Do consumers care about human brands?: A case study of using Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) to map two athletes’ engagements in social and political advocacy

Research Question: We aimed to explore consumers’ perceptions of two athletes and athletes’ engagements in social and political advocacy. Research Methods: We conducted 24 individual in-depth, unstructured interviews and applied Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) to reflect deeper feelings and thoughts of consumers and construct a perceptual map. Results and Findings: Findings show how the actions of athletes contribute to the building and leveraging of their own brands–symbolic images and key associations of Michael Bennett and Jason Pierre-Paul. Findings reveal that lifestyle, relationship effort, and role model make a difference in creating unique brands. New categories emerged from the analysis of athlete advocacy: views toward advocacy, sport as platforms for advocacy, and ambassadors. Implications: We offer unique methodological contributions to scholarship and distinctive associations of selected athletes and provide implications for both professionals and academics in sport