To Catch a Tiger or Let Him Go: The Match-up Effect and Athlete Endorsers for Sport and Non-Sport Brands

This research reports on two studies that examine the roles of product-endorser “fit” with celebrity and non-celebrity endorsers by comparing the effects of a famous athlete and an unknown model on a variety of consumer responses. Additionally, schema theory is tested as the mechanism driving these effects. The results of the first experiment suggest that a famous athlete is more effective when endorsing a sport brand than a non-sport brand, but only for enhancing the image of the celebrity. In the second experiment, an anonymous model is identified as either a famous athlete or not and is paired with either a sport-related brand or a non-sport brand. Results indicate that an anonymous model identified as an athlete is more effective as an endorser where there is a match between the endorser and the product.