ISSN 2230 – 8660 (print)

ISSN 2230 – 8679 (online)

Asian Journal of Management Applications

and Research
Vol. 06 No.01

(January 2016)

Managing Editor: Dr Saif Siddiqui

Asian Journal of Management Applications and Research (AJMAAR) is a biannual
peer-reviewed international refereed journal published in January and July every year

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Asian Journal of Management Applications and Research, 6(1) ISSN 2230 – 8679

Asian Journal of Management Applications and Research, 6(1)

Managing Editor: Dr Saif Siddiqui

Editor: Sumaira Jan
Centre for Management Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University) New Delhi -110025

Advisory Board:
Prof M Akbar
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Lucknow, U.P, India
Prof C P Gupta
Department of Financial Studies, University of Delhi (South Campus), Delhi, India
Prof M. Saeed
Department of Business Administration, Minot State University, Minot, North Dakota, United
States of America
Prof Z U Khairoowala
Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P., India
Prof B K Punia
Haryana School of Business, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar
,Haryana, India
Prof Nawab Ali Khan
Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P., India
Prof Rustom Ali Ahmed
Department of Finance and Banking, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Prof B S Hothi
Institute of Management Education, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, U.P., India
Dr Aftab Alam
BIT, JCC, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, KSA
Dr. V.K. Singh
Deptt. of International Business Administration, Sur College of Applied Sciences, Sur, Sultanate
of Oman
Dr Asharaf S
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, Kozhikode,Kerala, India
Dr Aman Shrivastav
Jaipuria Institute of Management,, Noida , UP , India
Dr. Amitabh Roy
Centre for Management Development, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, U.P, India
Dr. Lovy Sarikwal
School of Management, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, U.P., India

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Asian Journal of Management Applications and Research is a biannual peer-reviewed international
refereed journal published in January and July every year

© AUTHORS

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of
the Editor/Publisher.

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Asian Journal of Management Applications and Research, 6(1) ISSN 2230 – 8679

Celebrity Sources and Impact on Brand Image: A Review of Select Literature

Arif Anwar
Research Scholar
Department of Business Administration,
Faculty of Management Studies & Research,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
&
Dr. Bilal Mustafa Khan
Associate Professor
Department of Business Administration,
Faculty of Management Studies & Research,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
Abstract
This research is aimed to examine the relationship of Celebrity Sources and Brand Image of
those products which are being endorsed by such celebrities. Celebrity endorsement advertising
aims to achieve a favourable impact on brand image. Primarily, celebrity source models are
explored and the impact of all the sources of celebrities like, Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and
Expertise are studied in special reference to the distinct impact on Brand Image of the products
which the celebrity is endorsing. As the nature of this study is exploratory in nature, some
literature are selected on the basis of various traits of celebrities and are critically analysed and a
conceptual framework has been suggested. This conceptual research highlights specific success
factors to support marketers and advertisers for a better selection of celebrities for endorsements. It
also provides a basis for guiding further research beyond the mere celebrity selection decision.
Key Words: Brand Image, Celebrity Endorsement, Attractiveness, Expertise, Credibility.

Introduction
In the prevailing market situation a large portion of the amount is being spent on
advertisements of the products and from that portion a huge sum is spent on the celebrities who
endorse the product or brand. Celebrity endorsement advertising aims to achieve a favourable
impact on brand image using the sources of celebrities in a right direction. McCracken's (1989)
definition of a celebrity endorser is, "any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses
this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (marcoms),
is useful, because when celebrities are depicted in marcoms, they bring their own culturally related
meanings, thereto, irrespective of the required promotional role." Such initiatives have led to
hiring appropriate celebrity or celebrities, who act as spokesperson for that brand name. Celebrity
brand endorsements give effective advertisement, because of the most important reason that
people follow their favourite celebrity and they want to look, appear, feel and act the way their
favourite celebrity does. Not only can celebrity endorsements attract consumers to purchase

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products, but the appeal of statements by celebrities can also affect the consumers’ perception
about the product/brand image. Different appeal methods result in different advertising effects.
According to the concept of brand equity based on consumer perspective, the brand
perception includes brand awareness and brand image (Keller, 1993). Brand image is a complex
and multidimensional concept that refers to the aggregation of multiple brand associations in the
minds of consumers. Biel (1996) put forward that the brand image is constituted by three aspects:
company image, product image and user image. Objective of this study is to reveal and re-establish
the positive impact of celebrity sources (like, Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Expertise) on
brand image and find out the most prominent factors those play the key role in the success of an
endorsement. This paper will also examine the relationship between celebrity endorsements and
brands, by applying a selection of widely accepted principles of how celebrity selection by
advertisers may positively influence the brand image among consumers. Thereby the concepts of
source credibility and attractiveness, the match-up hypothesis, the meaning transfer model and the
principles of image congruence will be used.

Literature Review
This paper uses a wide range of accepted principles of how celebrities influence the
consumers’ attitude and preference by endorsing the brand and advocating the product usage.
These principles are Celebrity Source Models, Match Up theory and the Meaning Transfer model
which are theoretically rich and may be taken into account to understand the endorsement impact
on the Brand Image. The success of a brand through celebrity endorsement is a cumulative effect
of certain attributes. This study reveals and pin-points that marketers must always keep in mind
that the objective is to build the brand image and not the image of celebrity. It is also important to
appreciate that just because an individual is famous and considered as a celebrity, he/she might not
necessarily be an effective endorser. As companies invest large sums of money in celebrity
endorsement contracts, any celebrity endorsement relationship must contribute to larger marketing
strategies (Erdogan and Kitchen 1998). Accordingly, campaigns involving celebrities are believed
to bring more positive results if they are properly integrated than traditional non-integrated
campaigns (Bertrand and Todd, 1992; Rogers, 1997). In order to discover what advertising agency
managers think about integrating campaigns involving celebrities, they were asked to give their
opinions on the issue.
Communication activities establish a pattern of connectivity between the image of the
celebrity and the image of the brand. Both entities represent nodes in a cognitive network, whose
connectivity can be modified according to experience. Fortini-Campbell (1992) argues that
products, just like people, have personalities and claims that people consume brands with
personality characteristics like their own or ones they aspire to possess - in celebrities, friends or
family members. According to Fowles (1996), Advertisers' rationale for hiring celebrities to
endorse products is that people consume images of celebrities and advertisers hope that people will
also consume products associated with celebrities. An image transfer occurs when an
advertisement can establish contingency between the two entities (Till, 1998; Till et al., 2008).

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Asian Journal of Management Applications and Research, 6(1) ISSN 2230 – 8679

Brand image encompasses all perceptions of a brand, stored as brand associations in consumer
memory (Keller, 1993). Its importance mainly reflects its ability to provoke unique perceptions of
the brand in competitive settings (Aaker, 1996; Kamins et al., 1989). It also constitutes a
meaningful brand value driver and thus influences the formation of brand equity (Faircloth et al.,
2001). Keller (1993) distinguishes among attitudes, attributes and benefits as types of brand
associations, and Barich and Kotler (1991) regard brand attitude, belief and impression as
ingredients of brand image. Both perspectives imply that improved attitudes toward the brand
favourably influence brand image. In line with this argument, this review does not distinguish
attitudes from image but instead adopts a holistic view of the impact of celebrity endorsements.
The roles of physical attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise have been discussed widely in
the celebrity endorsement domain by different researchers at different time domain. Kahle and
Homer (1985) find that a highly attractive celebrity generates a significantly more positive brand
image than does a less attractive celebrity, though they research only one product category (i.e.,
disposable razors), and their results might reflect the good fit between attractiveness and this
product category. That is, razors serve to enhance physical attractiveness, so a highly attractive
endorser could have more positive effects on brand image. In line with this argument, Silvera and
Austad (2004) reveal that physical attractiveness associated with a product category positively
influences brand image but physical attractiveness unrelated to the product category does not.
Kamins (1990) neither observes a main effect of attractiveness nor finds a significant interaction
between attractiveness and product category, though his results are directionally supportive of the
assumption that attractiveness associated with the product category enhances brand image. Eisend
and Langner (2010) distinguish between immediate and delayed effects of attractiveness on brand
image and find a positive impact of high attractiveness for both conditions.
Trustworthiness and expertise both represent sub-dimensions of the more general credibility
construct. Trustworthiness refers to the perceived willingness to make valid assertions; expertise
entails the ability to make valid assertions (Hovland et al., 1953; Sternthal et al., 1978). For
celebrity endorsements, the empirical results indicate strong evidence of a key influence of
credibility and its sub-dimensions on brand image. Priester and Petty (2003) find a positive impact
of trustworthiness, as well as an interaction of trustworthiness with product-related argument
strength. When weak product-related arguments mark the advertising copy, the influence of
trustworthiness is more pronounced than it is for strong product-related arguments. Siemens et al.
(2008) confirm the positive impact of expertise, whose impact on brand image is fully mediated by
perceptions of endorser credibility.
We have certain literatures which do not support the positive relationship of Source models
in Brand Image. For attractiveness-based congruence, Kamins (1990) and Lee and Thorson (2008)
find no empirical support for a positive effect on brand image. Nor do their results support the
assumption of an inverse U-shaped relationship between the level of congruence and brand image;
that is, mild incongruence does not outperform high and low congruence. For expertise-based
congruence, Till et al. (2008) find empirical support for a positive effect on brand image, but

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neither Lee & Thorson (2008) nor Koernig & Boyd (2009) can discern a significant impact.
Therefore, the contribution of expertise-based congruence to brand image remains equivocal.
Sengupta et al. (1997) investigated the robustness of brand image enhancements induced by
celebrity endorsements over a longer period of time. They thus empirically revealed a stable,
positive, long-term effect on brand image when image-based congruence is high and involvement
is low. Batra and Homer (2004) also investigate whether celebrities with highly accessible
associations can reinforce equivalent brand image beliefs; their results confirm the positive impact
of image-based congruence. However, they find a significant increase on the respective brand
image beliefs only in one of the two cases they consider. Anwar and Khan (2015) has reviewed the
match up theory proposed by Forkan (1980) for various factors like celebrity image, personality,
role-of-fit etc and analysed the corresponding influence on the target market for distinct product
categories. Based on the above analysis, it was observed that the selection of right celebrity for
various product categories rely on the image-based congruence.

Discussion
The use of celebrity endorsers in marketing enjoys high popularity, largely because they
may exert a positive impact on brand image. Noting the importance of brand image as a critical
intangible asset, with a fundamental impact on brand equity, this review of literatures pinpoints
sources of celebrity endorsements, arranged around distinct brand image dimensions. Thus, the
framework includes not only celebrity selection issues but also the design of the advertising
message and the target group. Extant empirical studies reveal certain success factors that seem
somewhat ambiguous, whereas others receive relatively strong empirical support. Therefore, this
review can help managers derive practical implications for the development and execution of their
celebrity endorsement campaigns: They should focus particularly on the well-documented success
factors. Credibility, physical attractiveness relevant to the product domain, image-based
congruence, meaning conveyed through the celebrities all positively influence brand image. When
selecting an appropriate celebrity for an endorsement, brand managers must take care to achieve
high credibility. Extant research consistently verifies the importance of credibility and its
sub-dimensions, trustworthiness and expertise (Erfgen, 2011).
Furthermore, most studies show that physical attractiveness has a positive impact on brand
image, though only if that attractiveness is relevant to the product domain (e.g., a physically
attractive celebrity for a make-up brand). This evaluation of prior literature also reveals that
image-based congruence (as opposed to attractiveness- or expertise-based) constitutes the most
important congruence dimension in a celebrity endorsement context and has a positive impact on
brand image. The advertising message also should include two-sided appeals in celebrity
endorsements, because the empirical findings consistently verify their effectiveness.
A study by Anwar and Khan (2015) revealed that image-based congruence constitutes the
most important congruence dimension in a celebrity endorsement context and has a positive
impact on brand image. Celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamour and the hope that
a famous face will provide added appeal and name recognition in a crowded market. In the battle

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for the mind, you get the customer excited by showing him a known face, and an effective demand
is created. In short it helps increase the recall value of the brand (Mukherjee, 2009).
Reconsidering celebrity endorsement from a communication process perspective thus highlights
the diversity of elements that managers should take into account when designing their campaigns.
In practice, this insight seems particularly meaningful, because most current attention focuses
solely on the selection of an appropriate celebrity (Miciak and Shanklin, 1994). In contrast to
anonymous endorsers, celebrities add value to the image transfer process by offering meanings of
extra depth and power, what is complemented by their lifestyles and personalities (McCracken
1989).
Celebrity endorsement is recognized as a potentially important tool in business
communications, with celebrities viewed as more powerful than anonymous models and
campaigns tending to verbalize the meaning of the celebrity in relation to the brand (Moeran,
2003).

Conclusion
This article addressed a popular method of marketing communication: the use of celebrity
spokespersons in advertising to endorse brands. A brief assessment of the select literature
indicates, that celebrity selection for endorsement is a technical process where all the aspects of
the concerned celebrity and the product is analysed. In an endorsement context, the celebrity is an
impersonal message source, so, his or her characteristics, including perceived personal attributes
like attractiveness or credibility, may determine endorsement success in terms of the favourable
brand image outcome.
Social psychology research generally shows that physically attractive persons are more
successful in changing beliefs than unattractive people (Chaiken, 1979). For celebrity
endorsement though, the empirical results mainly reveal that the attractiveness of a celebrity
endorser benefits the brand image only if attractiveness is relevant for the pertinent product
category. Physical attractiveness has a positive impact on brand image, though only if that
attractiveness is relevant to the product domain (Anwar & Khan, 2015). Eisend and Langner
(2010) report a positive effect of expertise on brand image. In addition, expertise interacts with
attractiveness so that the favourable impact of high expertise increases with higher levels of
attractiveness. Associative learning theory comprehends that celebrity endorsements influence
brand image through a transfer of meaning from the endorser to the brand (Till, 1998).

Implications & Limitations

This review can help managers to derive practical implications for the development and
execution of their celebrity endorsement campaigns. They should focus particularly on the well
analysed celebrity selection criteria which bring about the positive brand image development
among the consumers. Also, it has to be brought in notice of the advertisers that Attractiveness
plays more important role as compared to trustworthiness while creating a brand image. Whereas,

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expertise with an interactive effect from attractiveness enhances the image of brand among the
target market.
Researchers may explore the mediating effects of WOM, brand credibility and perceived quality
while studying the relationship of celebrity sources and the brand image. Further studies may
consider the moderating effects of the demographics and male/female celebrity-selection for
certain product categories.
It is essential for advertisers to be aware of the complex processes underlying celebrity
endorsement, by gaining an understanding of the described concepts of source credibility and
attractiveness, match-up hypothesis, meaning transfer model, multiple product and celebrity
endorsement. While these concepts can help to answer the question if and when celebrity
advertising investments pay off, it has to be the goal of further research efforts to develop an
extensive, consistent and user-friendly tool to avoid arbitrary decisions and enhance the strategic
character of celebrity sponsorship decisions.

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