European Sport Management Quarterly

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An extended source attractiveness model: the

advertising effectiveness of distinct athlete
endorser attractiveness types and its contextual
variation

Björn Frank & Shusei Mitsumoto

To cite this article: Björn Frank & Shusei Mitsumoto (2021): An extended source
attractiveness model: the advertising effectiveness of distinct athlete endorser attractiveness
types and its contextual variation, European Sport Management Quarterly, DOI:
10.1080/16184742.2021.1963302

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EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY
https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2021.1963302

An extended source attractiveness model: the advertising

effectiveness of distinct athlete endorser attractiveness types
and its contextual variation
Björn Frank and Shusei Mitsumoto
Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Research question: According to past research, the effectiveness Received 23 September 2020
of athlete endorsements of advertised products is low on average Accepted 27 July 2021
and strongly depends on the context. This article extends the
KEYWORDS
source attractiveness model to examine two research questions: Athlete endorsement;
(1) How do multiple unexplored types of an athlete endorser’s gender; match-up
attractiveness affect customer equity drivers? (2) How do these hypothesis; sports
effects vary by the fit of an athlete endorser with the endorsed experience; source
product and with the consumer’s gender and sports experience? attractiveness model
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 athlete-
product 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.

Introduction
Marketing aims to enhance customer equity, which is the lifetime value of a firm’s custo-
mers and results from the customer equity drivers of value equity (i.e. consumer

CONTACT Björn Frank frank@waseda.jp Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-
ku, Tokyo 169-8050, Japan
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2021.1963302
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
2 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

perceptions of product value), brand equity (i.e. consumer perceptions of brands), and
retention equity (i.e. consumer intentions to (re-)purchase from a brand) (Zeithaml
et al., 2001). Advertising is a key tool for improving these customer equity drivers. It
induces beliefs about products and brands that enhance consumers’ attitudes and purchase
intentions (Frank et al., 2014a, 2014b; Rust et al., 2004; Wimalachandra et al., 2014).
In sports marketing, firms use sponsorship deals and athlete endorsements of adver-
tising products and services in order to influence these customer equity drivers. Many
athletes and sports events are popular brands with a large fan base and a favorable
image in society (Arai et al., 2013, 2014; Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Chang et al.,
2018; Su et al., 2020). Through athlete endorsements and sponsorship, firms aim to
benefit from public attention and to transfer the favorable image of an athlete or
sports event to their advertised products and brands (Alexandris et al., 2012; Arai
et al., 2013; Braunstein-Minkove et al., 2011; Carlson & Donavan, 2008; Cheong
et al., 2019). However, athlete endorsements appear to be difficult to implement success-
fully. According to a meta-analysis (Knoll & Matthes, 2017), the average athlete endor-
sement fails to improve customer attitudes and thus fails to pay off for the advertising
firm. Rather, its success hinges on the choice of an ideal athlete endorser with the right
characteristics.
In searching for an athlete endorser’s ideal characteristics, the literature draws on
various theoretical frameworks, such as the source attractiveness model (McGuire,
1985). This model explains that a consumer feels attracted by three aspects of a com-
munication source (e.g. an athlete endorser in an ad): likability, similarity, and fam-
iliarity. As dimensions of likability, the literature focuses on the influence of an athlete
endorser’s sex appeal (i.e. likability of the body / physical attractiveness) on advertis-
ing effectiveness (Fink et al., 2004, 2012; Till & Busler, 2000), but it neglects other
dimensions. Moreover, in exploring types of similarity, research on the match-up
hypothesis (Kahle & Homer, 1985; Kamins, 1990), which focuses on the match-up
between athlete endorsers and various conditions, highlights the influence of similarity
between the characteristics of an athlete endorser and an endorsed product on the
effectiveness of advertising activities (Dees et al., 2010; Parker & Fink, 2012; Yoon
et al., 2018).
Drawing on the psycho-socionomic theory of attractiveness (Hartz, 1996), we extend
this source attractiveness model in order to help scholars and advertisers gain a better
understanding of the distinct types of attractiveness that impact the advertising effective-
ness of athlete endorsements. As dimensions of an athlete endorser’s likability, we
examine not only the known effects of sex appeal, but also the hitherto unexplored
effects of personality appeal (i.e. likability of personality) and success appeal (i.e. likability
of sports achievements). Moreover, to help practitioners apply our insights to specific
contexts, we explore how the advertising effectiveness of these distinct types of an
athlete endorser’s attractiveness varies by the fit (i.e. match-up) between the athlete’s
and the consumer’s gender, between the athlete’s and the consumer’s sports experience,
and between the athlete and the endorsed product. This choice of moderators extends
research on the match-up hypothesis (Kamins, 1990). We examine these effects with
hierarchical linear modeling of 1319 consumer evaluations of multiple athlete-endorsed
ads in Japan.
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 3

Theoretical background
The advertising effectiveness of an athlete endorser’s attractiveness
The commercialization and media coverage of sports have transformed successful
athletes into major brands (Arai et al., 2013, 2014; Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Chang
et al., 2018; Su et al., 2020). Since many consumers know, admire, trust, and identify
with these athletes (Carlson & Donavan, 2013), firms seek to benefit from such favorable
attitudes in order to market their products to consumers more successfully (Arai et al.,
2013, 2014; Frank & Enkawa, 2009; Knoll & Matthes, 2017). Firms thus sponsor athletes
and involve them in their advertisements as endorsers of their products and services
(Alexandris et al., 2012; Cheong et al., 2019; Dees et al., 2010). While the literature par-
tially confirms the effectiveness of these activities (Braunstein-Minkove et al., 2011;
Carlson & Donavan, 2008; Cheong et al., 2019), a meta-analysis (Knoll & Matthes,
2017) suggests that athlete endorsements, on average, fail to achieve these advertising
goals. However, athlete endorsements can be successful when selecting athletes with
the right characteristics. To find these right characteristics, we extend the source attrac-
tiveness model to compare the influence of distinct types of an athlete endorser’s attrac-
tiveness on the effectiveness of advertising activities.
The source attractiveness model (McGuire, 1985) posits that an endorser’s attractive-
ness enhances the effectiveness of an endorsed ad because consumers form positive
stereotypes about attractive people, which consumers associate with the advertised
product and brand. Rather than including overall attractiveness, this model conceptual-
izes different subjective perceptions of an endorser that may attract a consumer (Amos
et al., 2008). These are likability (i.e. affection for the endorser), similarity (i.e. perceived
resemblance of the endorser and the consumer), and familiarity (i.e. the consumer’s
knowledge of the endorser). However, based on the match-up hypothesis about the
behavioral consequences of similarity (i.e. match-up) between the endorser’s character-
istics and various conditions, most research on athlete endorsements replaces athlete-
consumer similarity with athlete-product similarity, which has been shown to be
particularly influential (Braunstein-Minkove et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2007; Liu & Brock,
2011; Yoon et al., 2018). A major limitation of the source attractiveness model is that
it does not measure any specific characteristics of an endorser. Hence, advertisers have
difficulties in understanding which athlete to enlist as an endorser (Amos et al., 2008).
Thus, studies on the effect of athlete attractiveness on advertising effectiveness directly
test the effect of physical attractiveness (e.g. Fink et al., 2004, 2012), which is also referred
to as sex appeal (Black & Morton, 2017) and is a sub-dimension of the likability
dimension of the source attractiveness model.
Table 1 summarizes the literature on the effects of an athlete endorser’s attractiveness
on customer equity drivers. This literature explores only the effects of likability and its
sub-dimension of sex appeal. Most studies use student samples with less than 360 partici-
pants. They find positive effects of an athlete endorser’s likability (Kim & Na, 2007; Liu
et al., 2007; Liu & Brock, 2011) and sex appeal (Fink et al., 2004, 2012; Parker & Fink,
2012; Till & Busler, 2000) on the customer equity drivers of brand attitude and purchase
intent. By contrast, the only study not restricted to students fails to support an effect of
sex appeal (Carlson & Donavan, 2017). In examining moderators of the influence of
athlete attractiveness, the literature tests, but fails to support, a role of athlete expertise
 4

Table 1. Positioning of the literature on athlete endorsements in advertising: the role of athlete attractiveness.
Theory to explain the effects of Sample Effects of dimensions of Moderators of the effect of athlete
Year Authors attractiveness Product categories size Dependent variables athlete attractiveness attractiveness
2000 Till and Match-up hypothesis Cologne (used to 212 Brand attitude, purchase Sex appeal of a male Product used to enhance the
Busler enhance the students intent athlete (+) consumer’s sex appeal (vs. regular
(only consumer’s sex product) (n.s.)
study 1) appeal), pen
2004 Fink et al. Associative learning theory, Sport event (ticket) 173 Sport event attitude, ticket Sex appeal of a female Athlete expertise (n.s.)
match-up hypothesis students purchase intent, athlete- athlete (+)
event fit
B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

2007 Kim and Na Source credibility model Sport shoes (high sport 58 Product attitude Overall attractiveness Sport-product fit (−, no statistical test)
(only fit), perfume (low students (similarity, familiarity,
study 1) sport fit) likability) of a male
athlete (+)
2007 Liu et al. Source attractiveness model, Sport shoes, sports approx. Purchase intent Overall appeal Sport-product fit (+)
match-up hypothesis drink (high sport fit), 300 (likability) of a male
toilet, plug (low students athlete (+)
sport fit)
2011 Liu and Source attractiveness model, Sport shoes (high sport 360 Purchase intent Overall appeal Sport-product fit (+, again moderated
Brock match-up hypothesis fit), mineral water students (likability) of a female by consumer gender, but no
(low sport fit) athlete (+) statistical test)
2012 Fink et al. Source credibility model Soft drinks (sports 296 Purchase intent Sex appeal of a female −
drink, tea) students athlete (+)
2012 Parker and Source credibility model Energy drink 183 Purchase intent Sex appeal (+, fully −
Fink students mediated by athlete-
product similarity)
2017 Carlson and Social identity theory Drink, restaurant 515 Purchase intent (athlete Sex appeal of a male −
Donovan identification: assumed athlete (n.s.)
mediator of effects)
2021 This article Source attractiveness model Low-priced branded 1319 Customer equity drivers Sex appeal (n.s.), Athlete-product similarity (only non-
and related theories products for daily (purchase intent, success appeal (+), sport products), athlete gender
(psycho-socionomic theory use (detergent, polo perceived product personality appeal (+) (again moderated by athlete-
of attractiveness, match-up shirt, beer, quality/design, brand consumer gender incongruity),
hypothesis) vegetables) attitude/trust) consumer sports experience,
consumer age
Note: The listed studies have additional results unrelated to an athlete endorser’s attractiveness and may use different theories to explain these unrelated results.
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 5

(Fink et al., 2004) and yields contradictory (positive, negative, or non-significant)

findings on the role of sport-product fit (i.e. sports-related vs. other product) (Kim &
Na, 2007; Liu et al., 2007; Liu & Brock, 2011; Till & Busler, 2000).
To help advertisers select a specific athlete as an ideal endorser, we extend the source
attractiveness model by including as subdimensions of likability not only sex appeal, but
also personality appeal (i.e. likability of personality) and success appeal (i.e. likability of
sports achievements). We compare their yet unexplored effects on various customer
equity drivers to assess their advertising effectiveness. As a contribution to the literature
on the match-up hypothesis (Kamins, 1990), we also examine the variation of these
effects by the fit (i.e. match-up) between the athlete’s and the consumer’s gender,
between the athlete’s and the consumer’s sports experience, and between the athlete
and the endorsed product.

Extending the source attractiveness model: a psycho-socionomic perspective

The first objective of our study is to extend the source attractiveness model in order to guide
advertisers in selecting an athlete endorser with the specific types of attractiveness that are
most effective in advertising. Most research on attractiveness seeks to explain partner
choice, where biological explanations for attractiveness perceptions play a dominant role
(Black & Morton, 2017; Buss, 1989; Buunk et al., 2002). However, these theories only par-
tially explain the nature and behavioral influence of celebrity endorsers of ads because con-
sumers do not necessarily regard these celebrities as their prospective partners. Therefore,
we draw on the psycho-socionomic theory of attractiveness (Hartz, 1996), which explicates
both how the culture of a society influences the criteria for judging someone as attractive
and how these criteria influence the benefits (e.g. excitement, social recognition) and
costs (e.g. embarrassment) of associating oneself with persons that either meet these attrac-
tiveness criteria or not. Society tends to believe that persons with the traits which its culture
regards as attractive (e.g. small talk ability) also share many other desirable attributes (e.g.
competence, helpfulness, or competence). Such beliefs are exaggerated and not warranted
by the objective benefits of these traits (Hartz, 1996). For a member of society, associating
oneself with a carrier of these attractive traits thus leads to the expectation of various posi-
tive consequences for oneself (Hartz, 1996). Extending the theoretical foundation of the
source attractiveness model (McGuire, 1985), this mechanism can explain why consumers
seek to associate themselves with attractive celebrity endorsers through positive attitudes to,
and purchases of, endorsed products. While the source attractiveness model (McGuire,
1985) conceptualizes different subjective perceptions of a person (e.g. an endorser) that
may attract a consumer (i.e. perceptions of similarity, familiarity, and liking), it does not
contain any specific characteristics underlying the person’s likability (Amos et al., 2008).
We refer to these characteristics as different types of appeal.
These types of appeal can be classified broadly into sex appeal, personality appeal, and
success appeal (Black & Morton, 2017; Buss, 1989; Buunk et al., 2002; Hartz, 1996). Both
sex appeal and personality appeal lead to appreciation of the person’s physical and mental
characteristics and induce the expectation of enjoying the attractive person’s presence.
Personality appeal can also lead to persuasion and induce the expectation of guidance
(Kenton, 1989; Whittaker, 1965). A person’s success appeal evokes both inspiration for
one’s own future achievements and the expectation of improving one’s own status by
6 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

associating oneself with the person (Berscheid, 1981; Figgins et al., 2016; Hartz, 1996). So
far, the literature on celebrity and athlete endorsements in advertising focuses only on sex
appeal (see Table 1; Carlson & Donavan, 2008; Fink et al., 2004, 2012; Parker & Fink,
2012; Till & Busler, 2000) and overlooks the roles of personality appeal and success
appeal. To address this gap and guide advertisers in selecting an athlete endorser with
particular characteristics, we compare the effects of an athlete endorser’s sex appeal, per-
sonality appeal, and success appeal on customer equity drivers.
The second objective of our study is to examine how the advertising effectiveness of
different types of athlete endorser attractiveness varies by context. This would help an
advertiser select an athlete endorser whose types of attractiveness are effective in the adver-
tiser’s specific context. In choosing appropriate contextual moderators, we follow and
extend the literature on the match-up hypothesis. It posits that an athlete endorser’s attrac-
tiveness has stronger effects when it matches contextual conditions, such as the endorsed
product (Kim & Na, 2007; Liu et al., 2007; Liu & Brock, 2011; Till & Busler, 2000), although
the empirical evidence is mixed (see Table 1). Regarding the effectiveness of athlete attrac-
tiveness, the literature tests the match-up hypothesis only with measures of likability (i.e.
overall appeal) and sex appeal (e.g. Liu et al., 2007; Till & Busler, 2000). We extend this
literature by comparing the predictive accuracy of the match-up hypothesis across
different types of athlete appeal: sex appeal, success appeal, and personality appeal. In
examining the contextual variation in these effects of unexplored dimensions of attractive-
ness, we follow the literature in using athlete-product similarity as a moderator. This is the
match-up between the characteristics of an athlete endorser and the endorsed product.
Moreover, based on the match-up hypothesis, we select the additional moderators of
the fit (i.e. match-up) between the athlete’s and the consumer’s gender and the fit
between the athlete’s and the consumer’s sports experience. Specifically, first, we inves-
tigate the variation of the effects of athlete appeal by athlete gender and athlete-consumer
gender congruence because culturally formed gender role expectations may alter the
importance of different types of appeal (Black & Morton, 2017; Eagly & Wood, 1999;
Hartz, 1996). Hence, different gender role expectations for men and women may
cause consumers to attach a different importance to different types of appeal in evaluat-
ing male athletes as compared to female athletes. Moreover, sexual preferences cause men
and women to have amplified gender role expectations for the opposite gender (Black &
Morton, 2017; Buss, 1989; Buunk et al., 2002). Therefore, in evaluating athlete endorsers
that belong to the opposite gender rather than their own gender, consumers may attach a
stronger importance to those types of athlete appeal that match their primary sexual pre-
ferences. Second, we seek to examine how the effects of an athlete endorser’s appeal vary
by a consumer’s experience in the athlete’s sport because the attractiveness dimension of
athlete success has greater inspirational power for consumers involved in the sport
(Figgins et al., 2016; Vescio et al., 2005).
Our conceptual model (see Figure 1) summarizes our study about the effects of
different types of an athlete endorser’s attractiveness on multiple customer equity
drivers (purchase intent, perceived product quality, perceived product design, brand atti-
tude, and brand trust: Abulaiti et al., 2011; Ball et al., 2004; Frank & Enkawa, 2009;
Herbas Torrico & Frank, 2019; Homburg et al., 2015; Kamolsook et al., 2019) and
about the variation in these effects by the match-up in multiple contextual conditions.
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 7

Figure 1. Conceptual framework and hypotheses.

Hypotheses
The influence of an athlete endorser’s appeal on customer equity drivers
Advertising endorsements of ads work by transferring a celebrity’s attractive image to an
advertised product or brand, which improves the consumer’s attitudes toward the adver-
tised product or brand (Erdogan, 1999; McCracken, 1989). This attractive image derives
from the celebrity’s sex appeal, success appeal, and personality appeal (Bjelica et al., 2016;
Buss, 1989; Buunk et al., 2002; Hartz, 1996).

Athlete sex appeal

An athlete’s sex appeal refers to the perception that looking at the athlete’s body leads to
sensual gratification (Bjelica et al., 2016; Black & Morton, 2017; Fink et al., 2004;
Ohanian, 1990). Using student samples, several studies confirm a positive effect of
athlete sex appeal on customer equity drivers (Fink et al., 2004, 2012; Parker & Fink,
2012; Till & Busler, 2000), whereas one study using a more general sample fails to
confirm such an effect (Carlson & Donavan, 2017). Drawing on the psycho-socionomic
theory of attractiveness (Hartz, 1996), we explain this predominantly positive effect by
presuming that consumers associate themselves with an athlete having an attractive
body to obtain sensual gratification and to signal to others a sensually gratifying self-
image. Consumers form such associations with an athlete endorser by forming favorable
attitudes and intentions toward endorsed products and brands (McCracken, 1989),
which enhance a firm’s customer equity drivers (Zeithaml et al., 2001). Compared to
the abundance of research on sex appeal, no study so far explores the effects of success
appeal and personality appeal on customer equity drivers.

Athlete success appeal

An athlete’s success appeal represents the sports achievements that form the basis of the
athlete’s fame, inspirational power, and status in society (Figgins et al., 2016). In particular,
the athlete’s ability to inspire others to engage in hard work and the athlete’s discipline in
8 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

pursuing success differentiate an athlete endorser from other types of celebrity endorsers
(Braunstein & Zhang, 2005). According to the psycho-socionomic theory of attractiveness,
consumers would wish to associate themselves with an athlete as a carrier of attractive traits
in expectation of positive consequences that result from these attractive traits (Hartz, 1996;
McGuire, 1985). Such an association can operate through the formation of favorable atti-
tudes and purchase intentions toward an endorsed product or brand (McCracken, 1989).
For consumers, a positive consequence of associating themselves with a successful athlete
may be inspiration, which motivates them to work hard, maintain hope, and abstain from
giving up in the pursuit of their own goals (Figgins et al., 2016). Another positive conse-
quence may be to transfer the athlete’s status in society to themselves in order to feel,
and signal to others, status-related superiority (McCracken, 1989). Thus, we posit that
an athlete endorser’s success appeal causes consumers to associate themselves with the
athlete by forming favorable attitudes and intentions toward the endorsed product or
brand, which reflects improved customer equity drivers (Zeithaml et al., 2001).
H1a: An athlete endorser’s success appeal has a positive effect on customer equity drivers.

Athlete personality appeal

An athlete’s personality appeal refers to a favorable image caused by the athlete’s various
personality traits matching societal ideals (Amos et al., 2008; Braunstein & Zhang, 2005;
Erdogan, 1999). Our focus on personality appeal differs from the focus of many studies
on a celebrity endorser’s credibility, which is merely one out of many traits of an attrac-
tive personality and influences endorsement outcomes through a different mechanism
(Amos et al., 2008; Ohanian, 1990). Like sex appeal, personality appeal causes consumers
to enjoy the presence of the athlete, whereas athlete success induces inspiration and
status. Based on the psycho-socionomic theory of attractiveness (Hartz, 1996), we
posit that consumers associate themselves with an athlete having an attractive personality
in order to obtain enjoyment and signal to others an enjoyable and sociable self-image.
Moreover, consumers may identify with attractive personality traits, seek to develop such
personality traits themselves, and intend to signal an association with such personality
traits to others. Since consumers pursue such associations through favorable reactions
to athlete endorsements (McCracken, 1989), we posit that an athlete endorser’s person-
ality appeal improves consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward the endorsed product
or brand, which reflects improved customer equity drivers (Zeithaml et al., 2001).
H1b: An athlete endorser’s personality appeal has a positive effect on customer equity
drivers.

According to the literature (Dees et al., 2010; Lee & Koo, 2015; Peetz et al., 2004; Yoon
et al., 2018), the other variables of our extended source attractiveness model, athlete fam-
iliarity and athlete-product similarity, also positively affect customer equity drivers.

Effects of athlete appeal on customer equity drivers: variation by athlete-

product similarity
Research on the match-up hypothesis provides evidence for a moderating role of the
product context on the effect of an athlete endorser’s appeal on customer equity
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 9

drivers. Specifically, studies show that a match-up between the purpose of the endorsed
product and either the athlete’s sport (Liu et al., 2007; Liu & Brock, 2011) or the athlete’s
sex appeal (Till & Busler, 2000) has a positive effect on customer equity drivers. A
different version of the match-up hypothesis shows that a match-up between the athlete’s
credibility, which derives from an athlete’s personality appeal (Kenton, 1989), and
athlete-product similarity, which refers to the similarity between the athlete’s image
and product characteristics, enhances customer equity drivers (Lee & Koo, 2015). Build-
ing on this latter type of match-up and the psycho-socionomic theory of attractiveness
(Hartz, 1996), we argue that consumers who are attracted by, and may thus identify
with, an athlete’s personality are more likely to pursue an association with a product
that the athlete can credibly represent through similar characteristics such as shared
values or a similar image. Therefore, we posit that athlete-product similarity enhances
the effect of an athlete endorser’s personality appeal on customer equity drivers (H2b).
While the credibility of personality traits differs by context (Lee & Koo, 2015), the credi-
bility of success is more universal because success signals competence and more success is
always preferable to low success (Kouzes & Posner, 1990). Success appeal may thus
bridge the lack of credibility associated with an athlete endorser’s other types of appeal
when athlete-product similarity is low. Hence, when athlete-product similarity is low,
an athlete endorser’s success appeal may play a primary role in encouraging consumers
to seek associations with the athlete through products (H2a).
H2a: When athlete-product similarity is lower, an athlete endorser’s success appeal has a
stronger effect on customer equity drivers.

H2b: When athlete-product similarity is higher, an athlete endorser’s personality appeal has
a stronger effect on customer equity drivers.

Effects of athlete appeal on customer equity drivers: variation by athlete gender

Due to the gender roles ingrained in the culture of a society, the society’s members regard
distinct types of appeal as important in evaluating men and women (Bjelica et al., 2016;
Black & Morton, 2017; Eagly & Wood, 1999; Hartz, 1996). This difference might extend
to the evaluation of male and female athlete endorsers, which studies focusing purely on
female athletes assume without testing it (Fink et al., 2004, 2012). According to the
gender roles prevalent in most countries, men tend to be evaluated more based on
their career success and personality, whereas women tend to be evaluated more based
on the pleasant appearance of their body (Bjelica et al., 2016; Black & Morton, 2017;
Buss, 1989; Eagly & Wood, 1999). As argued by Kenton (1989) and Whittaker (1965),
this greater focus on a man’s success and personality may also cause men to be con-
sidered more persuasive and credible than women. Moreover, gender roles tend to
include a certain expectation for men to stand out and challenge rules, whereas
women tend to be more expected to fit in and comply with rules (Holmes, 2013).
Such gender differences may equally apply to evaluations of athlete endorsers because
consumers likely adopt these culturally ingrained gender roles in forming their own expec-
tations of the psychological and social benefits of associating themselves with male and
female athletes. Therefore, we predict that an athlete endorser’s sex appeal has a stronger
effect on customer equity drivers for female athletes than for male athletes (H3a),
10 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

whereas an athlete endorser’s success appeal (H3b) and personality appeal (H3c) have stron-
ger effects on customer equity drivers for male athletes than for female athletes. Moreover,
men tend to be under a certain expectation to stand out, go against conventions, and chal-
lenge rules (Holmes, 2013). We thus posit that male endorsers are more effective than
female endorsers in situations of low athlete-product similarity (H3d), where athlete endor-
sements (Lee & Koo, 2015), and celebrity endorsements in general (Knoll & Matthes, 2017),
are usually less effective. By contrast, fitting in with all conventions may take away some of a
male endorser’s appeal and may thus weaken the benefits of high athlete-product similarity.
H3a: An athlete endorser’s sex appeal has a stronger effect on customer equity drivers for
female athletes than for male athletes.

H3b: An athlete endorser’s success appeal has a weaker effect on customer equity drivers for
female athletes than for male athletes.

H3c: An athlete endorser’s personality appeal has a weaker effect on customer equity drivers
for female athletes than for male athletes.

H3d: Athlete-product similarity has a stronger effect on customer equity drivers for female
athlete endorsers than for male athlete endorsers.

Effects of athlete appeal on customer equity drivers: variation by consumer-

athlete gender incongruity
Sexual preferences amplify certain gender role expectations regarding members, and
potentially also athlete endorsers, of the opposite gender (Buss, 1989; Eagly & Wood,
1999). In evaluations of the opposite gender, women tend to attach a greater importance
to career success, whereas men tend to attach a greater importance to sex appeal (Bjelica
et al., 2016; Black & Morton, 2017; Buss, 1989; Buunk et al., 2002; Eagly & Wood, 1999).
In same-gender evaluations, these gender role expectations are strongly attenuated
(Leaper, 1995). Thus, we posit that consumer-athlete gender incongruity (i.e. evaluations
of athletes with the opposite gender) inflates the hypothesized gender difference between
a male athlete and a female athlete in the advertising effectiveness of this athlete endor-
ser’s sex appeal (H3a) and success appeal (H3b).
H4a: Consumer-athlete gender incongruity enhances the hypothesized gender difference
(H3a) between male and female athlete endorsers in the effect of this athlete’s sex appeal
on customer equity drivers.

H4b: Consumer-athlete gender incongruity enhances the hypothesized gender difference

(H3b) between male and female athlete endorsers in the effect of this athlete’s success
appeal on customer equity drivers.

Effects of athlete appeal on customer equity drivers: variation by athlete-

consumer sport congruity
Athletes can have a different meaning and relevance to consumers involved in sports as
opposed to others (Beaton et al., 2011; Vescio et al., 2005). Consequently, a consumer’s
experience in an athlete endorser’s sport may alter the degree to which the athlete’s charac-
teristics influence the consumer’s formation of attitudes and intentions. We posit that
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 11

sports experience causes a consumer to consider the sports-internal status and inspira-
tional power that arise from athlete success (Figgins et al., 2016; Vescio et al., 2005)
more important for two reasons. First, the consumer is more likely to have accepted the
athlete as a role model in practicing the athlete’s sport (Beaton et al., 2011; Vescio et al.,
2005). Second, experience in a sport increases the consumer’s knowledge of the
difficulty in achieving success in this sport (Beaton et al., 2011). This may strengthen the
consumer’s perception of the athlete’s status and inspirational power, which would
affect the consumer’s behavior. By contrast, sports experience is not likely to moderate
the effects of an athlete endorser’s sex appeal and personality appeal, which are not relevant
to the consumer’s sport-related goals, except for particular sports aimed at enhancing one’s
sex appeal (e.g. aerobics, bodybuilding) or personality appeal (e.g. chess, skydiving).
H5: An athlete endorser’s success appeal has a stronger effect on customer equity drivers for
consumers with experience in the athlete’s sport than for consumers without such experience.

Methodology
Survey on perceptions of athlete-endorsed commercials
To test our hypotheses, we conducted an online survey in Japan during December 2019. We
chose Japan because of its large economic relevance to sports marketing and because its
culture has a clear division of gender roles (Abulaiti et al., 2011; Hofstede et al., 2010),
which provides fertile ground for testing our gender-related hypotheses (H3a/b/c/d, H4a/
b). In order to minimize any context-specific bias and to generalize the results, the partici-
pants were shown four commercials. To enhance the realism and external validity of our
study, we used commercials that are actually aired on television and on video platforms.
Two commercials featured a famous female athlete, and two featured a famous male one.
To minimize affordability and familiarity biases, we chose commercials that advertised rela-
tively low-priced, and thus affordable, products for daily use (detergent, a polo shirt, beer,
and vegetables) from well-known, and thus familiar, brands. We collected data only from
consumers that confirmed their knowledge of the featured athletes and products. Directly
after watching each of these commercials, the participants were asked to respond to questions
that measured the constructs of our conceptual framework on reflective, 5-point Likert-type
scales. Online Appendix A summarizes our measures and their literature sources.

Data collection and sample

We collected data by posting a link to the online survey in different mailing groups, online
forums, and social networks across the country in order to reach a broadly diversified
sample representative of online-affine Japanese consumers who realistically may have
watched the chosen commercials on online media platforms themselves. Our final
sample consists of 1319 consumer evaluations of athlete-endorsed commercials, provided
by 331 consumers, who each evaluated up to four commercials. The sample has a relatively
even distribution across men and women and has an age range from the 20s to 70s. Table 2
presents the descriptive statistics and correlations of our constructs for the sample pooled
across the four commercials. Corresponding to our choice of famous athletes, these stat-
istics indicate high levels of athlete familiarity and athlete success appeal.
12 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

Tests of data validity

Response bias
A comparison of early and late respondents’ characteristics, using the time stamp of our
online survey, does not indicate any systematic differences in sample structure or atti-
tudes. Thus, non-response bias may not be a major problem in our study (Armstrong
& Overton, 1977).

Common method variance (CMV)

To prevent problems of CMV, we combined different types of data for testing hypotheses
H3 to H5. Specifically, we measured our independent variables with Likert-type scales,
but our moderating variables with objective attributes of the athlete (experimental
manipulation) and consumer (determined in the past). In order to estimate the degree
of CMV in our tests of the remaining hypotheses (H1-H2), we followed the guidelines
by Lindell and Whitney (2001). They argue that the smallest positive correlation
among theoretically unrelated constructs is an upper bound on CMV and that the
degree of CMV among theoretically positively related constructs tends to be even
lower. The smallest item-to-item correlation in our dataset is .06 for two theoretically
positively related constructs (item 1 of athlete familiarity, item 2 of purchase intent), indi-
cating that the upper bound on CMV would be even lower. Hence, CMV is unlikely to
bias the conclusions to be drawn from our study.

Convergent and discriminant validity

The results of a confirmatory factor analysis satisfy the acceptance thresholds of χ2/df < 5,
CFI ≥ .95, RMSEA ≤ .07, and upper bound of 90% RMSEA confidence interval ≤ .1 (Hair
et al., 2010): χ2/df = 4.90 (df = 360), CFI = .96, RMSEA = .05, upper bound of 90%
RMSEA confidence interval = .06. In addition, our multi-item measures fulfill the criteria

Table 2. Correlations, descriptive statistics, and validity statistics of constructs.

Correlations
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Athlete sex appeal
2. Athlete success appeal .40
3. Athlete personality appeal .59 .32
4. Athlete-product similarity .37 .19 .42
5. Athlete familiarity .40 .64 .38 .33
6. Purchase intent .24 .14 .31 .33 .18
7. Perceived product quality .27 .24 .33 .42 .27 .63
8. Perceived product design .26 .21 .32 .37 .25 .59 .59
9. Brand attitude .23 .24 .28 .44 .26 .55 .68 .55
10. Brand trust .26 .25 .32 .43 .29 .54 .68 .57 .83
Descriptive statistics:
Mean 4.19 4.70 3.87 3.47 4.57 3.10 3.56 3.29 3.65 3.80
Standard deviation .67 .52 .74 .94 .59 .97 .80 .90 .86 .83
Cronbach’s alpha .72 .89 .76 .89 .79 .95 .93 .96 .94 .92
Composite reliability .73 .90 .76 .89 .80 .95 .93 .96 .94 .92
Average variance extracted .50 .75 .52 .74 .57 .86 .81 .89 .85 .79
Square root (average variance extracted) .71 .87 .72 .86 .75 .93 .90 .94 .92 .89
Number of items 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Notes: All correlations significant at p < .05 (two-sided). Sample size: 1319 consumer evaluations.
Descriptive statistics for factors: mean score across non-standardized items.
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 13

of convergent and discriminant validity of Cronbach’s α > .7, composite reliability > .7,
average variance extracted (AVE) > .5, and AVE > shared variance with other constructs
(see Table 2, Hair et al., 2010).

Results
Hypothesis tests
Type of analysis
Since each respondent evaluated multiple ads, we analyzed our data using hierarchical
linear modeling (HLM) with 1319 consumer evaluations of ads at level 1 and 331 con-
sumers at level 2. We repeated the same analysis for different customer equity drivers
as the dependent variable: purchase intent, perceived product quality, perceived
product design, brand attitude, and brand trust. As control variables, we included
athlete female (vs. male) gender (1: female; 0: male), consumer-athlete gender incongru-
ity (1: consumer gender ≠ athlete gender; 0: consumer gender = athlete gender), the two-
way interaction of these variables, consumer age, and consumer experience in the ath-
lete’s sport (1: yes; 0: no). As independent effect variables, we included the dimensions
of our extended source attractiveness model: athlete sex appeal, athlete success appeal
(H1a), athlete personality appeal (H1b), athlete-product similarity, and athlete famili-
arity. To test our hypotheses on moderating effects, we included the two-way interactions
of athlete attractiveness types (athlete sex appeal, athlete success appeal, athlete person-
ality appeal, and athlete-product similarity) with athlete gender (H3a-d) and consumer
sports experience (H5). We also included the two-way interactions of an athlete’s
success appeal and personality appeal with athlete-product similarity (H2a-b). Moreover,
we included three-way interactions between athlete attractiveness types (athlete sex
appeal, athlete success appeal), athlete gender, and athlete-consumer gender incongruity
(H4a-b). We calculated the interaction terms after standardizing all variables. In
addition, the HLM models include an intercept and level-specific error terms. For
each dependent variable, we conducted an HLM analysis with all independent variables
(full model), followed by another analysis after backward selection, where we iteratively
removed non-significant effects one-by-one except for the control variables, which we
kept in the model to ensure comparability across sample segments. We also did not
remove non-significant main effects of variables involved in significant interaction
effects. Since all variance inflation factors are well below 5, multi-collinearity is not an
issue (Mason & Perreault, 1991).

Results
Table 3 presents the results of our hypothesis tests, and Figure 2 visualizes the moderat-
ing effects, whereas Online Appendix B describes the results of robustness tests and
additional analyses. The pseudo R 2 values (Kreft & de Leeuw, 1998) range between
36% and 44%, which indicates a large effect of athlete endorser attractiveness on custo-
mer equity drivers. Our results vary slightly by the type of customer equity driver, but
they show common tendencies. Regarding the control variables, consumer age negatively
affects almost all customer equity drivers (except for perceived product design), which
may imply a weaker susceptibility to athlete endorsements for elderly consumers.
14 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

Using a female athlete endorser translates into stronger purchase intent (i.e. retention
equity), whereas using a male athlete endorser improves perceived product quality,
brand attitude, and brand trust (i.e. value equity; brand equity: Zeithaml et al., 2001).
Consumer experience in the athlete’s sport exerts inconsistent and marginally significant
(two-sided p < .1) or non-significant effects on customer equity drivers.
Regarding the main effects of athlete attractiveness types, athlete sex appeal has a nega-
tive influence on brand trust and no influence on the other types of customer equity
drivers. Athlete success appeal (supporting H1a), athlete personality appeal (supporting
H1b), and athlete-product similarity have positive effects on all customer equity drivers.
Athlete familiarity has positive effects only on perceived product quality (marginally sig-
nificant at two-sided p < .1, not retained in the final model after backward selection),

Figure 2. Visualization of moderating effects.

Table 3. The influence of the dimensions of an athlete endorser’s attractiveness on customer equity.
Purchase intent Perceived product quality Perceived product design Brand attitude Brand trust
Dependent variable: Full Backward Full Backward Full Backward Full Backward Full Backward
(customer equity types) model selection model selection model selection model selection model selection
Independent
variable β β β β β β β β β β
Control variables:
Intercept −.007 −.017 .020 .010 .083† .086† .051 .059 .091† .099*
Athlete female gender (1: female; .189*** .178*** −.090** −.097** −.031 −.032 −.195*** −.201*** −.162*** −.161***
0: male)
Consumer-athlete gender incongruity −.054 −.046 .000 .005 −.008 −.008 −.007 −.001 .003 .002
(1: consumer gender ≠ athlete gender;
0: else)
Consumer-athlete gender incongruity × −.005 .003 −.043 −.038 −.058 −.057 −.078† −.077† −.097* −.097*
Athlete female gender
Consumer age −.055† −.059† −.113*** −.119*** −.048 −.049 −.070* −.071* −.118*** −.117***
Consumer experience in athlete’s sport .013 .016 −.015 −.012 .045† .048† −.041† −.041† .003 .003
(1: yes; 0: no)
Athlete attractiveness (Extended source attractiveness model):
Athlete sex appeal −.013 .024 −.065 −.065 −.032 −.087† −.089*
Athlete success appeal (H1a: +) .119** .124** .117** .119*** .141** .149*** .124** .123*** .127** .138***
Athlete personality appeal (H1b: +) .095** .120*** .089** .117*** .107*** .107*** .082** .078** .108*** .105***
Athlete-product similarity .239*** .250*** .245*** .257*** .169*** .167*** .264*** .271*** .212*** .212***
Athlete familiarity .041 .057† .093** .094** .035 .089** .092**
Athlete-product similarity × athlete attractiveness (Extended match-up hypothesis):
Athlete-product similarity × Athlete −.046† −.051* −.044† −.048† −.027 −.076** −.076** −.031
success appeal (H2a: −)
Athlete-product similarity × Athlete .060* .062** .091*** .097*** .048† .039† .106*** .098*** .076*** .062**
personality appeal (H2b: +)
Athlete gender × athlete attractiveness (Gender roles):
Athlete female gender × Athlete sex −.002 .001 −.027 −.027 −.004 −.049† −.040
appeal (H3a: +)
Athlete female gender × Athlete success −.095** −.103*** −.066* −.069* −.090** −.078** −.099** −.089** −.045 −.028
appeal (H3b: −)
EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY

Athlete female gender × Athlete −.015 −.027 −.060† −.062* .040 .023
personality appeal (H3c: −)

(Continued)
15
 16

Table 3. Continued.
Purchase intent Perceived product quality Perceived product design Brand attitude Brand trust
Dependent variable: Full Backward Full Backward Full Backward Full Backward Full Backward
(customer equity types) model selection model selection model selection model selection model selection
Independent
B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

variable β β β β β β β β β β
Athlete female gender × Athlete-product .050† .044† .077** .065** .187*** .192*** .108*** .124*** .136*** .148***
similarity (H3d: +)
Consumer gender × athlete gender × athlete attractiveness (Gender roles viewed by opposite gender):
Consumer-athlete gender incongruity × .065 .015 .120** .121** .026 .107* .111*
Athlete female gender × Athlete sex
appeal (H4a: +)
Consumer-athlete gender incongruity × −.096* −.070† −.041 −.074† −.076† −.021 −.070† −.072†
Athlete female gender × Athlete
success appeal (H4b: −)
Consumer experience × athlete attractiveness (Involvement):
Consumer experience in athlete’s .022 .016 .022 .063* .061* .000
sport × Athlete success appeal (H5: +)
Fit statistics:
HLM Pseudo R 2 .366 .362 .419 .414 .403 .403 .397 .394 .442 .440
Notes: †p < .1; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001 (two-sided). Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with maximum likelihood estimation (level 1: 1319 consumer evaluations; level 2: 331 consumers).
All variables standardized before calculating interaction terms.
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 17

perceived product design, and brand trust. Among these variables, athlete-product simi-
larity has the strongest effect on customer equity drivers, followed by success appeal and
personality appeal.
Testing our extended match-up hypothesis, we find that athlete personality appeal has
stronger effects on customer equity drivers when athlete-product similarity is higher
(supporting H2b). In partial support of H2a, athlete success appeal has stronger effects
on the customer equity drivers of purchase intent, perceived product quality (marginally
significant at two-sided p < .1; i.e. one-sided p < .05 for our one-sided hypothesis), and
brand attitude when athlete-product similarity is lower (see Figure 2).
Regarding the influence of gender roles on the effects of athlete attractiveness, we find
that the effects of athlete success appeal on customer equity drivers are weaker (support-
ing H3b) and the effects of athlete-product similarity (supporting H3d) are stronger for
female athletes than for male athletes. In partial support of H3c, athlete personality
appeal has a stronger effect on perceived product design for male athletes than for
female athletes. The effect of sex appeal does not differ by athlete gender (not supporting
H3a). We even find that sex appeal has a more negative effect (two-sided p < .1) on brand
trust for female athletes, but this gender difference is not retained after backward
selection.
Furthermore, we explore whether gender role perceptions tied to the sexual prefer-
ences of the opposite gender enhance the gender differences in the effects of athlete
attractiveness. We find that the hypothesized gender difference in the effects of
athlete sex appeal (H3a) on the customer equity drivers of perceived product design
and brand trust is stronger when judged by consumers whose gender is opposite to
the athlete’s gender (partially supporting H4a). Likewise, the hypothesized gender
difference in the effects of athlete success appeal (H3b) on purchase intent, perceived
product design, and brand trust (two-sided p < .1, one-sided p < .05) is stronger when
judged by consumers whose gender is opposite to the athlete’s gender (partially sup-
porting H4b).
Finally, we explore whether athlete-consumer sport fit alters the importance of athlete
attractiveness types. In partial support of H5, we find that the effect of athlete success
appeal on brand attitude is stronger for consumers experienced in the athlete’s sport
than for consumers without such experience.

Mediation of supported effects

Across the customer equity drivers, we find consistent support for H1a/b, H2b, and H3b/
d; less consistent support for H2a, H3c, H4a/b, and H5; and no support for H3a. At the
same time, the customer equity drivers of value equity (perceived product/design quality)
and brand equity (brand attitude/trust) all influence retention equity (purchase intent)
directly (all effects significant except for the effect of brand trust) and indirectly via
brand attitude (all effects significant). Thus, value equity and brand equity mediate the
hypothesized main and moderating effects, which we confirmed with analyses of
mediation and moderated mediation (Muller et al., 2005). Hence, all supported effects
of Table 3 eventually influence the final outcome variable of purchase intent, either
directly or through mediation by its antecedents. Consequently, all hypotheses except
H3a find support in our data.
18 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

Discussion
Short summary
Athlete endorsements in advertising are ineffective unless the athletes have certain ideal
characteristics (Knoll & Matthes, 2017). Our study searches for these ideal characteristics
by comparing the effects of multiple types of an athlete endorser’s attractiveness. To
identify the contingencies of these effects, we also examine their variation by the athlete’s
fit with the product and with the consumer’s gender and sports experience. Our analyses
of 1319 consumer evaluations of athlete-endorsed ads confirm all hypotheses but H3a.
An athlete endorser’s success appeal (H1a), personality appeal (H1b), and athlete-
product similarity, but not sex appeal, positively affect customer equity drivers. As the
result of gender roles, personality appeal (H3c) and success appeal (H3b) have stronger
effects for male athletes, whereas athlete-product similarity (H3d), but not sex appeal
(H3a not supported), is 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 (H4a), whereas a male athlete’s success appeal has a stron-
ger positive influence on female consumers (H4b). Consumer sports experience enhances
the influence of an athlete’s success appeal (H5).

Theoretical implications
Our research extends the source attractiveness model (McGuire, 1985) in the context of
athlete endorsements in advertising. This model captures only whether, but not why (i.e.
based on what characteristics), consumers like an information source (e.g. an athlete
endorser), which makes it difficult for advertisers to understand which athlete to enlist
as an endorser. To overcome this limitation, we replace the liking construct of this
model by three types of attractiveness: sex appeal, personality appeal, and success
appeal. We find that only personality appeal and success appeal, but not sex appeal,
influence an average consumer’s attitudes and intentions. While most (Fink et al.,
2004, 2012; Parker & Fink, 2012; Till & Busler, 2000), but not all (Carlson & Donavan,
2008), studies find positive effects of an athlete endorser’s sex appeal on consumer atti-
tudes and intentions (see Table 1), our study implies that such affirmatory findings may
result from an omitted variable bias. When including only sex appeal as a predictor, such
as in our correlation matrix (see Table 2), sex appeal appears to have a positive effect on
customer equity drivers. However, when adding personality appeal and success appeal,
the effect of sex appeal turns non-significant. Therefore, the results of past research
might attribute a greater importance to sex appeal than is justified. Especially for
female consumers, we even find that an athlete endorser’s sex appeal negatively affects
brand trust, which corresponds to a hypothesis developed, but not supported, by
Bower and Landreth (2001). Other studies prematurely discount the effectiveness of
an endorser’s attractiveness, based on only a measure of sex appeal (Carlson &
Donavan, 2017), although the omitted types of personality appeal and success appeal
might be effective.
Moreover, we extend the literature on the match-up hypothesis, which posits that an
athlete-product match-up enhances the effects of an athlete endorser’s appeal on custo-
mer equity drivers (Till & Busler, 2000). To this end, we examine how the effects of
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 19

different types of an athlete endorser’s attractiveness vary by the athlete’s match-up or fit

with the endorsed product and with the consumer’s gender and sports experience.
Regarding the athlete-product match-up, the literature reports that an athlete endor-
ser’s sex appeal is more effective for beauty products (Till & Busler, 2000) and that an
athlete’s overall appeal (i.e. likability) is more effective for sports-related products (Liu
et al., 2007; Liu & Brock, 2011; no support: Kim & Na, 2007). As an extension, we
show that athlete personality appeal is more effective even for non-sports and non-
beauty products when the consumer perceives a similarity between product character-
istics and the athlete’s image. Moreover, while scholars argue that athlete-product simi-
larity is always beneficial for leveraging the appeal of an athlete endorser, we find that it
reduces the effects of an athlete endorser’s success appeal, which is more effective when
athlete-product similarity is low. Our finding thus implies that advertisers can use athlete
endorsements in both match-up and non-match-up situations, but they may need to
choose athletes with a different type of primary attractiveness.
Regarding the athlete-consumer gender match-up, we find that sexual preferences
(Black & Morton, 2017; Buss, 1989; Buunk et al., 2002) in evaluations of opposite-
gender athletes cause male consumers to be slightly influenced by a female athlete’s
sex appeal and cause female consumers to be influenced more strongly by a male athlete’s
success appeal. Moreover, regarding athlete gender in general, we find that the effects of
success appeal and personality appeal are higher for male athletes than for female athletes
and that athlete-product similarity is less important for male athletes than for female ath-
letes, likely since gender roles permit, or somewhat expect, men to stand out and chal-
lenge conventions (Holmes, 2013).
Regarding the athlete-consumer sport match-up, we find that a consumer’s experience
in the athlete endorser’s sport enhances the effect of this endorser’s athletic success
appeal, which likely becomes more inspiring, on customer equity drivers. By contrast,
such experience does not alter the importance of appeal types unrelated to sport (i.e.
sex and personality appeal). At the same time, the cumulative number of years of practi-
cing any sport weakens the effect of athlete success appeal on customer equity drivers. It
may raise a consumer’s standard of comparison by making athletic performance appear
more normal and less impressive.

Practical implications
Many firms use athletes as endorsers of advertised products because they believe that
such endorsements help them achieve their advertising goals. However, a meta-analysis
(Knoll & Matthes, 2017) of the past literature shows that most athlete endorsements are
ineffective unless firms choose certain athlete endorsers with the right characteristics for
a specific purpose. Our article aims to inform advertisers on which types of an athlete
endorser’s attractiveness are effective in different situations.
First, our research suggests that the widespread choice of a sexually attractive athlete
endorser is ineffective, and is even harmful in building brand credibility among female
consumers. Rather, we advise firms to choose athlete endorsers who are particularly suc-
cessful and have an attractive personality.
Second, many firms use an athlete endorser whose image matches the characteristics
of the endorsed product. While our study confirms the effectiveness of this choice, it also
20 B. FRANK AND S. MITSUMOTO

shows that this choice changes the type of athlete attractiveness most effective for adver-
tising. For athlete endorsers that fit the endorsed product closely (e.g. a basketball player
endorsing basketball shoes), we advise firms to choose an athlete endorser with an attrac-
tive personality, whereas the benefits of choosing a particularly successful athlete are
limited. By contrast, for athlete endorsers that do not fit the endorsed product closely
(e.g. a basketball player endorsing health insurance), we advise firms to choose a particu-
larly successful athlete, whereas choosing an athlete endorser with an attractive person-
ality has almost no marketing benefits.
Third, when aiming to enhance the consumer’s trust in the brand and in product
quality and thus to weaken the consumer’s perception of risk, firms are advised to
choose a male, rather than female, athlete endorser. By contrast, when seeking to
improve consumer perceptions unrelated to credibility, such as product design percep-
tions, male and female athletes appear to have the same benefits. We advise firms to
choose a female, rather than male, athlete when aiming to increase consumers’ purchase
intentions.
Fourth, when choosing a male athlete endorser, firms are advised to choose a particu-
larly successful athlete with an attractive personality, whereas the choice of a sexually
attractive male athlete is ineffective, and may even harm female consumers’ trust in
the brand. When choosing a female athlete endorser, the most important choice criterion
is that these female athletes closely fit the characteristics of the endorsed product. Success
and an attractive personality are also beneficial, but secondary in importance. While
many firms appear to enlist sexually attractive female athlete endorsers or portray
them as sexually attractive in their ads (Fink, 2015), we discourage this choice as it
appears to be ineffective and may even reduce female consumers’ trust in the brand.
These practical implications for advertisers are equally important for athletes and
athlete agencies eyeing endorsement deals because their revenues from advertisers
depend on these athletes’ prospective advertising effectiveness as endorsers. In particular,
we recommend that athletes strategically plan the intended societal perception of their
attractiveness and build this perception in interviews and social media. Male athletes
are advised to leave an impression of having an attractive personality in line with societal
ideals and to emphasize their athletic success. Contrary to conventional wisdom, female
athletes do not seem to benefit much from emphasizing their sex appeal, except slightly
when targeting a male audience. Rather, female athletes appear to benefit strongly from
conformity with expectations and thus both from focusing their choice of endorsement
deals on those that match their own image and from adapting their appearance and
behavior to the expected image that matches an advertised product.

Limitations and directions for future research

Our study has several limitations. It does not use data from multiple countries, which
may limit the ability to generalize its results to cultures with different gender roles and
different standards for judging an athlete’s attractiveness. Future research may seek to
examine whether other cultures more tolerant to sexualized portrayals of women
detect stronger effects of female sex appeal on customer equity drivers.
We find a stronger effect on consumer purchase intentions for female athlete endor-
sers than for male ones. This contradicts the dominant opinion in the field (Knoll &
 EUROPEAN SPORT MANAGEMENT QUARTERLY 21

Matthes, 2017). Thus, we recommend that future research controls for athlete attractive-
ness when comparing the effectiveness of female and male athlete endorsers to avoid
uneven comparisons and to identify contexts where female athletes are more effective.
Since female athletes continue to represent a major share of product endorsements in
advertising, advertisers’ assumptions about female athletes’ effectiveness might not be
all wrong. Moreover, our study finds a negative effect of an endorser’s sex appeal on
brand trust, which Bower and Landreth (2001) hypothesize, but fail to confirm for
fashion models as endorsers. Hence, we recommend that future research examines in
detail how sex appeal affects credibility and how this effect varies by context.

Acknowledgments
The authors extend their gratitude to all survey respondents, and to three anonymous reviewers
for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this article.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID
Björn Frank http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3047-6504

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