How the popularity of a sport affects the use of athletes in print advertisements: A content analysis using the meaning transfer model

Today's athletes play a large role in print advertising, providing many positive effects for the companies they represent. The current study expands the current body of research by examining why certain sports' athletes are selected for advertisements in relation to the popularity of the sport. A content analysis of five popular magazines over a two-year time span was conducted. A Harris Poll listing the ten most popular sports in 2011 was used to define the popularity of the ten sports analyzed in this study. The data of the content analysis were cross-referenced with the top ten sports using a chi square test. The results showed that a sport's popularity does have an effect on the use of certain athletes over other athletes in print advertisements. However, this effect was proven to be limited. The study revealed that the most heavily used sport's athletes in advertisements are Pro Football, Auto Racing, and Baseball (Pro and College). These findings imply that advertisers may consider the popularity of sport when selecting which athlete to use in their print advertisement. The limitations of the study and areas for further research are examined.