Moderating and Mediating Contexts in Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Attitude: A Literature Review for Future Research Studies

Abstract

Celebrity endorsements have been found in practice and studied in theories as a wider perspective. Celebrities provide endorsement as expert opinions, being a spokesperson for a product, or just being associated with a product (McCracken 1989; Seno and Lukas 2007). As per the published literature, it is about 25% of all television and print advertisements in the United States have featured celebrities (Erdogan, Baker & Tagg, 2001; Shimp, 2008), and endorsement contracts are estimated to be 10% to 25% of total advertising expenditures (Ding et al., 2010). Futher, Li (2011) said nearly $10 billion more to promote celebrity endorsements due to powerful effect it occupied on products being endorsed. But, it was said (Racula, 2012, Abdussalam, 2014) that celebrity‘s image does not guarantee success and it deals with advertising risks. The latest source argued that it is as an expensive source of communication and may generate conflicting messages when he or she endorses various brands. Karasiewicz & Martyna (2014). However, Till and Busler (1998, 2000) have examined attractiveness versus expertise as a match-up factor in celebrity endorsement, and found a general attractiveness effect on brand attitude and purchase intention. Further, Hung, Kineta (2014), justified links between entertainment motives and experiences influence endorsed brand attitude. Accordingly, it has a clear argument on the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement towards brand performance, particularly brand attitude and purchasing intention. Par with the said, via the reviewed literature sources, this study discusses how the relationships or impacts between celebrity endorsement and brand attitudes of the products endorsed could be mediated or moderated. Paper suggests how the future studies to be carried out with the gravity of newness contributing for the new knowledge and practice.