Celebrity Endorsements and Beyond:

New Avenues for Celebrity Branding

Astrid Keel
Auburn University

Rajan Nataraajan
Auburn University

ABSTRACT
The authors assess the extant research in the area of celebrity endorsement and point out the need
for continuing research in celebrity marketing. Suggestions for future research are made in a wide
breadth of areas, spanning from celebrity endorsements to novel areas of celebrity branding. The
authors propose three celebrity-branding strategies and discuss the factors that may influence their
effectiveness. Other areas for future research in celebrity marketing that are discussed include
ethical marketing to vulnerable consumers and social marketing. The authors conclude with
suggestions regarding theories and methods that can be used for future research in celebrity
C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
marketing. 

Celebrities have long been used to sell products, dating back to the second half of the nineteenth century,
when Pope Leo XIII and Thomas Edison endorsed Vin
Mariani, a potent mix of Bordeaux wine and cocaine
(Feldman, 2007). The fascination with celebrities has
only increased in recent times. Indeed, it has been
noted that the media frenzy surrounding celebrities is
reflected in the advertising arena, where 25% of all advertising features a celebrity (Shimp, 2003), which is
an increase from the late 1970s, when 17% of advertisements featured celebrities (Howard, 1979). One of the
reasons provided for the increase in celebrity endorsements is that celebrities can help advertisements stand
out (Erdogan, 1999) and enter new markets (Blecken,
2009; Sherman, 1985). Companies using celebrities to
endorse their brands are not the only ones to benefit
from the partnership, as endorsements are very lucrative sources of income for celebrities. For example, it
is estimated that Tiger Woods earned approximately
$23 to $30 million from endorsements per year prior
to his infidelity scandal (Rovell, 2010). Because celebrities cost endorsed companies a substantial amount of
money, academic research has focused its efforts on
examining how celebrity endorsements affect performance measures such as advertising attitudes, brand
recall, and purchase intent. However, endorsements
are not the only marketing activity that celebrities
perform: in recent years, there has been an increase
in celebrity-branded products, such as perfumes and
clothing lines. We begin with a literature review summarizing current research in celebrity endorsements,

and then explain and develop several areas for future

research in celebrity marketing.

LITERATURE REVIEW
To our knowledge, the majority of research on celebrity
marketing has focused on endorsements. The literature on celebrity endorsements has examined (1) the
impact of celebrity endorsements on (a) various attitudinal measures, including advertising attitude, brand
attitude, brand recall, and purchase intent, and (b) financial measures, such as stock market performance,
and (2) which celebrity characteristics yield better advertising endorsement performance. In the following
section, we concentrate on a brief review of the salient
points related to celebrity endorsements. We summarize the findings from research that examines (1) the
impact of celebrity endorsements on various performance measures, (2) which celebrity and product characteristics enable better endorsements, and (3) the disadvantages of celebrity endorsements. For an extensive
and in-depth literature review, please refer to Erdogan
(1999).

Impact of Celebrity Endorsements

Past research has examined whether or not celebrity
endorsers are more effective at improving advertising
attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intent than
Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 29(9): 690703 (September 2012)
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C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20555

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noncelebrity endorsers. On the one hand, celebrities

create attention and bring prestige to brands, and may
encourage higher recall (Erdogan, 1999; Tom et al.,
1992). On the other hand, noncelebrity endorsers images are created and fine-tuned by the brands company, and therefore, their images, personalities, and
actions can be ensured to fit with the brands image. Additionally, because these live or animated noncelebrity
endorsers are owned by the brand, it is nearly impossible for them to endorse other brands. In other words,
both celebrity and noncelebrity endorsers have benefits,
which probably explain the inconclusive findings in academic research. Specifically, some research finds that
celebrity and noncelebrity endorsers effect on advertising attitudes, brand attitudes and purchase intent
are not different (Mehta, 1994), while other research
finds that noncelebrity endorsers or created endorsers
are more effective than celebrity endorsers (Tom et
al., 1992), and still other research finds that celebrities are more effective than noncelebrities at generating positive advertising attitudes and increasing purchase intent (Atkin & Block, 1983; Petty, Cacioppo, &
Schumann, 1983).
A similar stream of research examines the financial impact of celebrity endorsers. Using event studies, the findings indicate that using celebrity endorsers
generates abnormal positive stock returns (Agrawal &
Kamakura, 1995; Mathur, Mathur, & Rangan, 1997).
More recent research examines how positive or negative news pertaining to endorsers affects stock market
returns. As expected, positive (negative) news about the
celebrity endorser results in higher (lower) cash flow
expectations (Russell, Mahar, & Drewniak, 2005). The
negative effect of celebrities involvement in undesirable events is moderated by their perceived culpability
or blameworthiness; in other words, the greater (lower)
the perceived culpability of the celebrity involved in an
undesirable event, the lower (greater) the stock return
(Louie, Kulik, & Jacobson, 2001).

Celebrity Selection
A significant portion of the research in celebrity
endorsements examines how celebrity endorsements
function and how to best select celebrities (Erdogan,
1999). This stream of research typically uses one of the
following three models to develop theory: source credibility, source attractiveness, and the product match-up
hypothesis.
Source Credibility Model. The source credibility
model suggests that consumers perception of a
celebrity endorsers expertise and trustworthiness influences the advertising messages effectiveness (e.g.,
Dholakia & Sternthal, 1977; Hovland & Weiss, 1951).
However, this result does not seem to translate into
purchase intent, as Ohanian (1991) finds that celebrity
trustworthiness is not significantly related to intention
to buy the endorsed brand. In terms of expertise, more

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expert celebrities are more persuasive (Aaker, Batra,

& Myers, 1992) and increase purchase intent (Ohanian,
1991). However, the actual level of the celebritys expertise is unimportant; rather, it has been suggested
that what matters are consumers perceptions of the
celebritys level of expertise (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley,
1953; Ohanian, 1991). There are limiting conditions to
the source credibility model, as it has been suggested
that if consumers have a positive predisposition toward
an advertising message, a less-credible source can be
more persuasive than a more credible source (Erdogan,
1999; Harmon & Coney, 1982; Sternthal, Dholakia, &
Leavitt, 1978).
Source Attractiveness Model. The source attractiveness model argues that the physical appeal of a
celebrity influences the effectiveness of the advertising message (Baker & Churchill, 1977; Debevec &
Kernan, 1984) and intent to purchase (Friedman,
Termini, & Washington, 1976). Initial research indicates that endorser attractiveness impacts attitudes
(Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983) and persuasion
even when consumers are highly involved (Cacioppo
& Petty, 1980). Kahle and Homer (1985) find that attractive celebrities have more influence on preference,
recall, and purchase intent than less-attractive celebrities. Research related to purchase intent is inconclusive and suggests that even though physical attractiveness generates positive feelings toward advertising and
products, those positive feelings do not translate into
actual purchase intent (Cabalero, Lumpkin, & Madden, 1989; Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983; Till &
Busler, 2000). Additional research examines whether or
not gender of the endorser affects attitudes, but again,
results are inconclusive: Debevec and Kernan (1984)
find that attractive females improve attitudes more
than attractive males. Meanwhile, Cabalero, Lumpkin,
and Madden (1989) find that males intent to purchase
is higher with male endorsers and females intent to
purchase is higher with female endorsers. Contradicting both above findings, Petroshius and Crocker (1989)
find that neither attitudes nor intent to purchase are
affected by the endorsers gender. As the above discussion illustrates, the findings related to purchase intent
are not conclusive.
Product Match-Up Hypothesis. A significant portion
of research in celebrity marketing examines how the fit
between the celebritys image and endorsed brand affects advertising attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intent (Kamins, 1990; Misra & Beatty, 1990).
Past research has used many terms interchangeably
to refer to the fit between celebrity and brand: congruence (e.g., Misra & Beatty, 1990; Fleck & Quester,
2007), consistency (Walker, Langmeyer, & Langmeyer,
1992), match-up (Bower & Landreth, 2001), fit, and
match (Kamins & Gupta, 1994). The product match-up
hypothesis suggests that the higher the perceived fit
between the celebritys image and the endorsed brand,

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the more persuasive the celebrity and the ad will be

(Erdogan, 1999; Kamins & Gupta, 1994). The benefits of good fit also spill over to the celebrity, as it
increases the celebritys believability and attractiveness (Kamins & Gupta, 1994). The product match-up
hypothesis has also been examined in specific product contexts: when products are meant to enhance attractiveness, using an attractive celebrity will be more
beneficial than using a less-attractive one (Kahle &
Homer, 1985; Kamins, 1990). Several studies have attempted to identify the characteristics of products or
services most suited to using a celebrity endorser, but
the findings are inconclusive. Indeed, some research
finds that using celebrity endorsers is appropriate when
purchases entail high social or psychological risk (Atkin
& Block, 1983; Kamins, 1989; Kamins, Brand, Hoeke,
& Moe, 1989), or products/services are status symbols (Packard, 2007); but it has also been suggested
that when products are inexpensive, low-involvement,
and undifferentiated, celebrity endorsers influence
consumers (Callcott & Phillips, 1996). Interactions
between type of product, endorser ethnicity, and the
products country of origin suggest that for utilitarian products, consumers have more favorable responses
when the endorsers ethnicity has low fit with the products country of origin compared to when it has high
fit. With hedonic products, however, consumers have
more favorable responses when the endorsers ethnicity
matches their own, regardless of the products country
of origin (Ryu, Park, & Feick, 2006).
Despite the mostly positive tone of the preceding discussions, lack of perceived fit between the celebrity endorser and the brand or product can result in negative
evaluations. Indeed, Erdogan (1999) finds that when
the celebritys image does not fit with the brands image, consumers doubt the sincerity of the celebritys
endorsement, as s/he appears to have been bought. Alternately, during the span of an advertising campaign,
celebrities images can change and no longer fit with
the brand. Celebrities images can change as a result
of (1) a change in their physical appearance; (2) a decline in professional accomplishments; (3) immoral behavior; or worse, (4) involvement in criminal activities.
In other words, inconsistent or negative information
related to a celebrity can spill over and affect the image of the endorsed product (Klebba & Unger, 1983;
Till & Shimp, 1998). Finally, lack of fit can create an
additional problem, in which the celebrity eclipses the
brand (Evans, 1988). Eclipsing tends to occur when the
celebrity evokes stronger attachments than the focal
brand (Thomson, 2006); in other words, when there is
a poor match between the attachment to the brand and
attachment to the celebrity. In general, Mehta (1994)
finds that ads featuring celebrities encourage viewers
to focus on the celebrity rather than the brand, while
ads without celebrities encourage viewers to focus on
the brand and its features.
To our knowledge, current research examining under what conditions eclipsing occurs is fairly sparse. In
the following section, we make suggestions for future

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Figure 1. Twentieth second of Mr. James State Farm

commercial.

Figure 2. Fifty-ninth second of Mr. James State Farm

commercial.

research on eclipsing, using examples from recent television advertisements.

FUTURE RESEARCH ON ECLIPSING

In addition to consumers attachment to a celebrity, the
content of an endorsement-based advertisement can focus the consumers attention on either the celebrity or
the product/service. For example, a recent State Farm
(2009) commercial star LeBron James featured announcing his transition to football and signing with the
Cleveland Browns. The object of the endorsement, State
Farm, appears partially in the 28th second of the approximately one-minute extended commercial cut: only
the top-third of the letters from State Farm is visible (Figure 1). State Farm subsequently appears in
background banners four times; however, the focus of
the commercial remains Mr. James. It is only in the
59th second that Mr. James verbally mentions State
Farm and the State Farm logo appears in the forefront of the commercial, with Mr. James still prominent
(Figure 2). To summarize, the advertisement spends
significantly more time on Mr. James brand than the
endorsed brand. Mr. James is also more visible because he is consistently featured in the forefront of the

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Figure 3. Beginning of Mr. Biebers Proactiv commercial.

Figure 4. Mr. Bieber using Proactiv products.

advertisement. Lastly, there is no alchemy between the

two brands because Mr. James neither speaks extensively about the State Farm brand nor does he actively
engage with it. As such, the more prominent brand in
terms of time, visibility, and animationMr. James
eclipses the focal brand, State Farm. As a result, it is
unclear to what extent State Farms brand attitudes,
brand recall, and purchase intent increased as a result
of the partnership, which was supposed to attract a
younger consumer to its insurance service (State Farm,
2008). Meanwhile, Mr. James was not only paid handsomely for endorsing State Farm, but also reaped the
benefits of being depicted as a talented, humorous, and
ambitious individual.
Contrast this example with the advertisements of
Proactiv, an acne treatment system that periodically
features celebrities ranging from Avril Lavigne to
Mandy Moore. In these ads, the focus is evenly split between Proactiv and the celebrity. For example, teen pop
star Justin Biebers Proactiv (2010) advertisement immediately displays the Proactiv brand name at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen (Figure 3). Then, on
the 17th second of the approximately two-minute commercial, Mr. Beiber mentions he uses Proactiv to stop
his zits. He is then shown in a bathroomsupposedly
hisin which Proactiv products are prominently displayed on the counter (Figure 4). In the 40th sec-

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ond, a telephone number and a Web site address appear in a purple banner at the bottom of the screen;
this banner remains for the remnant of the commercial. Throughout the Proactiv commercial, Mr. Beiber
speaks about the product or is depicted with the product. In other words, the endorsed brand is as visible
as the endorser because Proactiv is consistently featured in the forefront of the advertisement. Lastly,
there is alchemy between the two brands because Mr.
Beiber explains how and when he uses Proactiv products and actively engages with them. As such, both
brands appear to be equally prominent in terms of time,
visibility and interaction, and therefore, eclipsing is
minimized.
There are potentially other factors that affect the
impact of timing, visibility, and alchemy on the probability of eclipsing. For example, in media that have
a time and audio component, such as television, radio,
or streaming Internet audio or video, there is a greater
possibility for the celebrity to eclipse the focal brand because the focal brand is typically inanimate. It is therefore likely that research using celebrity endorsements
in video or audio media format may detect eclipsing
more often than those using celebrity endorsements in
print format. Future research also needs to develop a
measure for eclipsing. One suggestion involves comparing brand recall of the celebrity brand to that of the
focal brand, which may help identify whether eclipsing occurs: when the focal brand has low (high) recall
compared to the celebrity brand, eclipsing may be high
(low). Then, future research should determine the factors that influence eclipsing, which may include focus
on the celebrity (as measured by time, visibility of focal
brand compared to celebrity, and celebritys interaction
with the focal brand), fame of celebrity, and advertising
medium.
To summarize, there are still many opportunities
for future research on celebrity endorsements, as some
of the current research findings are inconclusive. Future research can address the contradictory findings in
this stream of research or examine new areas, such as
eclipsing.

BEYOND CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

As illustrated in the prior discussion, the majority of the
literature examining celebrity marketing has studied
how celebrity endorsements affect advertising attitude,
brand attitude, intent to purchase, and/or stock value.
However, celebrities are involved in marketing activities outside of endorsement, and to our knowledge,
none of these activities have been examined in prior
research. The next sections examine areas for future
research and explain the potential difficulties with extending celebrity research outside of the endorsement
area. We begin with a discussion of celebrity-branded
products, then explain celebrities different branding
strategies, and explore what factors may contribute
to celebrity-branded products success. We also discuss

693

social issues, such as celebrity marketing targeted toward vulnerable consumers and celebrity philanthropic
activities. Finally, theories and methods that address
research questions are proposed.

Celebrity-Branded Products
Introduction. In recent years, an increasing number
of celebrities have been creating and branding their
own lines of products, as opposed to merely endorsing other companies products. Some celebrities choose
product categories that are close to their original source
of fame, while others venture in completely new categories. Celebrities products span a wide range of products, ranging from the mundane to the luxurious. In the
mundane category, actor and film director Paul Newman co-founded Newmans Own, which started with
salad dressing and expanded to include pasta sauce
and popcorn, among other things. In the cookware category, Rachael Ray, Mario Batali, and Emeril Lagasse,
all cooking show hosts and cookbook authors, have lines
of cookware and cooking accessories. A little more removed from his original source of fame, former heavyweight champion George Foreman has cookware in
the form of Foreman Grills. In the pet nutrition category, Cesar Millan, host of the Dog Whisperer show,
launched a line of dog food branded Dog Whisperer.
Another example in the dog food category and slightly
more removed from her fame, is Rachael Rays Nutrish. A third example of celebrity pet food products is
that of actor Dick Van Pattens (DVP) line of Natural
Balance Pet Foods, which he co-founded in 1989. Natural Balance seems to be even more removed from Mr.
Van Pattens original source of fame than Nutrish is
from Ms. Rays, because Ms. Ray is connected to canine
food by preparing human food and being an effusive dog
lover, while Mr. Van Patten gained his celebrity with
no connection to food or dogs. Another example of a
celebrity product far removed from the celebritys original source of fame is film director and producer Francis
Coppolas winery in California, which produces Francis
Ford Coppola wines.
Despite the disperse nature of the prior examples,
there is one category of products that attracts celebrities more so than others: luxury fragrances. Some notable examples of celebrity fragrances are recording
artist Britney Spears Curious; actress Elizabeth Taylors White Diamonds; actress and recording artist
Jennifer Lopezs J. Lo; and soccer star David Beckhams Instinct. As these few examples illustrate,
celebrities products span a wide range of categories.
Future research can develop a classification of celebrities by product category and distance to original source
of fame. The types of products incorporated in the
classification can include luxury goods, fashion, home
goods (e.g., Cindy Crawfords Home Collection), athletic products (e.g., Air Jordan by Michael Jordan)
and more mundane categories, such as food products.

694

Celebrity Expertise and Fit with Product Category. Lets return to the Rachael Ray examples stated
earlier. Ms. Ray uses her branded cookware, accessories, and knives on her Food Network show (30
Minute Meals), which suggests that the products are
high quality and can withstand tough daily usage in
the kitchen. In terms of dog food though, Ms. Rays
knowledge of canine nutrition is suspect. Some of her
homemade recipes for dog food and snacks that have
been featured in her magazine contain onion, which is a
poison to dogs because it contains sulfoxides and disulfides that can damage red blood cells and cause anemia
(Briggs, Folts, Osman, & Goldman, 2001; Nosek, n.d.).
Additionally, in the television advertisement for Nutrish she claims: The first ingredient: real meat! No
junk here. She has also been quoted saying Everyone
knows that I love my dog Isaboo like a member of the
family. So I stopped feeding her anything that included
ingredients I couldnt pronounce and made simplicity
king (Brokaw, 2010). The packaging of Nutrish includes an attractive photo of Ms. Ray cooking at the
stove while Isaboo waits patiently for her supposedly
home-cooked meal. The packaging also reiterates that
the food is made with real beef and brown rice or
with real chicken and vegetables, depending on the
formulation. However, the ingredients for the Chicken
and Veggies formulation belie Ms. Rays claims, as it
contains junk: brewers rice, which is primarily used
as a filler; soybean meal, a low-quality protein filler;
and corn gluten meal, another filler (Contreras, 2007).
Nutrish also contains controversial Menadione, a synthetic form of vitamin K,1 which Europe has banned
from use in human food and supplements due to serious side effects, which include cytotoxicity in liver cells

and hemolytic anemia (Bassler

et al., 2002; Contreras,
2007; Friedrich, 1987). To summarize, Rachael Rays
expertise related to dog care and nutrition is not as
extensive as her expertise of human food preparation,
and this disparity manifests itself in the quality of her
dog food. Whether or not the disparity in expertise for
each of her brand extensions affects financial performance is unknown, partially because financial data for
her brands are not available. However, based on prior
research in celebrity endorsements, we suspect that
for a certain segment of consumers, what matters is
not the celebritys actual expertise, but rather his/her
perceived expertise (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953;
Ohanian, 1991).
To summarize, the fit between the celebrity and
product category may affect the performance of the
celebritys product. Additional research may need to determine whether or not there is a relationship between
perceived celebrity expertise and celebrity-product category fit and address whether and to what extent
fit affects brand awareness, purchase intent, choice,
and financial performance. Furthermore, it may be of
1

Menadione is actually a precursor of vitamin K, but is referred

to in all dog-food packaging as a synthetic version of vitamin K
(Contreras, 2007).

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interest to examine the limiting conditions of those relationships. In the next section, we explain how celebrity
involvement may affect brand awareness and purchase
intent.
Level of Celebrity Involvement. Celebrities involvement in design, production, and marketing of their
branded products varies. Some celebrities are highly
involved with their commercial endeavors. For example, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has a handson approach to her fragrance and luxury fashion line,
dVb, as it has been reported that she designs her own
fashion (Karimzadeh, 2008). Another example is that of
model Elle Macpherson, who has a lingerie line called
Elle Macpherson Intimates. Ms. Macpherson apparently chooses lace, decorative bows, and color of her
lingerie collection (Monget, 2005). Meanwhile, other
celebrities are less involved in the products carrying
their name. For example, pop singer Jessica Simpson
does not design her clothing lines (Princy and JS by
Jessica Simpson), which are manufactured by Tarrant
Apparel Group. The manufacturers in-house creators
translate Ms. Simpsons style into clothing that she reserves the right to veto (Agins, 2005). Additionally, Ms.
Simpsons failure to wear her own clothing line, which
reflects a lack of involvement in marketing activities,
resulted in Tarrant filing a $100 million breach of contract lawsuit (DeCarlo, 2006a, 2006b).
Celebrities can be more or less involved in the development of their products, and it begs the question
whether or not their involvement influences attitudes,
purchase intent, sales, and longevity of the brand. The
involvements influence on sales may depend on the
functional area in which the celebrity is involved, such
as design, production, advertising, or public relations.
A celebritys involvement with advertising and public
relations is more visible to consumers than his or her
involvement in design and production, especially because consumers may not extensively research celebrity
brands. Additionally, it may be that the perception of
the celebritys involvement exerts more influence on
consumers attitudes and purchase intent than actual
involvement. It may also be possible that the relationship between perceived involvement and brand attitude
and purchase intent are moderated by certain factors,
such as expertise and likeability. To summarize, future
research needs to examine how celebrity involvement,
perception of celebrity involvement, and functional area
of involvement affect brand attitudes, purchase intent,
sales, and longevity of the brand, and whether or not the
strength of these effects are influenced by the celebritys
personal traits.

Types of Branding
Many of the prior examples are of celebrity-branded
products in which the brand consists of the celebritys
name or a variant of the celebritys name, as in the
case of dVb, which stands for David and Victoria Beck-

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ham. However, celebrity mono-branding is not the only

branding strategy that celebrities can consider. Specifically, the celebrity brand can appear in conjunction
with another brand or the celebrity brand may not appear at all. The next section will introduce and explain
these strategies, then examine research questions that
stem from these strategies.

Celebrity Mono-Branding. Many celebrity products

only carry the name of the celebrity. One of the reasons for celebrity mono-branding is that the provider
brand may not have high brand equity and brand recognition. As such, co-branding with the manufacturer
brand may not benefit the product or the celebrity. However, celebrity mono-branding has also been used when
a manufacturer brand has high recognition and high
brand equity. For example, Elizabeth Arden produces
and markets Britney Spears fragrances, but its brand
is not prominently featured in the packaging or advertising. The Elizabeth Arden brand, with its Red Door
logo and spas, projects a conservative image that appeals to a mature demographic segment (Kron, 1984).
Meanwhile, Ms. Spears is popular and has a sensual appeal. She has also occasionally exhibited immature and
reckless behavior, which has resulted in her appealing to a younger demographic segment. In other words,
the match-up between Elizabeth Arden and Ms. Spears
is somewhat lacking in fit. As such, co-branding with
the two brands may cause confusion in the consumer
and potentially damage both brands in their respective
target markets. It is possible that Elizabeth Arden is
using Spears brand to strategically extend its reach to
a customer base that it would typically not appeal to,
without affecting its own brand. Said differently, both
brands are leveraging the other to extend its own brand.
Elizabeth Arden is leveraging Ms. Spears brand to appeal to sell to different consumers, while Ms. Spears is
leveraging Elizabeth Ardens capabilities, relationships
and distribution system to expand her brand into a new
category.
As explained in the literature review, celebrity
endorsement research has examined whether or not
celebrities are better endorsers than a brand-specific
endorser, and whether or not the fame of the celebrity
has an impact on measures such as advertising attitude, brand attitude, and intent to purchase. Though
these prior research findings do not apply directly to
celebrity branding, parallels can be drawn between
celebrity endorser and celebrity brand, and between
noncelebrity endorser and a noncelebrity brand, which
is akin to a house-of-brands strategy. As such, future research can examine if, on average, leveraging
a celebrity brand is more effective at influencing brand
attitudes and purchase intent than using or creating a
noncelebrity brand. Future research can also examine
under what conditions a celebrity-branding strategy is
superior/inferior to noncelebrity brands.
In the next section, we explain and provide examples
for co-branded celebrity products. We also summarize

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existing literature related to co-branding in general,

and suggest some research questions.
Co-Branded Celebrity Products. Co-branding is a
brand alliance strategy in which two brands appear on a
single product. A co-branding strategy can be more beneficial than other branding strategies because a second
brand can increase the perceived value of the product
as well as that of the primary brand. In celebrity marketing, the celebritys brand is featured in conjunction
with a provider brand, which can be a manufacturer or
a retailer. For example, Nike produces and markets a
line of golf products branded TW for Tiger Woods. Both
brandsNike and Tiger Woodsare prominently displayed. Another example is that of Adidas, which produces and markets a line of casual clothing and shoes
branded David Beckham. In other situations, the cobranding occurs between a retailer and a celebrity, such
as rapper LL Cool Js clothing, which is available only
at Sears, and reality television star Lauren Conrads
apparel available exclusively at Kohls.
The existing research in co-branding, which does not
examine celebrities, finds that from a signaling perspective, co-branded products provide enhanced quality
signal compared to a mono-branded product (Helmig,
Huber, & Leeflang, 2008; Rao, 1997; Rao & Ruekert,
1994). Indeed, combining two complementary brands
into one product increases the value and benefits of the
co-branded product beyond those that a mono-brand
could achieve (Park, Jun, & Shocker, 1996). When one
brand is relatively unknown, perceptions and consumer
evaluations are increased when it is paired with a wellknown, high-quality brand (Fang & Mishra, 2002; Voss
& Tansuhaj, 1999). However, a co-branding strategy
can be more risky if the brands have poor fit: products co-branded with complementary brands tend to
have a better attribute profile than products co-branded
with noncomplementary brands (Park, Jun, & Shocker,
1996). Similar results were found by Simonin and Ruth
(1998), who suggest that when consumers assess partner brands as having greater (lesser) product category
fit and brand image fit, the more (less) favorable their
evaluations of the brand alliance (i.e., co-branding).
As such, one would expect that more successful cobranding occurs when the celebritys brand fits with
the second brand than when the celebritys brand does
not fit. However, Walchli (2007) finds that moderately
incongruent brands can generate more positive evaluations than congruent or highly incongruent brands
when consumers are highly involved in the decision
making. In other words, Walchli (2007) suggests a nonlinear relationship between brand fit and consumers
evaluations. It is therefore unclear what level of perceived fit a celebrity and partner brand should attain
in order to generate positive evaluations and high purchase intent. There are also several areas in which
celebrities and the partner brand can seek to achieve
complementariness: brand fit, product fit (Baumgarth,
2004; Huber, 2005; Simonin & Ruth, 1998) and complementariness in an attribute of the co-branded product

696

(Park, Jun, & Shocker, 1996); which one of these areas

has the strongest impact on evaluations and purchase
intent needs to be determined.
Co-branding strategies generate spillover effects
that can be positive or negative. Simonin and Ruth
(1998) show that consumers attitudes toward cobranded products positively influence their subsequent
attitudes toward each partner brand; brands that are
not well known receive a stronger spillover effect from
the co-branding than do familiar brands. Similarly,
Voss and Tansuhaj (1999) show that co-branded products increase subsequent evaluations of an unknown
brand when it is paired with a well-known brand. Based
on classical conditioning, when a high-equity brand,
which instills positive feelings, partners with a neutral or low-equity brand, the neutral brand elicits positive feelings as well (Washburn, Till, & Priluck, 2000,
2004). Additionally, brands lacking personality can be
improved by partnering with a brand that is superior on
that dimension, such as a celebrity (Lau & Phau, 2007;
Musante, 2000). Recent findings indicate that brand
personality is important because it can increase trust,
brand affect, and thus build brand loyalty (Sung & Kim,
2010). Because celebrities have fairly well defined personalities, this prior research seems to suggest that
celebrities are a natural choice as partners for brands
that lack personality, and may help improve consumers
attitudes. Future research needs to examine whether or
not celebrities can enhance the personality of a partner
brand more so than a noncelebrity brand.
Similar to celebrity endorsements, co-branding can
be a risky strategy if one of the brands suffers from negative perceptions, which then affect the second brand
(Helmig, Huber, & Leeflang, 2008). In celebrity cobranding, the potential for negative spillovers are significant. Celebrities, due to their human nature and position in the public eye, are more likely to generate negative publicity than inanimate brands. An additional
impediment to co-branding pertains to complications
in management due to the need to align the goals of
two distinct stakeholders (Helmig, Huber, & Leeflang,
2008). Because some celebrities behavior can be unreliable, management of celebrity co-branding activities
may be more difficult than traditional co-branding.
Helmig, Huber, and Leeflang (2008) summarize cobranding strategies previously examined in the literature: (1) vertical co-branding, also referred to as ingredient branding, in which one product incorporates
products from two different stages of the value chain
R
R
computer with Intel
); and (2) horizontal
(e.g., Dell
co-branding, in which one product incorporates prodR
ucts from the same step in the value chain (e.g., Dell
R
and IBM
computer). Celebrity co-branding does not fit
cleanly into either category because the celebrity brand
typically does not contribute any product. Several scenarios can unfold: (A) the celebrity may be involved in
the design process; (B) the celebrity may be involved in
the public advertising of the product, by appearing as
the main protagonist in advertising campaigns; (C) the
celebrity may only be involved in the public relations

KEEL AND NATARAAJAN

Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar

aspect of promoting the brand; or (D) a combination

of any or all of the above. Strategies (A) through (C)
may be more similar to vertical co-branding because
the celebrity is involved in only one stage of the process
while (D) may be more similar to horizontal co-branding
because the celebrity is involved in various stages of the
production and advertising.
There are several research questions that can be
examined based on celebrity co-branding: (1) Does cobranding benefit the provider brand and the celebrity
brand equally? (2) Are there situations in which
the provider brand benefits more or less than the
celebrity brand? (3) Do vertical and horizontal cobranding strategies have a different impact on consumers perceptions, purchase intent, and purchase behavior? (4) Are there limiting conditions to the above
relationships?
Noncelebrity-Branded Products. Last but not least,
some celebrity products are neither branded with the
celebritys name nor with an existing manufacturers
brand. For example, Crunk!!, an energy drink, was cocreated by rapper Lil Jon, who has an album called
Crunk Juice. His name is not featured on the can of
the energy drink; however, he has promoted Crunk!!
by taking cases of it to clubs, shows, and bars. Another
example is that of actress Lindsay Lohans fashion line,
which is branded 6126, the birth date of Marilyn Monroe. Though the association between Ms. Lohan and
6126 is not immediately apparent, the actress is prominently featured in 6126s advertising.
Noncelebrity branding does not capitalize on an immediate association. Though the examples of celebrities
who choose not to overtly leverage their brand name are
not as numerous as co-branding or mono-branding, it
may be that celebrities who have a narrow audience
or a limited appeal may benefit from branding a broadappeal product without their name. In other words, consumers who are fans of Lil Jon will associate Crunk!!
with him due to the overlap with his albums name;
however, other consumers who may have a neutral or
negative perception are unlikely to associate Crunk!!
with him due to the absence of his name. It is also possible that because the product category of energy drinks
is so far removed from Lil Jons area of fame and expertise, branding with his name is not an ideal strategy
to generate positive evaluations.
The use of noncelebrity branding seems to be most
prevalent in the food services, especially restaurants.
For example, Steven Spielberg and a business partner
opened a submarine-themed restaurant called Dive!;
Arnold Schwarzenegger opened an Austrian restaurant
called Schatzi; Jennifer Lopez opened a Cuban restaurant called Madres; and Eva Longoria partnered with
Todd English, a celebrity chef, to open Beso in 2007.
The questions that naturally arise from these examples are as follows: (1) To what extent does the branding a celebrity product with a name other than the
celebritys affect performance? (2) In what situations
is noncelebrity branding preferable?

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS AND BEYOND

Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar

To summarize, we have introduced three types of

branding strategies for celebrity products, celebrity
mono-branding, co-branding, and noncelebrity branding. Future research should identify whether one of
these strategies systematically yields better results
than the others. Additionally, future research should
examine under what conditions each of these strategies is more effective than others in influencing brand
attitudes and purchase intent.

Trends in Celebrity Culture

Despite the increase in celebrity branding and endorsements, it seems that many celebrities attempts to extend their brands have not fared well. Several celebrity
restaurants have closed: Dive! closed in May 1999;
Schwarzenegger sold Schatzis in 1998, and it closed
soon after; Jennifer Lopezs Latin restaurant, Madres,
closed in 2008. Celebrity fashion lines have also experienced turmoil: Jennifer Lopezs sportswear brand
Sweetface has been in hiatus since 2009, recording
artists Eminems and Eves fashion lines burned out
quickly, and Snoop Doggs clothing line was discontinued in 2003 after three years (Agins, 2005). Interestingly enough, the number of celebrity-branded products
has increased as consumer interest in wearing celebrity
brands has tended to decrease. Part of the reason for
this may be that consumers want to be able to replicate a celebritys image by purchasing a few celebritybranded clothing and accessories. However, because
celebrities are professionally styled and their images
are professionally crafted, mass-market clothing often
cannot capture their essence (Greenberg, 2006).
Types of Celebrities. With the increasing popularity
of reality television shows, YouTube, and blogs, there
has been an expansion of the definition of a celebrity.
Reality television programs featuring ordinary people are supplanting traditional television sitcoms that
hired expensive professional actors. Consumers can
now star in their own video productions which are
uploaded to YouTube, become writers through blogs,
and develop their online personas through Facebook or
MySpace (Deliso, 2006). With social media tools such as
YouTube and Blogger, anybody can be a web-based reality star (La Ferla, 2010) and achieve Warhols 15
minutes of fame. One such example is that of Tila
Tequila, who gained fame via MySpace and, as a result, received a reality show on MTV called A Shot at
Love with Tila Tequila. In other words, there seems to
be a cultural shift in which consumers seek out new authorities, whether they are bloggers, YouTubers, or important members from online communities (Hanson &
Kalyanam, 2007). However, it is unclear to what extent
these individuals can be considered celebrities. For example, self-proclaimed beauty gurus on YouTube are
only celebrities to those who are interested in makeup
products and enjoy watching videos. To those outside
the beauty blogging community, it might seem a bit

697

ludicrous to label a self-proclaimed makeup artist on

YouTube as a celebrity.
There has also been an increased interest in animated movies that appeal not only to children, but also
to adults, such as Shrek. With the rise of animation
and animated movies, we have to wonder whether or
not animated characters can be considered celebrities.
For example, Shrek and SpongeBob SquarePants have
been used to market cereals, candies, and cookies (Burros, 2005). Because these animated characters do not
have a real, personal life, most adults would not consider them celebrities; however, young children may
think otherwise.
To summarize, the precise definition of a celebrity
seems to be changing. Being a celebrity is more than being someone famous. For example, Paul Masson was an
early pioneer of viticulture in California, and though his
wine is well known, he was not considered a celebrity.
Additionally, it may be possible that we now have to
consider animated characters as celebrities for certain
segments of consumers. As such, future research needs
to develop a more updated definition of what constitutes
a celebrity and develop a typology of celebrities.

Vulnerable Consumers
Tweens and Adolescents. There is significant research interest in the effect of various marketing actions on tweens and adolescents. Tweens are described
as pre-adolescents who are between the children and
junior markets and are aged 9 through 15 (DrakeBridges & Burgess, 2010). It has been argued that adolescents are an important target market not only because of their discretionary spending power but also because of their future spending power as adults (Palan,
Gentina, & Muratore, 2010). Recent accounts suggest
that celebrity chefs such as Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray,
and Emeril Lagasse have contributed to a growing popularity of summer camps that specialize in cooking instruction for children. They have encouraged a culture
in which children think cooking is a way to become famous (Dizik, 2010). Other accounts suggest that there is
a segment of very fashion- and label-conscious children,
who emulate the style of stars such as Paris Hilton
and Victoria Beckham (Roberts, 2010). In other words,
celebrities are fashion and lifestyle opinion leaders and
have referent power on some children (Brown, Lusch,
& Nicholson, 1995; Shoham & Ruvio, 2008). Indeed,
children are quite impressionable: a recent study commissioned by Marketing Week suggests that celebrities
influence 80% of children to believe a product is cool,
while parents and teachers influence only 65% and 40%
of children, respectively (Costa, 2010) . Once adolescents view an advertisement that features a celebrity
they idolize, they are also more likely to pursue the
product in order to become more like the celebrity (Chia
& Poo, 2009).
Celebrities do not always have a positive effect on
children. Using social comparison theory (Festinger,

698

1954), Chia and Poo (2009) suggest that children who

compare themselves to celebrities develop greater desire for money and material possessions than children
who do not compare themselves to celebrities. Past research also indicates that low-income teenagers are
more susceptible to a celebritys influence than their
high-income counterparts (Isaksen & Roper, 2008),
which suggests that demographic characteristics can
impact celebrities effect on adolescents and tweens.
Furthermore, children feel that their relationships with
celebrities are quite real, in the sense that children
view them as actual interpersonal relationships, even
though they are vicarious and nonreciprocal (Chia &
Poo, 2009). Individuals who form strong attachments to
celebrities typically have problems forming meaningful
interpersonal bonds, which can spill over into adulthood (e.g., Cole & Leets, 1999; Thomson & Johnson,
2006). Indeed, adolescents who idolize sport celebrities
may become adults who worship such celebrities, which
can turn into obsession for about 10% of adults (Hyman
& Sierra, 2010). In other words, it is likely that the
child-celebrity relationship spills over into adulthood,
and for a certain segment of the population, becomes a
health hazard and a detriment to society.
To summarize, there is a need for more research
that determines how children perceive different types
of celebrities and determines to what extent celebrities
impact childrens attitudes and decision making. Future research can use Schors (2004) scale to measure
childrens involvement in consumer culture and their
materialism (Bottomley, Nairn, Kasser, Ferguson, &
Ormrod, 2010). Future research can identify whether
or not other demographic factors, besides income, affect how celebrities impact adolescents attitudes and
behaviors. It is also possible that celebrities effect on
attitudes and purchase intent varies by product category, as recent research indicates that apparel is the
category in which tweens express the most interest in
purchasing and spend the most of their discretionary
income (Drake-Bridges & Burgess, 2010). Last but not
least, there is a concern about the ethics and morality of using celebrities to influence childrens decision
making (Clay, 2000). Future research should examine whether or not children with varying degrees of
interest in celebrities have different levels of materialism, scholastic achievement, depression, feelings of
self-worth, and self-confidence.
Seniors. To our knowledge, there is little research addressing how the elderly are affected by celebrity marketing. There is some research in the silver marketing area, partially because Baby Boomers, who truly
value brand loyalty, are aging (Ferguson & Brohaugh,
2010). About one-third of the U.S. population is over
the age of 50 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009), and this segment of the population controls the largest portion of
wealth (Ferguson & Brohaugh, 2010). Recent research
in neuroimaging suggests that young adults and older
adults recruit different areas of the brain for different tasks (Cole et al., 2008), which suggests that older

KEEL AND NATARAAJAN

Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar

adults may react to celebrities differently than younger

adults. Prior research using functional magnetic resonance has suggested that for young adults, people
are more motivating than brands in terms of engaging encoding processes successfully and in activating
reward regions in the brain (Cole et al., 2008). Older
adults also lose some ability to differentiate between
classes of visual objects (Park & Gutchess, 2004) such
as objects and brands. Both of these findings suggest
that celebrity endorsements and celebrity products may
have a different impact on older adults than younger
adults. Future research should examine whether or not
older adults differ significantly from younger adults in
terms of how they are influenced by celebrities.
Functionally Illiterate Consumers. One-fifth of the
American public is functionally illiterate. In other parts
of the world, this proportion is higher. The functionally illiterate are vulnerable consumers that have difficulty understanding their preferences and often lack
the knowledge, skills, and/or freedom to act on them
(Ringold, 2005). These consumers may rely on cues
that simplify decision making, such as the presence of
celebrity. There is a great need for future research that
examines how celebrity marketing impacts the decision
making of vulnerable consumers. The main challenge
in this area is recruiting and conducting experiments
or surveys with a population that, by definition, has
difficulty reading and difficulty managing daily tasks.
The marketing of celebrities to children, the elderly,
and functionally illiterate raises some ethical considerations. Though the FTC (2009) has provided guidelines
for endorsers and the endorsed brands, the extent to
which the guidelines are effective with vulnerable consumers is unknown. Tweens and adolescents may not
be savvy enough to look for FTC disclaimers, the elderly
may not be physically able to read the fine print, and
the functionally illiterate may not be able to understand
the content of a disclaimer.

Celebrity Philanthropy
Many celebrities are involved in charity work. Angelina Jolie has focused international attention on her
cause by visiting refugee camps, donating money, and
adopting several children. She is also the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. David Letterman has a
charitable foundation called the American Foundation
for Courtesy and Grooming. Former basketball star
Magic Johnsons foundation seeks to fight HIV/AIDS.
During the Haiti disaster, celebrities such as Madonna,
Bono, Wyclef Jean, and Jay-Z performed to raise over
$57 million through a telethon that was viewed by more
than 160 million people worldwide (Sandberg, 2010).
Some researchers contend that the marriage between
media consumption, celebrities, and philanthropy has
resulted in charitainment, which defeats the purpose
of charity. Indeed, it has been suggested that the marketization of philanthropy depoliticizes the relationship

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS AND BEYOND

Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar

between the market and the negative impacts it has on

human well-being, thereby making philanthropy less
likely to catalyze substantive social change (Nickel
& Eikenberry, 2009, p. 974). Additionally, there is a
certain sector of the population that views celebrities
philanthropy as self-serving. Samman, McAuliffe, and
MacLachlan (2009) find that even though consumers respect celebrities that display genuine or long-term commitment to causes, they prefer that celebrities not seek
publicity for those causes. Findings also suggest that
individuals are more likely to be influenced by their
perceptions of the celebritys character as opposed to
their causes.
The research stream in celebrity social marketing,
to our knowledge, is quite sparse. As such, further research is needed to identify (1) to what extent celebrities philanthropy affects their fans philanthropic behavior, (2) whether or not celebrities characteristics
and type of charity affect the previous relationship, (3)
which consumer segments are most likely to be influenced by celebrities philanthropy, and (4) to what extent and under what conditions celebrities images are
affected by their philanthropic activities.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
Relevant Theories
Many of the suggestions for future research can
be addressed with existing psychological theory. The
well-known classical conditioning has already shown
promise in application in a variety of contexts (e.g.,
McSweeney & Bierley, 1984; Shimp, 1991). As such,
classical conditioning may help explain the match-up
hypothesis related to celebrity fit with product category
and celebrity fit with provider brand. Current research
has used classical conditioning to explain how celebrities (US) can generate positive attitudes (CR) for a previously neutral brand (CS) (Till, Stanley, & Priluck,
2008).
The equally well-known Heiderian balance theory (Heider, 1958) has also been used in different
contexts and the work of deFarias, Nataraajan, and
Kovacs (2009) in the context of family-owned businesses would be a relatively recent example of the versatility of this theory. A prime area for application in
celebrity marketing would be celebrity fit. Another
area within the context of celebrity marketing would be
the aspect of regulatory control (prevention and promotion) particularly addressing the ubiquitous tussle between temptation/desire and consumption control (e.g.,
Dholakia, Gopinath, Bagozzi, & Nataraajan, 2006). A
consideration of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1954)
would also aid in this context.
While the origins of implicit cognition go far back
into the past, applicable measures pertaining to it are
more recent phenomena. Such measures have found
application in marketing studies of implicit attitudes

699

of consumers toward particular brands and products

(Nevid, 2010). These studies typically involve applications of implicit measurement to consumer cognition,
consumer persuasion, and nonverbal communication in
the retailing context (Nevid, 2010). It might therefore
be worthwhile to explore possibilities of applications of
implicit attitudes in aspects of celebrity marketing.

Research Methods
There are several methods to test the research problems
put forth in this paper. The majority of prior research in
celebrity endorsement has utilized primary data from
experiments to measure advertising attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intent. Many of the research problems suggested in this paper can also be examined using
experimental designs, with the same dependent variables. Additionally, primary data resulting from qualitative research methods can be especially useful in examining research questions related to celebrities effect
on vulnerable consumers, such as children, the elderly,
and functionally illiterate.
Analysis using secondary data may be more difficult
to execute. Celebrity brands are licensed by manufacturers who have a variety of brands in their portfolio,
many of which are not celebrity brands. As such, performance metrics for any individual brand are difficult,
if not impossible, to obtain, and it may be challenging to
develop a sufficiently large sample for time-series analysis. Most companies, however, publically announce
when a licensing deal starts, is re-evaluated (e.g., a
product line is removed/ added), or ends. Thus, a data
set that contains the duration or longevity of celebrity
brands, celebrity characteristics (such as involvement)
and product characteristics (such as product category)
can be analyzed using survival analysis.

A CONCLUDING NOTE
This paper summarizes the research in celebrity marketing and examines new avenues for research, not only
in the celebrity endorsement area, but also in novel
areas of celebrity branding. We explained the various
types of celebrity branding that currently exist, and
examined what factors may influence the effectiveness
of any particular branding strategy. We also provided
suggestions for future research in the area of ethical
marketing pertaining to vulnerable consumers, such
as children and the elderly, and celebrities social marketing. Last but not least, we suggested theories and
methods that can be used in future research examining
these issues. Finally, since, by and large, what people
think about what they feel and what they feel about
what they think determine what they do to themselves,
others, and the world in general (Nataraajan & Bagozzi,
1999), we suggest that future research in celebrity marketing bears a responsibility in this regard.

700

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Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to: Astrid

Keel, Department of Marketing, College of Business, Auburn
University, 415 W Magnolia Avenue, Suite 201, Auburn,
Alabama 36849 (alk0012@auburn.edu).

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