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Measuring the Effects of Multiple Product Endorsements
by Celebrities through Source Credibility
Model, Source Attractiveness
Model, Match-Up Hypothesis & Meaning
Transfer Model (MTM)
The University of Texas
at Austin
This
study explores the effects of multiple product endorsements
by celebrities in Korean advertisements. The source credibility
model, the source attractiveness model, the match-up hypothesis
model, and the meaning transfer model will be employed to measure
effects of multiple product endorsements by Korean celebrities.
Korean TV commercials featuring celebrities will be shown to
200 college students. The questionnaire for this current study
will be designed based on previous studies which have been
used to measure the effects of celebrity endorsement in advertising.
Implications for advertising researchers and practitioners
will be discussed after this study is finalized.
(Note: This study will be continued and developed in the ‘Advanced
Advertising Research Course’ by Dr. Wei-Na Lee for the
spring semester.)
Advertising
has become a part of culture in our society. The practice
of celebrity endorsement in advertising plays a pivotal
role in making advertising into our culture. The use of
celebrity endorsement has been on the rise and its phenomenon
is worldwide. According to the industry sources in the
United States, approximately 25% of all television ads
feature a celebrity (Eedogan, Baker, and Tagg 2001). In
Korea, over 70% of TV commercials feature a celebrity -
actor/actress, pop musician, sports figure, entertainer,
etc. (2006 Kim).
The
use of celebrity endorsement is a global practice. In line
with this global trend, the celebrity endorsement has been
a popular advertising tool for advertising practitioners
as well as clients world-wide. As companies extend their
businesses internationally, using celebrities with worldwide
popularity has become a global marketing communication
strategy. For example, Asics ran
a TV commercial featuring internationally-known soccer players,
including David Beckham, Michael Ballack, Duri Cha, Gonzales
Raul, and other players. Worldwide, popular celebrities’ endorsement
can help companies overcome cultural barriers, constructed
through i.e., language, time, space, relationships, risks,
masculinity and femininity. (Hofstede 1984; De Mooij 1994).
Celebrities are defined as people
who enjoy public recognition by a large share of a certain
group of people who often have distinctive attributes such
as attractiveness and trustworthiness (Silvera and Austad
2004). Advertisers spend billions of dollars on celebrities
in hopes that they will bring positive effects, such as increasing
sales and profits, generating positive attitudes toward the
advertised brand, and increasing brand awareness and advertising
recall by penetrating the clutter of advertising spots. Celebrity
endorsement is also known to affect consumers’ purchase
intention favorably (Ohanian 1991). In addition, celebrity
endorsements can also generate extensive PR effects and provide
an opportunity to let the new brand be known to the public
(Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg 2001).
Previous
research (Friedman and Friedman 1979; Ohanian 1991; Tripp,
Jensen, and Carlson 1994; Solomon 2002) supports the effectiveneon,
multiple product endorsement and celebrity shadow effect.
Celebrity shadow effect, in particular, is likely to occur
when advertising focuses too much on the celebrity him/herself
at the expense of the advertised brand (Lee, Paek, and Kim
2004). Using an associative network model of memory as a
theoretical framework, Till and Shimp (1998) found that negative
information about the celebrity will lower consumers’ brand
evaluations.
Among
the concerns shared by advertising researchers and practitioners,
celebrities’ multiple
product endorsements have been an important issue in the
Korean advertising industry where the use of multiple product
endorsements by celebrities is especially prevalent since
advertising is considered to be ‘an entertainment business’ in
Korea. The Korean advertising industry provides a good arena
for researchers to find effects of multiple product endorsement
by celebrities. The author will explore the effects of multiple
product endorsements by celebrities through source credibility,
source attractiveness, match-up hypotheses, and meaning transfer
model. In different product categories how does the use of
celebrities’ multiple product endorsements work?
Both
the source credibility model and the source attractiveness model rest on research
in social psychology. They were originally devised to explain communications
processes and were later applied to the endorsement process (McCracken 1989).
The match-up hypothesis suggests that the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement
depends on the existence of a ‘fit’ between
the celebrity endorser and the endorsed brand (Till and Busler 1998). The meaning
transfer model by McCracken (1989) explains the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement
by assessing the meanings consumers associate with the endorser and eventually
transfer to the brand.
In short,
the source credibility and the source attractiveness models
explain the relationship between the information source (endorser)
and the message receiver (consumer) whereas the match-up
hypothesis model explains the relationship between an endorser
and an advertised brand or product. Unlike the other three
models, the meaning transfer model (MTM) deals with three
dimensional aspects of celebrity endorsement processes and
explains the relationship between an endorser and the product/brand,
and product/brand and consumer.
Source Credibility
Model
Source
credibility is defined as a term which is ‘commonly used
to imply a communicator’spositive
characteristics that affect the receiver’s acceptance
of a message’ (Ohanian 1990). The source credibility
model first proposed by Hovland and his associates contends
that the effectiveness of a message depends on perceived expertise
and trustworthiness of an endorser (Hovland et al., 1953 and
Ohanian 1991). These two factors expertise and trustworthiness
highlight the concept of the source credibility (Ohanian 1990).
According to Kelman (1961), ‘credible source’s
information can have impact on beliefs, opinions, attitudes,
and behavior through internalization process, ‘which
occurs when receivers accept a source influence in terms of
their personal attitude and value structures.’
Expertise
Expertise
refers to the perceived level of knowledge, experience, or
skills possessed by an endorser (Hovland et al. 1953). Ohanian
(1990) contends that the perceived expertise of celebrity endorsers
is more important in explaining purchase intentions rather
than their attractiveness and trustworthiness. In short, a
celebrity who is perceived as an expert by consumers carries
more persuasiveness than others. The source’s
perceived expertise has a positive effect on consumers’ attitude
change (Ohanian 1990; Horai, Naccari, and Fatoullah 1974).
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness,
according to Ohanian (1990) is ‘the listener’s
degree of confidence in, and level of acceptance of, the speaker
and the message’.
Erdogan et al. (2001) also define trustworthiness as ‘the
honesty, integrity, and believability of an endorser as perceived
by the target audience.’ In terms of the effect of trustworthiness
on attitude change, Miller and Baseheart (1969) conducted an
experiment and showed a result supporting that when the perceived
communicator’s trustworthiness is high, attitude change
is more likely to occur. Many prior research (Friedman and
Friedman 1976; Friedman, Santeramo, and Traina 1978) found
that trustworthiness has high correlation with ‘a respondent’s
perceived similarity to the source, the level of source’s
expertise, and the source’s attractiveness’. Friedman
et al. (1978) also found that trustworthiness is the important
factor in source credibility. However, interestingly, Ohanian
(1990) suggests that a celebrity’s trustworthiness does
not have significant relations with purchase intentions.
Source Attractiveness
Model
Source
attractiveness is related to physical attributes of endorsers,
such as similarity, familiarity, and likeability. In line
with the attributes of the source attractiveness, the source
attractiveness model contends that ‘the effectiveness
of a message depends on source’s “familiarity”, “likeability”, “similarity”,
and “attractiveness” to the respondent’ (McGuire,
1985; Ohanian 1990). According to Kelman (1961), a communicator’s
physical attractiveness affects ‘the effectiveness of
persuasive communication through identification, which occurs
when information from an attractive source is accepted as a
result of desire to identify with such endorsers’.
Match-up Hypothesis
The match-up hypothesis suggests
that the effectiveness depends on the existence of a ‘fit’ between
the endorsing celebrity and the endorsed brand (Till and Busler
1998). In other words, the degree of consumers’ perceived ‘fit’ between
an advertised brand and a celebrity endorser’s image
plays a significant role in product and ad-based evaluations.
Kamins (1990) conducted an experiment with 89 graduate students
to explore a possible relationship between celebrity endorser’s
physical attractiveness and the advertised brand’s attractiveness.
The study finding suggests that attitude toward ads and products
becomes favorable as celebrity endorser’s attractiveness
increases. The congruency between celebrity endorsers and brands
was studied by researchers (Till and Busler, 1998; Till and
Shimp 1998) in order to explain the effectiveness of using
celebrities in advertising. Study results show that a number
of celebrity endorsements turned out to be very successful
while others were literally fiascos (Till and Busler, 1998).
This study result belies the general assumption that using
celebrity endorsement is always effective.
Meaning Transfer
Model
Meaning
transfer model provides insight when it comes to explaining
a complicated process of celebrity endorsements in advertising.
McCraken (1989) explains the effectiveness of celebrity spokespersons
by assessing the meanings consumers associate with the endorser
and eventually transfer to the brand. According to McCraken
(1989)’s meaning transfer model, meaning transfer follows
three stages. First, the meaning associated with a celebrity
moves from the endorser to the product or brand. Second, meanings
attributed to the celebrity become associated with the brand
in the consumer’s mind. And lastly, the brand’s
meaning is acquired by the consumer in the consumption process.
The final stage of this model underscores the importance of
the consumer’s role in the process of endorsing brands
with celebrities.
McCraken’s theoretical concept of model transfer model
was tested by Langmeyer and Walker (1991). Their study results
show that symbolic meanings possessed by celebrities (Cher;
Madonna, and Christie Brinkley) transferred to the endorsed
brand/product (Scandinavian Health Spa, bath towels, and blue
jeans) (Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg 2001).
Celebrity Endorsement
by Product Type
Friedman
and Friedman (1979) first studied the effectiveness of celebrity
endorsement by product type. Their study finding suggests that
the use of celebrity endorsement is more effective in jewelry
products that have high social and/or psychological risks whereas
the use of an expert is more effective in vacuum cleaner products
which have high financial, performance, and/or physical risks
(Friedman and Friedman 1979). The use of a typical consumer
is more effective in cookies where the above risks mentioned
are low.
In terms of sustaining recall of the advertisement and the
brand name of the product, the celebrity endorsement was known
to be more effective than the use of experts and/or typical
consumers, regardless of product types (Friedman and Friedman
1979).
Celebrities’ Multiple
Product Endorsements
Prior
studies (Mowen and Brwon 1981; Mowen, Brown, and Schulman 1979)
suggest that knowing that a celebrity endorses multiple products
negatively affects consumers’ perceptions
of endorser trustworthiness, brand image, and ad evaluations.
Utilizing attribution theory, Kelly (1973) contends that multiple
product endorsers are evaluated less favorably than single
product endorsers, hence, ‘multiple product endorsements
precipitate differences in consumers’ perceptions of
the endorsers (Tripp, Jensen, and Carlson 1994).
Tripp, Jensen, and Carlson (1994) suggest that ‘the number
of products a celebrity endorses negatively influences consumers’ perceptions
of endorser credibility and likability, as well as attitude
toward the ad, and the number of exposures to the celebrity
endorser has an impact on attitude toward the ad and purchase
intention’ (1994). Tripp, Jensen, and Carlson (1994)
also found that the number of products endorsed by the celebrity
and the number of exposures to the celebrity do not affect
consumers’ attitudes.
Cross-Cultural
Study in Celebrity Endorsement in Advertising
Korea
is characterized as a collectivistic and high-context culture
whereas the United States is characterized as individualistic
and low-context (Cho et al. 1999; Hofstede 1984; Taylor,
Miracle, and Wilson 1997). In a collectivistic culture like
Korea, celebrities could be considered more credible and
influential than in an individualistic culture. According
to the recent study by Choi, Lee, and Kim (2005), consumers
in a high-context culture are more likely to be ‘familiar
with indirect or implicit ways of communication via a symbol’ than
those in a low-context culture. Hence, the use of celebrity
can be more effective in a high-context culture like Korea
than in a low-context culture like the United States.
Therefore, the celebrity endorsement
may be considered an effective marketing strategy in Korea.
However, it is not yet known whether this cultural uniqueness
collectivistic with high-context culture applies to the
reason why the use of celebrity endorsement is so prevalent
in Korea and whether it is effective communication in advertising.
In their 2005 study, Choi, Lee, and Kim found that celebrities
in US advertising are featured as themselves while celebrities
in Korean advertising are more likely to act in roles. It is
also known that there is similarity when it comes to using
celebrity strategy mainly to a certain product category, such
as food, beverage, personal care products (Choi, Lee, and Kim
2005). This study result is consistent with ELM that celebrities
can be more effective in low involvement product category
Research
Questions and Hypotheses
RQ 1 How do consumers
in Korea view multiple product endorsements by celebrities?
RQ 2 How do multiple
product endorsements affect advertising and brand evaluation?
H
1 Consumers in Korea will not view celebrities endorsing
multiple products
negatively.
H
2 The number of products a celebrity endorses will not negatively
affect consumers’
perceptions
of endorsers credibility and likability, as well as attitude
toward
the
ad.
H 3 Celebrities’ product
endorsements will be more effective in low-involvement
products
than in high-involvement products.
For
this study the actual TV commercials featuring Korean celebrities
will be employed, rather than creating experimental stimuli.
A Korean celebrity, Jung
Ji-Hoon who is a
famous singer known as Rain in most Asian countries, will be
employed in the study. His product/service TV commercials will
be tested on 200 college students in return for extra credit.
He appears in different product categories, ranging from drinks,
fried chicken, credit cards, notebook computers, and boilers.
The TV commercials will be divided according to product type
(low-involvement vs high involvement). This experiment will
operate online.
Low-involvement
Product TV Ads - drink, fried chicken
High-involvement Product TV Ads - notebook
computer, boiler, and credit card
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Nam-Hyun
Um is
a PhD student in the Department of Advertising at the University
of Texas at Austin. His current research interests include
cross-cultural study, celebrity endorsement, and the relationship
between advertising and brand loyalty. To contact him, please,
send mail to: goldmund@mail.utexas.edu
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