Running head: Colin Kaepernick’s Nike Campaign Impact on Nike brand 1

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand
Tiana Waters
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

Author Note

First paragraph: Complete departmental and institutional affiliation

Second paragraph: Changes in affiliation (if any)

Third paragraph: Acknowledgments, funding sources, special circumstances

Fourth paragraph: Contact information (mailing address and e-mail)

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 2

Abstract

Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers decided to protest the national anthem before a
2016 NFL preseason game because of systemic racial inequality and police brutality.Kaepernick
decision to protest the anthem has had a cascading effect that impacted not only his career but
also the First Admeant, and national anthem in sports. Despite, the controversy, Nike is one of
the largest sports brands in the world that decided to release an ad campaign titled ‘stand for
something even if that means losing everything’ featuring Kaepernick. The Nike campaign
played a major role into how the protest was perceived. This research study explains how
consumers perception of the Colin Kaepernick’s Nike Campaign affects the outcome of sales for
product.
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 3

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand

1. Background

1.1 Colin Kaepernick’s upbringing

On November 3, 1987 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Colin Rand Kaepernick was born to
Heidi Russo. Heidi was a 19-year-old single mother, who was not ready to raise a child. When
Kaepernick was just five weeks old, he was adopted by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, who Heidi
met through a common friend. Rick worked for a cheese company and Teresa was a nurse. Rick
and Teresa had two children of their own but had lost two other babies shortly after birth because
of heart defects, which lead them to adopt Kaepernick.

Kaepernick growing up as a biracial child to white parents stirred up lots of comments and
concerns in life but never bothered him. Over the years, his parents learned Kaepernick's health
was far from perfect. He suffered from chronic ear infections as a boy, and his parents thought at
one point he might have cystic fibrosis. The family moved to the West Coast in the early 1990s.
Colin began playing youth football at age 8. His strong arm, fast speed and coordination,
elevated him to quarterback position right away. He handled his team’s kicking chores and
played on the defensive line. By the age of 9, he was playing quarterback.” In the fourth grade
he penned a letter predicting that he would be the starting quarterback San Francisco 49ers.
After college, he was drafted into the NFL for the 49ers, then history began.

1.2 Protest
During the 2016-2017 football preseason games, Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel
during the National Anthem protest. On August, 26th, 2016 Kaepernick photograph was taken
by San Francisco 49ers beat writer, Jennifer Chan. ( Tom Rorke-Adam Copeland 2017). When
asked about kneeling during the protest Kaepernick responded by saying, “I am not going to
stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of
color...To me this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other
way” (Hauser, 2016). During the beginning stages of Kaepernick's protest America was going
through a volatile time in modern race relations. Through the summer of 2016 leading up to the
2016-2017 NFL season, police and black citizens of the United States clashed multiple times
across different metropolitan locations. The three most prominent clashes came in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana when Alton Sterling was killed by police outside of a convenience store, in Falcon
Heights, Minnesota when Philando Castile was shot and killed by police during a routine traffic
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 4

stop, and Dallas, Texas when a sniper shot and killed multiple police officers during a rally to
protest the shooting of Alton Sterling and police brutality in the United States (Balko, 2016;
Karimi, 2016; Poniewozik, 2016). Kaepernick’s drive to end social injustice stem from the love
for his people and his belief in the statement that all men are created equal.

1.3 Campaign
Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the National Anthem was picked up by other members of his
team as well as other players around the National Football League. The protest caused much
controversy in the sports world. The lawsuits, and suspensions caused for protest to died down.
However, the Athletic Apparel Titan Nike stepped in to bring the conversation back to forefront
of the media’s attention. The Nike’s message delivered by Kaepernick was “believe in something
even if it means risking everything”. The ad triggered a boycott of Nike goods, but also earned
$6 billion for the company and raised brand awareness among Nike’s target demographic
(Jessica Vredenburg, Amanda Spry, Joya Kemper, Sommer Kapitan, 2018).
Kaepernick’s impact on celebrities, social media, and brands was very much an unexpected
chain of events, which forced many people to choose side. When asked about The National
Anthem protest, Kaepernick stated, “This stand wasn’t because I feel like I’m being put down in
any kind of way. This is because I’m seeing things happen to people that don’t have a voice:
people that don’t have a platform to talk and have their voices heard and affect change. So I’m in
the position where I can do that, and I’m going to do that for people that can’t.” (Colin
Kaepernick 2016).

1.4 Significance
Colin Kaepernick’s decision to “take a knee” in protest of police brutality during “The
Star-Spangled Banner” sparked many to focus on systematic issues Americans are facing.
Kaepernick using his platform in the NFL, caused many to connect sports to politics which was a
very rare occasion to see. The controversy of him kneeling, had many feel it was disrespectful,
and also lead to President Trump fining any player who kneeled during the game. His actions,
also caused many to want to get involved and join Kaepernick's movement. Kaepernick open the
doors to many other professional athletes to speak their opinion on the issue of police brutality
and extrajudicial murder on particularly unarmed black men and women.
2. Literature Review
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 5

An Advertisement campaign is an effective method that companies, and government

entities and nonprofit organizations use to spread their message to the public. Advertising

agency’s uses different methods to relate to their target audience. For example, using animals

when advertising pet treats or promoting animal rights appeals to animal lovers and pet owners;

which makes the message for effective. An even more effective method that advertising agency

use is imploring celebrities to advertise their product. According to (Belch and Belch 2013) a

recent content analysis found that 10% of US magazine ads featured celebrities, of the 2,358

news magazine, 225 of them featured celebrities. This may seem like a small amount, but the

ones that did utilize celebrities, had the highest sales compared to the other 90% of the

magazines that did not feature a celebrity. Companies today spend significant amounts of money

on celebrity endorsements (Bergkvist, Hjalmarson, & Mägi, 2015). Nike’s endorsement contracts

were worth more than US $800 million in 2013 (Bergkvist, Hjalmarson, & Mägi, 2015). The

gross inflation of profit came from the numerous views perceived through the cognitive effect.

Cognitive effect includes awareness and knowledge about endorsed object, which can be

influenced by celebrity endorsements ( Knoll & Matthes, 2016). First, people who are interested

in a particular celebrity are assumed to purposefully direct this celebrity ad (Wei and Lu, 2013).

Second, people’s attention is automatically directed (Knoll & Matthes, 2016).

Advertisements are most effective when credible (Singh & Banerjee, 2017). Aristotle

defines credibility, as qualities of information source which cause what it says to be believable

beyond any proof of its connections. Credibility, plays a very decisive role in establishing the

effectiveness of advertisement and its impact on consumers (Singh & Banerjee, 2017).

Corporations have realized for sometime that celebrities can enhance advertisement credibility

and liking as well as brand image, awareness, and purchase behavior (Ford, 2018). Research has
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 6

found that celebrities products are more effective than other types of endorsers, such as

“professional expert”, “the company manager, or “or “the typical consumer” (Seno & Lukas,

2005). A review of the relevant literature revealed two factors that can be classified as source-

based factors: celebrity, credibility (Seno & Lukas, 2005).

A celebrity spokesperson is characterized as a recognizable individual who uses this

acknowledgement to promote consumer goods through advertisement (Rifon, Jiang, & Kim,

2016). Celebrity endorsement advertising is a prevailing advertising technique (Hsu &

McDonald, 2002). The role of celebrities in advertising as a brand endorser has become a

prevalent marketing communication strategy among marketers to develop favorable brand image

among consumers (Singh & Banerjee, 2017). Celebrities have built-in images and followers,

both powerful influencers to potential consumers (Ford,2018). Companies recommend to have a

spokesperson who can attain a long-lasting attitude, or behavior for massive attraction to

advertisement (Singh & Banerjee, 2017). Celebrities are well-known, resulting in more

accessible representations in memory (Erfgen et al. 2015). Once a celebrity endorsement grabs

their attention, consumers are assumed to become more interested in the advertised object as

compared with a non-endorsed or other-endorsed object (Knoll & Mattes,2016).

To capitalize on this effectiveness, in 2003, Nike spent $US 1.44 billion on celebrity

product endorsers, two of whom were the basketballer Michael Jordan and the golfer Tiger

Woods (Seno & Luckas). Managers generally seek to ensure that the brand is consistent with the

image portrayed by the endorser, which can reduce perceived risk and also prompt positive

perception by consumers (Albert,Ambrois, & Valette-Florence, 2017).

It is proposed that celebrity endorsements influence consumers’ cognitions including

attention and interest, awareness, as well as perceptions (Knoll & Matthes, 2016). Celebrities can
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 7

transfer meaning to a brand, the reverse is also possible (Seno & Lukas, 2005). A research

studies have dealt with the negative attributes that can be associated with a celebrity that leads to

negative consequences (Singh & Banerjee, 2017). The extent that the endorsed product’s brand

image has certain attributes, for example elegance or professional success, it is plausible that the

attributes can be transferred back to the endorsing celebrity ( Seno & Lukas, 2005). Studies have

revealed that people tend to develop relationships with celebrities, merely known from the

media, just as they would do with real life persons (Dibble et al. 2016). Before seeing the

celebrity on television, radio, or the internet, consumers may para socially interact with the

celebrity, storing this experience in a relationship schema (Knoll & Matthes, 2016).

The rise of social media has a profound impact on how advertising is marketed today.

Studies have shown that online social networks can create benefits for users, particularly in

helping them make important social connections, share information, and increase personal self-

esteem (Hambrick, M. E., Simmons, J. M., Greenhalgh, G. P., & Greenwell, T. C. 2010).

Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, and other social media platforms have become a

powerful tool that celebrities use on a daily basis to attract the attention of fans. Celebrities,

using their social media platform, has caused many people to invest time and energy to see into

celebrities lives to develop a relationship (Albert, Ambroise, & Valette-Florence, 2017). The

needing to feel apart of something can play a big role into how users interact with certain content

this is due to identification being shown to have a positive impact to one’s need for affiliation

with a group (Donavan, Carlson, & Zimmerman, 2005). Celebrities increasingly use Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, or other social media platforms for personal communication, revealing their

personal lives and thoughts to consumers (Chung & Cho, 2017). For instance, Kim Kardashian,

once a reality TV celebrity, enjoys immense popularity and fame, and uses multiple social media
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 8

platforms (such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat) to engage in conversation with her fans

(Cung & Cho, 2017). Twitter statistics show that 9 out of the top 10 most followed accounts on

Twitter belong to celebrities, each with more than 20 million followers, a number unimaginable

for any newspaper or magazine (Zhu & Chen, 2015).

Celebrities are very beneficial to companies advertising campaign, however professional

athletes celebrities are more marketable than other celebrities. This is contributed to the fact that

a recent study shows that Athletes were also coveted as endorsers for other product such as

fashion apparel, jewelry and accessories, and other visual content (Belch and Belch 2013). The

marketability of athletes can be used to reach a large audience from Adolescents looking to grow

up and be like them or adults cheering or rooting against them every game. With that reason

Professional Athletes have a potent source of brand image because of the dual benefit of their

celebrity status and attractiveness ( Seno, & Lukas, 2005).Researchers could examine the

relationship between sports organizations and their target markets when using Twitter(

(Hambrick, M. E., Simmons, J. M., Greenhalgh, G. P., & Greenwell, T. C. 2010).Twitter is a

social media platform, that offers fans unparalleled access to the personal lives of athletes.Social

media also provides athletes with a great opportunity to build their personal brand and attract

sponsors in the process (Ballouli, K., & Hutchinson, M. (2010). .Sports fans utilize Twitter to

connect with other fans as they read and discuss tweets provided by their favorite sports, teams,

and athletes. The interactivity element adds another dimension to fan perception regarding

athletes as fans watch them engage in personal exchanges. The finding also ties back to uses and

gratifications theory, which emphasizes the benefits of using the Internet and, by extension,

online social networks ( Hambrick, M. E., Simmons, J. M., Greenhalgh, G. P., & Greenwell, T.
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 9

C. 2010). Benefits included the ability to interact with other online users and staying informed

with worldly news.

3. Purpose of the study

The study attempts to comprehend the factors contributing to the source credibility of

celebrity as brand endorser to the effects of consumers attitudes. (RQ1) One of the objectives of

this study is to determine the direct perception the Nike ad campaign has on college students.

The second objective will be to determine if Colin Kaepernick contribute and overall

effectiveness to the campaign. We will conduct a questionnaire survey to find an answer to our

study. This study shall help to expand the existing literature on celebrity endorsement

effectiveness.

4. Hypothesis
Brands have personal and social meaning, which people use to create, enhance, or

communicate their own identity ( Albert, Ambroise, Valette-Florence). Celebrities serve as a

credible reference to persuade consumers. Nike released an commercial with Colin Kaepernick,

that had some people turn away from brand and some still support. Therefore ,we present the

following hypothesis:

H1. Does an individual's perception on the Kaepernick Nike Ad campaign directly affect their

attitudes towards Nike brand.

5. Research Method
5.1 Participants and procedure
The data collection was conducted by a pool of North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University students, using social media platforms, such as Twitter and GroupMe
to complete an online questionnaire. Participants were sent notifications through social media
platforms to complete survey. By doing this we casted a wider net in recruiting participants
versus going to everyone personally on campus. We kept the survey open for one week to give
students time to complete survey. By then of the week we had 50 students who completed the
survey.
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 10

the 50 students in each classification was Split in half with 25 being males and 25 being
females. 200 is the maximum amount that the study can handle due to the inability to score each
questionnaire before the deadline. The participants that the study targeted was undergraduate
college students that attend North Carolina A&T. By doing this each of the participants will
share some characteristics such as race, age, and education level. This was important to create
sub categories groups based on the characteristics listed above.

The questionnaire asked each participant if they agree or disagree with the statement. After
completing questionnaire two groups were sent instructions to watch the Nike Ad and complete
another questionnaire. The third group was sent another questionnaire to complete without video
attachment. It is vital that each participant takes their time while completing the questionnaire
to get the best results for the study. The survey shouldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes. The survey
will also be taken online because we will be able to reach more people in a short amount of time
by just sending the link to the groups of people. We will be using the Convenience Sampling
Method. Unfortunately, no compensation will be given to the participants involved in this
survey.
5.3 Measurements
The stratified random sampling of this study consisted of 200 university students from
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in the state of North Carolina. The
students were randomly selected based upon availability. The 200 students selected were split
into three groups. Based of the results the control group (Student who did not watch Nike
Commercial before survey) and the independent variable group (Students who watch Nike
commercial before taking survey) were same. The dependent group (Students who did not
observe commercial) Their results were not different from the other two groups because they
some from the group did not know who Colin Kaepernick was or never seen the commercial.

5.4 Questionnaire
Have you watched Kaepernick’s Nike commercial?
Yes, (continue)
No, (stop)
IV: preexisting knowledge/attitude toward Kaepernick
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 11

For the following statements about Kaepernick, tell us to what degree do you agree with
I like Kaepernick very much
1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3 neither agree nor disagree 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree
I think Kaepernick is an accomplished athlete
I think Kaepernick did great things to give voice to African American people
I like the way Kaepernick protests in the game
DV: evaluation of the campaign
I feel Nike Kaepernick campaign’s message resonated with me
I like the Nike Kaepernick campaign
I feel I like Nike the brand more after I watch this campaign
I intend buy more Nike products after watching the campaign
I think this campaign is successful in terms of boosting the Nike’s Brand image
Demographics:
What is your age ____
What is your gender 1. Male 2. Female
What ethnicity you identify with?
What is your classification?
What is your major?
6. Results
The data was collected on Qualtrics from March 22, 2019 to March 25,2019.

participants were recruited and filled out the questionnaire. Participants were first asked whether

they’ve watched the Kaepernick’s Nike commercial and only those answered “yes” could

continue with the survey. So totally 41 participants clicked the link to participate, however, after

ruling out those who answered “no” to the filter question, 30 participants were included in the
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 12

final dataset.
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 13

Among the 30 participants, 24 reported being male (N =2.4 ,80 %) while 6 reported being

female (N=0.6, 20% ). In addition, participants were very diverse. There were 2 reported to be

white (N=2, 7%), while 2 reported being Hispanic or Latino( N=2, 7%), and 1 reported being

Native American or American Indian (N=1, 3%). Majority of the participants reported being

African American (N=25,83%), which was not surprising since our survey was taking at North

Carolina Agricultural Technical State an historically black college. The classification of our

participants fell in the range of 7 reported being freshman (N=7, 23%), 8 reported being

sophomores (N=8,27%) , 9 reported being juniors (N=9, 30%), and 6 reported being seniors (N

=6 , 20%).

The average age of the participants is 20.40 (M = 20.40, SD = 3.45)

RQ1 inquired the how people like the Nike’s campaign. Participants were asked on a 5 point
likert type scale to what degree they agree with the statement “ I like the Nike Kaepernick
Campaign”. The result suggested a very favorable attitude toward the campaign (M =20 , SD
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 14

=4).

(Note: follow this example and report the other four questions)

H1 proposed that the more favorable attitude people have toward Kaepernick, the more likely
they like the campaign.

The participants reported an average very favorable attitude toward Kaepernick. Specifically,
their agreement to “I like Kaepernick very much” falls between “agree” and “strongly agree” (M
= 4.73, SD = 52) (do it with the second question)

To test this hypothesis, we conducted a correlation analysis. The results suggested the two
variables are not significantly correlated. Therefore, H1 is not supported.

H2 suggested people will develop positive attitude toward the campaign if they feel the message
resonate with them.
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 15

(r= .48, p<.01).

H3 suggested people would like Nike brand more if they feel the message resonates with them
(r=.53,p< .01)

H4 suggested people would like the Nike brand more if they they like the Nike Kaepernick
Campaign (r=.57, p <.01).

H5 suggested people would buy more Nike products if they like the Nike Kaepernick Campaign
(r=.55, p<.01 )

H6 suggested people would buy more Nike products after watching the Kaepernick Campaign
(r=.40,p<.05)

H7 suggested that the campaign was very successful due to the number of participants liking the
campaign it help boost Nike’s brand (r=.77, <.01).

H8 suggested the the campaign was very successful because majority of participants like Nike
brand after watching (r=.40,<.05)
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 16

Discussion

The Findings in the literature review suggest that companies who employ a celebrity to

sponsor their product usually see a higher return in profit versus those who doesn’t (Bergkvist,

Hjalmarson, & Mägi, 2015). However, our results tell a different story when we conducted our

survey we asked participant it they were more likely to purchase Nike products after viewing the

Kaepernick commercial and the results suggest that the commercial did not alter their spending

habits. In contrast we did not ask the participants about their social class or if they were routine

buyers of Nike products we simply asked if they were more likely to buy Nike products after

viewing the Kaepernick commercial. Also, the findings in our research suggest that Once a

celebrity endorsement grabs their attention, consumers are assumed to become more interested in

the advertised object as compared with a non-endorsed or other-endorsed object (Knoll &

Mattes,2016). This holds ups with the data we collected that supports the idea that having a

celebrity that endorses a product can notably improve the consumers interest in said product.

There were a couple of things that did not hold up such as, advertisements that use celebrities

could influence consumers intentions to buy their product but in most instances the data we

collected from our survey matched the research we gathered while reviewing previous studies.

With the research we gathered and the data we collected we feel that this study could aid

companies who are looking to improve their ability to reach consumers with their product. The

data we collected suggest that having a celebrity promote your product can have a positive

impact on how consumers feel about the product. In terms of making a real-world difference,

having a celebrity endorse a message on global warming or animal cruelty could serve useful to
Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 17

spread their message. To be more specific, Nike decided to endorse Kaepernick protest of the

National anthem by producing an ad campaign to further Kaepernick message.

Some limitations we encountered while completing this study, was not having more

participants to complete the survey. Only having 30 participants narrowed our results to a point

where the answers we received was more predictable than not. Having more participants in our

survey could have affected the outcome for some of our results. Also having more Ethnicities to

contribute to the survey could have proved helpful to get a better idea of how other races feel

about Kaepernick’s protest and Nikes Backing of his protest. Receiving mostly African

Americans participants the answers we were going to receive were going more biased towards

African American views.

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Campaign Affects the Deception of Consumers and Brand 18

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