This article brings together scholarship on communication theory, influencer marketing, and personal branding to examine a new type of social media influencer—the college athlete influencer. Previous research in the field of sports has not specifically explored the distinct characteristics of college athletes that contribute to their effectiveness as marketing influencers. By adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the source of college athletes’ influence via social media. Quantitative results indicate that projecting an athletic identity on social media enhances the influencer’s credibility and increases the likelihood of consumers purchasing the products they endorse. Furthermore, qualitative findings indicated that the shared school identity acts as the ultimate impetus for the bond between the influencer and the consumer, which subsequently impacts the consumer’s purchasing decisions. This study provides actionable implications for schools, colleges, and brands seeking to build compelling sponsorships in the name, image, and likeness era.

本文汇集了传播理论、影响者营销和个人品牌方面的学术成果，探讨了一种新型的社交媒体影响者——大学运动员影响者。此前体育领域的研究并没有专门探讨大学运动员的独特特征，这些特征有助于他们作为营销影响者的有效性。通过采用顺序解释混合方法，本研究提供了对大学运动员通过社交媒体影响的来源的全面理解。定量结果表明，在社交媒体上展示运动员身份可以提高影响者的可信度，并增加消费者购买他们认可的产品的可能性。此外，定性研究结果表明，共同的学校身份是影响者和消费者之间联系的最终推动力，从而影响消费者的购买决策。这项研究为学校、大学和品牌在名称、形象和肖像时代寻求建立引人注目的赞助提供了可行的建议。