Eclipsing: When Celebrities Overshadow the Brand

Jasmina Ilicic*, Cynthia M. Webster

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper applies Gestalt psychology and associative network theory to examine the effect of eclipsing in celebrity endorsement on consumer attitude towards the endorsed brand. Eclipsing occurs when the celebrity overshadows the endorsed brand by dominating in an advertisement and diminishing the associative link between the celebrity and endorsed brand. Three studies take into account match-up, celebrity attachment, brand familiarity, and the moderating role of eclipsing, through manipulating two levels of eclipsing in advertising: (1) high eclipsing, when the celebrity is the focus, and (2) low eclipsing, when both the celebrity and brand are emphasized. Consumers who have a weak attachment to the celebrity endorser report a more positive brand attitude when they see the celebrity and endorsed brand both emphasized in an advertisement (low eclipsing) than when the celebrity overshadows and dominates the brand (high eclipsing), irrespective of whether consumers perceive the celebrity and brand to match or mismatch. For consumers with strong celebrity attachment, high eclipsing enhances brand attitude, regardless of whether they perceive the celebrity and brand to either match or mismatch. The findings of these studies have significant implications for advertisers and brand managers in the execution of their advertisements featuring endorsements.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1040-1050
Number of pages11
JournalPsychology and Marketing
Volume31
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2014

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