2018 Sport Marketing Association Conference (SMA XVI) Dallas, TX
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2018 Sport Marketing Association Conference (SMA XVI) Retirement Effects on Athlete Brand Attributes and Equity Bo Yu, Texas A&M University Gregg Bennett, Texas A&M University Natasha Brison, Texas A&M University Friday, October 26, 2018 50-minute poster presentation 8:00-8:50 AM, Main Conference Atrium Retirement usually results in great financial losses for athletes due to the fact that most are unable to maintain endorsement contracts. For instance, NBA player Derrick Rose could lose more than $80 million from his endorsement deal with adidas if he chooses to retire after the 2017-2018 season (DePuala, 2017). While the change in endorsement contracts depletes salaries for most players, many athletes are also confronted with a number of occupational, emotional, and social adjustments during the career transition process (Grove, Lavallee, & Gordon,1997). Yet, some athletes are able to maintain their partnerships with sponsors after retirement. Badenhausen (2014) reported that a certain cluster of athletes (e.g. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal) were even making more money after retirement. Michael Jordan hadn’t played an NBA game since 2003, but he still earned $90 million in 2013, thanks to the rich partnership with Nike’s Jordan Brand (Badenhausen, 2014). Shaquille O’Neal earns between $20-25 million per year due to post-career endorsements (Lamare, 2017). Interestingly, some sponsors are actually benefiting from athlete retirement. For instance, China Life Insurance launched a campaign featuring former NBA player Yao Ming to strengthen its brand influence in Singapore (Hicks, 2016). NFL player Vince Wilfork announced his retirement in 2017 on Twitter, in a video post sponsored by Kingsford Charcoal, a Clorox brand (Sheetz, 2017). According to the Meaning Transfer Model, sponsors sign athletes wishing to transfer brand attributes, images, or attitudes of certain athletes to their brands (McCracken, 1989). However, consumer attitudes may change as fans could suffer heartbreaking experiences after an athlete retires. For example, Casey (2018) reported that WWE fans lamented on social media over the retirement of superstar Paige. Disappointed fans are not the only result of an athlete’s retirement. Martin, Fogarty and Albion (2014) found that athletic identity declined after retirement. With such changes in brand attributes and images, researchers should consider the effects of retirement on athlete brand equity from a consumer perspective. Thus, the purpose of this study is to measure the brand image and brand equity of retired athletes. The goal is to provide both theoretical and managerial suggestions related to the brand management of retired athletes. Extant literature has suggested that there would be a decrease in athletic identity after retirement (Martin, Fogarty, & Albion, 2014; Webb, Nasco, Riley, & Headrick, 1998). Athletic identity is the degree to which one defines him or herself in terms of the athlete role; ultimately, a strong and exclusive athletic identity can lead to a more successful career transition (Grove, Lavallee, & Gordon, 1997). As most athletes have had career transitions after retirement, there could be new sources of brand equity established in their athlete brands. Keller (1999) addressed two general approaches for revitalizing a brand: improving brand awareness (i.e., brand recall and recognition), and improving the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of brand associations making up the brand image. Erdogan, Baker and Tagg (2011) also suggested trustworthiness, expertise, familiarity, liability, physical attractiveness were important factors that should be considered in selecting celebrity endorsers, as many retired athletes continue to pursue endorsements after their careers, e.g. Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal. Accordingly, it is imperative to study the athlete brand and brand equity (i.e. awareness and image) of retired athletes. Although a great many studies in sport management have realized the importance to conceptualize and measure athlete brand equity (Arai, Ko & Ross, 2014; Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Spry, Pappu, & Cornwell, 2011), there is a dearth in athlete brand literature on the brand equity of retired athletes. To assess the brand image and brand equity of retired athletes, three NBA retired athletes (i.e., Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan) and three NBA active athletes (i.e., LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant) were selected in this study based on their similarity in positions, races, and endorsement values from credible Internet information sources (i.e., Forbes Highest Paid Retired Athletes, Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes). In-depth Dallas, TX October 24-26, 2018 2018 Sport Marketing Association Conference (SMA XVI) interviews will be conducted with selected marketing executives and agents from NBA professional teams (i.e. Rockets, Spurs, Mavericks) to understand how sponsors view the change of an athlete brand after retirement. Qualitative methods will be implemented to analyze the interview results. This study will also utilize an online questionnaire to assess the differences in brand equity among retired and active athletes. Sports consumers will be recruited via MTurk. The survey instrument includes: ten items measuring athletic identity (AIMS; Brewer, Raalte, & Darwyn, 1993), five items measuring brand association (BAS; Aaker, 1991), ten items assessing brand image (SABI; Arai, Ko, & Kaplanidou, 2013), and two items assessing athlete identification (AID; Bergami & Bagozzi, 2000). A structural equation model will be utilized to determine the effects of retirement on consumer perception of athlete brand image and athletic identity. This study has the capacity to provide findings regarding the change in athlete brand, especially brand attributes and brand equity after athlete retirement. This study will also contribute to athlete retirement and athlete brand equity literature by measuring the brand equity of retired athletes. The empirical implications from this study could help sponsors and athletes understand the marketing value of retired athletes. Reference Aaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity, The Free Press, New York, NY. Arai, A., Ko, Y. J., & Ross, S. (2014). Branding athletes: Exploration and conceptualization of athlete brand image. Sport Management Review, 17(2), 97-106. Arai, A., Ko, Y. J., & Kaplanidou, K. (2013). Athlete brand image: scale development and model test. European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(4), 383-403. Badenhausen, K. (2014). The highest-paid retired athletes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2014/02/27/the-highest-paid-retired-athletes/#44682716470f Bergami, M., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2000). Self-categorization, affective commitment and group self-esteem as distinct aspects of social identity in the organization. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39(4), 555-577. Brewer, B. W., Van Raalte, J. L., & Linder, D. E. (1993). Athletic identity: Hercules’ muscles or Achilles heel?. International journal of sport psychology. Casey, C. (2018). Fans heartbroken over Paige’s forced retirement. Retrieved from http://popculture.com/wwe/2018/01/12/paige-retirement-wwe-fans-twitter-sasha-banks/ Carlson, B. D., & Donavan, D. T. (2013). Human brands in sport: Athlete brand personality and identification. Journal of Sport Management, 27(3), 193-206. DePaula, N. (2017). Could Derrick Rose walk away from $80M left on Adidas deal? Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21542026/derrick-rose-retired-walk-away-remaining-seven-years-80- million-adidas-deal Erdogan, B. Z., Baker, M. J., & Tagg, S. (2001). Selecting celebrity endorsers: The practitioner's perspective. Journal of Advertising Research, 41(3), 39-48. Grove, J. R., Lavallee, D., & Gordon, S. (1997). Coping with retirement from sport: The influence of athletic identity. Journal of applied sport psychology, 9(2), 191-203. Dallas, TX October 24-26, 2018 2018 Sport Marketing Association Conference (SMA XVI) Hicks, R. (2016). Yao Ming fronts China Life Insurance’s first ad in Singapore with ‘trust the giant’ campaign. Retrieved from https://www.mumbrella.asia/2016/02/61801 Keller, K. L. (1999). Managing brands for the long run: Brand reinforcement and revitalization strategies. California management review, 41(3), 102-124. Lamare, A. (2017). The astoundingly impressive $400 million Shaquille O’Neal empire – how Shaq makes more money retired than he did as a player. Retrieved from https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment- articles/astoundingly-impressive-shaquille-oneal-empire-shaq-makes-money-retired-player/ Martin, L. A., Fogarty, G. J., & Albion, M. J. (2014). Changes in athletic identity and life satisfaction of elite athletes as a function of retirement status. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 26(1), 96-110. McCracken, G. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of consumer research, 16(3), 310-321. Sheetz, M. (2017). NFL veteran turns retirement into branded marketing moment on Twitter. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/nfl-player-vince-wilfork-retires-on-twitter-with-kingsford-sponsorship.html Spry, A., Pappu, R., & Cornwell, B. T. (2011). Celebrity endorsement, brand credibility and brand equity. European Journal of Marketing, 45(6), 882-909. Webb, W., Nasco, S., Riley, S., & Headrick, B. (1998). Athlete identity and reactions to retirement from sports. Journal of sport behavior, 21(3), 338. Dallas, TX October 24-26, 2018 .