Date of Award

2000

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Master of Business

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Public Management

Abstract

Successful and popular sports people have often been utilised as celebrity endorsers to encourage consumers to purchase goods and services. While male sports stars have a well-documented history as product endorsers, their female counterparts have been infrequently used, rarely studied and occasionally mismanaged. Using the dimensions that influence the credibility of a celebrity endorser, this study specifically examines consumer attitudes towards female sports stars as endorsers. Respondents intention to purchase was measured for three different products. As well, the attitude towards perceived attractive and non-attractive female sports stars was also explored. A three stage design, comprising of focus groups, specific target group surveys and a final large sample survey of university students was employed to capture public attitudes. T -tests and analysis of variance were used in the data analysis. The differing attitudes in regards to attractiveness was the highlight of the study. While gender affected some attitudes and the perceived attractiveness of the sports star produced some significant results, the findings suggested that expertise was a much more important factor to induce consumers to purchase products.

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