Online customer reviews vs celebrity-endorsed sport brands

Throughout the last years the internet has undergone a lot of changes in terms of the emergence of the Web 2.0 and electronic Word of Mouth. Individuals nowadays spend a lot of time online in order to read news, get in touch with friends on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter or get information about a product or service. Furthermore, the internet is used to share experiences with other people and give advice about products, leading to the development of electronic Word of Mouth. This high level of online activity motivated sport brands to also work on their online appearance. Researchers have found that advertising on social media platforms can rise a brand’s level of popularity and will also bring along new customers. To better utilize this new form of advertisement sport brands use celebrities as part of their social media campaigns for product promotions. The present study investigates the effectiveness of advertisement using a celebrity endorsed product vs. online customer reviews about the product. Based on a survey of 211 respondents it can be concluded that the online customer reviews have a greater influence on the customers’ brand image perception than a celebrity does. Factors which are taken into account were the amount of reviews needed, different reviewing platforms and most influencing words and phrases.