Michael Strunck

Celebrity Endorsement: the Key Success Factors of Brand Endorsers Michael Strunck

This research study examines the effect of celebrity endorsement on attitudes towards the advertisement, the product, purchase intentions and recommendation likelihood. In order to test it, two different endorsers have been chosen for this study, namely a well-known celebrity expert and a fictitious non- celebrity expert. The aim is to identify which characteristics are important for an effective brand endorsement. Additionally, differences between endorser types are examined. The sample used for this study contains mainly students from the Netherlands, Germany and Ecuador. Furthermore, high involvement products are used to test the impact of brand endorsement, namely two types of automobiles (luxury model versus standard model). The results of the research validate the existing models about endorser characteristics (Source Attractiveness Model, Source Credibility Model and Match-Up Hypothesis) and identify which of these elements function as key factors for successful endorsements.