engleski

DO TOP ATHLETES, AS SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS, REALLY INFLUENCE THE CUSTOMERS’ DECISION MAKING?

The aim of the paper was to research whether top athletes, as social media influencers, really influence the customers’ decision making. We used quantitative research for the purposes of writing this paper, in which the research instrument was a questionnaire adapted to Giraudon’s (2020) papers. We used a non-probability convenience sample to collect primary data. Out of a total of 504 respondents, 241 replied positively to the elimination question: "Do you follow athletes on social media?". The elimination in the second part of the questionnaire was followed by a series of Likert scales related to agreements with the statements connected to the respondents’ attitudes, the athletes’ credibility, attractiveness and reliability. As for the ability of social media to shape users' attitudes about the needs to purchase a particular product and to do so indirectly, most respondents do not consciously recognize that they made the purchase because of the need to identify with an influencer, and not because of the real need for a particular product. When asked directly, respondents show certainty that top athletes can influence people through social media in general. However, when the question is personalized and relates to the respondent, the percentage of those who believe that top athletes on social media can influence them when buying a particular product decreases. Respondents believe that top athletes on social media increase the value of the products they advertise, but the results show they feel that top athletes cannot encourage them to buy these products. It can be concluded that through social media top athletes can have a great influence on achieving brand awareness among consumers, but for the purchase itself, according to the results presented in this paper, top athletes definitely have an impact. However, as shown by the respondents' explanation when it comes to the possibility of buying a product after watching an ad supported by a top athlete on social media, this impact is not crucial. The top athletes’ honesty has the greatest impact on the purchasing intent, and their persuasiveness and reputation of a top athlete can have an important impact on purchasing intentions. For respondents, a top athlete’s physical attractiveness does not have a large influence on the purchasing intent. The sense of similarity between respondents and a top athlete can have a significant impact on their purchasing intent. The purchasing intent of respondents can be influenced by the knowledge that a top athlete uses the same product, which indicates the need for top athletes to be relevant. Respondents do not believe and are not sure whether top athletes consume the products they advertise. It is important to respondents that the promoted product is related to the characteristics of a top athlete. They do not believe that using top athletes for advertising guarantees quality of the product. The three most important characteristics to respondents when they follow a certain athlete on social media are professionalism, sports skills and likeability.

sports marketing, social media, influencer marketing, top athletes

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