A Valuable Strategic Opportunity for a Firm - Essay Example

Are celebrity endorsements for a marketed brand really worth the investment or is this approach infeasible for achieving return on investment for thestrategy? BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE DATE HERE TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Research rationale 1.2 Research aims and objectives 2.0 Literature review 2.1 Exploring brand personality 2.2 The potential advantages of celebrity endorsement 2.3 Potential disadvantages of celebrity endorsement 2.4 Summary 3.0 Methodology 3.1 Study limitations 4.0 Conclusion References 1.0 Introduction In the contemporary business environment, companies are looking for unique and ingenious strategies to differentiate their companies and marketed brands from that of competition. Many companies, especially those that operate in highly saturated competitive environments, offering similar products and services to their competition, require the creation of a unique brand identity that makes the firm stand out from the competitive offerings of other businesses in their markets. Differentiation is a valuable strategic opportunity for a firm befitting the aforementioned category which is distinguishing the product in a unique way, making it more interesting and attractive to a firm’s most desirable target segments (Hill and Hoskisson 2014). Many companies attempt to differentiate through benefits and features of a product that are unique to other competitive offerings, however not all firms manage to innovate such features to gain a unique, differentiated identity. Physical properties of a product, such as reliability and durability may not actually be unique from competitors, leading firms to seek alternative differentiation strategies to achieve the presentation of a more desirable and attractive product or service. Hence, many companies seek a promotional strategy in marketing, using advertising and consistent integrated marketing communications strategies to achieve a unique brand identity in a firm’s established market. One of the most common strategies, and often an expensive endeavour, is to seek celebrity endorsement of the product or brand as a means of making a product appear more attractive and relevant to consumer markets. Celebrities are defined as a person that has gained a recognised name and reputation that manages to attract attention from others (Gupta 2009). A person is considered a true celebrity when they have managed to attract popularity and fame, usually through media forums, that promote the person’s accomplishments or successes. Visibility in television programming, the achievement of substantial wealth, or one’s high performance in a particular domain, such as being a valuable athlete in sports, serves to distinguish the celebrity from others in general society. A celebrity might even have socially-aspirational physical features and attributes which portray consumers the impression that this individual is superior to others or generally remarkable and extraordinary (Morgan 2010). Kahle and Homer (1985) discovered in a study that celebrities maintain characteristics which make them dearly loved in comparison to ordinary citizens thus when a brand uses such a celebrity as a brand endorser, the brand, product or company is granted more clout which improves the extent to which a consumer pays attention to the brand. Hence, based on the theoretical ability of a celebrity to improve the identity and reputation of the product through endorsement, companies seek out celebrities with positive characteristics that are aligned with a brand’s values in an effort to increase revenues and build a solid market reputation that differentiates the brand from competing product offerings. Celebrity endorsements or direct testimonials heralding a product should, therefore, become more financially profitable for a brand (Bush, Martin and Bush 2004). 1.1 Research rationale High profile celebrities with significant social clout in a society do not come at an inexpensive price tag related to an endorsement contract. For instance, the American-based celebrity, Brad Pitt, was reported to have earned $6.7 million for a single endorsement of the famous perfume Chanel No.5 (Kandlur 2014). The famous football star, David Beckham, earns a whopping $55,000 per day for endorsements with major companies such as Samsung, Armani and Diet Coke (Kandlur). The famous R&B singer, Beyonce, has recently signed a multi-year endorsement contract for Pepsi, reported to cost the company $50 million (Said 2013). The more famous and successful a celebrity, the more expensive the celebrity endorsement deal for a company and its brand. Whilst a high-profile celebrity, under a high-priced contract, is theoretically a valuable and lucrative strategy to differentiate a brand and increase its promotional effectiveness, measuring return on investment for this activity is difficult (Gunelius 2013). Evan Morgenstein, the Chief Executive Officer of the firm CelebExperts, which is a company that assists in matching relevant celebrities with companies seeking endorsement contracts, offers that “most companies expect that not everything in a celebrity-centric deal can be evaluated using traditional metrics” (Gunelius, p.2). This might be problematic for a smaller-sized firm that invests considerable financial expenditures into a celebrity endorsement deal where ROI for this decision is critical. A contributor to Forbes Magazine with direct experience launching over 500 different products strongly asserts that celebrity endorsements are not worth the expenditures for this strategy (Harrington 2014). Elberse and Verleun (2011) disagree, providing empirical evidence that celebrity endorsements bring companies utilising this strategy an average of four percent sales increases. Hence, in an environment where celebrity endorsement return-on-investment is uncertain and difficult to measure, this proposed research study can determine the viability and potential profitability of using celebrities to endorse the product. Through examination of literature and empirical studies on this topic, coupled with a primary study using human participants, this study can determine whether, today, celebrity endorsements are really worth the expenditures both short- and long-term. 1.2 Research aim and objectives The main aim of this research is to determine the potential gains and advantages that a celebrity can bring a brand. The proposed study will maintain three objectives: Investigate the theoretical and quantitatively-supported evidence about the positive viability of celebrity endorsements. Determine the criteria and outcomes of celebrity endorsements that might serve as metrics to properly measure ROI of the strategy. Provide recommendations for contemporary brand marketers about whether to seek endorsements or whether to determine alternative differentiation strategies to achieve greater market success. 2.0 Literature Review This section of the proposal explores the vast volume of literature describing the process of celebrity endorsement, the ideology of construction brand personality, the potential advantages and disadvantages of celebrity endorsement, and the general rationale for why businesses seek this opportunity for promoting a brand and differentiating its products from competitors. Because the socially-related benefits of what makes a celebrity influential and aspirational appear to be one of the most influential factors about how consumers view a famous person, the literature review also investigates the dynamics of socio-psychological aspects of consumer behaviour that might influence potential ROI for this often-costly expenditure. 2.1 Exploring brand personality One of the most important influences in marketing is creating a personality for a brand (Aaker 1997). Marketing theory asserts that brand personality is the process of personifying a product to give it desirable characteristics. For instance, the cigarette brand, Virginia Slims, has personified its product to maintain feminine characteristics through the process of utilising females in its promotional imagery and reinforcing a feminist ideology in its integrated marketing communications (Aaker). A competing product, Marlboro cigarettes, has made the brand synonymous with masculinity by using rugged male persona as a promotional tool over the decades. In today’s music industry, marketers responsible for promoting the rapper Eminem have utilised masculine messages, imagery and themes to provide Eminem with a manly persona in an effort to attract the male consumer demographic (Katz 2003). Keller and Richey (2006) assert that the creation of a brand personality is a critical strategy to better position a competing brand and build likability for the brand in desirable consumer target segments. Some marketers attempt to create a brand personality based on sincerity, such as promoting family values or high morality and ethics, or a competent personality which emphasises quality and expertise. Other brands select to create an exciting personality to motivate consumption of the product. In an empirical study using a sample of 66 different graduate students, Maehle, Otnes and Supphelen (2011) found that when consumers perceive that a product maintains a brand personality that is deemed relevant and engaging, it motivated a more positive attitude toward the brand as opposed to competing brands that were deemed as lacking likability. The study conducted by Maehle, et al. (2011) is useful in justifying the necessity of establishing a brand personality as it empirically-tested, using real-world participants, that attractive brand personalities are directly correlated with more favourable consumer attitudes toward the endorsed product. This built scientific support for the sentiment of Aaker (1997) and Keller and Richey (2006) who reinforce that brand personality establishment is a critical marketing function that influences purchasing behaviour of consumer segments. Keller (2008) offers that a celebrity must maintain four key characteristics to contribute to the development of an effective and relevant brand personality as perceived by consumers: Expertise – talents, advanced knowledge, or general skills about a phenomenon that is deemed superior to the know-how and competencies of others in the social environment. Likability – the degree to which consumers hold favourable opinion and attitudes about the celebrity and enjoy engagement with celebrity presence and communications. Trust – Celebrities should maintain credibility or be known for their honesty and responsibility that manages to foster feelings of conviction in the celebrity (Boyd and Shank 2004). Attractiveness – the degree of charisma held by the famous person, their physical attributes or allure that the celebrity maintains in the view of consumers. The aforementioned characteristics identified by Keller (2008) theoretically rub off on the product being endorsed which provides the catalyst for consumer maintaining a more favourable impression of the brand associated with a celebrity. In essence, the personality of the celebrity herself becomes the construct for the personality of the product. Therefore, when a celebrity maintains likability, trust, attractiveness or expertise, the product theoretically adopts these characteristics from a consumer perspective and becomes the underpinning for how consumers develop favourable or unfavourable opinion of the brand. For a company unable to create the critical personality for its marketed products using generic differentiation strategies and other promotional efforts, a celebrity may theoretically be advantageous for the product due to the pre-existing personality that the famous person maintains. Rather than expending years of brand building strategies to create a personality, the celebrity could theoretically give a brand more instant personality that would minimise marketing costs to accomplish this independently without celebrity influence. 2.2 The potential advantages of celebrity endorsement Business that attempt to differentiate their product brands are seeking unique strategies to provide consumers with the perception that one product is more valuable than competitor products. Value, from a marketing perspective, is how consumer perceive the overall worth and significance of a product when making comparisons to other products available in an established market (Sanchez-Fernandez and Iniesta-Bonilla 2007). Value is inclusive of the tangible product benefits and the reputation of the brand or its promoting organisation (Schiffman and Kanuk 2010). Hence, the utilisation of a celebrity endorsement as promotional strategy is an effort to use the existing reputation of the celebrity, and their associated testimonials about a product, to promote this sense of value and differentiate the product (Aaker 1997). A study by Kim, Lee and Prideau (2014) found that hotels that utilised celebrities with trustworthy characteristics substantially improved the level of trust that consumers maintained in the promoting hotel of which the celebrity maintained association. Hence, the value of the hotel brand to consumers in terms of being trustworthy was enhanced on the pre-existing trust-based reputation already held by the celebrities endorsing these hotel brands. Therefore, value perceptions as an outcome of celebrity endorsement appear to be viable return on investment for this endeavour. The empirical study conducted by Kim, et al. (2014) provided quantifiable support that the personality characteristics associated with the celebrity endorsing a brand directly impacts the extent to which consumers attribute these same characteristics to the associated brand. Schiffman and Kanuk (2010), who are academic experts and theorists in marketing and consumer behaviour, asserted support that the reputation of a brand is directly related to consumer-perceived brand value. The empirical results by Kim, et al. justify the experiences of relevant industry professionals, thus adding credibility to the potential value a celebrity can bring a brand when associated publicly with a product brand. Hence, this would seem to iterate that trustworthiness, as a dynamic of celebrities recruited for endorsement, might be more potent than other characteristics in providing perceptions of value toward the endorsed brand. Though subjective, this study does indicate that when the personality characteristics of the celebrity are favourable, it may have a trickle-down effect on the brand being endorsed that positively personifies the brand and makes it appear more relevant to the consumer segments. From a different perspective, marketing theory iterates that many consumers seek the opinion of reference groups, which are aspirational figures in the sociological environment by which a consumer compares themselves and moulds their behaviours (Boone and Kurtz 2007). Celebrities are often considered reference group figures for many consumer demographics (Schiffman and Kanuk). When a celebrity maintains some level of aspirational qualities, it tends to make their communications, opinion and endorsements appear more relevant and interesting than non-famous people. In fact, Clark and Horstman (2003) found that endorsements from celebrities improve recall about the brand being promoted and overall assessment favourability toward the product. However, why can increased brand recall be explained as a result of celebrity association? There is a phenomenon recognised in the domain of psychology known as confirmation bias. Montier (2002) describes this human behavioural aspect as the tendency for individuals to pay closer attention to information that is aligned with their prevailing beliefs and values whilst concurrently ignoring and dismissing information that is in direct conflict with these values. Pohl (2004) supports this human behavioural characteristic, suggesting that people selectively avoid absorbing information which contrasts to their inherent beliefs. Confirmation bias and reference group comparison tendencies may well explain why one advantage of celebrity endorsement is improved brand recall. Zhang and Chen (2009) offer that when a product brand maintains perceived characteristics or values directly associated with the values of the consumer, strong attachments and loyalty toward the brand are built. Companies that seek specific target consumers usually conduct substantial market research to understand what drives attitudes, lifestyles and beliefs of their most desirable target markets. By selecting an aspirational celebrity that shares these same characteristics, it theoretically makes the celebrity’s endorsements of greater consequence and significance than using non-celebrity promotional strategies. Therefore, competing brands that do not promote similar values and beliefs would have their promotional messages dismissed in favour of the more self-relevant celebrity endorser; a form of confirmation bias. As yet another example, Aakers (1997) suggests that celebrities who have desirable physical traits deemed attractive serve as a predictor for the effectiveness of this form of advertising. Kamins (1990) conducted a study which found that the degree of perceived celebrity attractiveness was directly influential in the degree to which a brand was deemed more enticing by the sample population utilised in this study. Psychology recognises the theory known as the match-up hypothesis, iterating that those in committed relationships are more happy and the relationship more successful when they are matched with another person who is similarly attractive or considered socially desirable (Myers 2009). Hence, if the level of physical attractiveness of a celebrity is considered close to the self or when it is perceived that the celebrity maintains social desirability, this might explain why consumers maintain a more favourable attitude and desire to consume the endorsed and associated product. In such a situation, buyer segments may believe in the superiority of the endorsed product as the celebrity has become a reference group as a result of their perceived attractiveness factor which directly influences more conviction in favouring this product over competing offerings. The empirical results uncovered by Kamins (1990) used imagery of American actor Tom Selleck as an attractive endorser and Telly Savalas as an unattractive endorser. The researchers in this study were careful to illustrate a non-biased approach to research and wanted to explore the attractiveness phenomenon from multiple angles. None of the participants were asked to rank both actors, but were simply shown their images and asked to offer sentiment about the relevancy and significance of their endorsements. In nearly every instance, Selleck returned more favourable opinion about the credibility and relevancy of endorsement quality over that of Savalas, which lends considerable support that attractiveness and the match-up hypothesis may very well influence celebrity endorsement return-on-investment. Koering and Boyd (2009) also believe in the validity of celebrities as an aspirational reference figure by which consumers frame their own sense of identity. Because celebrities are usually already socially-desirable before engaging in endorsements, they serve as benchmarks for how consumers measure their own social relevancy. As a reference group figure, association with a brand makes it appear more significant to competing products. Nam-Hyun (2008) agrees, asserting that companies that use celebrity endorsements build consumer preference for the endorsed brand. Zhang and Chen (2009) assert that when a brand promotes that it can enhance a consumer’s concept of self-expansion, in this case social standing improvement, attachments are constructed toward the brand. Hence, in some degree, it might be that consumers who view a certain celebrity as being aspirational feel that they are becoming closer to this attractive celebrity by consuming the product they are endorsing or are managing to improve their social relevancy through consumption of the endorsed brand. 2.3 Potential disadvantages of celebrity endorsement There are risks associated with celebrity endorsement. Gwinner and Bennett (2008) assert that the public image of the celebrity is critical to whether a company will achieve return-on-investment for associating the brand with the celebrity. When a celebrity becomes victim to any form of negative publicity, the long-term profit opportunities for the endorsed brand are minimised (White, Goodard and Wilbur 2009). Companies that contract an endorser do not have control over the ethical behaviours of their endorser, hence there is a risk that in the event of scandal or other negative media coverage about the contracted celebrity, the brand’s power in the market can be reduced. One such example of this occurred with the famous golfer, Tiger Woods, who had once maintained a reputation of high integrity and morality. However, in 2009, Woods became the target of media scrutiny and poor publicity for alleged adultery. At first, companies that Woods had contracted with for endorsement waited to see whether the consumer audiences would believe this media and how Woods might respond to these allegations. Woods chose to publicly apologise for these behaviours, admitting his guilt as an adulterer, and quickly changed the mindset of companies that had paid millions for his endorsements. Gillette and AT&T immediately terminated his contract for endorsement citing reputational problems with Woods and concern over international media coverage of these transgressions (SMA 2010). Hence, it would appear that ensuring return on investment would mean establishing some level of control over celebrity behaviours in the social environment (a difficult task without legal support). Those companies that achieved greater revenue growth as a result of Woods’ previous endorsements, and subsequently terminated these contracts as a result of scandal, may have to conduct considerable market research with consumers to determine the long-term impact on their respective brands as a result of Woods’ association. SMA, the Sports Marketing Association, provided valuable industry data about the tangible efforts undertaken by Gillette and AT&T when deciding to terminate the contracts with Tiger Woods. The SMA maintains direct experience in sports marketing and has access to industry statistics and endorsement scenarios. The mission of the SMA is to assist in the development of rewarding relationships between sports professionals, educators, industry and students with an emphasis on networking to advance sport marketing knowledge. It is a non-profit organisation that desires to recruit educators, students and industry professionals to pay for membership, hence the credibility of its industry data and its distributed journal publications must be scholarly and professional in order to recruit more interested members. Hence, industry activities provided by the Sports Marketing Association should be deemed unbiased and credible in explaining what drove commercial decisions to drop Tiger Woods, illustrating legitimate concern over brand damage as a result of Woods’ scandal involvement. Ericsson and Hakansson (2005) offer that another disadvantage of celebrity endorsements is that the endorser can potentially overshadow the brand. A study which surveyed over 4,000 respondents found a whopping 80 percent of those recruited for the study could correctly remember the endorsing celebrity, but not the brand itself being promoted (Jain 2011). Hence, the potency of the celebrity as a social figure might complicate the process of measuring total return-on-investment when consumers attach themselves to the celebrity, but dismiss the brand. This might theoretically lead to limited consumption of the product, but enhance their engagement and likability toward the celebrity which would not provide adequate ROI for using a celebrity endorser. The achieved equity of the brand might, theoretically, be depleted by associating it with a powerful social celebrity. The study conducted by Jain (2011) utilised a very large sample of disparate consumers and uncovered startling results that many could not recall the brand being endorsed. This lends ample empirical credibility that celebrity impressiveness and stature might have negative impact on a brand’s ability to improve sales revenues or gain a more prominent, competitive reputation. A sample of over 4,000 consumers that were spread over a broad geographic region would tend to insinuate that brand recall problems as a result of using highly-famous figures could likely be a phenomenon that is representative of a much broader population. Perhaps, then, this study provides support (albeit subjective) that the degree to which a celebrity is recognised, favoured and their social dominance should be aligned with products that are just as dominant and socially-recognised in order to ensure return-on-investment and avoid being overshadowed by the endorser. 2.4 Summary This section identified the potential advantages and foundation of return-on-investment related to using celebrity endorsements as viable marketing strategy. As a result, this study constructs three hypotheses: H1: Return on investment can be effectively measured by the degree to which consumers can recall the brand as a result of celebrity association with the brand. H2: Celebrity endorsements are more effective when utilising physically attractive celebrities. H3: Brand power is reduced when celebrities recruited for endorsement deals become involved in negative publicity. 3.0 Methodology The proposed study adopts a mixed methodology consisting of deductive research approaches. Deductive research is inclusive of data collections methods that attempt to confirm or reject a hypothesis (Gill and Johnson 2002). The study further utilises the interpretivistic approach of which this school of thought assumes that socio-psychological factors are influential in constructing reality related to a given phenomenon. This study’s literature review identified many socio-psychological factors of consumer behaviour that may potentially contribute to whether celebrity endorsements are viable or irrelevant, including reference group comparisons, confirmation bias, the match-up hypothesis, and desire for social self-expansion through brand consumption. These aspects cannot be measured scientifically (statistically) as such attitudes and behaviours are complex and oftentimes subjective requiring an inferential approach to investigation, hence justifying a mixed methodological approach. The study will utilise an ad hoc recruitment strategy, identifying a sample group of between 40 and 60 random consumers of varying demographics. The researcher will gain approval to conduct the research outside of a commercial retail environment, approaching random consumers to gain their willingness to participate. The recruited participants will be shown several images of famous celebrities that have historically or currently endorsed a variety of disparate products. They will be asked to rank each celebrity on a Likert-type scale (where 1 is unfavourable, 3 is neutral, and 5 is substantially positive), in relation to likability, trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise as identified as being viable for effective endorsement by Aaker (1997). Some celebrities chosen will have been involved in public relations scandals or other negative media coverage whilst others have not. After ranking each celebrity, the participants will be shown images of the respective products that had been endorsed by these celebrities. After viewing the images, the respondents will be asked to correctly match the product to its current or historical endorser. Upon efforts to properly match the celebrity with their respective products, consumers will be asked to rank their feelings about the brand on another survey with a Likert-type scale using a variety of criteria by which to measure opinion about the brand. Proposed criteria will include trust, likability, and perceived product benefits. After completing this portion of the study, the recruited participants will be engaged with a short interview discussing the characteristics of the brand and the characteristics of the illustrated celebrities in relation to their own characteristics. Questions will incorporate discussion about social relevancy in consumption, aspirational characteristics of the identified celebrities, overall value perceptions of the exposed brands shown in the study and what the participants believe makes each celebrity attractive or unattractive. The rationale for this approach is to determine whether there are correlations between brand-related sentiment of endorsed products and the positive or unfavourable perceptions held against the celebrities. If there are congruencies common in how consumers rank the celebrity and their respective endorsed products, it may illustrate that celebrity endorsements are effective or ineffective as a direct result of their associations with the endorsing famous individuals. Opinion gleaned through the interview process should theoretically provide valuable knowledge of the specific criteria that guided these rankings of products and celebrities. This identified criteria may assist in explaining how a firm can achieve return-on-investment through celebrity endorsement and assist in recruiting the proper celebrity that will have the most positive impact on consumers. By further collecting the demographic information of the participants (i.e. age, gender, ethnicity and career), the study may uncover correlations in certain demographic groups which can assist in recruiting the most effective celebrity endorser that will have appropriate relevancy and ROI for specific target demographics. Analysis of data will consist of a mean analysis of all completed surveys, determining an average sentiment for each product and celebrity. When making comparisons to the demographic information collected, it may illustrate a trend in either favourability, apathy or high favourability that dominates each demographic group. If it is discovered that there are, indeed, correlations with specific target consumer demographics, the knowledge uncovered could provide a recommended ROI measurement metric which would be more effective in determining whether future celebrity endorsements, by seeking firms, are actually worth the expenditure. 3.1 Study limitations Ad hoc sampling using a sample group of 40 to 60 disparate consumer demographics might not be representative of the attitudes of the broader consumer population in the country. However, tangible resources and timeframe to conduct the research on behalf of the researcher forbid a more longitudinal and in-depth study approach. Despite this limitation, the approach undertaken in this proposed study does provide a unique method of determining how consumers view a product as a direct result of celebrity association. If consumers correctly match the product with the celebrity this may indicate superior return-on-investment as it would insinuate that brand recognition had been achieved through endorsement. Keller (2012) states that without a foundation of brand recognition and recall, no effective, future communications with consumers is achievable. 4.0 Conclusion In an environment where there appears to be general consensus that there is uncertainty about the potential ROI for recruiting celebrities to endorse products, this study maintains the ability to improve knowledge about the holistic value of this strategy for companies seeking to differentiate using non-product-related emphasis. This study can potentially close a gap in literature regarding how to measure return-on-investment effectively when selecting celebrity endorsement promotional methodology. This study identified that it is much more than measurement of revenues that might predict ROI for celebrity association, but could include measuring consumer attitudes, behaviours, and the ability to recall an endorsed product in the same capacity as recall of the celebrity being utilised for endorsement. In an environment where the profit potential and effectiveness of celebrity endorsement in differentiating a brand is debated, this proposed study provides an innovative approach to measuring socio-psychological factors and the influential criteria utilised by consumers when judging celebrities and their associated brands for endorsement. The study does not attempt to limit investigation using only a singular criteria, but is more in-depth in investigation with a mixed methodology that aims to understand the what, whys and hows of celebrity endorsement impact and whether a firm can actually achieve long-run ROI through pursuit of this strategy to differentiate against existing competition. Studies that utilise only a quantitative methodology tend to limit research capacity by suggesting that the socio-psychological characteristics of humans is irrelevant to constructing and influencing reality. This mixed methodological approach for this proposed study takes into consideration human emotions and social motivations which appear to be relevant to whether celebrity endorsements will provide a firm with competitive advantages when utilised as part of promotional strategy in marketing. The following represents the expected timetable to conduct this proposed research study: Activity Deadline Construct research instruments (surveys and interview template) 10 December 2014 Conduct ad hoc research with retail shoppers 21 December 2014 Correlate data findings with identified demographics of participants 8 January 2014 Consult with additional journals and other secondary literature to assist in qualitative analysis at socio-psychological level 16 January 2015 Complete analysis 20 January 2015 Construct final project 20 February 2015 Edit final project 1 March 2015 Submission of final project 15 March 2015 References Aaker, J. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality, Journal of Marketing Research, 34(August), pp.347-356. Boone, L. and Kurtz, D. (2007). Contemporary marketing, 12th edn. UK: Thompson South-Western. Boyd, T.C. and Shank, M.D. (2004). Athlete as product endorsers: the effect of gender and product relatedness, Sport Marketing Quarterly, 13, pp. 82-93. 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