Dead Celebrity (Deleb) Use in Marketing: An Initial Theoretical Exposition

Abstract

The market for dead celebrities (Delebs) is large and growing. According to recent estimates, it is now worth $2.25 billion in annual licensing and royalty revenues (CBC, 2013; Kirsta, 2012). The practice is now so prevalent that Forbes began its annual ranking, in 2001, of the postmortem earnings of the “top‐earning dead celebrities.” In this paper, the author examines this practice and does the following. First, key terms are defined. Next, some of the major similarities and differences between living and dead celebrities are looked at. Following this, six major streams of theory that might pertain to Delebs are examined. They are used to explain (a) why Delebs remain popular in the consumption culture (“Nostalgia” theory), (b) why Deleb possessions are often in demand (“Celebrity Contagion” theory), (c) why many people willingly accept the products of Deleb morphing and reanimation efforts, even though they know they are not real (the “Pleasure of Imagination”), (d), why Deleb morphing and reanimation efforts sometimes fail with some audiences (the “Savanna Principle”), (e) how Deleb reanimations are typically perceived by human audiences (the “Uncanny Valley”), and (f) how Delebs should be properly used by marketers (“Fit” theory). The author concludes with some key principles learned, in addition to looking at the limitations of this paper and future directions for Deleb research.

A thematic exploration of human brands: literature review and agenda for future research

“…D’Rozario (2016) states that human brands may persist even after the passing of the individual to the extent that the market of dead celebrities – “delebs” – is large and growing. In 2001, Forbes began its annual ranking of the post-mortem earnings of the top-earning dead celebrities.…”

“…Human brand evolution has been addressed by several researchers whose results support the notion that human brands unfold, and some may even reach the point of becoming icons whose relevance surpasses time and geographies. Additionally, deceased human brands is an important issue for future research and it would be appropriate to extend the study by D’Rozario (2016).…”

Programmatic creative: AI can think but it cannot feel

“…We did not test the "uncanny valley theory," but it may affect the humanizing of Al-enabled tools and techniques (Kim et al, 2019). That is, consumers expect AI to be humanlike, but if it is too much so, they feel the uncanny valley effect (D'Rozario, 2016). For example, ANZ banks used a digital AI assistant named Jamie to explicitly mimic the look and behaviors of actual human customer service agents.…”

Idolizing “My Love from the Star”: Idol attachment and fanaticism of luxury brands

“…Celebrities are cultural fabrications that embody social types and serve as role models (Desai & Basuroy, ). Role models can be anyone that can motivate individuals to adopt certain self‐images and lifestyle patterns (Lockwood & Kunda, ), as well as influence their decision choices and buying attitudes (D’Rozario, ; Huang et al, 2015; Martin & Bush, ). Past studies emphasize on associating the celebrities who would best represent the brand (e.g., Boeuf, ).…”