An extended source attractiveness model: the advertising effectiveness of distinct athlete endorser attractiveness types and its contextual variation

Abstract

Research question: According to past research, the effectiveness of athlete endorsements of advertised products is low on average and strongly depends on the context. This article extends the source attractiveness model to examine two research questions:(1) How do multiple unexplored types of an athlete endorser's attractiveness affect customer equity drivers? (2) How do these effects vary by the fit of an athlete endorser with the endorsed product and with the consumer's gender and sports experience? Research methods: This research uses hierarchical linear modeling of 1319 consumer evaluations of athlete-endorsed ads in Japan. Results and finding: Among multiple types of an athlete's attractiveness, an athlete's success appeal, personality appeal, and athlete-product similarity, but not sex appeal, positively affect customer equity drivers. Due to gender roles, success appeal and personality appeal have stronger effects and athleteproduct similarity has weaker effects for male athletes. Contrary to conventional wisdom, sex appeal is not more influential for female athletes. Reflecting sexual preferences in opposite-gender evaluations, a female athlete's sex appeal has a stronger positive influence on male consumers, whereas a male athlete's success appeal has a stronger positive influence on female consumers. A consumer's sports experience enhances the influence of an athlete's success appeal. Implications: This research identifies a set of contextual moderators (athlete-product fit; athlete-consumer fit in gender and sports experience) of the effectiveness of different attractiveness types in athlete endorsements of advertised products. It provides guidelines on how to enhance the effectiveness of athlete endorsements by using different types of athlete attractiveness in different contexts.

Gender of the online influencer and follower: the differential persuasive impact of homophily, attractiveness and product-match

“…As discussed in the literature review above, men are naturally drawn toward attractive women and women to attractive men (Black and Morton, 2017). Frank and Mitsumoto (2021) find that endorser attractiveness has the strongest impact on the opposite gender consumer where men respond well to the attractiveness of female endorsers and women respond better to the attractiveness of male endorsers. This attraction toward the opposite gender is instinctively based on procreation for men and protection for women (Grontvedt and Kennair, 2013).…”

“…This expectation is based on the same research and rationale presented earlier regarding the importance of opposite gender attraction in the effectiveness of spokespeople (e.g. Black and Morton, 2017;Frank and Mitsumoto, 2021). Therefore, H8.…”

The Effectiveness of Live-Streaming Influencers on Consumers: A Case Study in Douyin

“…Consumers tend to accept very attractive endorsers unless the endorser's remarkable expert performance is so excellent that they can disregard his or her attractiveness [6]. Frank et al applied hierarchical linear modeling in a study to analyze 1319 customer opinions about athlete-endorsed advertisements in Japan [7]. The results show that athlete achievement appeal, and personality appeal, but not sex appeal, both significantly boost consumer equity drivers [7].…”

“…Frank et al applied hierarchical linear modeling in a study to analyze 1319 customer opinions about athlete-endorsed advertisements in Japan [7]. The results show that athlete achievement appeal, and personality appeal, but not sex appeal, both significantly boost consumer equity drivers [7].…”

A Study of the Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Purchase Intentions

“…Consequently, brands utilize the selection of endorsers to promote their brands and potential users. Numerous major companies use celebrity endorsement as a marketing communication tool [1]. Endorsers add value to products and deliver value to consumers, thereby increasing their willingness to buy.…”