Beyond endorsements: The effect of celebrity Creative Directors on consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement

Marketers are beginning to expand the roles that celebrities play in support of brands. Connections now go beyond the typical endorsement relationship to employing celebrities as Creative Directors. Study 1 demonstrates celebrity Creative Directors, as opposed to merely endorsers, result in increased attitudes toward the advertisement; an effect mediated by consumer perceptions of celebrity expertize and attenuated by skepticism toward advertising. Study 2 further investigates this phenomenon by considering whether it is the title of Creative Director that results in increased attitudes toward the advertisement or if consumers need to be made aware of the responsibilities associated with such a role. Results from Study 2 suggest that merely bestowing a celebrity with the title of Creative Director is not sufficient to enhance attitudes, the duties performed by the celebrity Creative Director must be made explicit.     

Investigating the Advertising Antecedents to and Consequences of Brand Experience

Brand experience may contribute more to promotional efficacy than concepts such as brand personality/associations/equity/value/attitudes. Yet, little is known about whether managed advertising efforts might evoke more desirable brand experiences and promotional outcomes as a consequence of consumers’ brand experiences. This study examines antecedents and consequences that may be associated with brand experiences. Attitude toward brand name, connectedness to celebrity endorser, message fit, and visual imaging were investigated as antecedents. Brand attitude and brand distinctiveness were examined as consequences. The resulting insights add managerial rigor to advertising processes that currently are often managed more by gut than by reason.     

名人代言广告效果影响因素综述

作为一种重要的营销策略和宣传手段,名人代言广告被很多企业寄予厚望,但名人的推荐并不是成功的保证。近三十多年来,国内外学者对名人代言广告进行了深入研究,提出了信源模式理论、匹配理论等多种解释,从名人、产品、受众三方面提取了影响名人代言广告效果的诸多因素,在丰富和拓展了广告心理学研究的同时,也对企业营销实践发挥了重要指导作用。     

The mechanism by which social media influencers persuade consumers: The role of consumers’ desire to mimic

We explore the mechanism through which social media influencers (SMIs) persuade consumers to adopt brands. Guided by the influence framework, we propose and test empirically SMIs’ influence mechanism, which occurs in four principal stages: (a) a SMI's influence attempts (showcasing H1: attractive; H2: prestigious; H3 and H4: expert; H5: informative; and H6: interactive Instagram contents); (b) target consumers’ attitudinal response to the influence exercised (evaluating the SMI as a H7: taste and H8: opinion leader); which, in turn, affects (c) the targets’ desire to comply (the desire to mimic); and ultimately (d) their favorable behavioral outcomes (H9: social media word‐of‐mouth and H10: purchase intentions). On the basis of the survey data from 395 respondents, we used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses and proposed model. We verified the robustness of our results using an ordered probit regression model and analyzed the mediating role of consumers’ desire to mimic SMIs in the influence mechanism. Our results confirm that the five aspects of influencing posts affect consumers’ attitudes positively and significantly, which in turn leads to positive behavioral outcomes through their desire to mimic SMIs. We discuss the results’ important implications for both scholars and practitioners.     

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.     

To pursue personality or conformity: A study on the impact of face view on consumers’ need for uniqueness

Chinese people are very focused on “face,” the desire to pursue face, and the fear of losing face. Face has a broad and profound impact on the behavior of Chinese consumers. By adopting Zhang's face dimension method, this study divides consumers’ face view into “the desire to gain face” and “the fear of losing face,” and develops a model to investigate their impacts on consumers’ need for uniqueness. Data from 360 college students and graduate students were used to validate the proposed model through structural equation modeling. Results show that the desire to gain face and the fear of losing face have indirect effects on consumers’ need for uniqueness, with the mediation of independent self‐construal and consumer's susceptibility to normative influence. The study provides both theoretical and managerial contributions, and a new perspective to better understand Chinese consumers’ face view and consumers’ need for uniqueness. Managerially, the study offers suggestions for consumers about how to properly obtain face, for enterprises about how to formulate targeted marketing strategies using consumers’ face view, and for the government on how to guide consumption trends through consumers’ face mentality.     

Back to basics in the marketing of place: the impact of litter upon place attitudes

Abstract

Attempts to apply marketing theory and principles to place have become a legitimate area of academic and ‘real world’ practice. However, place marketing does not typically incorporate all elements of the traditional 7 Ps, focusing far too often on just one of these – promotion. Besides this rather myopic approach, place marketing suffers from an overly strategic view of the world that ignores the meaning and lived experience of places to individuals, especially residents. The purpose of this article is twofold – first, we investigate the impact of litter on place attitudes. Litter is a common, but negative, element of place, which is intimately connected to the lived experience of a place but typically far removed from the positive promotional activity favoured by place marketing efforts and the study thereof. In this sense, the article reframes place marketing from a strategic to a micro-marketing endeavour. We found that exposing respondents to litter significantly lowers their place attitudes. Our second contribution is to demonstrate the relevance of classic marketing research approaches, such as attitudinal measures, to investigate litter and its impact on place evaluations, through quasi-experimental design (with 662 respondents). Through this, we extend the range of theory and method applied in place marketing – away from controllable promotional endeavours investigated through case-studies to a more holistic and robust interpretation of place marketing, which has a measurable impact upon the places where people live and visit.     

How to achieve true integration: the impact of integrated marketing communication on the client/agency relationship

ABSTRACT

Reports from the advertising industry suggest that the pressure to create effective integrated campaigns across the ever-increasing mix of paid, owned and earned media is putting an enormous strain on client/agency relationships. This research identifies the main challenges that an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) approach places on this relationship and thereby advances the IMC literature by examining the practical challenges of implementation. Six key issues, developed from academic and industry sources, are presented to advertising experts, through a Delphi study, to stimulate debate and identify areas of agreement. The findings are brought together in a model which presents three main areas that need to be addressed, along with specific recommendations. These topics include the need for clients to provide stronger leadership in defining agency roles and responsibilities, more transparent remuneration systems to encourage teamwork across agencies as well as individual input and an increased emphasis on the strategic contribution from agencies.     

The Mediating Role of Customer Relationship on the Social Media Marketing and Purchase Intention Relationship with Special Reference to Luxury Fashion Brands

The reach of internet technology and social media has opened abundance of opportunities for marketers as well as for consumers across the globe. To anticipate future purchase behavior of consumers, marketers are not leaving any stone unturned. The main objective of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of social media marketing activities (entertainment, customization, interaction, word of mouth, and trend) on consumers' purchase intentions in luxury fashion brands. This study employed higher order Structural Equation Modeling to test the study model with (n = 243) sample data. We found positive significant impacts of social media marketing and customer relationships on consumers' purchase intentions. In addition, our study model confirmed full mediation of customer relationships in the relationship between social media marketing and consumers' purchase intentions. Based on our research findings, we strongly recommend that marketers of luxury fashion brands engage in social media marketing activities to provide value to customers.     

Consumers’ intention to buy protected designation of origin and protected geographical indication foodstuffs: the case of Greece

There is evidence that consumers tend to highly regard the quality, authenticity, ethical standards, country of origin and sustainable production of foodstuffs; hence, the growing number of studies on products of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). PDO and PGI labelling is associated with the preservation of local plant varieties, the financial reward of local people and the sustainable development of rural areas. This study was set out to investigate the factors associated with Greek consumers’ intention to buy PDO/PGI food products. A total of 615 consumers took part in the study from the municipality of Attica, Greece. The survey was conducted during the period of March 2011 to April 2013. Results indicated that approximately 50% of respondents were willing to buy PDO/PGI products whereas the willingness to buy these products constituted an important factor in purchasing them. More specifically, according to the regression analysis, factors that are significantly associated with respondents’ willingness to buy PDOs/PGIs were as follows: origin, health claims and label of a product, as well as sustainable consumer behaviour. Understanding the main factors relating to consumers’ purchasing intent towards PDO/PGI products is an important step towards promoting special labelled agri‐foodstuffs and hence contributes to the local sustainable development.