The use of sport celebrities in advertising: a replication and extension.

Ruihley, Brody J. ; Runyan, Rodney C. ; Lear, Karen E. 等

Introduction

The past two decades have seen explosive growth in media outlets, but especially so for sports. The 1980s saw the birth of ESPN on cable TV; the 1990s the dawn of the Internet; the 2000s saw further explosive growth in both types of media coverage (e.g., ESPN2, ESPNU, NFL Network, Fox Sports, fantasy sports leagues, ESPN.com, etc.). The growth has provided increased venues for marketers to promote their products, and increased opportunities for athletes and other sports entities to earn endorsement income.

Despite the increase in media outlets, print advertising has remained an important avenue for marketers over the past three decades due to its easy access through public archives (e.g., libraries). Although billboard, television, and radio advertising is likely archived as well, these media tend to be less-frequently archived at public libraries. Thus, the print advertising found in popular magazines provides a researchable and quantifiable record for scholars. Stone, Joseph, and Jones (2003) conducted a content analysis of print advertisements (ads) appearing in Sports Illustrated (SI) magazine during 1980s and 1990s, establishing an important base for researchers against which they could compare change over time.

Electronic ads have appeared on television and radio since the early 1900s, but marketing experts recognize print advertising as an important historical record, calling it "the family album of society" (Belk & Pollay, 1985). Over the years, however, not all family members have been proportionally represented in that album. Specifically, with few exceptions African-Americans have historically been underrepresented in the pages of general circulation periodicals (Humphrey & Schuman, 1984; Berelson & Salter, 1946). The field of professional sport, however, is recognized as offering opportunity based on ability and not race (at least since the 1950s). To date, though, little research has considered African-American athletes' appearances in print ads or compared those numbers to that of Caucasian athletes. None has investigated either of these in terms of endorsement and all-star selection in their respective sports. In short, little research exists addressing whether most top-ranked African-American athletes receive the same level of print endorsement opportunities as other similarly skilled Caucasian athletes.

In this research, we replicate the Stone et al. (2003) study to validate their findings. We also answer their call for extending the research using more recent data, by analyzing data from the 2000s. For consistency we utilized the same basic methodology as the earlier study, and extended it by introducing several new variables. These include considering advertisements based on a ratio of appearances by race, as well as assessing the racial composition of three of the major professional leagues' all-star teams (i.e., MLB, NFL, and NBA) for each year within the three time periods, and comparing those data with the racial composition of the celebrity athletes appearing in SI ads.

We make three key contributions to the literature. First, we provide a replication of the Stone et al. (2003) study, as called for by many marketing scholars (Hunter, 2001). Replication is important as it contributes to external validity and enables generalization of results to other populations (Easley, Madden, & Dunn, 2000). Second and third, we add to the body of knowledge in two areas: by extending the Stone et al. (2003) study into the 2000s, we provide a more rigorous view of the data over a longer period of time. We also add an important but under-researched segment to the literature by considering the relationships between race, all-star selection, and endorsement. Stone et al. state that a key component of a successful sport celebrity endorsement is that the athlete be a top performer in his/her field. Arguably, when an athlete is selected to an annual all-star team, it is recognition of that athlete's superiority in that sport, and endorsement opportunities should increase commensurately. Although beyond the scope of this paper, we acknowledge that all-star teams are sometimes based more on an athlete's popularity than athletic performance in a given year. But we also posit that even athletes who are selected based on popularity were at one time very likely one of that sport's top performers. Thus, the selection to an all-star team based on popularity rather than performance is perhaps an even stronger indication of an athlete's ability to serve as an endorser.

In the following sections of this paper we will discuss relevant literature focusing on the topics presented in this study, research hypotheses and questions, and conclude with several recommendations to sport marketing practitioners and suggestions for future research.

Literature Review

Sports celebrities are widely used in product advertising to drive sales, by improving consumers' product recall and positively influencing their brand choice behavior (Carlson & Donavan, 2008; Bush, Martin, & Bush, 2004; Shimp, 2003; Bowman, 2002). Such endorsements enhance consumer recognition and image awareness of brands the athletes represent (Keller, 1998). A synthesis of various research models at the time of the original Stone et al. (2003) study showed that a successful endorsement campaign requires, at a minimum, that a celebrity athlete is both among the top performers in his or her sport, and able to project a likeable and trustworthy persona to consumers (Stone et al., 2003). Among the most successful endorsement arrangements are those in which the celebrity athlete's success can be directly related to the product--particularly when the product is sports equipment or athletic footwear (Stone et al., 2003; Misra, 1990). Athlete endorsers are particularly effective when the products they advertise are related to their particular sport (Till, 2001; Boyd & Shank, 2004; Peetz, Parks, & Spencer, 2004). Some research suggests where no such congruence exists, the audience will remember the celebrity and not the product advertised (Evans, 1988).

Financial Implications

Celebrity endorsements are considered valuable and mutually beneficial partnerships for brand owners and celebrities, and involve more than just the transfer of money in exchange for image (Seno & Lukas, 2007; Motion, Leitch, & Brodie, 2003). However, there has been a significant increase in money spent on athlete endorsements since the Stone et al. study. In 1984, NBA star Michael Jordan signed a five-year, $2.5 million contract with Nike. By 2003, Nike signed high-school student (and future NBA star) LeBron James to a $90 million, multi-year deal ("LeBron James Hits ..." 2003). In 2000, Tiger Woods' endorsement income from brands such as Nike, American Express, Rolex, and Buick earned him approximately $50 million (Stone et al., 2003). By 2009, Woods' endorsement income soared to over $110 million--a 120% increase in 10 years (Badenhausen, 2010). According to Forbes magazine, the top 10 earners in sports during 2009 took in a total of $476 million, largely from product endorsements (Badenhausen, 2010). Thus, athletes stand to benefit considerably from endorsement contracts.

Selection and Effectiveness

Effective ads tie product benefits, words, and images into a cohesive communication message geared toward the product's targeted consumer (Stafford et al., 2003). Celebrity endorsers may serve in the role of spokesperson on behalf of the company, expert in the product field, or as a figure to which the consumer base aspires (Seno & Lukas, 2007). Regardless of the endorser's role, it is imperative that the advertisement creates an emotional tie to the athlete (Stone et al., 2003; Keller, 1993). In this way, the positive attributes of the favored athlete are transferred to the product or brand (Stone et al., 2003; Suegker, 2003; McCracken, 1989).

Marketers should select athlete endorsers with care because in the consumer's mind, the positive attributes of the favored athlete will be transferred to the product or brand (Stone et al., 2003; Suegker, 2003; McCracken, 1989). To be effective, an athlete endorser must have values that are aligned with those of the consumer and brand (Crimoroni, 2004). For example, in changing its advertising strategy to target youth instead of families, Campbell Soup hired soccer player Freddy Adu, whose warm and friendly personality matched the attitude of the brand (Freifeld, 2004). In what has been described as one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history, for two decades Nike produced ad campaigns celebrating the connection between its product and Michael Jordan's athletic prowess (Kellner, 2004).

Avoidance

As Stone et al. (2003) speculated, many advertisers today view celebrity athletes as high-risk endorsers (Alsmadi, 2006). Despite the efforts of most professional sports associations to provide their athletes guidance and mentorship regarding personal conduct and media appearances (Freifeld, 2004), several prominent sports figures have lost lucrative product endorsement contracts because of misconduct (Shuart, 2007; Burton et al., 2000). Prior to 2009, perhaps most memorable was Hertz's swift disassociation from NFL Hallof-Famer O.J. Simpson following speculation that he might be implicated in the murder of his ex-wife (Kellner, 2004). However, even more unimaginable, and almost as unpredictable were the events of late 2009 surrounding golfer Tiger Woods (please see the Appendix for an in-depth description). Even though Stone et al. (2003) described Woods as ". the model for professional athletes in terms of what constitutes the new 'perfect fit' between athlete and sponsors" (p. 97), Woods seems to have been unable to navigate the minefield of character flaws that have been the downfall of many others. Following a series of revelations regarding Woods' extra-marital indiscretions, major marketers began disassociating themselves from the world-famous golfer (Vranica, 2009a). These included major endorsers of Woods including Gillette and watchmaker Tag Heuer, both of which decided to limit the use of Woods in future advertisements, and consulting firm Accenture's decision to drop Woods entirely as an endorser (Vranica, 2009b). In an effort to protect their brands' image from negative connotations associated with an athlete's alleged personal conduct, many advertisers include in their endorsement contracts a clause which allows the brand to terminate the relationship should the athlete's poor judgment lead to moral or legal ramifications (Freifeld, 2004).

Notably, not all norm-breakers have been found to make poor product endorsers (Freifeld, 2004). Since the 1970s, as the marketplace has grown saturated with brands and ads, controversial athletes have become valuable endorsers for some markets (particularly among youth), because they stand out as challenging the establishment (Burton et al., 2000). Examples of this include Nike's continued affiliation with soccer player Eric Contona (attacked a fan), NBA star Latrell Sprewell (attacked his coach), and Reebok's 10year/$50-million contract with Allen Iverson (ex-convict, controversial rap recordings) (Burton et al., 2000). Thus, it seems that some marketers have seen advertising potential in even the negative media attention bestowed upon their brand's celebrity endorser (Enrico, 1995). These examples are different from Shuart's (2007) contention that fans eventually forget about bad behavior. In these examples it is the actual bad behavior that seems to be attractive to particular consumer demographics.

Race in Advertising

Various research has focused on the frequency of African-American endorsers appearing in magazine advertising, from the standpoint of product type (Kassarjian, 1969), role portrayals (Humphrey & Schuman, 1984; Bush, Resnick, & Stern, 1980; Shuey, King, & Griffith, 1953), occupations (Stevenson, 1992; Zinkhan, Cox, & Hong, 1986; Cox, 1970), media type (Taylor & Lee, 1995), and gender (Baily, 2006). Overall, the body of research shows a general improvement over time in the frequency and portrayal of African-American endorsers in print advertising to more accurately reflect society (Baily, 2006; Taylor & Lee, 1995). Yet, a recent study revealed that while the likelihood of an African-American athlete appearing on the cover of SI has increased over time, the rate of such appearances has not kept pace with the proportion of African-Americans in sports (Primm, DuBois, & Regoli, 2007).

In the earliest of the noted studies, less than 1% of the surveyed magazine ads featured African-Americans, and in nearly all of those, they were depicted as unskilled laborers (Shuey et al., 1953). Forty years later, Taylor and Lee (1995) noted significant change had occurred, finding that 11.4% of ads in the surveyed magazines included African-American models, compared to the 12.8% of the U.S. population represented by African-Americans. In that study, African-American models were depicted in social, business, and family relationships rather than engaged in menial labor (Taylor & Lee, 1995).

African-American Athletes in Advertising

Product endorsements often provide professional athletes more money than they earn through playing sports. In 2005, the world's top-ranked golfer Tiger Woods earned nearly $12 million in golf prize money--and another $75 million through endorsements and appearance fees (Sirak, 2007). Basketball great Michael Jordan blazed the trail for these and other star athletes when in 1997 he earned $40 million in endorsements alone (Kellner, 2004). However, some argue that Jordan and Woods, and others such as Bo Jackson are among the few superstar athletes who have overcome racial barriers to secure significant product endorsements targeted to a general audience (Evans, 1997).

Although a few African-American athletes have become among the most marketable sports stars, some believe that African-American athletes, in significant numbers, are unlikely to secure a wide range of product endorsements (Hoose, 1989). Relative to their proportion in the population, African-Americans account for a small percent of professional sports fans (Evans, 1997). Consequently, many advertisers have been concerned that Caucasian consumers may not respond positively to ads that feature an African-American endorser (Goodale, 1999; Hoose, 1989).

Hypotheses and Research Questions

According to Stone et al. (2003), celebrity athlete endorsements in print advertising declined from the 1980s to the 1990s. They posited that this decline was due (in part) to the concern advertisers might have regarding possible negative consequences of ill-behaved athletes. Since the 1990s, there has been tremendous growth of advertising in media other than print (television, Internet, etc.). Thus, holding advertising volume constant, there should be fewer ads appearing in print periodicals in the new millennium, leading us to propose that:

Hypothesis 1: There will be significantly fewer Sports Illustrated ads featuring athletes as endorsers during the 2000s period than were featured during the 1980s period.

Stone et al. (2003) found an increase in female athlete endorsements in SI from the 1980s to the 1990s sample periods. The following hypothesis extends those findings by examining the difference in number of female athletes used as endorsers from the 1980s to the 2000s period:

Hypothesis 2: The number of print ads featuring female athletes, as endorsers, will have significantly increased between the 1980s period and the 2000s period.

This final portion raises two new hypotheses and two new research questions, all of which address race in endorsements. Examining the difference in number of ads between Caucasian and African-American athletes and the number of African-American athlete endorsers spanning the three periods (1980s-2000s), we hypothesize:

Hypothesis 3: Of those featuring a human endorser, the number of ads featuring a Caucasian athlete will be significantly higher than the number of ads featuring an African-American athlete in each of the three periods.

Hypothesis 4: The number of ads featuring an African-American athlete will significantly increase from the 1980s period to the 2000s period.

In attempts to compare the percentages of Caucasian and African-American endorsers to the actual racial makeup of professional sport, we examined differences in endorsement frequency and frequency of all-stars selections for each race, in each period. Assuming that being an all-star representative signifies expertise in a sport, as well as public popularity, advertisers would likely want to use all-stars to endorse a product or brand. The following research questions ask whether there would be significant differences between the number of African-American endorsers and the frequency of African-American all-stars, as well as differences in the number of Caucasian endorsers to the frequency of Caucasian all-stars.

Research Question 1: Of the ads featuring an athlete, will the percentage of ads featuring an African-American, within each of the three periods, be significantly different than the percentage of African-American all-stars in those periods?

Research Question 2: Of the ads featuring an athlete, will the percentage of ads featuring a Caucasian, within each of the three periods, be significantly different than the percentage of Caucasian all-stars in those periods?

Methods

A content analysis was conducted to generate a dataset needed to analyze the recent use of celebrity sports endorsers in product advertising. This method has also proved valuable in understanding such advertising in the past (Stone et al., 2003). Content analysis has been defined as the systematic, objective, quantitative analysis of communications content (Kassarjian, 1977) and is a systematic research method for analyzing textual information in a standardized way to allow evaluators to make inferences about that information (Weber, 1990). Content analysis may also be used to analyze images (Kolbe & Burnett, 1991) and characters depicted in advertising (Neuendorf, 2002). Considered a scientific tool for research, content analysis provides new insights, increases understanding of the phenomenon studied, and provides meaningful information for practical actions (Krippendorff, 2004). Among the limitations in using content analysis, the most notable is the subjectivity involved in coding (Frost & Wilmshurst, 2000), as the researcher's ability to draw valid inferences depends on the reliability of the data and the instrument (Milne & Adler, 1999). To assure reliability, the researchers followed Kassarjian's (1977) general guidelines for content analysis.

Sample

Following the methodology of Stone et al. (2003), we chose print advertising as the medium to study, and SI as the periodical to analyze. For each six-year period, we analyzed 12 issues per year (or one per month). SI serves as an appropriate periodical upon which to conduct a content analysis of this kind, as our stated focus was athletic endorsements in print advertising, and SI is considered one of the oldest and most widely read sports magazines in the US.

Because content analysis requires the onerous task of reviewing numerous documents, random and interval sampling methods have long been employed by marketing and consumer researchers to obtain meaningful data (Kassarjian, 1977). Using a random number generator, we generated 216 random numbers between one and five. SI publishes one full issue every week (some months have five weeks) as well as occasional special issues. If the random number for a four-issue month was five, we chose one of the four on a rotating basis (i.e., one the first occurrence, two the second, etc.). Thus, for the six-year period, 216 randomly chosen issues were analyzed. All ads in each selected issue were assessed.

Coding

We then coded ads that pictured humans as follows: celebrity athlete, celebrity (non-athlete), regular model, coach, athletic team, celebrity group, celebrity athlete group (non-team), and regular group. Because categories of analysis must be defined so as to enable different analysts to later apply the categories to the same body of content and replicate the original results (Kassarjian, 1977), to provide clarity, an "athletic team" was defined as two or more members of a professional sports team (e.g., Manchester United, New York Yankees); a "celebrity group" consisted of two or more celebrities who are not professional athletes; an "athlete group" included two or more athletes who were not teammates (and often not even from the same sport); and a "regular group" was defined as two or more models. For race, we coded the following broad categories: African-American, Caucasian, Asian, and "other."

To address the research questions posed for this study, we coded every all-star athlete participating in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Basketball Association for the three sampled periods of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The race categories coded were Caucasian, African-American, and "other." Here, the term "other" represents the very small number of professional athletes in the NFL and NBA who are neither Caucasian nor African-American (Lapchick et al., 2007) and the moderate percentage of Hispanic athletes in MLB. Since it was difficult in some instances to determine race, we opted to code all non-U.S. born athletes as "other."

Results

This study replicated the findings from Stone et al. (2003) and confirmed the findings that there would be fewer SI ads featuring athletes as endorsers during the 1990s period than were featured during the 1980s period and also that there would be more "everyman" (i.e., non-celebrity) models featured as endorsers than athletes in each of the periods. The only disparity involved the hypothesis stating that the number of ads featuring female athletes as endorsers would increase significantly between the 1980s period and the 1990s period. Stone et al. (2003) found significantly more female athletes featured as endorsers in the 1990s period than in the 1980s period (p < .10). Our results indicate six ads featuring female athletes in the 1980s period and seven ads featuring female athletes in the 1990s period, thus we cannot confirm this Stone et al. finding.

Extension

In an effort to extend the original study, the current research examines two hypotheses. First, in response to the Stone et al. (2003) recommendation, a further analysis was performed to examine if a decline in celebrity athlete endorsers has taken place since the initial study. We found a significant increase in ads featuring celebrity athletes. Results indicate an average of 15.33 celebrity athletes used per year in the first period and 39.33 celebrity athletes used per year in the third period. This difference was found to be significant (t = -6.05, p = .002). Therefore, Hypothesis 1 is rejected.

Hypothesis 2 proposed that the number of ads featuring female athletes as endorsers would increase between the first period (1980s) and the third period (2000s). The results from this sample support this claim, finding six ads featuring female athletes in the 1980s period and 30 ads featuring female athletes in the 2000s period (t = -6.928, p = .001). Results for H1 and H2 are provided in Table 1.

Breaking Ground

Hypothesis 3 states that among the ads featuring a human endorser, those featuring a Caucasian athlete will be significantly greater than those featuring an African-American endorser in each of the three periods. Results indicate a significant disparity between the groups in both the 1980s (p = .022) and 2000s (p = .008) periods, but no significant disparity in the 1990s period (p = .895). These results, therefore, call for partial rejection of this Hypothesis 3.

Hypothesis 4 proposes that the number of ads featuring an African-American athlete will significantly increase from the 1980s period to the 2000s period. Results from our sample indicate African-American athletes were in 23 ads for the 1980s period and 73 African-American athletes were in ads featuring a human endorser in the 2000s period. A paired-sample t-test indicates a significant difference (p = .003) between the period frequencies, resulting in support of H4. These results can be found in Table 2.

The final ground-breaking area focuses on race and expertise. Researchers have proposed that celebrity endorsers should be those who are among the best in their respective sports (Ohanian, 1990; Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953). Here, we consider a professional sport's annual all-star team to be indicative of the best in the sport for a given year. Lag time between all-star participation and endorsement appearances are likely, since an athlete's skill level and popularity might accumulate over a period of several seasons. Thus, utilizing six-year periods within each sample allows for such lags. That is, an athlete's selection as an all-star in 1982 might not translate to celebrity (and thus endorsement opportunities) until 1983, or 1986 to 1987, etc. The research questions examine the relationship between appearances in SI advertising and appearances on professional all-star teams.

Research Question 1 asks whether there is a significant difference in the percentage of ads featuring African-American athletes compared to the percentage of African-American all-stars in each period. Using independent samples t-test to analyze the two groups, the 1980s period revealed that African-American athletes comprised 48.97% of total all-stars, but only 25.05% of ads featuring an athlete. This difference is statistically significant (p = .005). In the 1990s period, African-American athletes made up 56.32% of total all-stars and 50.91% of ads, indicating no statistically significant difference (p = .381). Finally, in the 2000s period, African-American athletes made up 52.25% of total all-stars with only 38.66% of ads. Results indicate a statistically significant difference (p = .007). Table 3 provides these results.

Research Question 2 asks whether there is a significant difference in the percentage of ads featuring Caucasian athletes compared to the percentage of Caucasian all-stars in each period. Independent samples t-tests were used to examine this question. In the 1980s period, Caucasian athletes made up 45.03% of all-stars and 72.99% of ads featuring an athlete which is a statistically significant difference (p = .002). In the 1990s period, Caucasian athletes made up 35.09% of all-stars and 48.33% of ads, but was not statistically significant at the .05 level (p = .061). Finally, in the 2000s period the results indicated Caucasian athletes made up 32.18% of all-stars but 62.57% of ads, resulting in a statistically significant difference (p = .000). These are found in Table 4.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Our three main topics of discussion focus on trends in the use of celebrity athletes in advertising, the use of female athletes in advertising, and race of athlete endorsers in advertising. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of the current research and recommendations for future research.

Athletes in Advertising

This study replicates and assesses key findings from the Stone et al. (2003) study, a procedure called for by many researchers (e.g., Hunter, 2001). Stone et al. found a decline in celebrity athlete use in ads within the second period, calling for further study of the topic. Our replication confirms two of Stone et al.'s key findings: the number of celebrity athlete endorsers increased from the 1980s period to the 1990s and ads featuring non-celebrity models were greater in number than those featuring celebrity athletes. Our analysis added a 2000s period and found an increase in celebrity athletes as endorsers from the 1980s period to the 2000s period. These results contradict the Stone et al. predictions that the risk of using athletes as endorsers would drive advertisers to avoidance. Our findings show that even though "off the court/field" behavioral issues affect some professional athletes, brand owners continue to have athletes endorse their products. Whether this is due to a decrease in public scandals, increased tolerance for those scandals, or an increase in favor toward professional athletes, celebrity athletes are being used significantly more in advertising now than in the 1980s.

Females Athletes in Advertising

The current study replicated and expanded a hypothesis regarding the use of female athletes in advertising put forth in Stone et al. (2003). In that study, an increase in the number of female athletes used in advertising from the 1980s to the 1990s was found. Our study found only 1 female endorser per year from the 1980s to the 1990s period. We did, however, find a significant increase in the use of female athletes as endorsers in advertising when comparing the 1980s period to the 2000s period. Thus, it appears that advertisers today use female celebrity athletes at a much greater rate than 20 years earlier.

These findings provide important insights concerning the use of female athletes in advertising. An increase in female athletes as endorsers illustrates greater acceptance of these professional athletes by marketers and consumers. Star athletes such as Danica Patrick (auto racing), Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie (golf), Candice Parker (basketball), the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova (tennis), and many female Olympic athletes are gaining increasing opportunities to serve as paid endorsers. The increased popularity and media exposure through professional leagues (e.g., WNBA) and tours (e.g., LPGA) lend assistance to female athletes gaining more of the marketing spotlight than 20 years ago. Increases in endorsement opportunities for female athletes provides greater earning opportunities for those women, allowing some of the best in each sport to realize incomes rivaling male counterparts.

Race in Advertising

The research examined the use of minority celebrity athletes as endorsers by comparing endorsement levels of African-Americans to that of Caucasians. Results indicated a significant difference between the groups represented in print advertising during the 1980s and 2000s, with African-Americans being featured as endorsers far less than Caucasians. The interim period of the 1990s revealed statistically insignificant differences between the two groups, as nearly all of the increase in ads, featuring celebrity athletes, was realized by African-Americans. This is of particular importance, since the number of ads featuring those athletes nearly tripled from the earlier decade while the number featuring Caucasians remained mostly unchanged.

The findings from the 1990s, while encouraging, would have presumably pointed to an eventual matching of the percentage of African-American endorsers to the percentage represented in each respective professional sport. However, the trend did not continue into the 2000s. We found that while the number of ads featuring African-Americans raised greatly (from 66 to 90), Caucasians saw an even greater increase (from 71128). Thus, the 2000s looked more like the 1980s in terms of endorsement numbers. Considering this, we posited that the increase in total numbers within professional sports had simply outpaced endorsements for spurious reasons, and that African-American endorsers would surely appear in the same ratio as they did in their respective all-star teams.

We proposed two research questions regarding the ratio of celebrity athlete endorsers to their respective all-star teams by period. Our rationale was that when an athlete is rated as one of the best in his or her respective sport, marketers would be more likely to capitalize on that popularity. In answering both research questions, we found that those ratios mirror the results from H3 and H4, in that statistically significant differences existed in the 1980s and 2000s only. However, in all three decades, African-American all-stars were underrepresented and Caucasian all-stars were overrepresented in SI ads. Thus, although African-Americans made up a large percentage of all-stars in each decade (see Table 4), their appearances as endorsers were much less than that of Caucasians in the three major professional sports considered. Of particular concern are the findings from the current decade. During the first half of the 2000s, African-Americans comprised 52.25% of all-star teams but only 38.66% of the ads featuring celebrity athletes. Conversely, Caucasian athletes made up only 32.18% of all-stars, but were featured in 62.57% of the ads in SI. These findings are troubling especially considering the gains made by African-Americans in the 1990s.

These results illustrate at best, stagnation in African-American athlete endorsement opportunities. At worst, the results demonstrate regress both in societal and marketing domains. Clearly there are many questions left unanswered. As the percentage of African-Americans who are the best in their professions has increased, why have the endorsements featuring African-American athletes not raised comparatively? Are Caucasian athletes viewed as more marketable, or are the products promoted in SI those that appeal more to Caucasian consumers? Are African-American athletes unable to endorse the products featured in SI? Henderson and Baldasty (2003) found that television advertisers use Caucasians to promote certain product categories, and African-Americans to promote others. Specifically, Caucasians tend to be used to promote upscale products, beauty products, and home products. They found that African-Americans were used to promote products such as fast food, soft drinks, and athletic/sports equipment. While the current study did not code the SI data using those categories, a cursory review of SI will reveal ads for McDonald's, Pepsi Cola, and athletic items endorsed by African-Americans as per the Henderson and Baldasty (2003) taxonomy. Additionally, there are few upscale products (e.g., Mercedes, Cartier, etc.), beauty, or household products that fit their taxonomy featured in SI either. Thus, when comparing our results on SI advertising to other media, one would predict that SI is an ideal medium for featuring African-Americans as promoters of products. Yet, the numbers do not support this supposition.

The 1990s also saw the emergence of two of the most "bankable" African-American athletes ever in Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Both first won professional championships in the 1990s. As one possible explanation for the increases found in the 1990s, a halo effect may thereafter have emerged, where advertisers began utilizing more African-American athletes to endorse products. Yet the increase in endorsements featuring African-Americans should alter the perceptions of such ads over time (DelVechio & Goodstein, 2004), leading to greater, not reduced, acceptance, and thus proliferation in advertising frequency.

The scandal facing Tiger Woods during late 2009 may or may not have a negative effect upon other African-American athletes in terms of endorsement opportunities. The ubiquity of Woods' endorsements, and the depth of his relationships with those marketers was well known. Nike has long marketed a separate line of Tiger Woods golf equipment, and as of this article's completion, Nike planned to continue that relationship (Vranica, 2009a). But other marketers may be more cautious in the future. When such a presumably bankable athlete such as Woods is seemingly not beyond scandal, other athletes appear to be even riskier in terms of endorsement. Companies such as Accenture incorporated Woods into over 80% of its advertising in 2008, while Tag Heuer used him in nearly 30% of its advertising, while paying him nearly 20% of its advertising budget to be its spokesperson (Vranica, 2009a). Accenture dropped him as an endorser and Tag Heuer, although not dropping him, has removed advertisements using Woods as a spokesperson (Bertovici, 2010). If nothing else it reinforces the notion that using celebrity endorsers (athletes or otherwise), is as risky for marketers as ever.

Limitations and Future Research

Stone et al. (2003) proposed a causal link to an athlete's anti-social behaviors and the drop in endorsement frequency for all celebrity athletes. Testing such a causal relationship is beyond the scope of this study. Content analysis is limited to descriptive statistics only. Researchers should interpret with caution any data that describe a phenomenon but do not examine causal relationships. In the current setting, ascribing the drop in endorsement opportunities for African-American athletes to advertisers' reactions to negative publicity cannot be supported. This is a limitation to the original study as well as this research.

Societal reactions to the use of ethnic minorities in print advertising are likely to be vastly different than they were at the time of the initial research on the topic. Fundamentally, the growth in the use of ethnic minorities in ads should alter the manner in which such ads are perceived. This should be the same in the use of minority celebrity athletes as endorsers. Initial research on this topic was undertaken at a time when the use of minorities as product endorsers was relatively rare (i.e., 1980s). Fundamental differences in the processing of novel versus common social stimuli may cause past findings to now be inapplicable (DelVecchio & Goldstein, 2004).

The number of foreign-born players has increased greatly overall, but particularly in Major League Baseball. This group is particularly difficult to categorize, and thus to code in a content analysis, using mostly pictures. In 1990, 13% of MLB players were classified as Latino. At the beginning of the 2009 season, that number had more than doubled to 27% (Lapchick, Diaz-Calderon, & McMechan, 2009). Our study did not address this group, as explained in the methods section. This is problematic in that Latinos constitute the second largest ethnic group in MLB behind whites, and are roughly 2.5 times larger than the next group, which is African-Americans. Compounding any statistical analyses are that many Latino baseball players would likely be considered African-American if they were U.S. citizens (i.e., their ancestors were from Africa and not Spain). It is probable that, had the current analyses included some Latino athletes as African-American, that the numbers discussed previously might have been further skewed toward Caucasian athletes (in terms of endorsement opportunities).

Another limitation is the examination of only one magazine (albeit perhaps the most important of its genre) to analyze celebrity athlete endorsements. The use of multiple magazines would broaden the reach of this research, providing more generalizable results. Future research is warranted in the area of race and endorsements, and in particular all-star status and endorsements. But of particular importance is the need to uncover causal relationships between endorsement activity and race. African-Americans are underrepresented endorsers based on their participation and all-star rates. Are advertisers purposely avoiding utilizing these athletes as endorsers and if so, why? Additionally, our study was a fine-grained research effort breaking down endorsement by sport, race, and gender within print advertising. An interesting angle for future scholars would be to look at more macro effects on sport endorsement activity. This could include the state of the economy in general (e.g., the major recession of 2008-2009) or popularity status of the sport itself (e.g., basketball in the 1980s versus football in the 2000s) and the effects of these upon endorsement levels for sport celebrities.

Appendix

Between the first reviews of our paper and submitting our revised version, the Tiger Woods scandal broke. Early on November 27, 2009, Woods and his wife, Elin, had some sort of late-night argument or disagreement. He left his home in Florida and subsequently crashed his car into a fire hydrant and neighbor's tree.

Over the following days, Woods' personal and professional worlds began to crumble as news of (ostensibly) the reason for the late night marital disagreement emerged. By the end of the week following the accident, nine women had come forward and (with varying levels of authenticity) claimed to have had various affairs with Woods.

Companies for whom he endorsed products have responded in mixed fashion: Accenture, Gillette, Gatorade, and AT&T have dropped him completely as a spokesperson; watchmaker Tag Heuer has decided to "limit" the advertising featuring Woods (Bercovici, 2010). Nike and Upper Deck (sports memorabilia retailer) have stated that they stand by Woods.

It is not an overstatement to say that this scandal was one of the most widely covered stories of 2009. Neither is it exaggerating to state that first, Woods is the best-known athlete in the world at this time; second, that he is the highest-paid endorser in the world at this time; and third, that this scandal and its aftermath have been the largest of its kind in the history of sport. Marketers have put hundreds of millions of dollars into linking themselves with Woods over the past decade. He has been considered a "safe bet," at least in terms of risk. It is too early to know if this situation will affect him adversely for a long period of time, or if he will be able to overcome this and win back both his fans and endorsement contracts.

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Table 1.
Breakdown of Athlete, Everyman, and Female Athlete Endorsers: 1980s,
1990s, & 2000s periods.

 Tuskey HSD

Era Athlete Everyman Mean Diff. Std. Error Signif.
 (Per Year)

1983-1988 92 768 112.67 6.19 .000

1993-1998 138 597 76.50 7.21 .000

2001-2006 236 588 58.67 10.13 .000

Era Female Signif.
 Athlete Increase

1983-1988 6

1993-1998 7 .849 *

2001-2006 30 .001 **

* From 1980s to 1990s **From 1980s to 2000s

Table 2.
Breakdown of African-American and Caucasian Athlete Ads: 1980s, 1990s,
& 2000s periods.

 Paired Samples T-Test
 Comparing African Amer.
 And Caucasian Athletes
 per year

Era African- Caucasian Mean Diff. Std.
 Amer. Athlete Athlete (Per Year) Deviation

1983-1988 23 * 67 -7.333 5.13

1993-1998 66 71 -0.833 5.42

2001-2006 90 * 128 -6.333 6.86

 Paired Samples T-Test Comparing African Amer.
 And Caucasian Athletes per year

Era Std. Error t d Sig.
 Mean (2-tailed)

1983-1988 2.09 -3.505 5 .017

1993-1998 2.21 -0.377 5 .722

2001-2006 2.80 -2.260 5 .073

* Significantly different at p = 0.003

Table 3.
Independent Samples T-Test Statistics of African-American Athletes vs.
All-Star Usage Percentages: 1980s, 1990s, & 2000s periods.

 Levene's Test

African- Ads * All-Star ** F Sig. t df Sig.
American (2-tailed)

1983-1988 25.05% 53.48% 2.904 .119 -4.136 10 .002
1993-1998 50.91% 57.87% 7.730 .019 -1.229 5.198 .272
2001-2006 38.66% 52.52% 1.996 .188 -3.393 10 .007

* Featuring Athlete** Taken from NBA, NFL, and MLB All-Star Rosters

Table 4.
Independent Samples T-Test Statistics of Caucasian Athletes vs.
All-Star Usage Percentages: 1980s, 1990s, & 2000s periods.

 Levene's Test

Caucasian Ads * All-Star ** F Sig. t df Sig.
 (2-tailed)

1983-1988 72.99% 42.73% 4.236 .067 4.559 10 .001
1993-1998 48.33% 33.82% 6.007 .034 2.602 5.260 .046
2001-2006 62.57% 31.77% 3.230 .103 7.542 10 .000