The development of a structural model of athlete brand equity

Sport commercialisation creates sport celebrities as distinctive brands in the sport market and reveals the significance of athlete brand equity management. Increasing social influence by athletes demonstrates the significance of exploring athlete brand equity (ABE). Therefore, this study aims to develop and examine a structural model of ABE including its antecedent and consequences. The ABE construct contains five crucial dimensions which are brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image, and brand uniqueness. Athlete professionalisation with two dimensions (athletic technique and athlete personality) is proposed as an antecedent of ABE. Meanwhile, consumers’ attitude towards athlete-endorsed products is considered as an outcome of ABE and purchase intention is assumed as a consequence of customer attitude. The items in the initial questionnaire were adapted from extent literature or self-generated by the author. Adult consumers in Hangzhou, China are the research population of this study. Using a convenience sampling technique, the data were collected in three different time points between 2019 and 2020 at major shopping malls and libraries in the city. The data were analysed by descriptive statistics, internal consistency test, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. Through a comprehensive scale development procedure, the reliable and valid measurement models for athlete professionalisation and ABE were provided and further embedded in the structural model to test the relationships among the variables. The structural model testing revealed that all hypothetical relationships, expect the athletic technique-brand image and athlete personality-perceived quality linkages, were found significant in both calibration and validation samples. Athletic technique was significantly related to brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, and brand uniqueness, while athlete personality positively affected brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand image, and brand uniqueness. In addition, consumers’ attitude towards athlete-endorsed product was influenced by all five ABE dimensions, and consumers’ purchase intention of athlete-endorsed products was identified as a significant outcome of customer attitude. This study contributes to a better understanding of how athletes establish personal ABE and ultimately affect consumers’ decision-making process.