ABSTRACT

Research question: There are growing concerns about the commercial viability of sportswomen as they are seldom featured as brand ambassadors. There are challenges for sportswomen in building and making their brands appealing to advertisers and marketers. This study seeks to understand the human brand concept in the context of sportswomen. Specifically, exploring the challenges, prospects and opportunities, sportswomen face in building their brand.

Research methods: Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 24 sportswomen in the UK were thematically analysed.

Results and Findings: Sportswomen seldom recognise themselves as brands and therefore make little effort to build their brand. They identified known issues such as limited media coverage, gendered perceptions of women’s sport, as well as emergent issues such as the challenges of balancing the need to develop their brand with the need to build their career. We develop a human brand pyramid to highlight how sportswomen can progress from human brands to brand endorsers and boost their earning potential. The present findings contribute to a better understanding of human brands, sportswomen and celebrity endorsement.

Implications: It offers practical implications for sportswomen who want to build their brand. Governing bodies, media and brands also need to change the representation of sportswomen across advertisements through tactics that promote gender equity and decrease differences. Sportswomen’s athletic abilities should be given more visibility over their aesthetics. Talent managers also need to be mindful of trends in gender relations to better support their female clients in developing their brands.

摘要

研究问题：人们越来越担心女运动员的商业可行性，因为她们很少担任品牌大使。女运动员在建立和使她们的品牌吸引广告商和营销人员方面面临挑战。本研究旨在了解运动员背景下的人类品牌概念。具体来说，探索女运动员在建立品牌时面临的挑战、前景和机遇。

研究方法：对来自英国 24 名女运动员的半结构化访谈的定性数据进行主题分析。

结果和发现：女运动员很少将自己视为品牌，因此很少努力建立自己的品牌。他们确定了已知问题，例如有限的媒体报道、对女子运动的性别认知，以及新出现的问题，例如平衡发展品牌的需要和建立职业生涯的需要所面临的挑战。我们开发了一个人类品牌金字塔，以突出女运动员如何从人类品牌发展为品牌代言人，并提高她们的收入潜力。目前的研究结果有助于更好地了解人类品牌、女运动员和名人代言。

启示：它为想要建立自己品牌的女运动员提供了实际的启示。管理机构、媒体和品牌还需要通过促进性别平等和减少差异的策略来改变运动员在广告中的代表性。应该让女运动员的运动能力更多地关注她们的审美。人才经理还需要关注性别关系的趋势，以更好地支持女性客户发展品牌。