Effect of celebrity athletes on brand authenticity

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Taking into account that H1 is supported, the theories, which were used to deduce H1, will now serve as basis for the explanation of the positive effect of CAs on consumers’ perceptions of brand authenticity.

By doing so, it can be said that CAs actually present a form of online opinion leaders whose influence can be explained by means of the two-step flow of communication model (Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1966;

Solomon et al., 2016).

By applying the two-step flow of communication model to CAs and the context of Instagram, this would mean that when CAs are employed to endorse a brand, they would function as a mediator who communicates the brand’s marketing message in form of Instagram posts to numerous people i.e.

mainly to their fans who follow them on Instagram. When their fans and potential consumers are exposed to the Instagram post including a marketing message, which for example highlights a brand’s authenticity, it is likely that they would be influenced due to the fact that CAs can be considered as online opinion leaders. Their expertise in sport makes them a highly rated source of information for their followers.

Drawing on the other theories used for deducing the hypotheses, it is now argued that CAs can also be regarded as a reference group for consumers and that their influence on consumers’ perceptions can be therefore reasoned by applying the model of meaning transfer (Arnould et al., 2005;

McCracken, 1989), which will be done in the following in the context of Instagram.

Marketers increasingly use CAs within social media networks for endorsement purposes (Peetz &

Lough, 2015). Thus, besides content about their personal life and their sport, CAs publish promotional content, which involves endorsement of a particular brand or product (Hambrick & Mahoney, 2011;

Pegoraro, 2010). On Instagram, CAs would then publish photos of themselves wearing or showing a product from a specific brand. By this, the meanings of the CA, including for example traits like honest or open-minded, would be transferred to the product i.e. to the brand. When consumers are exposed to the content, in which a CA endorses a brand, they would be likely to relate the brand with the meaning of the CA. In other words, consumers would then regard the endorsed brand as honest or open-minded, hence, transparent and increasingly authentic.

As stated in chapter 8, the results further indicate that, among the four variables for evaluating the CA, trustworthiness and brand congruence have a significant positive effect on consumers’ brand authenticity perception. However, it should be mentioned that the influence of brand congruence on

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influence of trustworthiness is significant at a 95% confidence level. Hence, interpretations of the influence of brand congruence regarding consumers’ brand authenticity perceptions are treated with caution.

The findings regarding the positive effect of trustworthiness on consumer perceptions are in line with existing literature. Researchers have acknowledged that for effective endorsements, CAs are required to show characteristics of being trustworthy (Ruihley et al., 2010; Stone et al., 2003), which could for example be the CAs’ sportsmanship (Arai et al., 2014). This is supported by the source credibility model which states that consumers are more likely to be persuaded when the marketing message is communicated by an endorser who is trustworthy (Ohanian, 1990). By the study at hand it can be further said that a CA’s trustworthiness positively influences consumers’ perceptions of brand authenticity.

As further suggested by the findings, the positive effect of brand congruence on consumer-perceived brand authenticity appears in line with previous literature that highlights the importance of brand-endorser congruence with regard to favourable attitudes and purchase intention (Min et al., 2019).With the study at hand it can be added that congruence between the brand and the CA endorsers leads to favourable perceptions of brand authenticity.

Concerning the two remaining variables for evaluating the CA, which include the CA’s attractiveness, in terms of similarity with the consumer, as well as expertise, it was found that their relationship with consumers’ brand authenticity perception is non-linear, meaning these attributes of the CA do not exert an influence (part 7.2.1). Possible reasons for this non-linearity are provided in the following.

The findings show that, based on the determined measurement scale ranging from -3 to 3, the CA is overall judged extremely high in expertise (mean xA_Exp =2.80), but brand authenticity perceptions differ (appendix C2 and E), which leads to a non-linear relationship, thus suggesting no influence.

Due to the fact that Usain Bolt, who has won multiple championships and can be considered as one of the most successful and iconic athletes in history (part 6.2), is assessed as overall highly knowledgeable and as an expert appears to be less surprising. If other less outstanding athletes, who still fulfil the characteristics to be considered as an CA, were chosen perhaps the results would have been less extreme and an influence on consumers’ brand authenticity perceptions could have been detected.

Regarding attractiveness, researchers have claimed that based on the source attractiveness model, the attractiveness of the source plays a crucial role when it comes to the effectiveness of the message (Ohanian, 1990). This also accounts for CAs as researchers argue that consumers are more likely to

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be influenced if there are similarities between them and the endorser (Peetz, 2012). As indicated by the results, CAs are assessed as rather low in attractiveness (mean xA_Attr=-1.11), but brand authenticity perceptions differ (appendix C2 and E), which leads to a non-linear relationship, thus, no influence. An explanation for the CA’s poor evaluation regarding attractiveness could be that, based on Schouten, Janssen, & Verspaget's (2020) reasoning, in the case of CAs, identification does not stem from actual similarities but from consumers’ admiration for the CA. Hence, it could be that the CA would have been ranked higher in attractiveness if consumers were asked about their admiration for the CA.