The objective of this study is to determine how effective the newly enforced NIL deals among college athletes are in terms of social media advertising. With the rise of social media and the amount of people using social media daily, it is imperative for advertisers to understand various ways of promoting brands on social media. A 2x2x2 mixed experimental design was used to investigate the effects of college athletes-sponsored Instagram posts among college students, specifically source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity. Findings suggested positive effects of using college athletes as sponsors. Source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity played a significant role in determining consumers’ attitude toward the sponsored posts and brands. Limitations and directions for future research were also discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>The objective of this study is to determine how effective the newly enforced NIL deals among college athletes are in terms of social media advertising. With the rise of social media and the amount of people using social media daily, it is imperative for advertisers to understand various ways of promoting brands on social media. A 2x2x2 mixed experimental design was used to investigate the effects of college athletes-sponsored Instagram posts among college students, specifically source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity. Findings suggested positive effects of using college athletes as sponsors. Source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity played a significant role in determining consumers’ attitude toward the sponsored posts and brands. Limitations and directions for future research were also discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Johnson, Zach"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Fei Xue","Dr. Lindsey Maxwell","Dr. Dave Davies"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z","subjects":["NIL Deals","College athletes","endorsements","Instagram endorsements","Mass Communication","Public Relations and Advertising","Social Media","Sports Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1001","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Fei Xue","Dr. Lindsey Maxwell","Dr. Dave Davies"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Johnson, Zach"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-12-09T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["NIL Deals","College athletes","endorsements","Instagram endorsements","Mass Communication","Public Relations and Advertising","Social Media","Sports Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1001"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The objective of this study is to determine how effective the newly enforced NIL deals among college athletes are in terms of social media advertising. With the rise of social media and the amount of people using social media daily, it is imperative for advertisers to understand various ways of promoting brands on social media. A 2x2x2 mixed experimental design was used to investigate the effects of college athletes-sponsored Instagram posts among college students, specifically source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity. Findings suggested positive effects of using college athletes as sponsors. Source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity played a significant role in determining consumers’ attitude toward the sponsored posts and brands. Limitations and directions for future research were also discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["College Athletes as Endorsers: A Study of NIL Advertising"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Fei Xue","Dr. Lindsey Maxwell","Dr. Dave Davies"],"dc:creator":["Johnson, Zach"],"dc:date.available":["2024-12-09T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The objective of this study is to determine how effective the newly enforced NIL deals among college athletes are in terms of social media advertising. With the rise of social media and the amount of people using social media daily, it is imperative for advertisers to understand various ways of promoting brands on social media. A 2x2x2 mixed experimental design was used to investigate the effects of college athletes-sponsored Instagram posts among college students, specifically source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity. Findings suggested positive effects of using college athletes as sponsors. Source relevance, product relevance, and message authenticity played a significant role in determining consumers’ attitude toward the sponsored posts and brands. Limitations and directions for future research were also discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1001"],"dc:subject":["NIL Deals","College athletes","endorsements","Instagram endorsements","Mass Communication","Public Relations and Advertising","Social Media","Sports Studies"],"dc:title":["College Athletes as Endorsers: A Study of NIL Advertising"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z"}