The purpose of the current study, drawing on attribution theory, was to investigate consumers’ attribution process and its impact on their responses to a scandalized athlete and endorsement. The results of the experiment indicate that the distinctiveness of an athlete scandal prompts external attribution while having a negative impact on internal attribution. Additionally, the consistency of an athlete scandal triggers internal attribution. Moreover, the results show that internal (external) attribution has direct negative (positive) impact on attitude toward the scandalized athlete. Lastly, the results show that consumers’ attribution type indirectly determines the consumer responses toward the troubled athlete and endorsement perception. Findings of the current study provide empirical evidence to explain what informational cues consumers utilize when making causal inferences and how such causal inferences subsequently affect the consumer responses. Th e current study also provides marketing managers with useful implications to make informed decisions in the athlete transgression context.

中文翻译：

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归因对运动员丑闻的影响：消费者对丑闻运动员和代言的反应

本研究的目的是利用归因理论，调查消费者的归因过程及其对他们对丑闻运动员和代言的反应的影响。实验结果表明，运动员丑闻的独特性促进了外部归因，同时对内部归因产生了负面影响。此外，运动员丑闻的一致性会触发内部归因。此外，结果表明，内部（外部）归因对被丑化运动员的态度有直接的负面（正面）影响。最后，结果表明，消费者的归因类型间接决定了消费者对陷入困境的运动员的反应和代言认知。当前研究的结果提供了经验证据来解释消费者在进行因果推断时使用了哪些信息线索，以及这些因果推断随后如何影响消费者的反应。目前的研究还为营销经理提供了有用的启示，以在运动员违规情况下做出明智的决定。