Enhanced market value of American athletes with international teammates

The purpose of this research is three-fold. First, to identify Chinese consumers’ feelings of attachment to American NBA players who have a distinguished Chinese teammate; second, to examine the relationship between Chinese consumers’ attachment level to the American NBA players and the players’ credibility as product endorsers; third, to examine whether Chinese consumers’ evaluation of athlete endorsement would differ for sports products and non-sports products. By using scenario design, the author found that Chinese international students felt more attached to the American NBA player with a distinguished Chinese teammate compared to the one with a distinguished American teammate. Moreover, the results of canonical analysis revealed that there was correlation between the attachment level and the credibility level. Furthermore, when the American NBA player endorsed a sports product, Chinese international students showed a higher purchase intention to the product.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Recreation, Sport, and Tourism

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Zhou, Yilun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tainsky, Scott

• Athlete migration
• human brand
• endorsement value

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2013 Yilun Zhou

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/46922

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/46922