Classical Conditioning and Sports

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Celebrity endorsement for sporting events using classical conditioning

Keywords sporting events celebrities athletes endorsement conditioning

Chen-Yueh Chen (corresponding author) Associate Professor, Department of Athletic Sports National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan Corresp:mdence address: 9-1, Alley 13, Lane 649, Sinjhuang Road Sinjhuang City, 242, Taipei, Taiwan Tel: 886 953 333 447 Email: chenc [email protected]

Yi-Hsiu Lin

Assistant Professor, Department of Sport Management Aletheia University, Taiwan

Chia-Lin Hsiao

Graduate lnst�ute of Sport and Leisure Education, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan

Peer reviewed

Executive summary

Evidence shows that marketers and advertisers are

willing to spend millions of dollars to improve their

promotional opportunities by associating their products

w ith celebrity athlete endorsers. An increasing number

of sporting event s featuring celebrity endorsement are

taking place worldwide. However, only limited

research has been undertaken into the effectiveness of

such endorsements. Furthermore, whilst some

researchers may have examined the effects of endorser

characteristics on the promotion of a sporting event,

Abstract

This research investigates whether conditioning (the

systematic pairing of celebrity endorsers with sporting

events) produces positive attitudes towards spor ting

events. It also investigates whether using celebrities

who are highly congruent with a sporting event leads to

a stronger conditioning effect. The results demonstrate

that individuals exposed to the systematic pairing of a

sporting event with a celebrity did develop a more

favourable attitude towards the event than individuals in

the control condition. Moreover, the pairing of a celebrity

with a sporting event was more effective in forming a

positive attitude towards the sporting event when

congruence was high.

they have neglected to study endorser-product fit. With

the abundance of celebrity endorsement (and an

increasing willingness to spend millions of dollars in

this area) investigation into the effects of celebrity

endorsement on sporting events is warranted. Based

on evidence indicating that favourable stimuli result in

conditione d responses, and the identified need to

study sporting events, this study conducted four

experiments on sporting events using classical

conditioning.

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Celebrity endorsement

In Experiments 1 and 3 we tested whether

individuals exposed to the systematic pairing of a

baseball or basketball event with a celebrity developed

a more favourable attitude towards the event than

individuals who were not exposed to the pairing. The

results demonstrated that pairing a well-liked athlete

with a sporting event did positively impact audiences'

attitudes towards an event. Experiments 2 and 4 test

whether conditioned attitude towards a baseball or

basketball event (the difference between the treatment

condition and the control condition) was greater when

there is a perceived congruence between the sporting

event and the celebrity. Results showed that, when the

celebrity was highly matched with a sporting event,

there was a stronger conditioning than when the

celebrity was not highly congruent with the sporting

event.

This study aims to explain the underlying process

that drives the transfer of affect. Classical conditioning

(one of the most common methods for associative

learning) is used to explain the 'match-up' hypothesis.

The results of the study demonstrate insights for

matching a celebrity endorser with specific sporting

events and for improving the effectiveness of celebrity

endorsement in general. Finally, the results of this

study provide sporting event organisers with an

understanding of the value of properly pairing

celebrities with appropriate sporting events.

Introduction

Celebrity endorsement of sporting events has been

increasingly employed since the 1970s (Tom et al,

1992; Agrawal & Kumakura, 1995) as a means to cut

through advertising cl utter and to attract viewer

attention. Celebrities and celebrity athletes have

appeared to bring benefits to events that other

endorsers could not (Charbonneau & Gerland, 2006).

As a result, athlete endorsements have become one of

the main forms of sports marketing used by many

leading corporations (Yu, 2005).

Evidence shows that marketers and advertisers are

willing to spend millions of dollars on improving

promotional opportunities by associating their product

images with celebrity athlete endorsers (Jones &

Schumann, 2000). Moreover, consumers have been

found to make positive inferences about products

presented in association with celebrities as they

process advertisements (Mccraken, 1989). However,

use of celebrity endorsers has not been without risk.

Till and Shimp (1998) argue that harmful publicity

may occur if a celebrity becomes associated with a

negative event. Research has revealed that, regard less

of potential risks associated with celebrity

endorsement, this process is still widely regarded as

profitable. In fact, Agrawal and Kamukura (1995)

found that return on market value increased

immediately after the announcement of a contract with

a celebrity endorser.

Examining the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement

has become a popular activity for practitioners and

academics (Kaikati, 1987). Studies in recent years

have used various mechanisms to assess the

effectiveness of celebrity endorsement, including:

attribution theory (Mowen & Brown, 1981; Tripp,

Jensen & Carlson, 1994); elaboration likelihood model

(Petty, Cacioppo & Schumann, 1983); social

adaptation theory (Kahle & Homer, 1985); cultural

meaning transfer (Mccraken, 1989); source

characteristics, such as attractiveness, expertise,

trustworthiness etc (Ohanian, 1991); schema theory

(Lynch & Schuler, 1994); and associative learning

(Cunningham, Fink & Kenix, 2008; Fink, 2004; Till &

Busler, 2000; Till & Shimp, 1998; Till, Stanley &

Periluck, 2008). Of these research mechanisms,

associative learning has been used most frequently to

demonstrate the effectiveness of celebrity

endorsement.

Associative learning focuses on the links, or

relationships, between concepts (Klein, 1991). It has

been a useful framework for understanding match-up

hypothesis, which suggests that endorsers are more

effective when there is congruence between the

endorser and the endorsed product (Kamins, 1990;

Lynch & Schuler, 1994; Till & Busler, 20 00). Kim and

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Celebrity endorsement

Na (2007) revealed that individuals evaluated an

endorsed product more favourably when the celebrity

and product fit was congruent. In a New Zealand

context study, Charbonneau and Garland (2006)

found that athletes were actually considered to be

experts by the public when endorsing an unbranded

spor ts drink. Congruence was further specified by Till

and Busler (2000) who showed that athletes were

more effective at endorsing energy bars than actors -

thus, further indicating that athletes are the most

appropriate endorsers of sport-related products.

Whil st as sociative learning theory has been used to

explain endorsement effectiveness, the underlying

mechanisms facilitating these effects have not been

fully explored. However, research employing

cond itioning has been used to further understand

advertising effectiveness (Grossman & Till, 1998;

Priluck & Till, 2004; Stuart, Shimp & Engle, 1987).

Till et al (2008) proposed that, as one of the common

characteristics of associative learning, classical

cond itioning could help to explain the basic notion of

fit between the endorser and the endorsed product.

Classical conditioning is a process whereby an

unconditioned stimulus (one that naturally produces a

response) is paired with a conditioned stimulus (one

that does not naturally produce a response) and acts

to elicit the conditioned response following the pairing

(Shimp, 1991). Mcsweeney and Bierley (1984)

argued that, when there is a good fit between

conditioned stimulus and unconditioned s timulus, it is

easier to develop an associative link between the two

stimuli. It is this principle of conditioned

s timulus/unconditioned stimulus congruence that

provides the theoretical underpinning for the match-up

hypothesis (Til l et al, 2008).

The majority of previous studies on the effectiveness

of celebrity endorsement have focused on tangible

goods, such as sport d rinks, as the research object.

Little research has examined the effects of endorser

characteristics on the promotion of sporting events

(e.eg. Cunningham et al, 2008; Fink, 2004) . Athlete

product endorsement has been a popular sport

marketing tactic used by many corporations (Yu,

2005). As the numbers of sporting events increase,

celebrity athletes, such as British footballer David

Beckham, have become more effective at product

endorsement of events such as the football World Cup.

For example, Kim and Na (2007) found that

consumers had a more positive evaluation of spor t

shoes when the f it between the shoe and celebrity

endorser was con gruent. Nevertheless, Kim and Na

did not elaborate on how the fit effect worked.

With an increasing number of sporting events taking

place around the wor ld , there is a commensurate need

for increased sporting event endorsement. Evidence

has shown that marketers and advertisers are willing

to spend large sums on celebrity athlete endorsement

of their products (Jones & Schumann, 2000).

Attention to the environments in which these products

are ad vertised (the sporting events) is therefore

warranted. Previous research has examined the effec ts

of endorser characteristics on the promotion of

sport ing events, but attention has not been given to

the endorser-product fit. Consequently, understanding

how the endorser-product fit works for sporting events

does warrant sport marketers' attention.

Research in the field of classical conditioning

implies that pairing a positive, unconditioned stimulus

with a conditioned stimulus does result in positive

attitudes towards the conditioned stimulus. Various

unconditioned s timuli have been utilised to examine

conditionin g effect, includ ing: pleasant pictures

(Grossman & Till, 1998; Shimp et al, 199 1 ; Stuart et

al, 1987); humoure(Allen & Mad d en, 1985);

unpleasant images (Baeyans, Crombez, Van Den

Bergh & Eelen, 1988); and cele brities (Till et al,

2008). Some research (albeit limited) has been

attempted using celebrities as unconditioned stimulus

within the framework of classical conditioning

(e. g. Till et al). Surprisingly, however, only limited

studies have been d edicated to the effectiveness of

celebrity endorsement, d espite the increasing number

of sporting events taking place worldwide. Due to the

unique aspects of sport and event product proposed

by Mullin, Hardy and Sutton (2007), there is a need

to examine the effectiveness of celebr ity endorsement

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