Abstract
Purpose: This study examines the effect of irrelevant celebrity co-branding partner information presented in advertisements on consumer brand judgments. Brand unrelated information carried by a celebrity co-branding partner is arguably irrelevant to consumer judgment formation and perhaps more so when the image of the celebrity is incongruent with that of the brand.
Originality: Irrelevant information presented by a well-known comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, in a current campaign with a financial institution, the Greater Building Society, may cause a weakening effect on consumer brand benefit beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions.
Key literature/theoretical perspective: The social and non-social judgment literature recognises that the use of irrelevant information results in less extreme judgements (dilution).
Design/methodology/approach: A 2 x 4 experimental design manipulated information relevancy and celebrity-brand match-up.
Findings: A dilution effect on consumer brand benefit beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions was identified with the addition of irrelevant information provided by a celebrity co-branding partner. Results show that both information relevancy and celebrity-brand match-up influence consumer brand benefit beliefs and purchase intentions, whereas only match-up information is used in the formation of brand attitudes. An incongruent and irrelevant celebrity co-branding partner results in decreased consumer judgements compared to an irrelevant yet matched celebrity brand partner.
Research limitations/implications: As this study focused on one television advertisement with a specific celebrity and co-branding partner, future research should be extended to explore other mediums and other co-branding situations.
Practical and Social implications: Brand managers should strategically place a relevant celebrity co-branding partner, a congruent celebrity who presents relevant brand related information, within their advertisements to avoid brand benefit belief and purchase intent dilution.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 41-42 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Expo 2010 Higher Degree Research : book of abstracts |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
Event | Higher Degree Research Expo (6th : 2010) - Sydney Duration: 19 Nov 2010 → 19 Nov 2010 |
Keywords
- dilution
- celebrity
- co-branding
- judgments
- attitudes