Personal Branding of Athletes: Examining the factors influencing the personal brand equity of an athlete on social media

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bachelor_Huttunen_Helmi_2021.pdf (1.19 MB)

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School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
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Date

2021

Department

Mikkelin kampus

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

(Mikkeli) Bachelor’s Program in International Business

Language

en

Pages

47 + 11

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Abstract

Objectives The main objectives of this study were to examine the effects of different factors on the personal brand equity of an athlete. More specifically, the presence of high and low levels of attractiveness, athletic performance, and marketable lifestyle in an athlete brand on social media were evaluated in terms of their influence on brand image and brand awareness. Summary Athlete branding is increasingly becoming more relevant, and athletes are nowadays expected to be entertainers and accessible in many ways. Thanks to social media, many fans turn to different platforms to follow their favorite athletes and are looking for ways to relate and feel connected. There’s value to creating strong relationships between athletes and fans, as well as a favorable athlete brand can be of great benefit when it comes to an athlete's success and relevance outside their sport, like sponsorships and endorsements, as well as post-career. Conclusions Respondents found those athletes with high levels of athletic performance and marketable lifestyle to be much more favorable than those with low levels. Attractiveness was found to have no significant effect on brand image. Brand awareness was greater with higher levels of all three variables. This allows for greater brand equity, which gives a competitive advantage to the athlete and increases their value in the industry and to sponsors.

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Thesis advisor

Zdravkovic, Srdan

Keywords

Sports, Branding, Social media, Brand image, Brand awareness, Consumer attitudes

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202105096577

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[kand] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ (Open Access)