How to choose the endorser: An experimental analysis on the effects of fit and notoriety

Authors

  • Veronica Gabrielli University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
  • Ilaria Baghi University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Abstract

The present study is focused on the endorser topic following two different paths: firstly, proposing an extension of the theoretical match-up model, enlarge it through two other potential types of consistency: the typicality fit and the imagery fit. Secondly, the present study aims verifies the applicability of the same framework to the emerging situation with a brand linked to a not well-known endorser (internal as the
founder or external as a web influencer).
An experimental 3*2 (fit typology*high/low notoriety) between subject analysis was conducted in the food service domain. It showed some interesting considerations. From a theoretical point of view, the first relevant finding is that endorsement might be assimilated to a co-branding strategy, confirming the match-up model as an effective theoretical framework in this domain as well, with significant differences
among the three fit typologies investigated. The typicality fit reveals to be the less effective in increasing attitude and other behavioural effects on consumers in spite of the large adoption of this kind of fit by companies. Instead, the imagery fit, seems to be the most impactful in terms of positive word of mouth activation and viral communication activities, at the same level at the categorical one. Moreover, the categorical fit induces the wider range of positive effect on the dependent variables (attitudes, willingness to pay and willingness to buy).
Another interesting contribution is that the presence of an appropriate fit (in particular the categorical one) is able to compensate the absence of endorser notoriety and, on the average, the usage of a very popular endorser from the same domain of  the brand is not necessary more effective in comparison with a not well-known endorser form the same domain. This result is the peak of the present research from a managerial point of view, as it leads to consider the opportunity to support the emerging practices by which companies turn to not well-known people (disclosing the founder, or presenting some workers, or adopting a common consumer as an influencer). The endorser not well-known, but presented with an adequate story-telling might be the best choice: less onerous and more effective than a big unrelated celebrity.

Author Biographies

Veronica Gabrielli, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Economics

Ilaria Baghi, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Economics

References

Aaker D.A. and Keller K. L. (1990). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions. The Journal of Marketing, 27-41.

Aaker D.A. (1996). Building Strong Brand. New York: The Free Press.

Agrawal J. and Kamakura W.A. (1995). The economic worth of celebrity endorsers: an event study analysis. Journal of Marketing, 59(3): 56-62.

Ajzen I. and Fishbein M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84(5): 888.

Amos C., Holmes G. and Strutton D. (2008). Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effects and advertising effectiveness: A quantitative synthesis of effect size. International Journal of Advertising, 27(2): 209-234.

Anderson J.R. (1983). A spreading activation theory of memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22(3): 261-295.

Anderson N.H. (1981). Foundations of information integration theory (Vol. 578). New York: Academic Press.

Anderson J.R. (2013). Language, memory, and thought. Psychology Press.

Arnett D.B., Lavarie D.A. and Wilcox J.B. (2010). A longitudinal examination of the effects of retailer-manufacturer brand alliances: The role of perceived fit. Journal of Marketing Management, 26(1-2): 5-27.

Baker M.J. and Churchill G.A. (1977). The impact of physically attractive models on advertising evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 14(4): 538-555.

Becker-Olsen K.L., Cudmore B.A. and Hill R.P. (2006). The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 59(1): 46-53.

Bergkvist L. and Zhou K.Q. (2016). Celebrity endorsements: a literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Advertising, 1-22.

Bertoli B. and Busacca G. (2012). Celebrity endorsement, brand extension, brand loyalty, Sinergie, 89 (settembre-dicembre): 51-67.

Bhat S. and Reddy S.K. (1997). Investigating the dimensions of fit between a brand and its extension. Marketing Theory and Applications, 8: 186-94.

Bignè-Alcaniz E., Càceres R.C. and Peréz R.C. (2012). Alliances between brands and social causes: The influence of company credibility on social responsibility Image. Journal of Business Ethics, 96(2): 169-186.

Biswas D., Biswas A. and Das N. (2006). The Differential Effects of Celebrity and Expert Endorsements on Consumer Risk Perceptions. The Role of Consumer Knowledge, Perceived Congruency, and Product Technology Orientation. Journal of Advertising, 35(2): 17-31.

Blackett T. and Russell N. (1999). What is Co-Branding?. In: Blackett, Boad T., Boad B. (ed.). Co-Branding – The Science of Alliance, Basingstoke: Macmillan: 1-21.

Boush D.M. and Loken. B. (1991). A process tracing study of brand extension evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(2): 16-28.

Campbell D.T. (1957). Factors relevant to the validity of experiments in social settings.

Psychological Bulletin, 54(4): 297.

Dawar N. (1996). Extensions of broad brands: The role of retrieval in evaluations of fit. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 5(2): 189-207.

Desai K.K. and Keller K.L. (2002). The effects of ingredient branding strategies on host brand extendibility. Journal of Marketing, 66(1): 73-93.

Desarbo W.S. and Harshman R.S. (1985). Celebrity-Brand Congruence Analysis. Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 8(1): 56-64.

Eastlick M.A. and Lotz S. (1999). Profiling potential adopters and non-adopters of an interactive electronic shopping medium. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 27(6): 209-223.

Erdogan B. Z. (1999). Celebrity endorsement: a literature review. Journal of Marketing

Management, 15(4): 291-314.

Erdogan B.Z., Baker M.J. and Tagg S. (2001). Selecting celebrity endorsers: The

practitioners perspective. Journal of Advertising Research, 41(5): 39-49.

Fazio R.H., Powell M.C. and Williams C.J. (1989). The role of attitude accessibility in the attitude-to-behavior process. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(3): 280-288.

Friedman H. and Friedman L. (1979), Endorser effectiveness by product type. Journal

of Advertising Research, 19(5): 63-71.

Guenzi P. and Borghini P. (2003). L’efficacia del testimonial atleta nelle politiche pubblicitarie aziendali, Micro & Macro Marketing, 3: 361-386.

Gürhan-Canli Z. and Maheswaran D. (1998). The effects of extensions on brand name dilution and enhancement. Journal of Marketing Research, 2(2): 464-473.

Gupta S. and Pirsch J. (2006). The company-cause-customer fit decision in causerelated

marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 23(6): 314-326.

Gwinner K.P. and Eaton J. (1999). Building brand image through event sponsorship: The role of image transfer. Journal of Advertising, 28(4): 47-57.

Hayes A.F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable

mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling [White paper]. -- Retrieved

from http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf.

Harrison-Walker L.J. (2001). The measurement of word-of-mouth communication and an investigation of service quality and customer commitment as potential antecedents. Journal of Service Research, 4(1): 60-75.

Heider F. (1946). Attitudes and cognitive organization. Journal of Psychology, 21(1): 107-112.

Heider F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley and Sons.

Helmig B., Huber J. and Leeflang P. (2008) Co-branding: the state-of-the-art. Schmalenbach Business Review, 60 (October): 359-377.

Herr P.M., Farquhar P.H. and Fazio R.H. (1996). Impact of dominance and relatedness on brand extensions. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 5(2): 135-159.

Hillyer C. and Tikoo S. (1995). Effect of cobranding on consumer product evaluations.

Advances in Consumer Reserarch, 22: 1.

Homer P.M. and Kahle L.R. (1990). Source expertise, timing of source identification, and involvement in persuasion: an elaborative processing perspective. Journal of Advertising, 19(1): 30-39.

Iasevoli G. (2003). Co-branded Image: la valutazione della coerenza tra i brand partners nelle alleanze di marketing. Congresso Internazionale Le tendenze del Marketing.

Kahle L.R. and Homer P.M. (1985). Physical attractiveness of the celebrity endorser: A social adaptation perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 11(4): 954-961.

Kamins M.A. (1990). An investigation into the “matchup” hypothesis in celebrity

advertising: When beauty may be only skin deep. Journal of Advertising, 19(1): 4-13.

Kanungo R.N. and Pang S., (1973). Effects of human models on perceived product quality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57 (2): 172-178.

Keller K.L. (2003). Brand synthesis: The multidimensionality of brand knowledge. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(4): 595-600.

Knoll J. and Matthes J. (2017), The effectiveness of celebrity endorsements: a metaanalysis. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(1): 55-75.

Lynch J.G. (1999). Theory and external validity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing

Science, 27(3): 367-376.

Lynch J. and Schuler D. (1994). The matchup effect of spokesperson and product

congruency: A schema theory interpretation. Phsycology and Marketing, 11(5): 417-445.

McCracken G. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorse? Cultural foundation of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(12): 310-321.

McGuire W.J. (1985). Attitudes and attitude change. Handbook of Social Psychology,

rd ed., vol. 2.

McSweeney F.K. and Bierley C. (1984). Recent developments in classical conditioning.

Journal of Consumer Research, 11(2): 619-631.

Mowen J.C. and Brown S.W. (1981). On explaining and predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers. In: K.B. Monroe (ed.). Advances in consumer research, 437-441. Ann Abor, MI: Association for Consumer Research.

Muller D., Judd C.M. and Yzerbyt V.Y. (2005). When Moderation Is Mediated and

Mediation Is Moderated. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6): 852-863.

Muroma M. and Saari H. (1996). Fit as a determinant of success in brand extension. In The 25th annual conference of the European Marketing Academy, Budapest.

Nedungadi P. and Hutchinson J. (1985). The prototypicality of brands: Relationships with brand awareness, preference and usage. NA-Advances in Consumer Research, 12: 78-86.

Ohanian R. (1991), The impact of celebrity spokespersons’ perceived image on consumers’ intention to purchase. Journal of Advertising Research, 31(1): 46-54.

Park C.W., Jun S.Y. and Shocker A.D. (1996). Composite branding alliances: An

investigation of extension and feedback effects. Journal of Marketing Research, 33(11): 453-66.

Pornpitakpan C. (2003). Validation of the Celebrity Endorsers’ Credibility Scale: Evidence from Asians. Journal of Marketing Management, 19(2): 179-195.

Pracejus J.W. and Olsen G.D. (2004). The role of brand/cause fit in the effectiveness of cause-related marketing campaigns. Journal of Business Research, 57(6): 635-640.

Rifon N.J., Choi S.M., Trimble C.S. and Li H. (2004). Congruence effects in sponsorship:

The mediating role of sponsor credibility and consumer attributions of sponsor motive. Journal of Advertising, 33(1): 30-42.

Robinson S.R., Irmak C. and Jayachandran S. (2012). Choice of cause in cause-related

marketing. Journal of Marketing, 76(4): 126-139.

Ruvio A., Shoham A. and Makovec Brenčič M. (2008). Consumers’ need for uniqueness:

short-form scale development and cross-cultural validation. International Marketing Review, 25(1), 33-53.

Schlegelmilch B.B., Bohlen G.M. and Diamantopoulos A. (1996). The link between green purchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousness. European Journal of Marketing, 30(5): 35-55.

Shimp T.A., Stuart E.W. and Engle R.W. (1991). A program of classical conditioning

experiments testing variations in the conditioned stimulus and context. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(1): 1-12.

Simonin B.L. and Ruth J.A. (1998). Is a company known by the company it keeps?

Assessing the spillover effects of brand alliances on consumer brand attitudes. Journal of Marketing Research, 2(1): 30-42.

Solomon M.R., Ashmore R.D. and Longo L.C. (1992). The beauty match-up hypothesis:

Congruence between types of beauty and product images in advertising. Journal of Advertising, 23-34.

Sun Z. (2010). Chinese celebrity-endorsed TV commercials: A content analysis. China Media Research, 6(2): 34-46.

Szymanski D.M. and Hise R.T. (2000). E-satisfaction: an initial examination. Journal of Retailing, 76(3): 309-322.

Thomas V.L. and Fowler K. (2016). Examining the Impact of Brand Transgressions on Consumers’ Perceptions of Celebrity Endorsers. Journal of Advertising, 1-14.

Till B.D. and Busler M. (2000). The match-up hypothesis: Physical attractiveness, expertise, and the role of fit on brand attitude, purchase intent and brand beliefs. Journal of Advertising, 29: 1-13.

Trimble C.S. and Rifon N.J. (2006). Consumer perceptions of compatibility in cause‐related marketing messages. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 11(1): 29-47.

Walker M., Langmeyer L. and Langmeyer D. (1992). Celebrity endorsers: do you get what you pay for? Journal of Consumer Marketing, 9(2): 69-76.

Wang H., Chao P. and Wang J.Y. (2015). Effects of Fit, Consumer Involvement and the Number of Celebrities on Consumer Behavior in an Emerging Market. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 27(5): 67-74.

Zhao D. and Fan L. (2004). False celebrity advertisement and the establishment of

advertising code of ethics. Practical Journalism, 11: 29-30.

Downloads

Published

2020-01-15

Issue

Section

Articles