Antecedents of the attitude toward the athlete celebrities' human brand extensions
International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship
ISSN: 1464-6668
Article publication date: 10 November 2021
Issue publication date: 5 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to examine how consumers evaluate the extended human brands of athlete celebrities beyond their unique brand personality associated with sports. Athlete celebrities' unique image in sports is used as a human brand, and attitude toward the athlete brand extensions is investigated when the athlete's name is included in a new non-sport brand. The concepts of brand extensions were employed to develop the ideas of human brand extensions.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 198 participants answered online survey questions before and after being informed of athlete brand extensions. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is utilized to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The survey results indicated that athlete–product fit and image transfer positively influenced attitude toward the extension. In addition, attitude toward the athlete brand extensions was significantly influenced by consumers' pre-existing attitude toward the celebrity; however, not by celebrity's expertise.
Originality/value
The research findings imply that some brand extension concepts are applicable to human brands to understand the effectiveness of athlete brand extensions for non-sport products.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author deeply appreciates the constructive comments of the guest editors (Drs. Gabriel Cepeda-Carrión, Joseph F. Hair. Christian M. Ringle, Jose L. Roldán and Jeronimo García) and anonymous reviewers.
Citation
Koo, J. (2022), "Antecedents of the attitude toward the athlete celebrities' human brand extensions", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 241-258. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-12-2020-0241
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited