Article

Consumer Consumption and Advertising Through Sport

Ann L. Pegoraro1, Steven M. Ayer1, and Norman J. OReilly1

American Behavioral Scientist 53(10) 14541475 2010 SAGE Publications Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0002764210368079 http://abs.sagepub.com

Abstract The sport industry benefits greatly from its various media partnerships. Sport as a corporate marketing tool provides increased flexibility, broad reach, and high levels of brand and corporate exposure. Many organizations have recognized this potential of sport as a vehicle for accomplishing many of their marketing-related objectives. In turn, this has resulted in significant growth in the sport industry, in particular in its media consumption both online and offline. The purpose of this researchusing the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament as its samplewas to identify how advertisements contained within both the online and television broadcasts contribute to consumer culture and consumption. Content analysis was used to identify specific tactics related to materialism, maximization, regret, social comparison, and anti-materialism within 144 unique advertisements contained within the broadcasts. Findings include the high prevalence of maximization tactics, a significant correlation between length of ad and the use of materialism tactics (i.e., the longer the ad, the higher the frequency of materialism tactics), and a significant correlation between the use of regret and maximization tactics and fear appeals. It is notable that the use of a spokesperson in an advertisement showed no relationship with the five tactics and no difference was found for the use of the five tactics and medium (television or Internet). Keywords advertising, consumption, sport, materialism, maximization, content analysis Globally, the sport industry has benefited greatly from its various media partnerships. Television, in particular, has the power to create stars, sell products, alter
1

Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Corresponding Author: Ann L. Pegoraro, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada Email: apegoraro@laurentian.ca

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lifestyles, and commodify audiences, thereby making spectator sport an element of mainstream culture (Jhally, 1984; Maguire, 1993; McChesney, 1989; Real, 1989; Wenner, 1998; Whannel, 1992). Estimates from Plunketts Sport Industry Almanac (2007) approximate the total sport business industry in the United States alone to between $375 to $425 billion in 2007 approximate the total sport business industry in the United States alone to be $213 billion in 2007. These figures indicated that corporations spent $27.43 billion (or 14.1% of the total value of the industry) in 2007 on advertising, $239.10 million on Internet advertising, and $6.40 billion on sponsorships for a combined $32.67 billion on advertising through sport. This increase in advertising through sport has come as companies now recognize the potential of sport as a vehicle for accomplishing many of their marketing-related goals (Lyberger & McCarthy, 2001). Indeed, sport, as a marketing tool, is known to provide increased flexibility, broader reach, and higher levels of brand and corporate exposure, making it an integral and important medium for corporations (Kropp, Lavack, Holden, & Dalakas, 1999). The move of the sport industry into mainstream culture and the increased spending on advertising through sport has led to an increased need for related research. To date, much of this research has focused on the intersection of sport and media, including work related to gender differences, identities, risk taking, and the role that sport plays in creating celebrity and lifestyle (e.g., Rowe, 2004; Stone & Horne, 2008; Wenner, 1998; Whannel, 2001). Research activity has also increased in such areas as the effectiveness of sport advertising formats (e.g., in-stadium or outdoor signage) and sponsorship recall and recognition (e.g., Crimmins & Horn, 1996; Harshaw & Turner, 1999; Nicholls, Roslow, & Dublish, 1999; Pope & Voges, 2000; Shilbury & Berriman, 1996; Stotlar & Bennett, 2000; Turco, 1996; Turley & Shannon, 2000). It is notable that there has been limited research focused on the online streaming of sport and the role that the online broadcast environment plays in the realm of advertising through sport (OReilly & Rahinel, 2006) as researchers have focused instead on the use of advertisements on Web sites (Gallagher, Foster, & Parsons, 2001; Shamdasani, Stanaland, & Tan, 2001; Stevenson, Bruner, & Kumar, 2000) and the effects of increased advertising through sport on consumer culture and consumption (e.g., Hilliard & Hendley, 2005; Messner, Dunbar, & Hunt, 2000). To address these gaps, this research adopts rigorous content analysis to study the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament (a single elimination tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams in the United States, often referred to as March Madness) to identify how advertisements contained within both the online and television broadcasts contribute to consumer culture and consumption. Specifically, we focus on answering the following six research questions. The first two are related to frequency issues and the final four are about relationship factors. Specifically, Research Question 1: Is the frequency of advertisements using maximization, materialism, anti-materialism, social comparison, or regret tactics greater within television or online broadcasts?

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Research Question 2: Which of the five tactics (maximization, materialism, antimaterialism, social comparison, or regret) occurs with greater frequency? Research Question 3: Is there a relationship between the use of the five tactics and the product category advertised? Research Question 4: Is there a relationship between the use of the five tactics and the advertisement length? Research Question 5: Is there a relationship between the use of the five tactics and advertising executions or appeals? Research Question 6: Is there a relationship between each of the individual tactics and one or more of the other tactics?

Literature Review
For the purpose of this study, advertising is (a) interpreted as including all types of advertising (television, Internet, or radio commercials, magazine advertisements, etc.) that are included within the broadcast of a sport event and (b) delineated into three distinct components: the medium (advertising through sport), the format (commercials), and the vehicle (the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament broadcasts) (Pyun, 2006).

Advertising and Sport Events

The National Football Leagues premier event, the Super Bowl, is known as much for its advertisements, with fees in excess of US$2.8 million dollars for a 30-second commercial (Rooney, 2008), as it is for sport. Unbeknownst to many, the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament (a.k.a. March Madness) now commands the second largest dollar amount, US$1.2 million, for a 30-second commercial. To date, research relating to the tournament has been limited to comparing advertisements during the Final Four games for both men and women (Wyatt, McCullogh, & Wolgemuth, 1998) and assessing the effectiveness of arena and in-game advertising (Stotlar & Bennett, 2000). It is important that our review did not find any significant extant research focused on the online streaming of the tournament or on the effectiveness of advertisement in either medium in terms of overall marketing strategies for the advertisers. Some related research exists for the Super Bowl, most notable by Tomkovick, Yelkur, and Christians (2001), who focused on the effect of humor, advertisement length, animals, celebrities, and product category type on likeability of Super Bowl advertisements. Their results indicated that all of these factors, except the presence of celebrities, had a strong significant effect on advertisement likeability scores. The concept of likeability is also dealt with by Richins (1995), whose research indicates that likeability leads to increased desire for the advertised products on the part of the consumer and eventually increased consumption. It is clear that understanding what advertising techniques prompt consumer consumption has important implications for companies who choose to advertise during large-scale sporting events such as the Olympics, the World Cup, and March Madness.

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Online Streaming of Sport

Recent pronouncements in marketing have indicated that all media are going digital and that online media and marketing are now required elements of brand campaigns (Rollins, 2006) and advertising through sport (OReilly & Rahinel, 2006). In addition, live online sport events are becoming increasingly attractive to marketers, who are willing to pay to reach an even more captive and loyal audience (LaMonica, 2007). Recognizing the ability of the Internet to provide consumers with sport content when and where they want it, CBS Sports has broadcast March Madness on the Web since 2002. Initially, CBS charged online viewers a fee of $19.95, but by 2006, CBS provided the online broadcasts for free, offsetting costs through advertising revenues for space during the online games. The online audience for the tournament increased from 25,000 registered viewers in 2002 to more than 1.8 million in 2007 (Elkin, 2007). For the 2008 tournament, the CBS Web site, March Madness on Demand, experienced an additional 135% gain in unique visitors to 4 million in 2008, as well as a 58% increase in total hours consumed to 4.3 billion total hours consumed (Gannes, 2008). Advertising revenues have also increased from $4 million in 2006 to a total of $23 million in 2008 for the online streaming of the games (Joyce, 2008), supporting the view that streaming video content on the Web has become the newest frontier for advertisers (White, 2007).

Advertising and Consumer Consumption

Television and the advertising within are often accused of nurturing materialism and inventing consumers wants or even needs. Fisher (1968) noted that the most serious charge against advertising was its contribution to the erosion of societys moral standards and the substitution of a new set of standards based on the quick buck, rapid success, and material possessions. In addition, recent studies have confirmed a similar relationship between Internet use and materialistic consumer consumption (Bush & Gilbert, 2002), where the Internet and other new media are viewed as mechanisms for manipulating consumer demand and consumption. Webster (2002) argued that information developments are central to the spread of consumerism since they provide the means by which people are persuaded by corporate capitalism that it is both a desirable and an inevitable way of life (p. 154). In this regard, Oh and Arditi (2000) suggest that the Internet helps both create and satisfy an endless stream of consumer desires by providing a milieu in which any need can be invented and then immediately satisfied, thereby promoting a labyrinth of consumerism. Crawford (2004) noted how particularly effective the Internet is for sport teams and leagues to reach supporters, both new and old customers, in the privacy of their homes, without relying on other media sources. Indeed, those who consume sport broadcasts online are essentially one click away from a sponsors Web site where a purchase can typically be made. The combination of high advertising dollars and large viewership, including a large group engaged online, media (both television and online) that can easily facilitate consumer

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consumption provided by the NCAA Tournament present a highly suitable context for the purpose of studying how advertising through sport can contribute to consumer consumption.

Materialism
Within the literature about how media affect consumer culture, materialism has been a persistent issue (Pollay & Mittal, 1993). There is an array of evidence that suggests that increased exposure to television and advertising in any form increases material desires, which has led many researchers to examine the effect of materialism on consumers (e.g., Belk, 1985; Kasser, 2003; Richins, 1995; Shrum, Burroughs, & Rindfleisch, 2005) where findings suggest that materialism is unhealthy, results in lower life satisfaction, higher rates of depression, lower levels of donations to charities, and higher anxiety, and is associated with a variety of other social and personal ills (Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002; Kasser, 2003; Richins & Dawson, 1992). As a result, the important question as to whether television and advertising actually increase materialism or whether materialists expose themselves to more television is exposed, where the evidence suggests that both theoretically and empirically, the increased exposure to television can increase materialism (Richins, 1995; Shrum et al., 2005; Sirgy et al., 1998), making its presence a vital component of advertisements. Sirgy et al. (1998) investigated the relationship between television viewing and life satisfaction in five different countries and found evidence, especially in the United States, that increased television viewing led to lower life satisfaction through the reinforcement of material consumption. These researchers responded to this key finding by calling for increased socially responsible advertisingadvertising that did not endorse materialism beyond the basic meeting of needs. Similarly, Shrum et al. (2005) found increased levels of materialism among those who pay the most attention to television and advertisements (both in general and during a specific exposure) and for those higher in need for cognition (i.e., those who like to think). Attention is particularly important in the context of an online broadcast, where the viewer is less likely to be switching between broadcasts, as there is usually no other online broadcast option to move to. However, there have been no studies specifically looking at the levels of materialism in sport commercials despite the wide array of content analysis studies that have looked at some aspect of materialism (e.g., Belk, 1987; Belk & Pollay, 1985a, 1985b, 1985c; Richins, 1991; Spiggle, 1986; Tse, Belk, & Zhou, 1989). Indeed, there have been very few studies examining or even mentioning materialism in the context of sport. An important exception is a study (Holt, 1995) in the context of baseball that proposed that materialism is a type of consumption where people treat objects as direct sources of value instead of sources of value insofar as they create other experiences. In arguing this, Holt noted that going to a baseball game could be viewed as a materialistic form of consumption depending on ones motive for going. Given the limited attention in the literature to materialism from a sporting perspective, the definition of materialism espoused by Richins and Dawson (1992) is adopted here, whereby

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materialism is defined as seeking material possessions with the belief that these possessions will make one happier.

Social Comparison
Another concept in advertising that is tied closely with materialism is that of social comparison (Heaney, Goldsmith, & Jusoh, 2005; Richins, 1991, 1995). Essentially, the issue of social comparison stems from two major criticisms of advertisements (Richins, 1995). First, many of the individuals depicted in media and advertising are not typical of the average person, whether it is in relation to beauty or in relation to wealth. Because few individuals are able to achieve the purchases and possessions that are idealized in these ads, viewers may find themselves lacking. Second, advertisements tend to neglect the negative aspects associated with the topic of the advertisement whether it be a depiction of daily life (e.g., most of the problems and trials of the people portrayed in advertisements are solved before the end of the advertisement by the miraculous product advertised) or a depiction of the amount of work required to achieve something (e.g., few consumers can imagine a weight-loss commercial truly attempting to show the hours of exercise that individuals portrayed had to go through) (Richins, 1995). When consumers compare themselves to those in the advertisement, they see only the results and not the hard work and can accordingly feel inferior to the individuals in the advertisement. However, social comparison is not all bad; it can be inspiring when we see someone who has accomplished great things or can provide a role model for better behavior. In these situations, individuals can feel greater appreciation for their own circumstances when they see someone who is truly suffering or worse off (a downward social comparison; Smith, 2000). In general, upward social comparisons tend to be more negative for the individual, whereas downward social comparisons tend to be more likely to elevate the mood of the individual, but either way, comparisons in some circumstances can create undesirable results (Diener & Fujita, 1997; Smith, 2000). Advertising through sport provides some interesting cases for social comparison, especially when athletes endorse products. For the most part, it is unlikely that a viewer watching a professional athlete dunk basketballs is really going to make a comparison to the athlete and become self-critical for failing to achieve the athletes standard of play. On the other hand, if an athlete (or any actor) is portrayed in an advertisement with a beautiful partner, individuals may then start to think, I wish I could have that too the type of social comparison that makes one feel inadequate. Social comparison with advertisements, especially the idealized form, has become so common that it can have many negative results. For example, it can be harmful to some consumers by creating an upward shift in personal expectations for success (Hoch & Loewenstein, 1991); there are also dangers to adolescent females (Martin & Gentry, 1997) as well as males (Gulas & McKeage, 2000), in comparing themselves to individuals in advertisements, in terms of both physical appearance and perceived financial status.

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Maximization
A recent concept that is becoming increasingly popular in the marketing literature is the personality trait known as maximization, which refers to a general tendency for individuals to try to acquire the best possible option to solve a particular need or want (Schwartz et al., 2002). Similar to materialism, maximization has also been shown to be associated with social comparison processes, mainly because it is next to impossible to determine whether one has achieved the best possible option without comparing ones success to other individuals. Maximization is also associated with lower overall life satisfaction, higher rates of depression, and higher rates of anxiety (Schwartz et al., 2002), as well as generally lower satisfaction with most choices made (Iyengar, Wells, & Schwartz, 2006; Schwartz, 2004; Schwartz et al., 2002). Due to its relative newness, limited knowledge exists about how advertisers may or may not explicitly try to encourage maximization behavior in advertisements.

Regret
Another concept that is highly related to maximization is that of regret (Schwartz et al., 2002; Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2007), which individuals feel when they believe that they have not acquired the best option. Even the process of choosing between options can become painful and anticipated regret can cause individuals to avoid making decisions altogether. Accordingly, to what extent advertisements attempt to show that consumers will feel regret if they decide to choose another product is important. For example, advertisers may make use of limited time offers to make people feel regret should they refuse to make a decision by a certain point in time (Abernethy & Franke, 1996; Cialdini, 2001). Regret is a powerful motivator (Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2007), and yet, only two studies could be identified that were explicitly interested in the regret portrayed in advertisements. One of these studies examined guilt appeals in advertising (Huhmann & Brotherton, 1997) and how these could be used to incite regret avoidance behavior. The second explored the tactics used by pharmaceutical company advertisements (Frosch, Krueger, Hornik, Cronholm, & Barg, 2007), which contained several items investigating regret, including when one considers that the consumer may fear what will happen should he or she make the wrong medication choice or whether to go on any medication at all.

Method
Content analysis was employed as the methodological tool to analyze the advertisements diffused during both the online broadcast and television broadcast of the 2007 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament as content analysis allowed the researchers to examine and describe the frequencies, meanings, and use of visual and linguistic elements in the commercials in an objective, systematic, and quantitative manner

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Table 1. Social Comparison, Maximization, Regret, and Materialism Metrics Coded Maximization metrics Trying lots of options before deciding Product comparisons Never settling for second best The product/service makes the future better Materialism metrics Portrayed as something to impress people Product emphasizes how purchasing equals personal improvement (excepting happiness) Pleasure through luxury depicted Product makes people happy or is an important achievement in life to obtain Anti-materialism metrics Keep life simple or buy only the things you need Generosity Charity Events and experiences Emphasize importance of friends and family Social comparison metrics

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Very popular person depicted Physically attractive main character emphasized Luxury good depicted Wealthy person depicted Statistic re: popularity of the product Target market shown using product Regret increasing metrics Limited quantities Limited dates Temporary sales Contests or giveaways Health issues Safety issues Show the consumer what might happen if offer refused; imagine the regret of using a lesser product Regret reducing metrics Warranty information Money back or exchange information

(Berelson, 1971; Neuendorf, 2002). Recording technology (i.e., screen capture software and a DVD recorder) was used to store both broadcasts of the games that CBS broadcast online and on television. Content analysis relies on the coding of data classified in a conceptual framework based on the research questions. The coding process records the presence or absence of predetermined and strictly defined attributes (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001; Neuendorf, 2002). For this research, systematic steps were used in conceptualizing definitions of the variables to be measured (Neuendorf, 2002). These variables were then operationally defined through the production of a dictionary that defined the constructs in terms of specific units of measurement (Babbie, 1999; Neuendorf, 2002). The measurement of the occurrence of variable attributes then allowed for the tabulation and statistical analysis of the data using descriptive or inferential statistics (Neuendorf, 2002). This resulted in an instrument that contained 30 variables related to maximization, materialism, anti-materialism, social comparison, and regret concepts (4, 5, 4, 6, and 9 variables, respectively). Table 1 describes these variables.

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A training session with the two coders was conducted where the comprehensive definition list and coding sheet were explained and discussed. The coders worked together to reach agreement on the definition and coding of variables. After this, a pilot test using commercials contained in the television broadcast of the 2007 Academy Awards was conducted where each coder independently coded a selection of ads from the broadcast. The two data coders analyzed the advertisements, coding the presence or absence (both verbal and visual) of the variables; the reliability of each variable was noted and then discussed. In cases where there was disagreement between coders, the definitions for the variables were discussed and refined to reach a new definition based on a consensus philosophy. The new coding instrument was tested using the remaining advertisements from the Academy Awards broadcast, resulting in acceptable levels of intercoder reliability. There are many statistical formulae to test intercoder reliability but no general consensus on which method is best suited for any particular instrument or study (Neuendorf, 2002). For the purposes of this study, Scotts pi was used as outlined in Holsti (1969) and modified by Potter and Levine-Donnerstein (1999). The most common criticism of Scotts pi is for conservatism in overcorrecting for chance agreement. Potter and Levine-Donnerstein (1999) addressed the overcorrection issue and suggested that the percentage of agreement expected by chance is best calculated using the normal approximation to the binomial distribution (p. 280). Therefore, Scotts pi was modified for this study by using the probability for perfect agreement among coders (i.e., using two coders with two coding options, the percentage of agreement by chance is 50%) as determined by Potter and Levine-Donnerstein (1999). Neuendorf (2002) further noted that the beyond chance statistics such as Scotts pi should be afforded a more liberal criterion as they are the most rigorous reliability assessments in content analysis studies. As a consequence, for this study, which involved the coding of moving images, items achieving agreement levels of .50 for Scotts pi or above were included. All 30 variables met the .50 level of intercoder reliability and 24 of the variables met the more stringent .70 level. Technology limitations that allowed the recording of only one game at a time both online and on television, and the regional blackout policy adhered to by CBS, resulted in a total of 29 and 17 games recorded for online and television broadcasts, respectively. To ensure equal sampling throughout the first three rounds, a random sample of four games per round for each of the online and television broadcasts was selected.

Results Descriptive Statistics

The sample consisted of 44 unique online advertisements and 100 unique television advertisements. The uneven sample was due to the total number of unique advertisements available online. The two coders saw a total of 430 advertisements from the recordings of the online games, yet only 44 of them were unique. On the other hand,

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the coders saw 146 television advertisements, 100 of which were unique. It is important to note that ads are shorter online (18 of 44 ads were 15 seconds online, whereas only 20 of 100 were 15 seconds on television), possibly accounting for an increase in advertisement viewing frequency online. This high repetition of advertisements in the online sample is also reflective of the relative immaturity of the online event (Mullaney, 2006). Furthermore, advertisers subscribe at a lower frequency to online broadcasts (31 advertisers, of which 80% also advertise on television) than for the more established television medium where advertisers spent $497 million on commercial spots during the 2007 tournament (Elkin, 2007). In this sample, just 12 companies reflected 57.1% of the total number of unique advertisements viewed online, whereas on the television broadcasts, the large number of advertisers ensured that no advertisements were viewed with the same frequency.

FrequenciesOnline Versus Television Broadcasts

Research Question 1 was formulated to investigate whether the presence of materialism, anti-materialism, maximization, regret, and social comparison aspects in advertisements were equal for the advertisements contained in the online streaming versus the television broadcasts. The results (see Tables 2 and 3) indicated that this was indeed the case as there was no substantial difference between the use of these five techniques and the medium. This result is notable as advertisements are shorter online and longer ads tend to be more materialistic (see Table 3), which might lead one to expect there to be a difference between the two media.

Frequencies of the Five Tactics

To examine the relative use of various tactics in advertisements, the average number of each tactic per commercial was calculated and reported as a mean score in Table 3. In general, the supposition that advertising contains elements that can prompt consumer consumption is supported by the results in the table. For example, relatively few advertisements depict anti-materialistic values (mean score = .34 for five items) as compared to materialistic ones (mean score = .5 for four items). These results suggest that advertisements tend to contain materialistic tactics (like showing how a product will impress your friends or how buying a product can substantially improve something about you) but do not often contain positive or anti-materialistic tactics (such as showing generosity). Examining the results for the other tactics, there are indications that advertising through sport involves tactics related to consumer consumption. Social comparison was a commonly used technique (average score = .61 for 6 metrics), in particular because companies used individuals who are very much like their target market in advertisements. This makes the advertisement more relevant and more persuasive but also increases the probability that the consumer will actually compare himself or herself to the person depicted in the advertisement (Richins, 1995). Although social comparison tactics have been shown to be harmful to consumers (e.g., Diener & Fujita, 1997;

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Table 2. Analysis of VarianceComparing Metrics Online Versus Offline Sum of squares Maximization sum Social comparison sum Regret inducing sum Regret reducing sum Materialism sum Anti-materialism sum between groups within groups total between groups within groups total between groups within groups total between groups within groups total between groups within groups total between groups within groups total 0.61 108.64 109.25 0.53 61.82 62.36 0.11 77.89 77.99 0.00 3.39 3.39 1.12 60.13 61.25 1.31 53.61 54.91 df 1.00 142.00 143.00 1.00 142.00 143.00 1.00 142.00 143.00 1.00 142.00 143.00 1.00 142.00 143.00 1.00 142.00 143.00 Mean square 0.61 0.77 0.53 0.44 0.11 0.55 0.00 0.02 1.12 0.42 1.31 0.38 F 0.80 1.23 0.19 0.07 2.64 3.46 Sig. 0.372 0.270 0.660 0.795 0.106 0.065

Table 3. Frequencies of Five Tactics Tactic Materialistic techniques (4 metrics) Anti-materialistic techniques (5 metrics) Regret inducing techniques (7 metrics) Regret reducing techniques (2 metrics) Social comparison techniques (6 metrics) Maximization techniques (4 metrics) Mean number of techniques per ad 0.5 0.34 0.51 0.03 0.61 1.29

Richins, 1991, 1995), this tactic can also have functional benefits. For example, statistics about the popularity of a product, which some may criticize as promoting conformity (Pollay, 1986), can actually convey useful information to the consumer about the product. Few of the advertisements analyzed attempted to reduce consumer regret through discussing return policies or warranties (mean score = .03 for the two items), whereas more of the advertisements portrayed consumer regret (mean score = .54 for seven items). The most commonly used regret tactic was to portray the consumers potential regret for using an inferior product. In many of the product categories, the difference may be a minor one of performance (Which product will help me perform better?), but in particular product categories such as investments, insurance, or pharmaceuticals,

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the differences between the options can be critical. Frosch et al. (2007) have demonstrated that pharmaceutical advertisements will often make use of regret-based appeals to encourage consumers to use drugs that they may not really need. Perhaps, the findings of this study vary due to the types of products advertised during the broadcasts, with lower frequency for product categories (e.g., financial products) that would typically use specific regret tactics. The frequency of maximization tactics in the advertisements viewed was higher (1.29 for four items) than for the other tactics. One maximization item, that the world is a substantially better place through the use of the product or service in the advertisement, was used frequently (mean score = .7), indicating the popularity of this tactic with the majority of the advertisers.

Relationships by Product Category

The second category of research questions investigated relationships between the four tactics and other aspects of the advertisements. Research Question 3 focused on possible relationships between the five tactics of social comparison, materialism, anti-materialism, maximization, and regret and the type of product being advertised. To allow for this comparison, the advertisements viewed were grouped according to the following categories: Food and Beverage, Transportation, Communication/Technology, Athletic Apparel/ Equipment, Personal, Clothing/Shoes, Banking/Investments, Insurance/Health Care, and Other. The results (see Table 4) found a significant relationship between maximization techniques and the product categories of Banking and Insurance/Health Care advertisements (Banking r = .224, p < .007; Insurance/Health Care r = .221, p = .008). These relationships support previous literature (Schwartz et al., 2002). Materialism techniques illustrated a positive relationship with the product category of Personal Hygiene/Beauty Products (r = .26, p < .001). This was expected from the material nature of these productsthese advertisements typically emphasize how they can improve an individual. Previous results (OCass, 2004) that found that materialism is associated with advertisements for clothing were not supported in this study, although this could be due in large part to the extremely low number of advertisements (n = 8) for this product. With respect to social comparison techniques, the results, in part, supported previous work (Richins, 1995) through a positive correlation with Personal and Hygiene products (r = .28, p < .001). However, they differed from other results (Smith, 2000) by demonstrating a negative correlation with the Financial products category (r = .280, p < .001). No significant relationships were found between regret techniques and any of the product categories.

RelationshipsAdvertisement Length
Research Question 4 examined the relationship between the five tactics and the length of the advertisement. No relationship was found between materialism tactics and the

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5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1.00 0.08 0.34** 0.01 -0.11 0.11 0.12 0.09 -0.03 0.14 0.07 0.19* 0.14 1.00 1.00 -0.08 0.04 1.00 0.06 -0.28** 1.00 (continued) 1.00 0.06 -0.08 0.23** 0.09 -0.10 -0.06 0.04 -0.07 -0.12 1.00 1.00 0.24** -0.07 -0.25**

Table 4. Table of Relationships

1.00

-0.02

1.00

0.18*

0.00

1.00

-0.01

0.11

0.09

1.00

0.15

0.38** -0.03

0.02

-0.18*

0.00

0.00

-0.01

0.22**

0.21* -0.03

0.00

0.06

-0.02

0.23** -0.07

0.47** -0.09

0.11

0.07

0.14

0.10

-0.05

0.01

Maximization sum Social comparison sum Regret inducing sum Regret reducing sum Materialism sum Anti-materialism sum Other persuasion sum Advertising appeal sum Advertising execution sum 15 or 30 seconds (1 = 15) Food and beverage Transportation

-0.17*

-0.02

0.11

-0.09

0.05

0.04

-0.07

0.28**

Table 4. (continued)
5 0.27** -0.06 0.22** -0.08 0.03 0.05 0.52** 0.16 0.49** 0.01 0.25** 0.15 -0.05 0.13 0.12 0.11 -0.16 0.04 -0.05 -0.08 -0.20* 0.13 0.21* 0.14 -0.12 0.17* -0.15 0.01 0.02 -0.08 -0.04 -0.18* -0.20* -0.08 -0.13 -0.05 0.06 0.15 1.00 1.00 -0.08 1.00 -0.15 0.06 -0.05 -0.10 -0.04 0.08 0.03 -0.06 -0.05 -0.01 0.23** 0.18* -0.03 0.05 -0.11 -0.12 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

0.10

0.28** -0.01

-0.04

0.22** -0.28** -0.02

-0.06

0.22** -0.06

-0.02

0.06

0.28** -0.12 0.23** 0.07 0.06 0.22** -0.02 0.08 0.21* -0.17* 0.21 -0.03

-0.05 -0.05 0.02 0.10 1.00 -0.09 0.55** -0.06 0.11 0.12 1.00 -0.10 -0.04 0.08 -0.04 0.72** -0.03 1.00 -0.10 0.01 -0.02 0.12 0.13 0.08 -0.05 1.00

Personal products or hygiene Banking or finance Insurance or health care Fear appeal Sex appeal Negative appeal Testimonial

0.16

0.15

-0.01

0.170*

*p < .05 **p < .01.

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length of the advertisement, which seemed to be in contradiction to the finding that longer ads tend to be more materialistic (r = .230, p = .006). None of the other tactics differed significantly, although maximization fell slightly short of the traditional level of significance (r = .146, p = .088). Advertisers appear to use more materialistic elements in longer advertisements, but longer ads do not appear to exhibit substantially more of the other tactics. Looking at the possible reasons for this, two major differences were noted between short and longer ads. Only 5.3% of 15-second ads used techniques showing the product or service as something that is used to impress people (materialism), whereas 21% of the 30-second advertisements used this technique (see Table 4). Similarly, shorter ads tended to portray their products as something that makes people happy or representing an important achievement in life to obtain (materialism) less frequently than longer ads (15.8% of 15-second advertisements vs. 35.2% of 30-second advertisements). These results may be a function of the fact that longer advertisements allow for more sophisticated tactics and shorter ads must make their points quickly, allowing for the use of only the simplest of the techniques. Thus, in the online broadcasts where ads are typically much shorter, advertisers have fewer tactics available to them to persuade consumers than they do in the longer ad formats supported by television.

RelationshipsFive Techniques and Advertising Appeals and Executions

To investigate Research Question 5, each of the five techniques was tested for relationships with specific advertising appeals: Humor, Fear, Sex, Rational Appeal, Positive Emotional, Negative Emotional, Fantasy, Nostalgia, and Guilt (see Table 4). Fear appeals correlated with both maximization (r = .278, p = .001) and regret (r = .226, p = .006) techniques, and sex appeals and social comparison techniques were positively correlated (r = .215, p = .01). Both of these results are intuitive, as one would expect a fear appeal to be related to the use of regret techniques as well as maximization, which focuses on the downside of not attaining a specific need or want. Because the focus for social comparison tactics is on comparing oneself to the idealized image in the advertisement often portrayed as a beautiful individual, this could be construed as a sex appeal. The use of the advertising appeal type of testimonial was positively associated with social comparison (r = .214, p = .010) as well as with materialism (r = .234, p = .005). Negative emotional appeals correlated positively with maximization (r = .212, p = .011) and regret (r = .214, p = .01) but negatively with social comparison (r = .169, p = .043), indicating that many of the social comparisons may not be negative in nature. With respect to advertising executions (Straight-Sell or Factual Message, Science/ Technical Evidence, Demonstration, Comparison, Slice of Life, Testimonial, Dramatization, Use of Animal in Ad, Use of Animation, and Other Persuasion Techniques), maximization techniques were associated with the most advertising execution elements (r = .468, p < .001) and were also positively associated with the specific execution of product or brand comparison (r = .643, p < .001). The execution strategy of

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other persuasion techniques (new product/improved features and product results demonstrated) was broadly associated with maximization (r = .224, p = .007), social comparison (r = .205, p = .014) and materialism (r = .335, p < .001), indicating that new (or improved) products tend to use more of the five techniques in an attempt to get initial adoption.

RelationshipsBetween the Five Techniques

Research Question 6 investigated whether there was any relationship between the five techniques themselves. The results (see Table 4) indicate that maximization and regret techniques were significantly related (r = .181, p = .03). This supports previous literature (Schwartz, 2004), although to a much lesser degree than was obtained using surveys that attempted to understand if a psychological relationship existed between the concepts. Maximization techniques also correlated with anti-materialism techniques (r = .179, p = .031) but not with materialism techniques (r = .145, p = .082) or with social comparison techniques (r = .016, p = .85). It is notable that these results were somewhat contrary due to apparent theoretical similarities in the concepts (e.g., their mutual relationship with social comparison theory as evidenced in Richins, 1995; Schwartz et al., 2002). A significant relationship was found between social comparison techniques and materialism tactics (r = .377, p < .001), also in keeping with past research (Bearden & Rose, 1990; Richins, 1991, 1995).

Discussion and Conclusion

This research attempted to discover the extent to which consumer advertising through sport affects culture and consumption in society. The historical and available research evidence suggests that advertising imperfectly reflects our lives, although it can reinforce and hasten the pace of social change (Lantos, 1987). Advertising has often been accused of creating unnecessary consumer needs and wants and promoting wasteful materialism and consumerism (Fisher, 1968; Kirkpatrick, 1986) and this research supports these accusations. Relatively few advertisements in the study depicted antimaterialistic values (mean score = .34 for five items) as compared to materialistic ones (mean score = .5 for four items), and although there was no difference between the use of materialism tactics in online advertisements versus television commercials, the longer ads in the study (30 or 60 seconds) exhibited more materialistic elements than shorter, 15-second ads. Findings indicate that maximization tactics were the most frequently used (1.29 for four items) and were significantly related to regret tactics. As expected, maximization tactics were also present in advertisements that used product comparison as a main execution technique. Although maximization behavior in consumers is relatively new, it is most often referred to as a negative characteristic for consumers; therefore, advertising that promotes this behavior would also be seen as negative. However, maximization is really only bad for select consumers who have this affliction; other consumers

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can actually benefit from the added information that aids in their decision-making process (Schwartz, 2004). With respect to advertising appeals and executions, several of the results supported previous research (correlation between regret, maximization, and fear appeals) but also seemed to disagree with other studies, in particular the finding, or lack thereof, related to the use of a spokesperson. Specifically, Bush, Martin, and Bush (2004) found that celebrity sport athletes have a positive influence on adolescents favorable word-ofmouth and brand loyalty, and Tomkovick et al. (2001), in their study on Super Bowl advertisements, found that celebrity spokesperson had a significant effect on advertising likeability. Thus, it could be construed that advertisers during the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament have not yet recognized the importance that celebrity endorsers can play in advertising likeability and in turn on consumer consumption habits. Perhaps, the most significant result is that no difference was found in the use of the five tactics of materialism, anti-materialism, regret, social comparison, and maximization between commercials during the online and television broadcasts of the tournament games. This indicates that the tactics are used with similar frequency in both broadcasts and that advertisers, recognizing the value of these tactics in television broadcasts, have simply transported them to the new online medium. Or conversely, the lack of difference between the two media could indicate that advertisers have yet to discover the unique aspects of the online medium as a means of driving consumer consumption and, thus, rely on previously proven tactics rather than discovering or experimenting with new tactics or innovations for the new medium and indeed a new market of online consumers. Viewers who consume sport broadcasts online are unique in that they are a simple click away from an advertisers Web site, the majority of which provide detailed product information that is extremely valuable to consumers researching purchases. The 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits, conducted by WebCollage, indicated that consumer conversion rates increase to 80% when consumers have access to enhanced product information on retail Web sites. Indeed, many of these Web sites often go one step further and provide the means to purchase the actual product. As sport fans migrate to new screens for content and information, advertisers wishing to reach these valuable consumers will need to shift as well. It is more important than ever to reach consumers when they want, where they want, and how they want. Online broadcasts of sport events provide a rich avenue for advertisers to reach consumers on their terms, therefore allowing for the continual development of consumer consumption culture. In summary, a new consumerism has emerged from the early 1980s, creating a different era of status consumption. People are now more likely to compare themselves with or aspire to the lifestyles of those far above them in the economic hierarchy. Economists, social scientists, and marketing scholars have all agreed that consumption has assumed such a central role in todays society that consumerism has become a way of life (Miles, 1998). According to Mackay (1997), in a consumerist culture, individuals self-identities are almost exclusively formed and maintained by consumption; in a sense, you become what you buy. In this regard, consumption confers honor

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and social status on consumers. There has been much criticism of mass media, and in particular of advertisers, using idealized images to sell products to consumers, but as Belk (1985) pointed out, many consumers actually like advertisements, just as they like movies and television programs. Therefore, one cannot put all the blame on advertisers for producing advertising that promotes consumption, but rather, the role of consumers and their affinity for advertising must be considered. Companies advertising through sport appear to have recognized both their ability to promote consumption through advertising, both online and on television, during these events as well as consumers affinity for such advertising. It follows naturally that sport fans can become more materialistic consumers by conforming to the norms of a consumerist society as presented in sport broadcasts. References
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Bios
Ann L. Pegoraro (PhD, University of Nebraska) is an associate professor and Director of the School of Sports Administration in the Faculty of Management at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada. She is also the director of the Institute for Sport Marketing at Laurentian. She has published one book and several peer-reviewed articles related to sport marketing and her current research focuses on sport consumer behavior. Steven M. Ayer (MBA, Laurentian University) is a senior research associate at Imagine Canada in Toronto, Canada. His current research focuses on the extent that businesses contribute to charitable and non-profit organizations. Norman J. OReilly (PhD, Carleton University) is associate professor of sport management at the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. He is also the director of the Institute for Sport Marketing at Laurentian. He has published two books and more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles in sport marketing, sport finance, marketing education, and tourism marketing.