A Brand New Game: a Phenomenalogical Study of How Student-Athletes and Mentors are Managing Personal Branding

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how student-athletes are guided and mentored to develop and manage their personal brands within their respective athletic departments. With the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) legislation across the United States, this has emerged as a pressing topic within collegiate amateur athletics for both student-athletes and university and athletic department administrators. Nineteen total participants split between current and former student-athletes and current athletics mentors from a middle-tier NCAA Division I, were interviewed in a semi-structured interview process about their perceptions and experiences in student-athlete personal brand development and management. Interview responses were evaluated using separate research questions for current and former student-athletes and athletics mentors. Research questions for student-athletes focused on whether they perceived they had a brand and if they believed they had the tools to manage their brand. Research questions for mentors centered on what they perceived their role in the brand management process was. One major theme that presented itself was that student-athletes either did not perceive themselves as having a brand or did not feel like they were given the tools to successfully build their own brand. However, student-athletes did respond that athletic academic mentors did shape the way they networked with alumni and impacted the academic achievements they strove for demonstrating that there was a component of brand building on-going within the student-athlete phase of life. In contrast to what student-athletes reported, many athletic academic mentors responded that they perceived they had little to no role in helping build a student’s brand and most mentors believed other members of the athletic and academic community should be responsible for training. This juxtaposition in thinking between student-athletes and mentors emerged as the main point of emphasis in the results of this study.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Adamson, Alyssa C

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Armstrong, Cory L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Brown, Kenon
• Maddox, Jessica
• Bolland, Anneiese
• Lewis, Melvin

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

http://purl.lib.ua.edu/181519
u0015_0000001_0003958
Adamson_alatus_0004D_14594

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/8190