THE IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ATHLETE ENDORSEMENT ON PURCHASING HABITS

Sports marketers have had to become much more entrepreneurial to create a competitive advantage for a sports organization and deliver relationship value to consumers. The aim of the paper is, therefore, to establish a link between athletes and potential customers, which offers the market (through the transfer of athletes) the image of the company that is acquired through access to a public promotional effect.The problem to be solved in this paper is to explain the relationship that exists between successful athletes and their fans. The quality of this relationship is determined by the tendency of respondents (N=314) to make a decision to purchase products of companies that hire famous athletes. It is important for sports because in this way the performance of athletes can be valorized on the global market. Based on the results of the study, the conclusion can be drawn that most participants are attracted by sports celebrity endorsement promotions (61.81%) that help them identify the brand (63.43% thus confirming the initial hypothesis). The respondents interested in tennis are mostly attracted to watching matches and following their favorite player’s conduct.