Effects of Controllability of Athlete Celebrity Endorsers’ Drug Scandals on Punitive Opinions: Sensation Seeking as a Moderator

Guided by the attribution theory and sensation seeking (SS), this study found that a news article featuring an athlete celebrity endorser’s drug scandal resulting from a controllable cause (e.g., taking performance-enhancing substance) generated stronger punitive opinions, stronger attribution of the scandal to the athlete, and lower sympathy for the athlete. When a news article presented the drug scandal as due to an uncontrollable cause (e.g., taking a medication to relieve a health problem), low sensation seekers had more negative attitudes and were more in favor of punishment than high sensation seekers. Attributions and sympathy were found to be mediators of the interaction effects of controllable versus uncontrollable messages and SS on punitive opinions. This study contributes to research on the attribution theory and SS in the sports communication context and provides practical implications for sports marketers and public relations professionals