The Impact of Ethnicity Match on Athlete Endorsement

A Parasocial Identification Perspective

Abstract

Although direct linkages between sponsor brands and sports viewers were widely investigated in the context of athlete endorsement, few studies examined the effect of parasocial identification (PSI) on how sports viewers would perceive brands endorsed by athletes of color. A two (Black vs Asian athletes) by two (Black vs Asian viewers) mixed factorial experiment was designed to examine the role of viewers’ PSI with athletes of color in interaction effects between viewers’ ethnicities and athletes’ ethnicities on their perceptions of athlete-endorsed brands. Results found that athletes’ ethnicities generated a main effect on viewers’ perceptions of athlete-endorsed brands. Although viewers’ ethnicities did not yield any significant impact, an interaction between viewers’ ethnicities and athletes’ ethnicities affected viewers’ perceptions of athlete-endorsed brands. Moreover, viewers’ PSI with athletes intervened this interaction effect on their perceptions of athlete-endorsed brands. The practical application of ethnic similarities was also discussed in response to athlete endorsement.