The Effect of World Ranking on the Selection of Athlete Endorsers: The Case of the PGA
in International Journal of Sport CommunicationClick name to view affiliation
The purpose of the current exploratory study was twofold: First, to outline current trends in athlete endorsement in the golf industry, and second, to discuss specific patterns of athlete endorsement in practice by considering an athlete’s world ranking and product type (low vs. high involvement and informational vs. transformational products). The results indicate that firms in 23 different types of industries are currently using professional golfers as athlete endorsers to position their products in their target markets. Specifically, the results of correspondence analysis indicate that highly ranked golfers tend to endorse high-involved, expensive, and informational products, while both highly ranked and lowly ranked golfers are similarly used as endorsers for low-involved, inexpensive, and transformational products. Implication, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.
Jang, a doctoral student; Ko; and Kim are with the Dept. of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Jeong is with the College of Sports Science, Woosuk University, Wanju-gun, South Korea.
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