Analysis Of The Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Sports Brand Value

Since late2011, Chinese athletic apparel industry, who enjoyed prosperity for about one decade, is experiencing great difficulties, such as decreased revenue, excessive storefronts, increased inventory. Accordingly, the situation forces Chinese athletic apparel industry to search for ways to overcome the depressing situation. Many companies utilize celebrity endorsement to build up brand. Chinese athletic apparel businesses started to hire celebrities to build the image of their brands, trying to attract the attention of the market. However, the popular marketing method of celebrity endorsement has not made any difference to the situation Chinese athletic apparel industry facing.The paper mainly studies the impact of celebrity endorsement on the brand image. It will discuss two topics in depth, how celebrity endorsement changes brand images and whether celebrity endorsement can improve brand images.The paper constitutes of six chapters, as shown blow:In the first chapter, the paper briefly talks about the background of the topic, study method, definition of concepts and the innovations and drawbacks of the study.In the second chapter, literature review covers the topics of celebrity endorsement and the measurement of brand value. There is a general analysis of the literatures on the impact of celebrity endorsement on the athletic apparel brand value.In the third chapter, the paper build a model of brand value based on the variable of brand trust. In this paper, brand value is made up of the brand value to businesses and the brand value to customers. The paper analyzes the influence of brand trust imposed on the brand value both to businesses and customers. Accordingly, it draws the conclusion that there is a positive relationship with the brand value and brand trust The following study in the paper is based on this conclusion.In the fourth chapter, the paper introduce the variable of celebrity endorsement. Based on the assumption that there is a balance between businesses and customers both of whom are aware of brand economics, the paper analyzed the influence of celebrity endorsement on brand trust and brand value. There are ten variables in the system of brand trust. Therefore, the paper studies how celebrity endorsement influences the ten variables of brand trust and, in turn, influences brand value. In the fifth chapter, the author studied the example of Lining hiring Wade through TBCI model. The author utilized the results from designed questionnaire "The influence of Lining hiring Wade on Lining’s brand trust". In the paper, the author compared the brand trust of Lining before the business hired Wade and after the business hired Wade to conclude the changes of Lining’s brand trust. The author also compared the TBCI of competitors in the industry to conclude the rank of Lining’s brand trust in the industry brand trust. Therefore, through studying the value of Lining hiring Wade, the paper illustrate the importance of celebrity endorsement to the brand value of athletic apparels.In the sixth chapter, based on previous study in the paper, the author gives some suggestions on the business policy. It can be achieved by building brand and hiring celebrities. In this way, celebrity endorsement can produce best results for athletic apparel businesses.