Download Girl power and word-of-mouth behavior in the flourishing sports market

Girl power and word-of-mouth behavior
in the flourishing sports market
Victoria D. Bush
The School of Business Administration, University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, USA
Alan J. Bush
University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Paul Clark
Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA, and
Robert P. Bush
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Abstract
Purpose – To investigate the influence of word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior among the growing teenage female market segment in the flourishing
sports market.
Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 118 teenaged girls, aged 13-18, participated in the study. The theory of consumer socialization and
interpersonal influence was used as the conceptual foundation to generate hypotheses concerning female teens’ susceptibility to interpersonal
influence, self-esteem, and WOM behavior. Female teens’ ethnicity and media habits were also investigated.
Findings – All hypotheses were either supported or partially supported, suggesting that female teens’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence and selfesteem are related to athlete WOM behavior. Additionally, African-American teenaged girls had significantly higher media habits than Caucasian
teenaged girls.
Research limitations/implications – The research is based on a small sample of teenaged girls from one region of the USA. However, the sample is
from a diverse socioeconomic group of teenagers, and represents a relatively unexplored, yet extremely important, consumer market segment.
Practical implications – The study provides insights for managers who want to learn more about the WOM behavior of one of the largest and most
powerful market segments in the USA. Implications and applications are given to consumer marketers to help better serve this segment.
Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in the literature on female teens and what influences their WOM behavior in the enormous and growing
sports market. Additionally, the paper looks at ethnicity and media habits and how these variables may impact on WOM behavior.
Keywords Marketing strategy, Communications, Women, Sports, United States of America
Paper type Research paper
are recognizing that creating a “buzz”, whether it is via peers,
key internet portals, market mavens, or celebrity
endorsements, is an integral part of their marketing
communications strategy (Rosen, 2000).
Concurrently, according to the Sports Business Journal
(2004), the sports business is estimated to be a $213 billion
industry – that is approximately twice the size of the
automotive industry and seven times the size of the movie
industry. This figure includes $897 million spent on athlete
endorsements (Sports Business Journal, 2004). The mere size
of these figures indicates that sports marketing is a vital part
of our economy and offers a ripe opportunity for consumer
marketers. In fact, academic researchers have acknowledged
this important industry and have called for more research
(Shannon, 1999; Turley, 1999) to investigate and understand
sports marketing and various consumer segments’ behavior
and motivations toward athletes and sports.
One of the fastest growing market segments noted for its
WOM behavior is the teen market. It is estimated that teens
and young adults spend approximately $156 billion annually
(Harris Interactive YouthPulse, 2003). This market segment
loves to be entertained by sports, movies, and the internet. In
fact, research has shown that the internet is now teens’
medium of choice, eclipsing television. By 2007, 86 percent of
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
Introduction
Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication, or more recently
dubbed “buzz marketing” (e.g. Rosen, 2000), continues to be
an important component for consumer marketers. Previous
studies have indicated that WOM can have a significant
impact on consumers’ purchase behavior and satisfaction with
products and services (Mangold et al., 1999; Murray, 1991;
Richins, 1983). Further, consumers tend to rely more on, and
even prefer, personal information sources for services than for
products. Thus, many service and sports-oriented companies
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0736-3761.htm
Journal of Consumer Marketing
22/5 (2005) 257– 264
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761]
[DOI 10.1108/07363760510611680]
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Journal of Consumer Marketing
Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
teens will be online (Jupiter Research, 2003). The interactivity
of teens’ media of choice demonstrates that understanding
WOM behavior as it relates to sports is of vital importance.
Perhaps even more important to consumer marketers is the
female portion of the fast-growing teen market. It has been
suggested that women in general may be more likely to engage
in WOM due to their gender roles (Bakan, 1966). Female sex
roles are characterized by fostering harmonious relationships,
affiliating with others, and having strong concern for other
people’s feelings (e.g. Meyers-Levy, 1988). Young women, in
particular, have been found to be quite adept at spreading
WOM. For example, Bush et al. (2004) found that young
women were more apt than young men to recommend
products and services to their friends that were endorsed by
their favorite athlete.
Because of teenaged girls’ increasing interest in sports,
entertainment, and internet usage (Lords, 1999), we
investigate this segment’s motivations for WOM behavior.
More specifically, we investigate if WOM behavior is related
to such socialization variables as susceptibility to interpersonal
influence and self-esteem. First, we discuss the current status
of women and teenaged girls and their relationship with
sports. Second, we discuss the theoretical foundations of
consumer socialization, susceptibility to interpersonal
influence, and self-esteem as potential explanations for
athlete influenced WOM behavior. Third, we compare
media habits of teenaged girls based on ethnicity. Finally,
we discuss implications for sports and consumer marketers.
Understanding teenaged girls’ socialization, self-esteem, and
media habits may provide insights that could help sports and
consumer marketers better target this enormous and
flourishing market segment.
states that “black women are also active, thoughtful, and loyal
consumers. When they feel respected by a company or
organization and view the company or organization’s product
as something that appreciates their ethnic uniqueness, they
often respond favorably through their patronage”. These
studies infer that teenaged females value respect, self worth,
and the social aspects of sports.
Female sports fans
According to Scarborough Sports Marketing, approximately
50 million women avidly follow professional sports (Gaffney,
2002). This study found that the number of women who
claim that they are avid sports fans went from 29 percent in
1998 to 58 percent in 2002. Among these avid fans, the
sports of interest for these women are not women’s sports.
According to Scarborough (Gaffney, 2002), female sports
fans closely follow the National Football League (31
percent), Major League Baseball (28 percent), National
Basketball Association (19 percent), NASCAR (13 percent),
and the PGA (12 percent). Further, a recent survey
indicated that women comprise 44 percent of the NFL’s
fan base, buy 70 percent of the $3 billion’s worth of the
league’s licensed products, and that 40 million women watch
NFL games weekly and nearly half a million attend games
weekly.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, young female
sports fans may represent a “Super Bowl of an opportunity for
marketers”(Gardyn, 2001, p. 12). These young women are
descendants of many mothers who benefited from Title 9.
Plus, they are members of one of the fastest growing
demographic groups in the USA, Generation Y, which is
estimated to be three times as large as Generation X
(Neuborne, 1999). In a study conducted by The Taylor
Research & Consulting Group, girls aged 9 to 18 reported
spending a surprising amount of time playing, watching,
reading, talking and thinking about sports (Applebaum,
2003). In fact, although 85 percent of older boys said they
either love or like sports a lot, it should not be overlooked that
75 percent of younger and older girls also said they love or like
sports. The study also found that younger girls report
spending an average of 15 hours per week playing, watching,
reading, or thinking about sports. Coupled with the fact that
teenaged girls are one of the fastest growing segments online
(Jupiter Research, 2003), more insight is needed on the
motivations and behaviors of this segment toward sports.
Background
Women and sports
For the sports industry, the consumer segment with perhaps
the greatest potential is the female market. A recent study by
the US General Accounting Office found that, since 1977,
more women than men participated in intercollegiate athletics
(Lords, 1999). Many attribute this finding to “Title 9” of the
Education Acts Amendment. In 1972, Title 9 of the
Education Acts Amendment was passed, which mandates
that educational institutions that receive federal funds must
provide equal opportunities to men and women. Since then,
more and more females have become involved with sports and
sports related products and services.
However, little academic research has been conducted
concerning teenaged females, let alone African-American
females, and their perceptions toward sports. Some
researchers have begun to make strides in understanding
these valuable market segments. Yet, the focus has been on
participation in sports. For example, Bradish et al. (2001)
examined female teens’ consumer psyche as it relates to sports
and sports participation. These authors surveyed female teen
participants in an élite sports camp. They found that young
women participate in sports for intrinsic rather than extrinsic
motivation, view sports as fun, and prefer to buy sporting
goods that are endorsed by their favorite athletes from
companies that are socially responsible and supportive of
female sports.
In one of the few studies conducted on African-American
women’s participation in sports, Armstrong (2001a, p. 17)
Research on female sports fans
While the female sports fan market is growing rapidly, only
recently have researchers begun to study this important
segment. Most research tends to focus on gender differences
in spectator attendance (e.g. Fink et al., 2002; Swanson et al.,
2003; Lough and Kim, 2004), attitudes toward sports
associations and teams (Dixon, 2002), perceptions of sports
service experiences (Greenwell et al., 2002), and
investigations of women’s sports sponsorships (Lough and
Irwin, 2001).
With regard to sports fan behavior, Dietz-Uhler et al.
(2000) conducted a study to examine similarities and
differences between male and female college students with
regard to their sport fan behavior. Their findings suggested
that males engaged in more sports fan behavior (e.g. watching
sports shows, listening to sports radio), whereas, females
reported sports behavior as more of a social event (e.g.
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Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
opportunity to be with family and friends). Similarly,
Armstrong (2001b) surveyed males and females at a minor
league hockey game and reported that women make up
roughly one half of hockey fans and their reasons for attending
often centered around the event as an experience to share with
family and friends. Armstrong (2001b) posited that a sporting
event provides women with an entertaining atmosphere in
which they can fulfill a social need.
More recently, James and Ridinger (2002) attempted to
compare sport consumption motives for male and female
sports fans. Their results suggest that men tend to have a
stronger connection to sports in general, whereas women tend
to have a stronger connection to a specific team. Their results
also suggested that women felt significantly more empathy
(feeling disappointed of a loss) and less achievement (sharing
in a team’s success) than did their male counterparts.
Recent research on sports marketing has suggested that
female and male sports fans differ regarding their orientation
toward sports and sports celebrities. Sukhdial et al. (2002)
were instrumental in developing a scale to measure the “oldschool” orientation of sports fans. The authors not only
developed a reliable scale to measure the old school concept,
but also discovered differences between male and female
sports fans. For example, females were found to be less “old
school” than males regarding materialism. That is, females
were less apt to view today’s athletes as too materialistic.
Bush et al. (2004) discovered that females were more
influenced by sports celebrities than their male counterparts.
Females tended to spread more positive WOM about a brand
that is endorsed by their favorite celebrity or athlete than
males. Females were also more apt than males to recommend
products and services to their friends that were endorsed by
their favorite athlete. Again, it appears women treat sports
more as entertainment that also fulfills a social need.
In summary, recent research on women in sports suggests
that females have different views toward participation in
sports and sporting events as well as perceptions toward
sports celebrities. Females tend to view sports as more of a
social event to share with family and friends. Females also
tend to be more influenced by sports celebrities than males.
Understanding why these differences occur would provide
valuable insights to sports and consumer marketers. A
conceptual foundation to help us discern these differences is
the theory of consumer socialization and interpersonal
influence.
processes and consumption behaviors through modeling
(Moschis and Churchill, 1978). Role models can be anyone
the individual consumer comes in contact with who can
potentially influence the consumer’s consumption decisions
(Bandura, 1977). From this conceptual definition of role
models, it is obvious that parents, teachers, peers, or mass
media can all be considered role models and be influential in a
female teenagers’ consumer socialization.
Of particular interest to the present study is the influence of
peers among this young consumer segment. Research
conducted in interpersonal influence may shed light on
teenaged girls’ reliance on peers. A key factor of an
individual’s behavior in a certain situation is the influence of
others. Evidence of this behavior abounds in the marketing
context, such as consuming products in social situations and
the “use of prominent/attractive spokespersons endorsing
products . . . ” (Bearden et al., 1989, p. 473). Many aspects of
sports are social in nature, whether it’s attending a sporting
event, participating on a team, or watching a game with others
on television. Further, many athletes, such as Venus and
Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods just to
name a few, are spokespersons for a number of products and
services. Thus, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal
influence may aid in explaining WOM behavior in the
sports context.
Consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence is
defined as “the need to identify or enhance one’s image
with significant others through the acquisition and use of
products and brands, the willingness to conform to the
expectations of others regarding purchase decisions, and/or
the tendency to learn about products and services by
observing others and/or seeking information from others”
(Bearden et al., 1989, p. 474). This construct is
multidimensional and consists of normative and
informational influences (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955).
Normative influence is the tendency to conform to the
expectations of others (Bearden et al., 1989). Informational
influence is the tendency to accept information from others as
evidence about reality (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955).
Consumer research has found that these two dimensions of
interpersonal influence can impact on such decisions as the
conspicuousness of the product, service heterogeneity,
product evaluations, and brand selections (e.g. Bearden
et al., 1989; Burnkrant and Cousineau, 1975). Hence, this is
the basis for our first hypothesis:
H1. Female teen’s susceptibility to interpersonal influence
is positively related to athlete WOM behavior.
Conceptual foundation and hypothesis
development
Consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence has also
been found to be inversely related to self-esteem (e.g. Bearden
et al., 1989). Thus, the lower an individual’s self-esteem, the
more susceptible the individual is to interpersonal influence.
Women have been studied extensively regarding the issue of
self-esteem. More recently, a flurry of popular press books
such as Odd Girl out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
(Simmons, 2002), and Queen Bees and Wannabees (Wiseman,
2002), have chronicled the toils of teenaged girls as they
struggle to gain acceptance, deal with aggression, and develop
self-esteem when confronted with unattainable media
representations such “waif” supermodels. It is of interest
here to investigate the relationship between susceptibility to
interpersonal influence, self-esteem, and athlete WOM
behavior. Thus, we hypothesize that:
Consumer socialization and interpersonal influence
Consumer socialization is the process by which “young people
acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes relevant to their
functioning as consumers in the marketplace” (Ward, 1974,
p. 1). Consumer socialization emphasizes sources of influence
or “socialization agents” which transmit norms, attitudes,
motivations, and behaviors to the learner (Moschis and
Churchill, 1978). A socialization agent may be any person or
organization directly involved with the individual.
Socialization agents commonly used in the literature include
parents, peers, mass media, school, and television viewing.
The concept of consumer socialization has been utilized to
determine, among other things, how consumers learn thought
259
H2.
Girl power and word-of-mouth behavior
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
southern USA. Of the sample, 24 percent were AfricanAmerican, 62 percent were Caucasian, and 15 percent
declared themselves as Asian, Hispanic, or other.
Female teen’s self-esteem is negatively related to: (a)
susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and (b) athlete
WOM behavior.
Measures
Athlete WOM influence
Athlete role model influence was assessed using a three-item
WOM measure (Zeithaml et al., 1996). This scale has been
used in previous research to assess WOM influence (e.g. Bush
et al., 2004). Respondents were asked how their favorite
athlete influences their WOM behavior on a seven-point
strongly disagree to strongly agree continuum. Items included
such statements as “The opinions of my favorite athlete
influence me to: say positive things about products or brands
to other people; recommend products or brands to someone
who seeks my advice”. The coefficient of reliability of this
scale, via Cronbach’s alpha, was 0.87. All three items loaded
on one factor with all loadings above 0.80.
Female teen media habits and ethnicity
As stated previously, according to social learning theory,
socialization agents may be any person, institution, or
organization directly involved with the individual. In
consumer behavior, these agents include the media.
Traditionally, mass media has been considered an important
socialization agent related to consumption-related behaviors.
Bandura (1969, 1971) posited that television commercials are
dispensers of product information and that individuals learn
how to attach social meaning to material goods through
television advertising. Moschis and Churchill (1978) found a
strong relationship between television viewing and an
individual’s social motivation for consumption. Their
research indicated that watching television can be a means
of gathering information about lifestyles and behaviors.
Moreover, Moschis and Churchill (1978) found a strong
positive relationship between amount of television viewing
and social motivations for consumption. Bush et al. (1999)
found a strong positive association between amount of
television viewing and attitude toward advertising. Their
research also suggested that women watch more television
than men and use television more for guidance and
information than men.
In particular, Bush et al.’s (1999) research also found that
African-Americans spend more time watching television than
other groups. Previous research has also found that AfricanAmerican children and adolescents watch more television and
may be susceptible to media’s effects because they often use
television as a source of guidance (e.g. Anderson and
Williams, 1983). The same may be true for young AfricanAmerican women. Hence we posit here that:
H3. African-American female teens consume more media
(television, internet, and magazines) than Caucasian
female teens.
Susceptibility to interpersonal influence
This two-dimensional scale was adapted from the work by
Bearden et al. (1989). Susceptibility to normative peer
influence was measured using three items and included such
statements as “I like to know what products and brands make
a good impression on my friends”. Cronbach’s alpha for this
scale was 0.92 with all factor loadings above 0.90.
Susceptibility to informational influence was measured using
four items with statements such as “I often ask friends to help
me choose the best product”. This dimension also achieved a
high Cronbach’s alpha of 0.94 with all factor loadings above
0.83.
Self-esteem
This construct was measured with items from Oliver and
Bearden (1985). Six items were used that included such
statements as “I seem to have a great deal of self-respect,” and
“I would give a good deal to be very different than I am” The
reliability of this scale was 0.76 with all items loading on one
factor that ranged from 0.57 to 0.80.
Media habits
Respondents’ media habits were assessed using several
questions related to media usage and behavior. Respondents
were asked how many hours of television they watched each
week, number of magazines read each week, and how many
hours per week they spent on the internet. All participants
were also asked if they used these media alternatives for
shopping and purchasing products. Demographic questions
were also included in the questionnaire. All items used were
consistent with previous socialization research.
Methodology
Subjects
The teenage segment of Generation Y was the selected
sample for the current study. Teenagers were selected for
many reasons including:
.
their sheer size;
.
they are in the process of acquiring preferences for
products and brand loyalties;
.
they will spend a lot of money in the future; and
.
they tend to be trendsetters for each other as well as the
general population.
Results
The results for both our first (H1) and second (H2)
hypotheses are presented in Table I. Our first hypothesis
posited that there would be a positive relationship between
teen girls’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence and athlete
WOM behavior. This hypothesis is supported in that there
was a significant correlation between both normative peer
influence (r ¼ 0:259, p , 0:01), and informational peer
influence (r ¼ 0:237, p , 0:05). Additionally, we found no
significant differences in these correlations when controlling
for ethnicity. Thus, regardless of race, young women appear
to spread positive athlete WOM due to their susceptibility to
both normative and informational influence.
Perhaps most importantly, teens were selected for this study
because teenagers are still learning and searching for their
own identity. Positive reinforcement from outside individuals
or media can reinforce preferences in deciding which
behaviors, values, attitudes, and skills are appropriate for
them in a social context.
As a part of a larger study, a total of 118 teenaged females,
ages 13-18, participated in this study. Subjects were drawn
from 74 separate high schools and junior high schools in the
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Girl power and word-of-mouth behavior
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
Table I Correlations between female teen’s susceptibility to interpersonal influence, athlete WOM behavior, and self-esteem
Variable
Normative peer influence
Informational peer influence
Self-esteem
Athlete WOM behavior
0.569 * *
2 0.345 * *
0.259 * *
0.237 *
20.234 *
Normative peer influence
Informational peer influence
Self-esteem
Athlete WOM behavior
2 0.060
Notes: * Significant at the 0.05 level; * * Significant at the 0.01 level; n ¼ 118
while they develop self-esteem. Finally, our results support
previous research conducted on African-American media
habits (e.g. Bush et al., 1999; Robinson et al., 1998). The
implications of these insights are discussed further, along with
directions for future research.
The results of our study support research conducted in
consumer socialization and interpersonal influence. Similar to
previous studies (e.g. Bush et al., 2004; Meyers-Levy, 1988),
we found that teenaged girls appear to be more sociallyoriented and interpersonal in nature. In particular, we found
that the more susceptible teen girls are to interpersonal
influence, the more they tend to generate positive WOM
about products and services endorsed by their favorite athlete.
More research is needed on who these young women consider
to be their “favorite” athlete.
Although our research demonstrates that the social nature
of teenaged girls and their increasing interest in watching and
participating in sports represents a unique opportunity for
sports and consumer marketers, the results of our second
hypothesis reveal the fragile nature of young women as they
develop into adults. Similar to previous research (e.g. Bearden
et al., 1989), we found that the lower female teen’s selfesteem, the more they rely on interpersonal and sports
celebrity influences. More specifically, a strong inverse
relationship was found between self-esteem and
susceptibility to normative influence. We did not find a
significant relationship between self-esteem and susceptibility
to informational influence. These results can be interpreted to
mean that young women rely heavily on buying products and
services that will impress their friends. However, these women
do not necessarily rely on friends for information about
products and services. Thus, marketers should be aware that
this developing group of young women may look to the
marketplace and select products that make impressions on
others in order to build their self-esteem.
Given the well-documented affects of the media on this
impressionable group (e.g. Simmons, 2002; Wiseman, 2002),
marketers must use caution and be socially responsible when
developing their messages. Using successful female celebrity
athletes, as well as other successful females, to endorse
products may be a way to help these young women develop
confidence. In fact, in an extensive report compiled by the
Women’s Sports Foundation (2003), research has found that
Our second hypothesis (H2) posited an inverse relationship
between teen girl’s self-esteem and both susceptibility to
interpersonal influence and athlete WOM behavior. This
hypothesis is partially supported. Although we found a
significant negative relationship between self-esteem and
normative peer influence (r ¼ 20:345, p , 0:01), we did not
find a significant negative relationship between self-esteem
and informational peer influence (r ¼ 20:060, p . 0:05). We
did find a significant negative relationship, as predicted,
between self-esteem and athlete WOM behavior (r ¼ 20:234,
p , 0:01). Again, we found no significant differences in these
results when controlling for race. Thus, our results suggest
that the less self-esteem teenaged girls possess, the more
susceptible they are to normative peer influence and athlete
WOM behavior. These results are discussed further in the
implications section.
Table II presents the mean results of our study regarding
our last hypothesis (H3). Indeed, there is a significant and
quite profound difference between the media habits of
African-American and Caucasian teenaged girls. Our study
found that African-American teen girls watch almost 25 hours
of television per week – more than twice the amount that
Caucasian teen girls reported watching (mean ¼ 11:3 hours).
African-American girls also read twice as many magazines
(mean ¼ 3 per week) vs Caucasians (mean ¼ 1:5 per week).
Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, we found that
African-American girls reported spending 6.3 hours on the
internet per week. Again, this is more than twice the amount
of Caucasian girls, who reported 3.1 hours per week. Clearly,
this initial investigation reveals that there are significant
differences in the media habits of African-American and
Caucasian teenaged girls.
Managerial implications
Our results shed some interesting light on a flourishing and
powerful young female consumer market. First, our results
indicate that, regardless of race, this group of individuals
relies heavily on interpersonal influences in their product and
service decisions. Further, it appears that if such products and
services are endorsed by their favorite athletes, young females
tend to spread positive WOM. Second, it appears that
teenaged girls rely on their peers and athlete endorsements
Table II Media consumption habits of female African-American and Caucasian teenagers
Medium
Television hours watched per week
Number of magazines read per week
Internet hours per week
African-American
Mean (n 5 28)
Caucasian
Mean (n 5 72)
T-value
Significance
24.50
3.00
6.35
11.30
1.50
3.13
4.26
3.61
2.42
0.000
0.000
0.017
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Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
participating in sports has helped women develop self
confidence and leadership skills in the workplace. Further,
research has also found that women are 22 percent more likely
to buy a product or service that is endorsed by female athletes
(Women’s Sports Foundation, 2003). These findings, along
with our results, suggest that when using celebrity athletes as
endorsers, marketers must acknowledge and understand the
social ramifications of marketing to teenaged girls.
Finally, in this particular study, we found that AfricanAmerican female teens watch more television, read more
magazines, and surf the internet to a greater extent than their
Caucasian counterparts. Although media usage has been well
documented among African-Americans, this study adds
additional support for media usage among AfricanAmerican female teens. Interestingly, we found that this
group surfs the internet twice as much (over six hours a week)
as Caucasian female teens. While sports and consumer
marketers may be aware of the benefits of television and
magazines among this group, using the internet as a potential
medium to reach African-American female teens may be an
essential and overlooked part of a communications strategy.
Thus, as the internet emerges as the medium of choice for
teens, more research needs to be conducted as to the activities
conducted on the web amongst such sub groups as female
African-American teens as well as other ethnicities.
If one factors in the frequent and ever-increasing usage of
the internet by teens, marketers have the enormous potential
to create a “buzz” amongst female teens. WOM behavior
among family, friends, and peers has been well documented as
one of the most powerful influences on purchase decisions –
especially when it comes to consumer products and services
(e.g. Mangold et al., 1999; Murray, 1991; Richins, 1983).
However, with advent of the internet, WOM and creating a
“buzz” can reach a new level. For example, if a young woman
is influenced by her favorite athlete about a product or service
she can (Rosen, 2000):
.
e-mail her friends;
.
participate in chat rooms or news groups;
.
add her comments to the product or service web site;
.
rate the product or service on a consumer feedback web
site (e.g. www.planetfeedback.com);
.
publish her thoughts on her own personal web page; and
.
establish a web site dedicated to the company.
marketing efforts. It is important for sports and consumer
marketers to understand the impact of using athletes in their
communications campaigns on teenaged girls.
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Marketers thus can seize an opportunity among this young
group of influential women by conducting more research on
how young females use the internet to spread WOM.
Conclusion
In this study, we attempted to explain the motives behind why
female teens spread WOM about products endorsed by their
favorite athlete. We also examined differences in media
consumption patterns between African-American and
Caucasian female teens. Our results demonstrate that this
flourishing group of young women relies on their friends and
the media to communicate about products as they grow and
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Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
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Executive summary
This executive summary has been provided to allow managers and
executives a rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those
with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the
article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive
description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full
benefit of the material present.
Female participation in sport and sports marketing
Bush et al. report how attitudes in this area have changed.
Today some female sports stars match and even surpass their
male counterparts. Young females have real role models to
look to such as the Williams sisters, Denise Lewis and
Katerina Kluft. Link this to the development and active
promotion of sports opportunities for women and the result is
a change in the attitude of women towards sport – whether as
participants, consumers or fans.
Not surprisingly this engagement of young women with
sport has given a huge lift to the sports market. When women
were a small minority of participants and consumers, sports
marketers faced an audience of men that guided and
described the manner of marketing. Whether for clothing
and equipment, sporting events on television the advent of
much great female engagement has thrown up the need for
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Victoria D. Bush, Alan J. Bush, Paul Clark and Robert P. Bush
Volume 22 · Number 5 · 2005 · 257 –264
sports marketers to re-examine the way in which they create
and design strategies.
use of the internet. The opportunity to reinforce celebrity
endorsement through weblogs, chat rooms and other informal
on-line conversations should be built into promotional
strategies.
In today’s celebrity culture there is a symbiotic relationship
between the media – both traditional and new – and the star.
Media strategies developed for sports personalities will focus
on the delivery of positive information with the aim of
enhancing the personality’s career earning potential. For
superstars such as Michael Jordan or David Beckham,
earnings from sport itself, while substantial, are dwarfed by
the earnings achieved on the back of perceived media
influence.
Since magazines targeted at younger women focus heavily
on celebrity, the symbiosis described above enhances the
power of the star. And the product or service marketer piggybacks on this relationship since the things that the star uses
are one element in the “gossip” making up the stock in trade
of many magazines.
Word-of-mouth – building the “buzz”
In recent times greater attention has been given by marketing
researchers to the effect of word-of-mouth communications –
the impact on product and brand image, the creation of a
“buzz” around the product that drives new sales. Marketers
weaned on systematic and scientific approaches to marketing
planning have watched in wonderment as “amateurs” have
created successful brands by riding the wave of consumer
trends. The old ways simply do not work, “buzz marketing” is
difficult to measure and inherently risky and new
communications media such as the internet do not suit the
monologue of traditional advertising and promotion.
Bush et al. report on differences in the consumption of
media across gender and ethnicity. And, as the young
generation is on-line, word-of-mouth communication is
shifting to an environment where it is more visible –
conversations between friends may take place in public chat
rooms rather than private living rooms. Marketers need to
understand that this dynamic presents an opportunity to
develop their conversation with consumers in a way not
possible before.
“Buzz marketing” should not be confused with viral
marketing, but represents a brand strategy that aims to get
the product talked about. In the context of sports marketing,
the aim is to seek for what might be termed “consumer
emulation”. Furthermore, as Bush et al. make clear, younger
females are especially focused on such emulation, especially
for normative reasons. Teenaged girls seek to make purchases
and display behavior that conforms to the expected norm and
drawing on the attitude of sporting heroes is one such
approach.
How to change the sports culture
The USA was no different to any other place in the traditional
place of sport and primarily an area of male interest. Yet, as
Bush et al. demonstrate, for participation and passive
consumption, women in the USA now make up
approaching half of the sports market – more than half in
some cases. This has not come at the expense of male
involvement, meaning that US sports enjoy a much bigger
market compared to societies where female participation and
interest in sports remains at a far lower level.
Since this is the case, marketers in countries with lower
female involvement rates need to work far more closely with
public authorities concerned with addressing the issue of low
female participation in sport and active leisure. In the UK –
with a similar marketing culture to the USA – sports
marketers remain locked into traditional markets and
approaches. The result is that young women feel excluded
from sports by the male-oriented approach to sponsorship
and endorsement.
At the heart of the problem is the lack of critical mass for
female involvement – the result is that sport does not become
sufficiently social an activity. The normative adjustment of the
teenaged girl is away from sport rather than towards
participation.
Sports stars and marketing
There is nothing new about the endorsement of products and
services by sports stars. Such endorsement has always worked
on the assumption that consumers will want to copy their
favorite stars. Whether the product is directly related to sport
(in which case the use by a known star is critical) or general
goods or services, the star’s aura protects the consumer from
criticism.
Bush et al. show that younger females use such
endorsements to address self-esteem. The information
implied by such an endorsement is not nearly so important
– it is the fact of association. For marketers this situation
presents an opportunity to develop new ways of
communicating such endorsement – especially through the
(A précis of the article “Girl power and word-of-mouth behavior in
the flourishing sports market”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants
for Emerald.)
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