Document Type
Thesis
First Faculty Advisor
Kacy Kim
Keywords
sports advertising; match-up hypothesis theory; endorsers; gender
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
CC-BY-NC-ND
Abstract
This study examines the gender role of a spokesperson and a type of sports in the "Match-Up Hypothesis." Two studies were conducted to test the effectiveness of sports advertisements for a gym membership: in a 2x2x2 experiment, the gender of the spokesperson, a type of sports, and the gender of the consumer are manipulated. Results indicated that females have a higher expectation of improvement when the gender of the endorser does not match the sport (Breaking the Glass Ceiling Effect). In contrast, males have a higher expectation of improvement when the gender matches the sport.
