By Ariel Fink & Dr. Lance Kinney; presented at Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium March 2015

For many years, professional athletes have partnered with companies and acted as endorsers for brands. Compared to other celebrity categories, such as musicians, actors, etc., athletes endorse products the most often (Carlson & Donavan, 2008). Traditionally, brands that choose athletes as spokespeople look for someone whose image closely fits with theirs. They also aim to use people who are perceived as credible and can help increase awareness and favorable attitudes on behalf of the public. One issue that affects credibility is social identity. Social identity theory has shown that people’s sense of self is largely reliant on the groups they are a part of, and that in-group bias will affect perception of out-group members. In both cases, race can play a large role. This research aimed to understand the influence of social identity on reception of ads for nonprofits featuring athletes of different races and varying levels of likability. This was done through an experiment pairing same‐race and cross‐race athletes as endorsers for groups advocating medical research. Ads featured a white athlete (NASCAR’s Kurt Busch or NFL’s Peyton Manning) or a black athlete (NBA’s Kevin Durant or NFL’s Michal Vick) paired with a disorder most common among white (cystic fibrosis) or black people (sickle cell disease).