Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements: Tiger Woods' Impact on Sales of Nike Golf Balls

Abstract

In this paper we quantify the economic worth of celebrity endorsements by studying the sales of endorsed products. We do so with the use of two unique data sets consisting of monthly golf ball sales and professional golfer (celebrity) rankings. In particular, we examine the impact Tiger Woods had on sales of Nike golf balls. Our identification of the causal effect of a celebrity is grounded in the celebrity's random performance over time.

Using two different approaches, reduced form and structural, we find that there are substantial celebrity endorsement effects. From our structural model, we determine that endorsements not only induce consumers to switch brands, a business stealing effect, but also have a primary demand effect. We determine that from 2000 to 2010, the Nike golf ball division reaped an additional profit of $103 million through the acquisition of 9.9 million in sales from Tiger Woods' endorsement effect. Moreover, having Tiger Woods' endorsement led to a price premium of roughly 2.5%. As a result, approximately 57% of Nike's investment in Woods' $181 million endorsement deal was recovered just in U.S. golf ball sales alone.

Keywords: endorsements, competitive analysis, entertainment marketing