Fallout from Athlete Endorser Scandals: How Attribution Styles Impact Endorsed Brand Attitude

An athlete scandal has the potential to impact, either directly or indirectly, consumer attitudes toward the athlete and the associated brands. This study sought to identify the effects of athlete endorser scandal attributions associated with endorsed brand attitude and the moderating effect of consumers’ perceived sincerity of the endorsed brand. An experimental study using a series of 2 (attribution styles: ability attribution vs. morality attribution) \(\times \)2 (perceived sincerity of the endorsed brand: low vs. high) between-subjects designs was conducted. The results showed that compared with the ability attribution of the athlete endorser scandal, endorsed brand attitude declined more due to the impact of the morality attribution of the athlete endorser scandal. In addition, the moderating role of consumers’ perceived sincerity was identified.