Celebrity versus film persona endorsements: Examining the effect of celebrity transgressions on consumer judgments

Abstract

This study introduces film personas (e.g., Hermione Granger, Jack Sparrow, Bridget Jones) as effective brand endorsers. A three study, mixed‐method approach is used. Results show that a film persona (e.g., Legolas, from Lord of The Rings, vs. celebrity, Orlando Bloom) is a more (less) effective endorser (i.e., resulting in more positive attitudinal and behavioral judgments). Exploratory findings indicate that this may be due to film personas possessing a tight (vast) association set, which is more (less) easily transferred onto the endorsed brand. Results of this study also illustrate that endorsed brands are shielded from the negative effects of celebrity transgressions when they are featured as their film persona in an endorsement. This study has important implications for advertisers in the choice and execution of their advertisements featuring celebrities.

Promoting authenticity through celebrity brands

“…As a result of the endorsement, the equivalent of eight bottles of nail polish were sold every second, and the total number of sales eclipsed other cosmetic brands such as L'Oréal (Haria, 2016). Whilst this example is consistent with prior research demonstrating that endorsements can result in higher behavioural intentions (Kennedy et al, 2019;Loroz and Braig, 2015), anecdotal evidence suggests that consumers may have even greater purchase intentions for celebrity-branded products, when compared to endorsed products. For example, in 2012, Lighthouse Beauty predicted that their perfume endorsed by Kim Kardashian-West would generate $10m dollars in sales in 12 months (Strugatz, 2017).…”

“…Pre-test 2 participants were sourced online from the survey share website, Survey Tandem. Following procedures used by Kennedy et al (2019), participants were asked to rate the level of fit between each celebrity and five different products using a seven-point scale (doesn't go together-goes together). Of the five products that were selected for each celebrity, the product with the highest level of fit (mean analysis) was chosen.…”

Investigating the marketing impact of consumers’ connectedness to celebrity endorsers

“…This study partially bridges a growing gap between the historical (i.e., marketers began successfully using celebrities for promotional purposes long ago) and contemporary records. That is, while contemporary marketers obviously still use celebrities as spokespeople, endorsers, or ambassadors, they are increasingly experiencing dodgy and disappointing communication outcomes (Cohen & Tyler, ; Fong & Wyer, ; Kennedy et al, ; Kim & Song, ). How can present‐day marketers better enlist celebrities in service of the near‐universal goal of making their brand(s) stand‐out favorably inside increasingly noisy, crowded, and distracted marketplaces?…”

“…A celebrity endorser is “any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in advertisements” (McCracken, , p. 310). The depiction of celebrities—be they professional athletes, movie or TV stars, artists, singers, or comedians—inside general marketing campaigns or specific advertisements can prove highly effective (Kennedy, Baxter, & Ilicic, ). Celebrities can be used to attract consumers’ attention (Buttle et al, ; Dean & Biswas, ), raise awareness (Kelting & Rice, ), expand consumers’ familiarity with affiliated brands (Erdogan, ; Miciak & Shanklin, ), change the images of brands (Erdogan, ; Goldsmith, Lafferty, & Newell, ), and even elevate consumers’ purchase intentions (Carrillat, d’Astous & Lazure, ; Petty et al, ).…”

Effects of celebrity endorsement on firms’ competition: from industrial organisation perspective

“…That is why golf equipment industry prefers Tiger Woods and basketball industry likes Michael Jordan as the endorsement celebrity (Derdenger, 2018). But fashion product firms choose entertainment stars, while the pharmaceutical industry only takes a guy wearing white coats to endorse its products (Kennedy, Baxter, & Ilicic, 2019). The more unique the endorser, the more monopolistic the endorser is.…”