attractiveness, trustworthiness, expertise, toughness, etc. For example, people all over

the world truly admire the handsomeness of David Beckham, a former English soccer

player, or the profession of Ronaldinho, a Brazilian former footballer. The audience

wants to find out more information about the acclaimed athlete since they want to

create an invisible bond between them and their favorite athlete. In fact, firms need to

select carefully an athlete that gains adequate traits to become an endorser in their

marketing campaigns. According to Aaker (1997), about fifteen attributes need to

present in order to create a personal brand, letting the general public recognize an

individual. Science and technology have brought some breakthroughs to people from

all strata; therefore, the number of Aaker’s attributes seems too abundant and

unnecessary for an athlete to become famous. The aim of this research is to investigate

some modern and suitable attributes for an athlete to create Athlete Identification,

which is a personal brand.

On the other hand, with the proliferation of cutting-edge entertainment and the seeking

of power, the athletes have been caused lots of scandals. In other terms, the athlete is a

type of person who is able to live in a high-class lifestyle and enjoys social evils such

as alcoholism, racism, (child) abuse, inequality to name but a few (Lohneiss and Hill,

2014), leading to the devastating effect on their career. For instance, Lance Armstrong,

a former racing cyclist, used illegal drugs to enhance his stamina; Tiger Woods who is

an American professional golfer has involved a bunch of scandals like car crash,

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having affairs, resulting in the fact that these transgressions destroyed their career and

companies stopped hiring them as endorsing position anymore. As a person of the

public, the athlete should not have any kind of on-field and off-field scandals (Hughes

and Shank, 2005; Kelly et al, 2018). The scandals not only ruin the athlete’s life as

well as career but also destroy the reputation of the company that uses the image of the

athlete to promote their products. Therefore, marketers should take this aspect into

account. However, there are just few studies that focus on this issue, lacking the

specific concept of the influence of athlete transgression on the athlete identification

along with athlete endorsement.

Vietnam is the country that has a strong passion for sports in general, and for football

in particular. Investigating and deciding to apply athlete endorsements in order to

“stick” human brand in customer’s mind should be taken into account; however, with

the coming of the information age, people have become smarter customers with lots of

knowledge, references and choices before making a purchase decision (Nguyen &

Nguyen, 2016). Hence, the aim of this research is to delve into the influence of athlete

endorsement and the athlete-product congruence on customer’s purchase decision.

1.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Many studies have already examined the effect of athlete endorsement using

components of Athlete Identification (Brad and Todd, 2013; Braustein & Zhang, 2005;

Spry et al (2011),Akiko et al (2013)); however, most of these studies have been

ignoring the attributes of negative factors like athlete’s scandals, eliminating these

components out of the studies. Hence, the objectives below are formed to found out

clearly and thoroughly the proliferation of athlete endorsement nowadays.

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This study focuses on objectives as follows:

1. Factors that affect the identification of an athlete.

2. Factors that make sportsman to become an endorser.

3. The relationship between athlete transgression and athlete career as well as

athlete endorsement.

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The target of this study is to solve the following questions:

1. What are factors that contribute to the Athlete Identification?

2. What are factors that help an athlete to become an endorser?

3. Is there any relationship between athlete scandals and the sports career as well

as endorsement career?

1.4. THE SCOPE OF STUDY AND THE TIME OF STUDY

1.4.1. The scope of study

This study is conducted with a sample of Vietnamese customers who either has seen

advertisements with the appearance of the athlete or has used the endorsed product.

1.4.2. The time of study

This study is conducted in a period of 2 years, starting from 2018.

year

2018 2019

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5

Literature Review

Methodology

Data Analysis

Result

Managerial Implication