ABSTRACT

Rationale/Purpose

We investigated the role of gender (both endorser and audience) and career status on young people’s attitude, participation intention and perception of fit in the context of a social marketing campaign promoting sport and physical activity participation.

Design/Methodology/Approach

In a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment, the eight conditions were based on endorser gender (female and male), endorser career status (current and former) and participant gender (female and male). Participants were aged between 16 and 24 years.

Findings

Endorser’s gender, career status and participants’ gender had no significant effect on attitude and intention related to the social marketing campaign. However, endorser gender significantly influenced participants’ perceptions of gender fit, and perceptions of career status fit. Either a current or former female athlete was perceived as a better fit than a male athlete endorser. Furthermore, the career status of an endorser significantly impacted perception of career status fit, but only for participants who were highly involved in sport and physical activity.

Practical Implications

Using former athletes is a more-than-viable strategy, and both male and female endorsers are equally likely to facilitate behaviour change in young adults.

Research Contribution

Social marketing campaigns promoting promote sport and physical activity can leverage the celebrity capital of retired athletes.

中文翻译：

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为年轻人代言和促进体育运动：探索运动员代言人的性别和职业地位

摘要

理由/目的

我们调查了性别（代言人和观众）和职业地位在促进体育和身体活动参与的社会营销活动背景下对年轻人的态度、参与意愿和适合感的影响。

设计/方法论/途径

在一个 2 × 2 × 2 的实验中，这八个条件是基于代言人的性别（女性和男性）、代言人的职业状况（现在和以前）和参与者的性别（女性和男性）。参与者年龄在 16 至 24 岁之间。

发现

代言人的性别、职业地位和参与者的性别对与社会营销活动相关的态度和意图没有显着影响。然而，代言人的性别显着影响了参与者对性别适合度和职业地位适合度的看法。现任或前任女运动员被认为比男运动员代言人更合适。此外，代言人的职业地位会显着影响职业地位匹配度的感知，但仅限于高度参与体育运动的参与者。

实际影响

使用前运动员是一种非常可行的策略，男性和女性代言人都同样有可能促进年轻人的行为改变。

研究贡献

促进运动和身体活动的社会营销活动可以利用退役运动员的名人资本。