UNDERSTANDING CELEBRITY/PRODUCT CONGRUENCE EFFECTS: THE ROLE OF COSUMER ATTRIBUTIONS AND...

Abstract

Although selecting appropriate celebrities to promote products is an imperative task for advertisers, it is not clear what determines the appropriateness of celebrities to endorse a particular product. The match-up hypothesis proposes positive effects of a congruent association between

a celebrity and a product being promoted (Kahle and Homer 1985), but the evidence is not as convincing as the idea. The purpose of the present research, therefore, is to further explicate the concept of fit or congruence and better understand the "match-up" effects in celebrity endorsements. Using a cognitive approach that focuses on consumers' attributions of celebrity endorsement motives, this experimental study examines the extent to which expertise serves as a basis for celebrity/product congruence and its effects on endorser credibility and advertising outcome measures. This approach posits that the level of celebrity/product congruence will influence celebrity endorsement effectiveness through (1) the process of consumer attributions of the celebrity's motive for associating him or herself with the particular product and (2) the subsequent effects of these attributions on the consumer evaluations of the endorser, the ad and the brand involved in the endorsements. Findings of the present study advance our theoretical understanding of the celebrity endorsement configuration, in particular, the match between celebrity and product and aid advertisers in identifying an appropriate endorser for their products.

REFERENCE

References

1. Kahle, Lynn R. and Pamela M. Homer (1985), "Physical Attractiveness of the Celebrity Endorser: A Social Adaptation Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, 11 (March), 954-961.

AUTHOR_AFFILIATION

Sejung Marina Choi, The University of Texas at Austin, TX

Nora J. Rifon, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI