Celebrity endorsement, self-brand connection and consumer-based brand equity
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of celebrity endorser credibility on consumer self-brand connection and endorsed brand equity. A conceptual model is developed, positioning consumer self-brand connections as a partial mediator of the effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey of 382 consumers of sports drinks in the USA was conducted to estimate the conceptual model. Stimuli, devised on the basis of a pre-test, involved celebrity–brand pairings in the context of the US non-aseptic sports drinks industry. Structural equation modeling is used as the analytic tool.
Findings
The research model is empirically supported. Celebrity endorsements impact endorsed brand equity via two pathways. First, a direct effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity was observed, which is positively moderated by the degree of consumer-perceived endorser–brand congruence. Second, self-brand connection partly mediates the effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity, supporting an indirect mechanism of brand equity enhancement.
Practical implications
Managers can now consider using celebrities as tools to develop meaningful self-concept-related connections with consumers. Additionally, the results of this study support for the use of celebrity endorsers as direct brand equity-enhancing tools.
Originality/value
This study is among pioneering investigations that examine the self-concept repercussions of celebrity endorsements, suggesting that celebrity endorsers possess the ability to engage with consumers at the self-concept level, in turn, impacting endorsed brand equity. Additionally, this paper examines the direct and indirect mechanisms by which celebrities influence consumer-based brand equity of the endorsed brand.
Keywords
Citation
Dwivedi, A., Johnson, L.W. and McDonald, R.E. (2015), "Celebrity endorsement, self-brand connection and consumer-based brand equity", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 449-461. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2014-0722
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited