Branding through Athletes: The Role of Athlete-Team Brand Personality Alignment in Team Evaluation and Brand Equity

Abstract

Branding, a popular marketing strategy, is becoming highly important in sports contexts. Among various methods undertaken to brand teams, utilization of star athletes has been prevailing (i.e., star athletes have been at the forefront of team branding). However, the effect of star athletes in team branding is derived from star athletes and is seldom team selected or controlled branding. In other words, it is largely unknown how teams (from their perspective) can use athletes (particularly non-superstar athletes) in team branding and what its consequences are. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation was to investigate the role of athlete in team branding. Particularly, this research examined the effect of athlete-team brand personality alignment on overall team evaluation and team brand equity. The current research used two 2 x 2 between-subjects analyses in an experimental setting (Study 1 and 2) and a field study (Study 3) to explore the effect of athlete-team brand personality alignment on fan responses—overall team evaluation and customer-based team brand equity. Study 1 empirically demonstrated that athlete-team brand personality alignment increases overall team evaluation and customer-based team brand equity, with more pronounced result for unfamiliar teams. Study 2 also showed the effect of brand personality alignment, while hypothesized interaction effect of alignment and athlete familiarity was not supported. Finally, Study 3 revealed that fans' perceived interaction quality positively moderates the effect of athlete-team brand personality alignment. This research is the first to demonstrate how teams can leverage their most influential human brands (i.e., athletes) as a brand-building advantage, particularly for new or unfamiliar teams in their efforts to establish brand positioning in fans' minds. The results of the current research fill gaps in the literature and extend the body of knowledge in branding studies in general and sport team branding studies in particular. Furthermore, this dissertation yielded practical and managerial implications for understanding the role of athletes in team branding appeals.