Do endorsements by sports celebrities positively influence consumers purchase intentions? Endorser-product congruence and the amplifying influence of consumers involvement in the sport

Companies use product endorsements in over stimulated markets as a marketing tactic to gain consumers attention and increase their product sales. Extant studies have indicated that a sports celebritys endorsement can have an overall positive influence on advertising outcomes like purchase intentions. However, research lacks a holistic perspective, such as the combined influence of endorsers characteristics, brand credibility, and endorser-product congruence on purchase intentions. To address this limitation, the present study reports on the results of 262 responses from an online survey that were analysed using a multigroup structural equation model. Findings show that endorsers direct influence on consumers purchase intentions is negative, independent of endorsed product category, but outweighed by a positive influence of endorser-product congruence in a sports-related endorsement. The study also shows that a consumers significant involvement in the sport amplifies the negative effect of a non-sports-related product endorsement.