The role of attachment in endorsements

Abstract

Endorsement research has predominantly focused on how the effectiveness of an endorsement is affected by variation in an endorser’s characteristics, such as their appeal, attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise, and more importantly, on their congruence with the endorsed product, and credibility as endorsers. However, there is little or no research on how the perceived commitment of the celebrity to the product affects the celebrity’s level of attachment to the endorsed product and thereby endorsement effectiveness. The following thesis considers this aspect of product endorsements and identifies six categories of endorsement situations based on the types of endorsement and endorsers. It seeks to emphasise the importance of attachment between a product and the endorser, and its subsequent impact on consumer perceptions. The tripartite attachment model is introduced in this thesis, which introduces three attachment nodes in an endorsement, viz., attachment between the consumer and product, between the consumer and celebrity and between the celebrity and product. Attachment between the consumer and celebrity and between the consumer and product has been extensively examined. However, there is little or no research on the perceived attachment between the celebrity and product. The thesis focuses on this attachment node by introducing the progenic brand: a brand launched by endorsers wherein the endorser’s name and values are imbued in the brand. The attachment theory was used to identify the endorsed, spokesperson and progenic, as the three primary types of endorsement situations associated with two types of endorsers, namely, celebrities and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Using the source credibility model, it is hypothesised how the three appeals of attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise vary across six endorsement situations and the subsequent implications for marketing practitioners. A new brand term called ‘progenic’ is introduced which has been shown to have higher perceived attachment between the endorser and product compared to traditional endorsements. Finally, this research not only contributes theoretically by distinguishing between endorsement situations but can also assist practitioners when pairing the right type of individual with a specific product-type, and in distinguishing between product appeals