Grounded in associative learning theory and the match-up hypothesis, this study sought to determine how female athlete endorsers’ gender expression impacted perceptions of their effectiveness and endorser-product fit. A 2 (feminine/masculine characteristics) x 2 (feminine/masculine product) experimental design was conducted with 205 participants from two universities in the Northeast region of the United States. Hypotheses were tested using MANCOVA and ANCOVA and results indicated gender expression significantly impacted measures of endorser attractiveness, explaining 23% of the variance....Read more
