Discussions about the impact of physical attractiveness on the popularity of competitive athletes have received much attention from scholars and the worldwide media. We provide new insights into this debate, and draw managerial implications by estimating OLS and Tobit regressions to test whether and to what extent the physical attractiveness of professional female tennis players affects (changes in) their popularity in online media. Based on a sample of the top 100 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) single ranking of one selected calendar week in 2011 and 2012, we find that physical attractiveness significantly increases the popularity on Facebook, SI.com, and Google, as well as the change in online popularity for Facebook and WTA news. Nevertheless, a tennis players's performance has a larger effect on online popularity than physical attractiveness.
AdlerM. (1985). Stardom and talent. American Economic Review, 75(1), 208–212.
2.
AdlerM. (2006). Stardom and talent. In GinsburghV. & TrosbyD. (Eds.), Handbook on the Economics of Art and Culture.Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
3.
AndersonN. H. (1965). Primacy effects in personality impression formation using a generalized order effect paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2, 1–9.
4.
BakkenbüllL.-B., & KieferS. (2015). Are Attractive Female Tennis Players More Successful? An Empirical Analysis. Kyklos68(4), 443–458.
5.
BaughS. G., & ParryL. E. (1991). The relationship between physical attractiveness and grade point average among college women. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 64, 431–441.
6.
BerggrenN., JordahlH., & PoutvaaraP. (2010). The looks of a winner: Beauty and electoral success. Journal of Public Economics, 94(1-2), 8 -15.
7.
BernsteinA. (2002). Is It Time for a Victory Lap? Changes in the Media Coverage of Women in Sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 37(3-4), 415–428.
8.
BerriD. J., SimmonsR., Van GilderJ., & O'NeillL. (2011). What does it mean to find the face of the franchise? Physical attractiveness and the evaluation of athletic performance. Economics Letters, 111, 200–202.
9.
BerriD. J., Van GilderJ., & FennA. J. (2014). Is the Sports Media Color-Blind?International Journal of Sports Finance, 9(2), 130 -148.
10.
BiddleJ., & HamermeshD. (1998). Beauty, productivity and discrimination: Lawyers’ looks and lucre. Journal of Labor Economics, 16(1), 172–201.
11.
CameronA. C., & TrivediP. K. (2009). Microeconometrics-Methods and Applications (9t h ed.). New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
12.
CliffordM. M., & WalsterE. (1973). The effect of physical attractiveness on teacher expectations. Sociology of Education, 46(1), 248 -256.
13.
comScore. (2011). Europe Digital Year in Review 2010. comScore, Inc. Reston, Virginia. Retrieved April 16, 2012 from http://www.iabrus.ru/File.ashx?ID=221
14.
CunninghamM. R., RobertsA. R., BarbeeA. P., & Wu, C.-H. (1995). “Teir Ideas of Beauty Are, on the Whole, the Same as Ours“: Consistency and Variability in the Cross-Cultural Perception of Female Physical Attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(2), 261–279.
15.
DipboyeR. L., ArveyR. D., & TerpstraD. E. (1977). Sex and physical attractiveness of raters and applicants as determinants of resumé evaluations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(3), 288–294.
16.
DionK. K., BerscheidE., & WalsterE. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285–290.
17.
EaglyA. H., AshmoreR. D., MakhijaniM. G., & LongoL. C. (1991). What is beautiful is good, but...: A meta-analytic review of research on the physical attractiveness stereotype. Psychological Bulletin, 110(1), 109 -128.
18.
EfrainM. G., & PattersonE. W. J. (1974). Voters vote beautiful: The effect of physical appearance on a national election. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue Cana-dienne des sciences du comportement, 6(4), 352–356.
FinkJ., & KensickiL. (2002). An Imperceptible Difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women. Mass Communication & Society, 5(3), 317–339.
21.
FinkJ., CunninghamG., & KensickiL. (2004). Using Athletes as endorsers to sell women's sport: Attractiveness vs.expertise. Journal of Sport Management, 18(4), 350–367.
22.
FranckE., & Nüesch S. (2008). Mechanisms of superstar formation in German soccer: Empirical evidence. European Sport Management Quarterly, 8(2), 145–164.
23.
FranckE., & Nüesch S. (2012). Talent and/or popularity: What does it take to be a superstar?Economic Inquiry, 50(1), 202–216.
24.
FurnhamA., & BagumaP. (1994). Cross-cultural differences in the evaluation of male and female body shapes. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 15(1), 81- 89.
25.
Garcia-del-BarrioP., & PujolF. (2007). Hidden monopsony rents in winner-take-all markets—Sports and economics contribution of Spanish soccer players. Managerial Decision Economics, 28(1), 57–70.
GarlandR. (1991). The Mid-point on a rating scale: Is it desirable?Marketing Bulletin, 2(1), 66–70, Research Note 3.
28.
GeysB. (2015). Looks good, you're hired? Evidence from extra-parliamentary activities of German parliamentarians. German Economic Review, 16(1), 1 -12.
HakimC. (2010). Erotic capital. European Sociological Review, 26(5), 499–518.
31.
HamermeshD.S., & BiddleJ.E. (1994). Beauty and the labor market. American Economic Review, 84(5), 1174–1194.
32.
HellmuellerL. C., & AeschbacherN. (2010). Media and celebrity: Production and consumption of “well-knownness.” Communication Research Trends, 29(4), 3–34.
33.
JacksonL. A., HunterJ. E., & HodgeC. N. (1995). Physical attractiveness and intellectual competence. A meta-analytic review. Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(2), 108–122.
34.
JonesD., & HillK. (1993). Criteria of facial attractiveness in five populations. Human Nature, 4(3), 271–296.
LandyD., & SigallH. (1974). Beauty is talent. Task evaluation as a function of the performer's physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(3), 299–304.
40.
LehmannE., & SchulzeG. (2008). What does it take to be a star? - The role of performance and the media for German soccer players. Applied Economics Quarterly, 54(1), 59–70.
41.
LernerR. M., DelaneyM., Hess, JovanovicL. E., J., & von EyeA. (1990). Early adolescent physical attractiveness and academic competence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 10(1), 4–20.
42.
LuciforaC., & SimmonsR. (2003). Superstar effects in sport: Evidence from italian soccer. Journal of Sports Economics, 4(1), 35–55.
43.
ManerJ. K., KenrickD. T., BeckerD. V., DeltonA. W., HoferB., WilburC. J., & NeubergS. L. (2003). Sexually selective cognition: Beauty captures the mind of the beholder. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(6), 1107–1120.
44.
MathesE. W., BrennanS. M., HaugenP. M., & RiceH. B. (1985). Ratings of physical attractiveness as a function of age. Journal of Social Psychology, 125(2), 157–168.
45.
McLellanB., & McKelvieS. J. (1993). Effects of age and gender on perceived facial attractiveness. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 25(1), 135–142.
PerrinF. A. C. (1921). Physical attractiveness and repulsiveness. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 4(3), 203–217.
48.
PrinzJ., WeimarD., & DeutscherC. (2012). Popularity kills the talentstar? Einflussfaktoren auf Superstargehälter in der NBA. Journal of Business Economics, 82(7), 789–806.
49.
PujolF., & Garcia-Del-BarrioP. (2006). Media value of professional football. Economics, Sport and Intangibles Research Group (ESI) report September 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2015 from http://www.uic.es/progs/obj.uic?id=4fe1c05014b7
50.
RosarU., HagenahJ., & KleinM. (2010). Physische Attraktivität und individuelles Leis-tungsverhalten oder: warum und wann unattraktive Männer die besseren Fußballer sind. Soziale Welt, 61(1), 51- 68.
51.
RosarU., HagenahJ., & KleinM. (2013). Sind Sportreporter die objektiveren Beobachter? Eine vergleichende Untersuchung zur Beeinflussung professioneller Leistungsurteile durch die physische Attraktivität von Spitzenfußballern. Sportwissenschaft, 43(3), 206–221.
52.
RosenS. (1981). The economics of superstars. American Economic Review, 71(5), 845–858.
53.
RossM. B., & SalviaJ. (1975). Attractiveness as a biasing factor in teacher judgements. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 80(1), 96–98.
ShafferD. R., CrepazN., & SunC. R. (2000). Physical attractiveness stereotyping in cross-cultural perspective—Similarities and differences between Americans and Taiwanese. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31(5), 557–582.
56.
StiglerG., & BeckerG. (1977). De gustibus non est disuptandum. American Economic Review, 67(2), 76–90.
57.
StoneG., JosephM., & JonesM. (2003). An exploratory study on the use of sports celebrities in advertising: a content analysis. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 12(2), 94–102.
58.
SwamiP., & Tovée, M. J. (2005). Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: A cross-cultural study. Body Image, 2, 115–128.
59.
TaoH. L. (2008). Attractive physical appearance vs. good academic characteristics: which generates more earnings?Kyklos, 61(1), 114–133.
VincentJ., PedersenP. M., WhisenantW. A., & MasseyD. (2007). Analysing the print media coverage of professional tennis players: British newspaper narratives about female competitors in the Wimbledon Championships. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2(3), 281–300.
62.
VincentJ., HillJ. S., & LeeJ. W. (2009). The multiple brand personalities of David Beck-ham: a case study of the Beckham brand. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 18(3), 173–180.
63.
WebsterM., & DriskellJ. E. (1983). Beauty as status. American Journal of Sociology, 89, 140–165.
