A comparison of how Generation X and Generation Y are being influenced by celebrity endorsement in advertisements for sportswear - A NIKE case

This study concentrates on advertising in the sportswear industry and aims to see if there is a difference in how Generation X and Generation Y are being influenced by the use of celebrity endorsement in sport advertisements. Due to inconsistent research about the effects of celebrity endorsement, and a gap in scientific literature regarding the effects of sport advertisements on Generation X and Y, the following research question was created: To what extent do the effects of sport advertising on Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action differ between Generation X and Y consumers, and between advertisements with and without celebrity endorsements? A 2 by 3 quasiexperimental designed survey was employed to conduct the study. The determined factor was the generation to which the respondents belonged. The three conditions were the following: An advertisement of Nike with a brand ambassador, an advertisement of Nike without celebrity endorsement, and the last survey contained no advertisement at all in order to see if the advertisements would have any effect in the first place. The results showed that sport advertisements overall have a more positive effect on members of Generation Y than on Generation X: After being exposed to an advertisement, Generation Y scored significantly higher on Interest, Desire and Action than Generation X. There was no difference for Awareness between the two generations. These results imply that Generation Y is probably easier to persuade by sport advertisements, and a change in their behavior would be more likely after watching a sport advertisement than Generation Y. However, adding a celebrity to the advertisement did not cause a higher extent of Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action, and no differences were found between Generation X and Y regarding AIDA after they were exposed to a sport advertisement containing celebrity endorsement.