An exploration of celebrity business ventures and their appeal to fans and non-fans

Recently, an increasing number of celebrities have launched their own businesses. Although celebrity entrepreneurs may expect their credibility to enhance customers’ purchase intentions, this study does not find this effect. Instead, it finds that customers’ purchase intentions rely mainly on customers’ attitudes toward the celebrity's venture brand. Customers’ perceived congruence between a celebrity and the celebrity's business significantly affects their brand attitudes. Additionally, this study finds that a celebrity's credibility can only increase fans’ positive attitudes toward the celebrity's venture brand; therefore, being a celebrity entrepreneur is riskier than being a brand endorser in terms of consumer attitude.     

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].     

Examining the Impact of Brand Transgressions on Consumers' Perceptions of Celebrity Endorsers

Prior research has extensively explored the impact of celebrities' transgressions on the brands that they endorse. However, little research exists examining the impact of brand transgressions on consumers' perceptions of the celebrities that endorse these products. This research addresses this oversight and finds that transgressions committed by a brand negatively impact consumers' attitudes toward the endorsing celebrity. Moreover, we find this effect is sequentially mediated by perceptions of responsibility and moral reputation. Finally, we identify two response strategies that a celebrity can employ to mitigate the negative effects of the brand's transgression on the celebrity's reputation. However, the effectiveness of these strategies may be dependent upon perceptions of endorser expertise.     

Uncovering the power of natural endorsements: a comparison with celebrity-endorsed advertising and product placements

ABSTRACT

Despite the vast literature on celebrity endorsements in advertising, research to date has not assessed whether and how celebrity-brand associations created via traditional endorsements or product placements compare to more natural associations that emerge from real-life celebrity images through social media. This experiment systematically compares the impact of different brand-celebrity associations on consumer perceptions of the celebrity's credibility and their responses to a new brand associated with that celebrity. The results reveal that, unlike more commercial brand associations, natural brand-celebrity associations can yield strong brand effects without eroding the celebrity's credibility. The findings are especially insightful given increasing numbers of natural brand-celebrity associations in social media.     

Determinants for Effects of Celebrity Negative Information: When to Terminate a Relationship with a Celebrity Endorser in Trouble?

This study examines three factors that influence consumers’ brand evaluation and purchase intention under negative celebrity information. The study is designed to investigate the effects of consumers’ perceived associative strength between celebrity endorser and brand, the role of congruence between a celebrity endorser's negative information and his/her endorsed brand, and the effects of consumers’ level of brand commitment. The study's findings suggest that congruence or “fit” between a celebrity endorser's negative information and an endorsed brand moderates a consumers’ evaluation of brand and purchase intentions. The study finds that a strong associative link between the brand and the celebrity endorser leads to lower brand evaluation as well as lower purchase intention. It also finds that consumers with a higher level of brand commitment are less likely to react negatively to a celebrity's bad publicity than are consumers with a lower level of brand commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

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.     

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.     

Tiger Woods,Nike, and I are (not) best friends: how brand's sports sponsorship in social-media impacts brand consumer's congruity and relationship quality

This study examines the effects of brand's sports sponsorship in social media on brand consumer's congruity and brand relationship quality. The study included a survey of targeting consumers whose ages range between early twenties and late forties; data from 322 respondents were collected. The results are as follows. First, brand's sports sponsorship in social-media activities relating to sports brands has significant effects on brand consumer's congruity. Second, this congruity significantly influences brand relationship quality. Third, male consumers, who have previously purchased products and services associated with a sports brand, perceive the sponsor's brand image more positively when they are exposed to the sponsor's brand's sports sponsorship in social-media activities, compared to those consumers having no previous purchases of the sponsored brand. Lastly, consumers in their forties with prior experience consuming the sponsor's brand products are most affected by the level of self-congruity with the sports brand compared to younger or older consumers.     

The role of involvement: Investigating the effect of brand's social media pages on consumer purchase intention

This study examined the influence of consumer's brand familiarity and the information quality of social media content on their involvement with a brand on the brand's social media pages. Also studied were the influence of involvement on consumer's attitude towards the brand's social media page and the effect of their attitude on future purchase intention from the brand. The results indicated that both brand familiarity and information quality had significant effects on a consumer's involvement with a brand on its social media page, yet the brand's social media content had a greater influence on a consumer's involvement with the social media page. Further, involvement with a brand's social media led to a positive attitude towards the brand's social media page, which in turn influences future purchase intention from the brand. However, the involvement did not directly influence future purchase intention from the brand. The results suggest the significant importance of quality of social media content.     

Engaging fans on microblog: the synthetic influence of parasocial interaction and source characteristics on celebrity endorsement

Brand managers use celebrity microbloggers to endorse their products on microblogs. Previous studies on celebrity endorsement mechanisms concentrated on source factors such as celebrity's characteristics and celebrity—product congruence. This study introduces a new audience factor: the fan–celebrity parasocial interaction (PSI) to explore the celebrity endorsement mechanism within a microblog context. The study hypothesizes that PSI and source factors (credibility, attractiveness, and congruence) significantly influence endorsement effectiveness. The results of an online survey (N = 862) indicate that PSI and celebrity–product congruence are salient antecedents of endorsement effectiveness. PSI serves as a mediator of the effect of source attractiveness on endorsement effectiveness. Source credibility and celebrity–product congruence are mediators between PSI and endorsement effectiveness. The study develops and tests a conceptual model to illustrate the influential mechanism of celebrity endorsement on microblog platforms.     

Korean Advertising Practitioners’ Perspectives on Celebrity Endorsement

Practitioners’ perspectives have been neglected to some extent. Research on practitioners’ perspectives is important because it will provide valuable information, especially on how theories have been reflected in practice. The study investigates Korean advertising practitioners’ perspectives on celebrity endorsement in advertising campaigns. By comparing the perspective between advertising practitioners and that from their counterparts on the client side, this study may provide insights into their respective roles in advertising campaigns. This study finding suggests that Korean advertising practitioners consider a celebrity's likeability as the most important criterion when selecting a celebrity endorser. The most important reason why they employ a celebrity endorser is that celebrity endorsement helps generate awareness of the brand. In addition, concerns over celebrity endorsement as well as limitations and suggestions for future research have been discussed.     

The impact of death on consumer responses to celebrity endorser misbehavior

A well‐established stream of research on celebrity misbehavior suggests that negative information may have an adverse effect on an endorsed brand because of its association with a celebrity considered as blameworthy. However, the present research calls into question the generalizability of these results to fatal misbehaviors (i.e., misbehaviors that lead to the celebrity's death). Indeed, after death, a celebrity may gain spiritual meanings, and consumers may find it more difficult to blame a sacred individual. As such, the current article investigates the impact of a celebrity's death on blame attribution and consumer attitudes in the context of celebrity endorser misbehavior. The results of three experiments uncover that death favors a partial blame attribution transfer from the celebrity endorser to the brand, but only when the misbehavior implies a product related to the brand. In addition, the findings reveal a positive effect of death through celebrity sacredness on brand attitude.     

Connecting With Celebrities: How Consumers Appropriate Celebrity Meanings for a Sense of Belonging

We propose that consumers appropriate brand symbolism that comes from celebrity endorsements to construct and communicate their self-concepts. We also argue that consumers with high need to belong (NTB) look to celebrities to a greater extent than those who have lower needs to belong, because high-NTB consumers are more likely to look to celebrities for cues about which brands may aid these consumers' attempts to meet their affiliation needs. High-NTB consumers are also prone to develop one-sided (parasocial) relationships with celebrities, and these parasocial relationships mediate the celebrity endorsement effect on self–brand connections. Three studies support these proposed relationships. Furthermore, the third study also manipulates the degree to which the celebrity's image matches that of the brand being advertised, revealing that a symbolic match between the celebrity image and brand image is important for consumers who do not form parasocial relationships with celebrities (i.e., low-NTB consumers).     

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.     

Intergenerational appeal in advertising: impacts of brand–gender extension and brand history

An intergenerational (IG) appeal in an advertising campaign usually presents a nostalgic image with family portraits, emphasizing the traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation or harkening back to the ‘good old days’ between father and son, or mother and daughter. The IG appeal can effectively enhance a brand's image and induce that all-important consumer purchase. This paper takes gender differences (father/son or mother/daughter) into consideration while examining two moderators related to branding: (in)congruent brand–gender extension and brand history. Results indicate that a well-established brand history enhances the effects of the IG appeal. In addition, a congruent brand–gender extension increases the effects of the IG appeal. More interestingly, IG appeals can be effective in presenting a less established brand which has an incongruent brand–gender extension.     

Should We Hire David Beckham to Endorse our Brand? Contextual Interference and Consumer Memory for Brands in a Celebrity's Endorsement Portfolio

Imagine that you are browsing through a magazine, and you see one of your favorite celebrities in an advertisement. Then, a bit further into the magazine you see that same celebrity in an ad for a different product. A few hours later, you think of the celebrity again and try to remember the products s/he was endorsing, but what will you actually recall? This paper examines consumer memory for celebrity advertising under conditions where a single celebrity advertises for more than one brand. Using contextual interference as the theoretical lens, the current research posits and demonstrates how brands in a celebrity's “endorsement portfolio” compete with one another when consumers use the celebrity as retrieval cue for information that was contained in the ads. The findings of the laboratory experiment reveal that brands sharing either a high or low match with the celebrity win the battle during retrieval and inhibit consumers’ ability to accurately recall ad information for brands sharing a more moderate match with the celebrity. The theoretical practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Self-concept and advertising effectiveness: The influence of congruency,conspicuousness, and response mode

It was hypothesized in this study that advertising appeals congruent with viewers' self-concept would be superior to incongruent appeals in terms of enhancing advertising effectiveness. Advertising effectiveness was operationalized as: brand memory, brand attitude, and purchase intentions. The sample consisted of 165 subjects who were exposed to four test stimuli (ads), two for automobiles and two for shampoos. One ad within a product class used an introvert appeal, and the other used an extrovert appeal. Congruence between self-concept and the brand image was determined by subjects' evaluations of themselves and the advertised brand. Ad-related tasks included remembering brand names and indicating preference and buying intention for each brand. The study results indicate that brand memory is not mediated by the extent to which advertising expressions are congruent with viewers' self-concept. However, brand preference and purchase intention were shown to be influenced by the self-congruency of an ad. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

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.     

Celebrity Endorsements

Abstract

Advertising professionals rely on the assumption that using a celebrity to endorse a brand will result in an increase in consumer recall of the brand. Advertisers believe that using a celebrity endorser will foster, in the mind of the consumer, a match or connection between the celebrity endorser and the endorsed brand. The results presented in this study, however, found that a celebrity recognized in a magazine advertisement did not increase consumer recall of the brand endorsed by the celebrity for both professional athlete celebrities and other entertainment celebrities who are not professional athletes. Furthermore, subjects in this study did not correctly identify the brand when previously exposed to the full magazine advertisement, even when the celebrity's face cued the subject for recall. The results of this study raise questions relative to using celebrity endorsements to enhance brand recall.     

Does Celebrity Image Congruence Influences Brand Attitude and Purchase Intention?

We examine whether image congruence (IC) of celebrities have significant effect on purchase intention (PI) and whether attitude towards brand and attitude towards advertisement mediate the relationships in a developing country, based on sample data from India. The data was collected using a Likert Scale of 1 to 7. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the recursive model incorporating endorser-brand IC, advertising effectiveness (AE), attitude toward advertisement (ATA), attitude towards brand (ATB), and purchase intention (PI). It was found that the celebrity image congruence (IC) has a negative significant effect on ATB and positive significant effect on ATA whereas advertising effectiveness (AE) had significant effect on both attitude towards brand and attitude towards advertisement. Finally AE and ATA both had significant positive effect on PI. Drawing on research on moral reasoning associated with celebrity endorsement, we provide strong theoretical as well as empirical evidence that celebrity (endorser-brand) IC is not a strong predictor of PI in a developing country. Spending huge resources on endorsers for IC does not always provide the desired benefits in countries like India. Findings would be useful for both multinational firms engaged in international marketing as well as local firms.