Nonprofit Advertising: Impact of Celebrity Connection,Involvement and Gender on Source Credibility and Intention to Volunteer Time or Donate Money

Two studies examine celebrity endorsers in a nonprofit context. In Study One a framework is developed incorporating connection (congruence), source credibility, involvement, and gender as key elements in understanding the impact of celebrity endorsers on nonprofit advertising effectiveness. Hypotheses are tested in the course of the studies that manipulate celebrity connection and advertising involvement. Results support the primary model viewing a relationship between the celebrity's connection, source credibility, and intention. Study Two verifies the connection and source credibility findings of Study One, but cannot confirm the impact of the celebrity connection on intention. Study Two includes attractiveness as a source credibility dimension, and increases the number of endorser types. An attractiveness main effect on intention is identified.     

Celebrity endorsement: How celebrity–brand–user personality congruence affects brand attitude and purchase intention

The present study provides and tests a conceptual framework aimed at comparing the relative effectiveness of celebrity–user, brand–celebrity, and user–brand personality congruence on brand attitude and brand purchase intention (BPI) thereafter. The data collection was done via an online survey of a representative group of consumers (n = 431) located across India. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with mediation approach. The results indicate that while user–brand and brand–celebrity personality congruence have a significant impact on brand attitude and purchase intention, celebrity–user congruence does not. Further, brand attitude is found to be a partial mediator on the relationship between the pair-wise personality congruence on BPI. The findings have major implications for marketers in understanding the significance of personality congruence among celebrity–brand–user in the formation of brand attitude and purchase intention that can be used in positioning and in increasing the advertising effectiveness of brands using celebrity endorsement. The present study is a pioneer in contributing to the celebrity endorsement literature by investigating the relative impact of three pairs of personality congruence: celebrity–brand, brand–user, and celebrity–user, on brand attitude and BPI, thereby supporting the applicability of McCracken's Meaning Transfer Model [McCracken (1989), The Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3) 310–321) and the Hierarchy-of-effects model (Lavidge and Steiner (1961), Journal of Marketing, 25 (6) 59–62].     

Can a Celebrity Serve as an Issue‐Relevant Argument in the Elaboration Likelihood Model?

While celebrity endorsement has been traditionally perceived as a peripheral cue in the elaboration likelihood model, several conceptual studies suggest otherwise that it may play a significant role in delivering issue‐relevant information when celebrity–product congruence exists. The current study provides empirical evidence that a celebrity indeed serves as an issue‐relevant argument by investigating the interaction effects between endorser–product congruence and product involvement on consumer responses in two different match‐up conditions. Moderated regression analysis results indicated that product involvement strengthened the effect of expertise‐based endorser–product congruence on consumer responses. However, the relationship between attractiveness‐based endorser–product congruence and consumer responses generated insignificant results. Research findings entail that a celebrity persuades consumers through the central route when the expert image in particular fits well with the endorsed product. Further analyses indicated that attitude toward the brand mediated the relationship between attitude toward the advertisement and purchase intention in both match‐up environments.     

What affects the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement? Impact of interplay among congruence,identification, and attribution

This study draws upon congruence theory, identification theory, and attribution theory as a means of examining how celebrity endorsement works. The study proposes that the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement may be influenced by the following three factors: congruence between a celebrity endorser and endorsed brand/product, identification with a celebrity endorser, and consumers’ attribution styles (i.e., internal vs. external). To test the proposed hypotheses, the study employs a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subject factorial design. A total of 317 college students participated in the study in return for course credits. The study findings suggest that congruence, identification, and consumers’ attribution styles indeed have impacts on consumers’ attitude toward ad, brand, or purchase intention. The study also finds that there is a relationship between congruence (low vs. high congruence) and attribution styles (internal vs. external). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The effects of match-ups on the consumer attitudes toward internet celebrities and their live streaming contents in the context of product endorsement

Streaming media platform opens new ways for celebrity endorsement. Based on the researches related to celebrity endorsement and match-up hypothesis, this study explores the influences of various matches on the consumer attitudes within the context of live streaming shopping with internet celebrities in China. Results suggest that product-source fit affects the perceived source attractiveness and trustworthiness, while product-content fit affects utilitarian and hedonic attitude toward the content. Source trustworthiness, hedonic attitude and self-product fit increased the intention to buy. This study develops and tests an integrative model of internet celebrity endorsement by investigating congruence effects on live streaming viewers.     

Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effects and advertising effectiveness

This study provides a quantitative summary of the relationship between celebrity endorser source effects and effectiveness in advertising. The Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test is used to identify the most influential celebrity endorser source effects on effectiveness. The role of celebrity/product fit, interaction effects, sample type, study setting, and country of study are also included as moderators. Results suggest negative celebrity information can be extremely detrimental to an advertising campaign. The source credibility model composed of celebrity trustworthiness, celebrity expertise, and celebrity attractiveness appears to capture the three most influential source effects on purchase intentions, brand attitudes and attitudes towards the advertisement.     

Reverse Transfer Effect of Celebrity-Product Congruence on the Celebrity's Perceived Credibility

In contrast with traditional celebrity endorsement research, this study examines the effect of celebrity advertisement on the celebrity himself/herself, that is, a reverse transfer effect, in terms of the celebrity's perceived attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise. Online questionnaires were conducted for sport and film celebrities using an identical 2 (Korean vs. non-Korean) X 3 (very congruent, moderately incongruent, very incongruent) design. The results show that a celebrity's perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness were significantly decreased when the celebrity-product congruence was low, whereas no significant effects were found when the congruence level was high. Theoretical and managerial implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

Female,married and endorsing: integrating celebrity marital status,role congruence and credibility

In this study, we investigate the effect of marital status and perceived role congruence (RCN) of a female celebrity endorser on consumer attitudes incorporating the role of credibility in the Indian context. The research hypotheses were tested using a series of experimental designs. The main study had a 4 (Celebrity: Unmarried/Just Married/Married but Endorsing/Married and Comeback) × 2 (Product: Role Congruent/Role Incongruent) full factorial design. Non-student samples were used in this study. Major findings implied a significant effect of celebrity marital status, RCN and the interaction term on consumer attitudes. The three source credibility dimensions were found to have differential effects on consumer attitudes when they were included as moderators. This study finds evidence in support of diminishing effectiveness of female celebrities over time/marriage. In this study, we explored a new dimension of congruence (RCN) and found the same to influence consumer attitudes favourably towards the endorsed product.     

Influencers' “organic” persuasion through electronic word of mouth: A case of sincerity over brains and beauty

Despite the growing importance of influencers' word-of-mouth through audiovisual content, little is known about its effect on consumers' brand evaluation, purchase intentions, and decisions. Drawing on Ohanian's source credibility framework, we conducted two studies across different influencers, product categories, and respondents' gender and tested the hypotheses using covariance-based and partial least square structural equation modeling. Study 1 focuses on a mega-influencer of cosmetic and beauty brands and predominantly involves female respondents. The findings show that the influencer's attractiveness affects perceptions about source expertise and source trustworthiness but not brand attitude, while source expertise predicts source trustworthiness, and both mediate the effect of source attractiveness on brand attitude. In contrast, brand attitude predicts purchase intention and mediates the impact of source credibility dimensions. Study 2 focuses on various influencers of hedonic products (lifestyle, fashion, and beauty). The results confirm the influence of source attractiveness and expertise on source trustworthiness, which ultimately predicts consumer purchase decisions. This study reveals the interdependencies between different source constructs, contributing to source credibility theory. Furthermore, we show that the effect of source dimensions that are relevant in the celebrity endorsement literature, such as source attractiveness, do not directly influence consumers' intentions and decisions in the context of influencers' electronic word of mouth. Finally, the two studies confirm that only influencers perceived as honest and sincere can influence consumers' purchase decisions.     

Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofit Organizations: The Role of Celebrity Motive Attribution and Spontaneous Judgment of Celebrity-Cause Incongruence

This study investigated relationships among celebrity motive attribution, celebrity-cause congruence, and involvement with a cause. A 2 (altruistic motive: high vs. low) X 2 (congruence: high vs. low) X 2 (involvement: high vs. low) experimental study examined perceptions of celebrity credibility, attitudes toward celebrity endorsement and nonprofit organization, and intentions to donate money and volunteer time. The findings attest to main effects of causal attribution of a celebrity's altruistic motive and interaction effects between motive attribution and congruence (i.e., spontaneous judgment of celebrity-cause incongruence). Further, three-way interaction effects suggest the role of involvement in spontaneously activating celebrity-cause disassociation.     

A new model of how celebrity endorsements work: attitude toward the endorsement as a mediator of celebrity source and endorsement effects

This research introduces attitude towards the endorsement as a mediating variable in the relationships between celebrity source and endorsement factors and brand attitude. It also includes perceived celebrity motive, a variable rarely studied in the previous literature, as an endorsement factor. In a survey study, respondents evaluated four celebrity endorsement campaigns. Mediation analyses show that attitude towards the endorsement mediates the effects of three variables on brand attitude; these variables are celebrity expertise, celebrity–brand fit, and perceived celebrity motive. Moreover, results show that if consumers perceive that the celebrity was motivated to do the endorsement not only by money but also by product quality, this has a significant positive effect on attitude towards the brand.     

Disclosing Celebrity Endorsement in a Television Program to Mitigate Persuasion: How Disclosure Type and Celebrity Credibility Interact

This experiment (N = 165) examined the effects of two aspects of in-program celebrity endorsement on brand attitudes and product claim acceptance: credibility of the celebrity and the effects of disclosure types. Although there is an increasing call for endorsement disclosures, the effects of these disclosures remained unstudied. This study, conducted in The Netherlands, showed that disclosure of the persuasive intent of in-program celebrity endorsements only resulted in reduced acceptance of product claims among viewers who did not perceive the celebrity in the endorsement as credible. This study has important implications for legislators.     

The CEO endorser and message source credibility: an empirical investigation of antecedents and consequences

This article investigates the antecedents and consequences of source credibility within the context of the relatively new but growing phenomenon of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) endorsers. The study results indicate that source credibility is a central determinant of a CEO endorsers' ability to effect desired outcome states. Results also indicate that the effect of message source credibility on purchase intentions, though strong, is not direct because beliefs about critical product attributes mediate the effect of a message source's credibility on behavioural intentions. The results of the study also indicate that models of source credibility derived from the celebrity endorser literature do not generalize to the CEO endorser context. Specifically, the attractiveness and expertise of the message source had no significant impact on receivers' perceptions of credibility.     

Celebrity endorsements,self-brand connection and relationship quality

The extant literature on celebrity endorsement effects largely focuses on the endorsement effects on consumer evaluations of the endorsed brand. The current study extends the literature by assessing the impact of endorser credibility on two consumer–brand relationship-oriented outcomes – brand relationship quality and consumer self-brand connections. Additionally, the self-brand connection is positioned as a partial mediator of the effect of endorser credibility on relationship quality. A conceptual model is developed and estimated on a sample of 535 Generation Y (youth) consumers from India. The hypotheses are supported and the model demonstrates acceptable fit to the data. Overall, the present study introduces a relationship-building perspective to the celebrity endorsement literature. The results suggest that celebrity endorsers possess the ability to provide meaningful self-definitional benefits to consumers as well as cultivate enhanced relationship quality with the endorsed brands, thus contributing novel insights into celebrity endorsement dynamics.     

Congruence between spokesperson and product type: A matchup hypothesis perspective

This study tested the matchup hypothesis regarding choice of celebrity spokesperson by examining the fit or congruence between image type and the product advertised from an Identification and Internalization viewpoint (Kelman, 1961). Spokesperson type (celebrity versus noncelebrity) was varied, aong with congruence between spokesperson image and product (higher versus lower congruence) in a 2x2 factorial design. Results showed that increased congruence for the spokesperson/product combination resulted in the perception of higher believability and attractiveness of the spokesperson and a more favorable product attitude. The implications of these and other findings for advertising and marketing strategy are discussed. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Delineating the role of endorser's perceived qualities and consumer characteristics on celebrity endorsement effectiveness

This study examines the influence of both endorser's credibility qualities, such as expertise and trustworthiness, and consumers' characteristics, such as gender and team identification, on endorsement effectiveness expressed as purchase intentions. A survey quasi-experimental research design was used in the context of sports celebrity endorsements. Data were collected from 289 respondents via a convenience sample. The findings indicated gender differences only on team identification and not on endorsers' perceived qualities or on endorsement effectiveness. Team identification differences had a significant impact on purchase intentions while marginally affected athletes' credibility. Of the two examined elements of credibility, trustworthiness constitutes a significant differentiation factor for purchase intentions. The study provides several theoretical and practical implications.     

Magazine Advertising: Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Celebrity Advertising

This study analyzes the differences in celebrity effectiveness in advertisements of different styles as well as the impact of source credibility. This study uses an experimental magazine to test nine fictional advertisements for three products with unreal brands and three advertising styles. The findings show that the advertising styles that generate the greatest effectiveness differ according to the product; the celebrities do not increase effectiveness, but when the respondents recognize the celebrity, effectiveness increases; and credibility influences affective and conative measures. The work also considers how celebrity-product pairings, the existence of negative celebrity information, and the familiarity with the celebrity affect the effectiveness.     

Are They Celebrity Followers? Examining the Third-Person Perception of Celebrity-Endorsed Advertising

This study explored how consumers' presumed influences mediated the impacts of source credibility and advertising skepticism on purchase intention in the context of celebrity-endorsed advertising (CEA). A national media consumer panel (N = 445) indicated the third-person perception (TPP) were positively correlated to celebrity expertise and attractiveness, but negatively influenced by advertising skepticism. Moreover, three celebrity credibility variables and advertising skepticism yielded direct effects on purchase intention. Indirect effects by the TPP were also generated on purchase intention. The TPP would mediate the impacts of celebrity credibility and advertising skepticism on purchase intention in response to various desirable/undesirable endorsers. Moreover, the TPP would decrease the impact of celebrity credibility, but increase the impact of advertising skepticism on purchase intention, indicating that the third persons' attitudes toward CEA may become a key reference in consumers' purchase intention processes.     

Exploring Brand Personality–Celebrity Endorser Personality Congruence in Celebrity Endorsements in the Indian Context

The objective of the research reported in this paper was to develop and test a model of brand personality–celebrity endorser personality congruence and its impact on consumers’ attitudes and intentions. In particular, the study drew on social adaptation and attribution theories to develop hypotheses related to the impact of this congruence on consumers’ perceptions of endorser credibility and suitability, and the subsequent impact of these perceptions on consumers’ attitudes and intentions. The study was motivated by recent attention being paid to the importance of personality in choosing celebrities for product endorsements and the fact that the brand personality–celebrity endorser personality congruence has not been explored before. The model was tested based on data obtained from a sample of participants in India. Results from path analyses indicated a positive and significant impact of personality‐based congruence on endorser credibility and suitability, which, in turn, positively and significantly impacted ad believability. Ad believability in turn significantly impacted attitude toward the ad, which had a significant impact on brand attitude and purchase intentions. Research and managerial implications are discussed, as are directions for future research.