Female Sports Celebrities Targeting Female Teenagers: A Content Analysis Of Magazine Advertising

Abstract

This study examined the usage of female sports celebrities as endorsers in magazines targeting female teenagers. Female sports figures act as role models for female teenagers and studies have shown they have a positive impact on self-image and self-identification. The Eriksonian Theory (Adams-Price and Greene, 1990), states that a “primary task of adolescence is the consolidation of ego identity.” Teenagers often adopt the mannerisms, dress, and attitudes of celebrities as experimentation in their search for an identity. Theories of impression management and self-presentation focus on aspirational identities; those that individuals want to attain or want to be associated with, in social interactions (Norman and Tedeschi, 1989). Teenagers relate to sports figures as teens are often active in sports as both participants and observers, and sports figures act as aspirational figures. Increasing the number of female athlete endorsement ads could be an innovative and effective marketing strategy.