Sport fans and athlete celebrity endorsers: Relationships between celebrity familiarity and endorser-brand fit with brand attitude and brand purchase intentions

Celebrities are a common feature in contemporary marketing, often becoming the face or image of the products advertised and for organisations as well. Researchers have suggested that celebrities have likeable qualities who may add value to an endorsed product because of their status in society. This study investigates the influence on endorser familiarity and endorser brand-fit on brand attitude and brand purchase intentions. The study adopted a quantitative research approach. A structured questionnaire was administered among 202 student sport fans. Moderate to strong correlations were found among endorser familiarity, endorser band fit with brand attitude and brand purchase intentions. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was undertaken to examine the goodness of fit measures among the constructs. CFA analysis showed a good fit of the constructs measured. Through structural path analysis endorser familiarity, endorser brand fit showed positive associations with brand attitude. Brand attitude also showed direct positive relationship with brand purchase intentions indicating the likelihood of purchase. Strategies to create stronger connections between consumers and celebrity endorsers should focus on emphasising the need for relatedness as consumer attachment to celebrities evokes a positive brand attitude and subsequent brand purchases. Marketing practitioners need to develop effective strategies in choosing sport celebrities who are familiar and have an appropriate fit with the brand in order to ensure strong brand attitude towards the brand which may enhance brand purchase of the advertised brand.Keywords: Sport fans, athlete-celebrity, familiarity, brand attitude, brand purchase intentions