The Impact of Celebrity Endorsers on Brand Image and Purchase Intent
This research examined the impact of celebrity endorsers public image on consumers' perceptions of the brand endorsed by that celebrity as well as the consumer's purchase intentions toward the endorsed product. The author studied the extent to which the link between celebrity image and brand image is affected by consumers' self-celebrity congruence perceptions. Self-celebrity congruence is defined as the extent to which a consumer perceives a similarity between the celebrity endorser and his/her actual or ideal self. In-depth participant interviews revealed that, when consumer's perceived high levels of self-celebrity congruence, celebrity endorsers with negative images could still be associated with positive brand images and purchase intentions. Conversely, when self-celebrity congruence perceptions were low, celebrities with positive images were more likely to be associated with less positive brand images and purchase intentions. The findings have important marketing implications; they highlight the importance of using celebrity endorsers with whom a given marketers' target audience strongly identifies.