Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Celebrity endorsement'

This master thesis will discuss elements of using celebrity in marketing communication. Theory will cover basic communication process, Elaboration Likelihood Model, and meaning transfer model but main focus will be in discussing various celebrity selection theories, identifying different risks involved in using celebrities in marketing communication and investigating ways how to utilize celebrities to enhance the communication. Several examples are included to provide connection to real life use of celebrities.

Uppsatsen syfte är att analysera vad det är för skillnader med att marknadsföra en produkt eller tjänst med eller utan Celebrity Endorsement. Jag har även analyserat hur varumärket framställs genom att använda Celebrity Endorsement metoden. För att förtydliga min analys har jag granskat två reklamfilmer av Viktväktarna. För denna uppsats har jag valt hermeneutik som vetenskapsteoretisk utgångspunkt.  Mina frågeställningar är: På vilket sätt använder sig Viktväktarna av Celebrity Endorsement? Hur framställs Viktväktarna som varumärke i reklamfilmerna? På vilket sätt skiljer sig de två reklamfilmerna? Finns det gemensamma faktorer mellan reklamfilmerna? Reklamfilmerna är från två olika kampanjer men båda har som syfte att skapa efterfrågan på Viktväktarnas tjänster. Den ena reklamfilmen presenterar Leila Lindholm och Shirley Clamp som nya ambassadörer för Viktväktarna. Den andra reklamfilmen föreställer en ung kvinna som berättar sin personliga erfarenhet med Viktväktarna. För att genomföra undersökningen har jag bland annat använt mig av teorier som aspirationsgrupp, identifikation, symbolisk interaktionism och psykologiska övertalningsprinciper. I relation till teorierna har det empiriska materialet analyserats med två kvalitativa metoder: narrativ filmanalys och kritisk diskursanalys. För att kunna se potentiella skillnader har jag applicerat narrativ filmanalys och kritisk diskursanalys på båda reklamfilmerna och jämfört resultatet. Resultatet av studien visar att användandet av Celebrity Endorsement har påverkat Viktväktarnas sätt att presentera deras varumärke och tjänst. I reklamfilmen som använder Celebrity Endorsement har utseende en central roll och varumärket framställs som ytligt. Reklamfilmen utan Celebrity Endorsement fokuserar mer på produktinformation och framställs som ett hjälpsamt, behagligt och effektivt varumärke.

Abstract

The use of celebrity endorsement strategy is nowadays more frequently used by marketers in order to increase their sales and thereby extend their market shares. Many celebrities are used in various marketing campaigns and in most cases; the use of celebrities as endorsers is seen from mainly positive aspects. This made the authors curious whether the negative aspects, that also exists when using celebrities as endorsers, affects consumers in their purchasing decisions when a celebrity gets associated with negative publicity. Another cause of interest is which factors of a certain celebrity are most important and crucial in consumers’ perceptions, in the case of negative publicity.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study which factors consumers find important for a company to consider when a celebrity gets negative publicity, to maintain successful brand recognition.

Literature review: The use of previous studies within the field of celebrity endorsement clarifies many important aspects when it comes to celebrity endorsement and this chapter is elaborated from 4 different perspectives; Company, Celebrity, Brand and Consumer. Based on previous studies, the authors identified 6 crucial attributes when using celebrities as endorsers and this can also be seen as a pre-study that the research process has been based upon. Furthermore, the 6 attributes are chosen from the three first mentioned perspectives in order to be able to fulfil the purpose. Hence, this thesis is conducted from a consumer’s point of view.

Method: A quantitative method is used in this thesis since the authors want to base the results on collected data that is expressed in numbers and also to generate a general apprehension in this phenomenon. Moreover, the combinations containing the 6 attributes are used in the conjoint experiment.

Conclusions: It was proven in this study that consumers do get affected by celebrities as endorser, when the attributes from the literature review are in a combination. But, the consumers’ perception of the attributes differs in different cases. However, the main finding was that there are two crucial attributes, trustworthiness and expertise that companies should take into account when using celebrities in their advertising campaign.

Celebrity endorsement has become a widely studied and applied concept by the marketers and managers in modern business organizations. With the progressive marketing and business methods, new promotional tools have also been introduced to provide a competitive edge to the organizations. This paper deals with the research question i.e. investigating the effects of celebrity endorsement on consumers' willingness to pay. The topic is examined through a qualitative method and inductive approach is adopted to proceed with the study. Secondary data is collected through journals, online publications and forms the background knowledge of the study. Primary data is obtained through eight semi-structured interviews conducted with a sample comprising 5 football players located in the Norrbotten County. The outcomes indicate that 4 out of 5 respondents are willing to pay a higher price for the football shoes and equipment endorsed and promoted by the famous football players. However, the willingness to pay varies due to income and substitution effects in different situations. However, it may be concluded that celebrity endorsed products substantially influence the buyers' behavior to buy.

Vilken betydelse har Celebrity Endorsement för företagens marknadsföringsstrategi?

Problemformuleringen leder fram till syftet med uppsatsen. Vi kommer nedan att dela upp syftet i tre punkter och dessa är följande, analysera hur användningen av Celebrity Endorsement fungerar i verkligheten, jämföra denna med den tidigare teori som finns inom ämnet, dra slutsatser om teorin skiljer sig från hur användandet går till i praktiken..

Genom kvalitativa intervjuer har vi samlat in primärdata om hur företag använder sig av kändisar i marknadsföringen. Sekundärdata är hämtad främst ifrån artiklar samt litteratur. Vi har sedan jämfört empirin med den teoretiska referensram vi satt upp och efter detta dragit slutsatser.

Uppsatsens teoretiska underlag utgörs av den varumärkesuppbyggande processen samt teorier tagna från vetenskapliga artiklar i ämnet Celebrity Endorsement och detta för att få teori som stödjer vår problemformulering och vårt syfte.

De slutsatser vi kom fram till av studien var att betydelsen av Celebrity Endorsement är väldigt stor för företagen och att kändisen måste motsvara företagens ideal. En annan slutsats vi kom fram till var att företagen inte har någon handlingsplan som minimerar riskerna med att använda sig av Celebrity Endorsement. Vi kom även fram till att företagen arbetar, till synes, omedvetet i förhållande till teorin.

Increasingly, celebrities appear not only as endorsers for products but are apparently engaged in entrepreneurial roles as initiators, owners and perhaps even managers in the ventures that market the products they promote. Despite being extensively referred to in popular media, scholars have been slow to recognise the importance of this new phenomenon. This thesis argues theoretically and shows empirically that celebrity entrepreneurs are more effective communicators than typical celebrity endorsers because of their increased engagement with ventures. I theorise that greater engagement increases the celebrity‘s emotional involvement as perceived by consumers. This is an endorser quality thus far neglected in the marketing communications literature. In turn, emotional involvement, much like the empirically established dimensions trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness, should affect traditional outcome variables such as attitude towards the advertisement and brand. On the downside, increases in celebrity engagement may lead to relatively stronger and worsening changes in attitudes towards the brand if and when negative information about the celebrity is revealed. A series of eight experiments was conducted on 781 Swedish and Baltic students and 151 Swedish retirees. Though there were nuanced differences and additional complexities in each experiment, participants‘ reactions to advertisements containing a celebrity portrayed as a typical endorser or entrepreneur were recorded. The overall results of these experiments suggest that emotional involvement can be successfully operationalised as distinct from variables previously known to influence communication effectiveness. In addition, emotional involvement has positive effects on attitudes toward the advertisement and brand that are as strong as the predictors traditionally applied in the marketing communications literature. Moreover, the celebrity entrepreneur condition in the experimental manipulation consistently led to an increase in emotional involvement and to a lesser extent trustworthiness, but not expertise and attractiveness. Finally, negative celebrity information led to a change in participants‘ attitudes towards the brand which were more strongly negative for celebrity entrepreneurs than celebrity endorsers. In addition, the effect of negative celebrity information on a company‘s brand is worse when they support the celebrity rather than fire them. However, this effect did not appear to interact with the celebrity‘s purported engagement.

Embora o Celebrity Endorsement seja uma ferramenta de marketing já consagrada, a ascensão digital e o ritmo frenético das redes sociais vieram reclamar mudanças no império. A evolução furiosa das redes sociais dotou o utilizador actual de uma exigência urgente, transformaram posts em gatilhos e o ontem obsoleto. Com esta metamorfose, as marcas viram-se obrigadas a acompanhar a mudança, a adoptarem propriedades camaleónicas e a readaptarem-se ao mercado. Neste sentido, agitaram a varinha de condão e transformaram o tradicional celebrity endorser num agente omnipresente, coexistindo activa e paralelamente tanto no offline como no online. O que se pretende deste estudo do tipo qualitativo e profundidade descritiva é aferir, por intermédio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e um método de amostragem não-aleatório, a percepção que o indivíduo tem quanto à influência que o Celebrity Endorsement nas redes sociais tem no consumo.
Even though the concept of celebrity endorsement is already considered a marketing tool, the digital evolution and the continuous progress of social networking services came to establish some changes in the world. This nonstop and abrupt development in these services and mobile applications gave to the modern users the necessity of certain requirements, converting “posts” into triggers and the “yesterday” into something outdated and old-fashioned. Brands were forced to keep up with this constant change and advancement because they felt the demand of fulfilling different necessities and desires of their target market. This means that it was imperative that the conventional celebrity endorser became into an omnipresent agent, in the offline and online services simultaneously. This investigation features a qualitative and descriptive study that aims the awareness of an individual about the existence or not of an influence in his decision of purchasing something endorsed by a celebrity in social networking services. This process was accomplished by doing semi-structured interviews by a non-random sampling system.

Denna studie handlar om Celebrity Endorsements, det vill säga samarbeten där kändisar borgar för en produkt eller ett företag i syfte att utbyta värden och förhoppningsvis öka försäljningen. Tidigare forskning inom detta område är fokuserat på vad en kändis kan tillföra företaget. Denna uppsats undersöker fenomenet från andra hållet, det vill säga vad företaget gör för kändisen. Vi vill ta reda på om svenskarna, fotbollsspelaren Zlatan Ibrahimovic samt Robin Carlsson, även känd som popartisten Robyn, genom respektive celebrity endorsement-aktion gällande kampanjen “Made By Sweden” med Volvo, övertar värden från företaget. För att applicera våra resultat på existerande teoretiska ramverk och därigenom kunna besvara våra frågeställningar har vi valt att förhålla oss till tidigare forskning om celebrity endorsement, teorier om hur budskap överförs exempelvis Meaning transfer model, samt marknadsteorier om varumärkesidentitet. Genom tre fokusgruppsintervjuer fick vi av respondenterna fram en image av de två utvalda kändisarna som låg till grund för vår analys. Genom att jämföra intervjupersonernas image med företagets profil kunde vi avgöra huruvida värden hade överförts från företaget till kändisen. Vår studie kom fram till att värden inte överförs från företag till kändis. Värdeord inkodade av företaget fanns inte representerade i den image som våra svarspersoner redovisade gällande de två olika kändisarna. Studien visar dock på att en kändis kan få helt nya värden genom en celebrity endorsement- kampanj.
This study regards Celebrity Endorsements, meaning collaborations where celebrities vouch for a product or a company in order to exchange values and hopefully increase sales. Previous research within this field is focused on what a celebrity can provide for the company. This essay examines the phenomena from the other direction, meaning what the company can provide to the celebrity. We want to find out if the swedes, football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robin Carlsson, also known as the pop artist Robyn, through separate celebrity endorsement actions regarding the campaign “Made by Sweden” by Volvo, assumes values from the company. In order to apply our results on existing theoretical frameworks and thereby enabling ourselves to answer our questions, we have chosen to relate to previous research regarding celebrity endorsements, theories regarding how messages are transmitted, for instance the Meaning transfer model, as well as marketing theories regarding brand identity. Through three focus group interviews, we received an image of the two celebrities from the respondents, making the foundation for our analysis. Through comparing the image created by the respondents with the profile of the company, we could determine whether values had been transmitted from the company to the celebrity. Our study concluded that values are not transmitted from company to celebrity. Values encoded by the company were not represented in the image pictured by our respondents regarding the celebrities. The study does however show that a celebrity may gain new values through a celebrity endorsement action.

Globally, luxury cosmetic brands employ celebrity endorsement as a tool for building credibility with existing and potential end users. There is certainly a significant body of knowledge on celebrity endorsers, their credibility markers, and how they affect subliminal changes in the buying behaviour of customers. Departing from such past practice, this study aims to undertake a systematic analysis of the influence of celebrity endorsements on mature women, aged 40-60, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods like online questionnaires and structured interviews, apart from an exhaustive review of relevant literature on the subject. The researcher did not come across any evidence to suggest that celebrity endorsement exerted any major influence on mature female consumers. Even so, the research did not completely rule out the scope and play of celebrity endorsers in this market segment. Further research on a larger sample size will, sure enough, help the researcher to formulate stronger and workable concepts.
A nivel mundial, las marcas de cosméticos de lujo emplean el celebrity endorsement como una herramienta para generar credibilidad entre usuarias existentes y potenciales. Aunque ya existen estudios sobre la influencia de los celebrity endorsement, no hay estudios específicos efectuados sobre mujeres en edad madura. Partiendo de esto, este estudio tiene como objetivo emprender un análisis sistemático de la influencia del celebrity endorsement en mujeres maduras, de 40 a 60 años, utilizando una combinación de métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos como cuestionarios en línea y entrevistas estructuradas, además de una revisión exhaustiva de literatura relevante sobre el tema. El investigador no encontró ninguna evidencia que sugiera que el celebrity endorsement ejerciera una influencia importante en las consumidoras maduras. Aun así, la investigación no descarta por completo el alcance y el juego de los celebrity endorsement en este segmento de mercado. Una investigación con una muestra más grande, ayudaría a formular conceptos más sólidos y viables.

Celebrity endorsement consists of a written or spoken statement from a publicly known person, proclaiming the benefits of some product or service. Previous research on celebrity endorsement has proved it very successful in promoting brands or companies. Even though many marketing strategies exist, it can be especially effective for newly started ventures to apply celebrity endorsement in their approach. While celebrity endorsement may be a good way to overcome weaknesses, such as liability of newness and lack of legitimacy, new ventures often cannot afford to implement this strategy. Therefore, an option to this might be local celebrity endorsement.

This thesis investigates the impact of local and well-known celebrity endorsement on communication effectiveness.

Through a quantitative study, the authors have concluded that local celebrity endorsers are perceived more trustworthy and emotionally involved in the endorsement process than well-known celebrity endorsers. Local celebrities and well-known celebrities are perceived equally expert, attractive and capable of transferring meaning to the endorsed product. Local celebrity endorsement is overall more effective than well-known celebrity endorsement in communicating the endorsement message. It can therefore be a suitable tool for newly started ventures that cannot afford to employ more expensive, well-known celebrity endorsement in their quest for gaining quick reputational capital.

I denna studie har vi valt att ur ett marknadsföringsperspektiv studera varför företag använder sig av kända svenska idrottspersonligheter i sin marknadskommunikation. Vi har valt att se på detta fenomen genom både företagens och idrottspersonligheternas perspektiv, det vill säga undersöka vilka incitament dessa båda parter har för att samarbeta. Vi har i vår uppsats valt att använda oss av en analytisk ansats, då vi ämnar skapa en djupare förståelse för ett fenomen snarare än att skapa generella lagar. Som datagenereringsmetod har vi använt oss av semistandardiserade intervjuer med företag som under senare år har använt någon svensk idrottspersonlighet i sin marknadskommunikation. De teorier vi har använt är främst celebrity endorsement teorier, men vi har även valt att ta med branding teorier för att belysa hur en idrottspersonlighet kan skapa associationer till ett varumärke. I vår analys har vi funnit att företagen är väldigt noggranna med att använda sig av idrottspersonligheter som har en naturlig ”fit” till deras produkter eller till företaget självt. Även idrottsmän vill uppleva en ”fit” mellan dem själva och företagen de representerar, då de inte ställer upp på reklam som de inte känner sig kunna stå för. Vidare har vi upptäckt att det är relativt ovanligt att idrottsmän förhandlar till sig sådant som kan vara till långsiktig nytta för dem i sina endorsement kontrakt (som till exempel någon form av utbildning som de har nytta av efter idrottskarriären) snarare än pengar som mer är till kortsiktig nytta. Vi tolkar detta som att det finns mycket som är tämligen outforskat kring ämnet individvarumärken gällande idrottspersonligheter. Våra rekommendationer till företagen är att välja idrottspersonligheter som har en naturlig ”fit” till företaget, detta för att erhålla en hög trovärdighet gentemot konsumenterna. Vidare vill vi poängtera att risken finns för företagen att en idrottspersonlighet kan överskugga en reklamkampanj. För idrottspersonligheten anser vi att det kan vara till gagn att i ett tidigt skede av sin idrottskarriär skapa sig en uppfattning om vad de vill göra efter idrottskarriären för att på så sätt kunna vidta nödvändiga åtgärder i ett tidigt skede, till exempel som att samarbeta med företag som kan erbjuda utbildning eller annan hjälp till efter idrottskarriären.

The Hollywood entertainment industry and celebrity status has had a global impact on advertising and consumption since its emergence in the early 20th century. However, the advent of the Internet and social media has transformed popular culture. With YouTube having exceeded two billion views a day in May 2010 (Timeline 2010), more than one billion people active on Facebook since October 2012 (Newsroom: Timeline 2012), and social network advertising revenues estimated to reach $10 billion globally by 2013 (Social Network Ad Revenues to Reach $10 Billion Worldwide in 2013 2011), it is clear that there has been a paradigm shift in the way people communicate and how they are entertained. These changes are having huge effects on the advertising industry and celebrity industry.Case studies of Hollywood identities Pamela Anderson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher illustrate the changes that have occurred to how a celebrity brand can be initiated and maintained. The complex interaction of celebrity identity, choice of endorsement and control of access to the means of publication are also examined. Social media statistics, semiotic analysis of online branding, the application of Grant McCracken’s meaning transfer theory to endorsements and interviews with industry professionals are used to investigate this relationship, revealing themes of convergence, adaptation, authenticity, credibility, iconic status and branding. It is concluded that Web 2.0 has transformed the nature of celebrity-fan interaction and consumer-advertiser communication, and is significantly shifting media control and censorship away from businesses and government, towards celebrities and their audiences.

Titel: Celebrity endorsement är väl ingen sport – En studie om hur sportmodevarumärken använder celebriteter i varumärkesbyggande syfte Författare: Erik Hagberg & Niklas Radhammar Handledare: Thomas Helgesson Nivå: Kandidatuppsats, Marknadsföring 15 hp, VT 2012 Nyckelord: Varumärke, varumärkeskapital, celebrity endorsement, celebrity endorser, sportmodevarumärke, varumärkesbyggande Problemformulering: Hur arbetar sportmodevarumärken på den svenska marknaden med celebriteter i sina varumärkesbyggande processer? Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att med utgångspunkt i den teoretiska referensramen och en abduktiv fallstudie av fem varumärken, kartlägga hur sportmodevarumärken arbetar med celebriteter i varumärkesbyggande ändamål på den svenska marknaden. Vi vill även analysera positiva effekter och risker vid användning av celebriteter i varumärkesstrategier. Metod: En kvalitativ ansats med ett abduktivt angreppssätt har använts, där beslutsfattare från fem varumärken har intervjuats inom uppsatsens ämne. De fem företagen är adidas, Craft, Tenson, Peak Performance samt Unihoc. Alla dessa arbetar aktivt med celebrity endorsement som strategi i varumärkesbyggande och marknadskommunikation. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Avsnittet inleds med en grundläggande beskrivning av varumärkeskapital samt hur celebriteter kan addera ytterligare värde till kapitalet. Därefter behandlas fenomenet celebrity endorsement samt processen vid urval av celebritet inom samma ämne. Teoriavsnittet berör även de positiva effekter samt risker som kan uppstå vid användningen av celebrity endorsement. Avslutningsvis behandlas även return on investment gällande celebrity endorsement. Empiriskt perspektiv: I det empiriska kapitlet presenteras de intervjuer vi utfört med ansvarig för respektive varumärke. Empirin speglar deras användning av celebrity endorsement. Slutsats: Studien visar att celebrity endorsement kan användas på olika sätt för att bygga varumärkeskapital, men även för att stärka varumärket i sin helhet. Vi anser att celebrity endorsement är en långsiktig strategi och inte som många teorier hävdar, en kortsiktig. Vi kan även dra slutsatsen att den risk som tas upp i samband med de teorier som präglar uppsatsen inte överensstämmer med våra fallföretags upplevda risk. De anser att risken är liten vid användning av celebrity endorsers.

This thesis investigates how British advertising agencies select celebrity endorsers and the criteria considered important in deciding which celebrity to employ. Specifically the primary focus of the study is to identify and analyse the process by which celebrity endorsers are selected by advertising agency practitioners; to explore factors affecting the selection of celebrity endorsers; and, to generate a model of selecting celebrity endorsers for marketing communication messages. The research had a two-phase design, which progressed from exploratory interviews to a mail survey. For the first phase, a sample of advertising agencies was taken from a recognised listing of the 300 largest agencies in the UK by Campaign in 1997. The top thirty, as ranked by annual sales in 1996, were chosen. Ten managers from nine advertising agencies and a celebrity director from a special research company called the Celebrity Group Ltd, were interviewed. Two fax responses were also received. Having identified a process by which practitioners select celebrity endorsers and the criteria considered, ten hypotheses were developed and the second phase, a mail survey, was launched. The population included advertising agency directors/managers working in Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) member agencies. Purposive sampling was used with the objective of selecting agency managers who have been involved in celebrity campaigns. After two waves, 131 out of 414 (31.6%) questionnaires from 80 out of 148 (54%) agencies were received. The research findings indicate that there is an informal and unwritten process of selecting celebrity endorsers in which a number of agency teams play a part and there is a range of criteria considered in the process. During the research process a preunderstanding model of how agencies select celebrity endorsers was developed that is grounded in the exploratory interview findings from which the research hypotheses are mainly de rived. After havin During the research process a preunderstanding model of how agencies select celebrity endorsers was developed that is grounded in the exploratory interview findings from which the research hypotheses are mainly derived. After having tested the hypotheses, a final version the process is proposed, which reflects a normative theory and represents a major contribution of the thesis.

Thesis advisor: Michael Keith
Athletes have become major celebrities within the mass media in modern society. They appear in a wide variety of mediums and advertising campaigns that may or may not be directly related to sports. Their level of fame and popularity has landed many star athletes with multi-million dollar endorsement contracts with companies who want to associate with the athlete’s image and brand. This work attempts to further understand and analyze the role of celebrity athlete endorsers, how companies select and market their athlete spokespeople, and how audiences consume and react to these endorsements. A look at the history of celebrity athlete endorsements provides a basic understanding of how athletes became involved in advertising. This is followed by a close examination of one of the biggest athlete brands of all time: Michael Jordan. Next, certain factors and attributes are discussed that companies look for in an athlete in terms of the importance and affect that they have. This leads to a theories section that applies different lenses to the interactions between celebrity athletes and consumers in an attempt to better understand the relationship. Through these theories, it becomes clear that companies must make strategic decisions in choosing the athlete, the message, and how to connect with their target audience in a way that communicates trust and credibility. Creating a relationship between the celebrity athlete, the product, and the consumer is vital for long-term endorsement success
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: College Honors Program
Discipline: Communication

The rapid growth of visual microblogging platforms, such as Instagram, has created new opportunities for brands to communicate with stakeholders. As these platforms evolve, brands have had to adapt in order to use the available social media platforms to gain visibility in the millennial audience. Recently brands have turned to online 'celebrities' known as a social media influencer (SMI) to distribute information and influence consumers' product perceptions. This specifically has become a common tactic in communication and marketing efforts with the fashion and beauty industry. Ample research is available on the effects of celebrity endorsements but currently there is a gap in research pertaining to the consumer's perspective towards SMIs and SMIs effects on consumers. The online experiment completed in this thesis addressed how promotion of a product by a SMI affects perceptions of consumers on Instagram by measuring social comparison and self-congruity. This is accomplished by comparing participant's product perception to promotional posts on Instagram by a SMI, brand, and unbranded retail source. A three-condition experiment (SMI, Brand, Control) compared effects of product perception, social comparison, and self-congruity. A questionnaire consisting of 48 questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, social comparison, and product perception was completed by 151 participants. Significant relationships were found between the source of the promotional post (SMI, Brand, Control) and product perception. There was also a correlation between self-congruity and social comparison towards the SMI as well as product perception. Results suggest that the post source influences product perception. Results also indicate consumers' perception of the SMI effects product perception. These results provide practical implications for communication practioners who utilize social media. The rapid growth of visual microblogging platforms such as Instagram, is creating new opportunities for organizations to communicate with stakeholders. Brands have used social media platforms in order to gain visibility in the college age audience. Currently there is a gap in research pertaining to SMI and their effects on consumers. This online experiment will address how promotion of a product by an SMI affects perceptions of consumers on Instagram through social comparison and self-congruity theory by comparing responses to a product promoted by an SMI to the same product promoted by the promoted by the brand and to an unbranded retail source. A questionnaire consisting 34 of questions pertaining to SMI, self-congruity, and social comparison will be asked to 180-240 participants. The participants will be randomly assigned one of nine Instagram posts to accomplish stimulus sampling across the three conditions: three from SMI, three from brands, and three from an unbranded retail source
Master of Arts

Background - Celebrity endorsement is not a new phenomenon and it can be seen in advertisements around the world. Since the content of an advertisement easily can be screened out, it is important to target the right consumer. There has to be a fit between the consumer, the endorser and the product. Since gender plays a crucial part when understanding consumer behavior, knowledge about gender differences needs to be taken into account when creating a marketing strategy.      Purpose - Consumers in today’s society are being exposed to an extreme amount of advertisements and other marketing tools. Advertisements in connection to gender are an uncertain and complex issue since the consumer is largely affected by gender differences. Today, the concept of using a celebrity in advertisements is a common tool for marketers in order to efficiently reach out to the right target customer. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to study the relationship between consumer behavior and the use of gender differences as a marketing strategy. Significantly, how celebrity endorsers influence female and male consumers differently in the Swedish sport industry.   Method - This thesis was conducted using an abductive approach together with a mixed methods approach. The data was collected with the use of focus groups and a questionnaire, resulting in a qualitative as well as quantitative approach. The data from the questionnaire complemented the data from the focus groups, which lead to a deeper understanding of the topic.   Findings - The findings of this thesis show that both the gender of the consumer and the gender of the celebrity need to be taken into account when creating a marketing strategy. Further, the authors argue that consumers are filtering information in promotions differently depending on gender, and therefore knowledge of gender differences will influence the effectiveness of a celebrity endorsed promotion. The findings of this thesis strengthen previous literature to some extent, but do also enhance the readers to new insights.

Background – Celebrity endorsement has been researched to a great extent, however the main focus of the previous research has been about the effectiveness and the neg-ative/positive information about the celebrity and the brand. Additionally, previous studies on gender differences have been conducted; however it has not been done in consideration with celebrity endorsement in the fashion industry. Purpose – This study aims to examine if there is a difference between how men and women perceive celebrity endorsement in the fashion industry. The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of factors that affects how genders perceive celebrity endorsement, and lastly to research if the celebrity endorsement has a positive or negative effect on the brand endorsed. Method – The theoretical framework was tested through focus groups conducted with students from Jönköping University. It was also researched through an online questionnaire that was spread to the author’s personal networks via social media. The questions have been designed according to the AIDA-framework to help address im-portant steps that the consumer goes through. Conclusion – The findings suggests that there is a difference between how men and women perceive celebrity endorsement. The women analyze different cues to a greater extent and tend to be more skeptical, while the men focus mostly on the prominent cues. Moreover, the findings show that both men and women are more at-tentive to a male celebrity endorser than a female celebrity endorser.

Main purpose of this thesis is to bring a reader into the problem of celebrity involvement in media marketing communication. In the thesis I explain the basic terms of celebrity marketing, consumer behavior, reference groups, marketing communication and celebrity endorsement. The application part focuses on my own research concerning the attitude of the Czech population sample to the advertisements with celebrities.

Dissertação de mestrado em Marketing, apresentado à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de Arnaldo Fernandes Matos Coelho.
O celebrity endorsement representa uma estratégia que já vem sido utilizada desde há várias décadas para cá. As marcas, no entanto, apostam cada vez mais nas celebridades e o investimento nestas é, globalmente, superior todos os anos. No entanto, esta estratégia não pode ser feita sem discernimento, correndo o risco de ser inconsequente. Neste sentido, este estudo tem por objectivo analisar o papel das celebridades na sua relação com as marcas. Assim, o presente estudo assenta na necessidade de perceber quais são as características das celebridades que podem gerar um impacto positivo nas atitudes e comportamentos dos consumidores face às marcas. Os resultados do questionário de investigação realizado a 331 consumidores demonstraram que as variáveis credibilidade da celebridade, a exposição e a congruência entre a celebridade e a marca tiveram um impacto nas atitudes em relação à marca, nomeadamente, nas variáveis afecto à marca, prestígio da marca, identificação com a marca, reputação da marca e confiança na marca. Por outro lado, este estudo demonstrou que estas atitudes exercem um efeito de mediação entre as características das celebridades e os comportamentos e atitudes em relação à marca, nomeadamente, nas variáveis lealdade à marca, brand equity, word of mouth, intenção de compra e sensibilidade ao preço. Adicionalmente, os resultados permitiram perceber que a variável confiabilidade da celebridade, enquanto factor de credibilidade desta, não revelou significância estatística ao nível do contributo explicativo de nenhuma variável presente no nosso modelo de investigação, contrariamente ao que apurámos aquando da nossa revisão da literatura.

Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais
Atualmente, com a emergência das redes sociais, as empresas tiveram de adaptar as suas estratégias de marketing a este meio em constante mudança, uma vez que grande parte do contacto marca-consumidor é realizado através destas mesmas redes. Este estudo irá basear-se numa dessas estratégias muito utilizadas pelas empresas, a utilização de micro-celebridades, para a promoção dos seus produtos, na rede social Instagram, ou seja, micro-celebrity endorsement. Neste estudo procurou-se então, perceber a opinião dos utilizadores do Instagram na utilização, por parte das marcas, de micro-celebridades para publicitarem os seus produtos. Adicionalmente, foi examinado se a visualização de imagens de micro-celebridades tinha qualquer efeito na opinião dos utilizadores. Não foi possível confirmar este efeito, contudo foi possível perceber a opinião dos utilizadores do Instagram relativamente ao micro-celebrity endorsement. Ao longo da investigação foi também possível identificar alguns fatores que levam os utilizadores a seguir marcas e micro-celebridades.
Nowadays, with the rise of social networking sites, companies had to adapt their marketing strategies to this ever-changing environment, since much of the brand-consumer contact is carried out through these same networks. This study will be based on one of these strategies widely used by businesses: the use of micro-celebrities to promote their products, in the social networking site Instagram - micro-celebrity endorsement. In this study, we sought to understand the opinions of Instagram users on the use of micro-celebrities, by brands, to advertise their products. Additionally, it was examined whether the visualization of micro-celebrity images had any effect on user opinion. It was not possible to confirm this effect, however, it was possible to learn the opinion of the users of Instagram regarding micro-celebrity endorsements. Throughout the investigation it was also possible to identify some factors that lead users to follow brands and micro-celebrities.
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Aim The authors seek to explore the impact of celebrity endorsement through social media on consumer behavior, specifically on impulsive buying. Methodology The quantitative research approach was adopted, and a questionnaire was administered to university students in 3 cities (Gavle, Uppsala, and Stockholm). The primary data was collected from the students’ responses to the questions (127-members survey). For achieving the results mentioned in the results chapter, SPSS 17 was used for the data analysis. In the study, secondary data was collected through scholarly journals, books, and articles. Findings The findings show that the popularity of the celebrity affects the buying behavior of customers (purchase motivation or purchase intention). The results revealed that marketers need to use recognized factors to motivate and influence consumers’ buying intention on social media as suggested by the consumer. The perception of the customers is that Marketers will do well to control the purchasing behavior of customers, and if possible the influence of celebrity endorsement through social media on impulsive buying. Contribution to the study Theoretical contribution This study adds a theoretical contribution to impulsive buying towards consumers’ buying behavior in the emerging field of marketing theory. Celebrities can play a vital role in influencing customers through using social media platforms which can impact their buying decision. In addition to the social media effect, the authors have chosen to continue the Pavlovian model for consumer behavior, adapting it to success, as did the other two separate factors that lead to an impulse purchase which is the convenience of e-commerce and impulse decision. The theory explores the actions of consumers in detail and aims at a much deeper understanding of thought and shifting attitudes based on both external and specific environmental factors. Managerial contribution Celebrities create positive awareness through their influence and arouse the need in the mind of customers. Motivated customers are interested in buying and making instant decisions. The attitude of graduate students could be vital for marketers to promote products through this channel.  The research asks actually that if, in the case of support for the chosen celebrity and not just any celebrity, details should be collected and a commonly known celebrity is strategically positioned then the research would change their preconceived ideas about certain target markets. Limitations and suggestions for future research The authors recommend that the results presented are not generalizable to other universities or countries. The focus of this study is limited to a particular segment with various constraints, in changing situations, to obtain students’ perceptions of different opinions and methods to influence the decision-making behavior of consumers with celebrities' help through social media. The point of view may differ from one demographic segment to another, so the authors will recommend extending/expanding the sample size with various demographic features for similar studies in the future. The impulsive buying behavior of customers is largely influenced but still, there is a gap between the product category and customers’ preference. Furthermore, the new study can be done on how consumer buying behavior may affect based on contextual influence such as involving time pressure, situational impact based on the channel of promotion(online and offline ), as the number of customers, is increasing very rapidly.

Nowadays, about one fourth of all prime time commercials in the United States feature celebrity endorsers. Previous research has identified numerous benefits of this powerful marketing strategy. Unfortunately, celebrities have been increasingly involved in negative publicity in the recent past. Using event study methodology, I examine the influence of negative celebrity endorser publicity on immediate and subsequent stock returns, covering 59 events during a 25 year period from 1988 to 2012. My research shows that firms do not have to take losses for granted. By choosing proactive versus reactive/passive strategies, firms can successfully counteract the subsequent negative stock returns. Thus, it is not the negative event itself that drives the subsequent financial performance, but rather the immediate response of firms. Although immediate firm reactions increase the salience of the event and cause stock prices to drop initially, they also build up investors' trust and confidence again, ultimately leading to increased stock returns in the subsequent weeks. On the flipside, a reactive/passive strategy shows a lack of control and leadership, which can lead to substantial financial losses in the subsequent weeks. I show that this main effect is attenuated for subsidiary (vs. corporate) brands. Further, the appropriateness of the reaction (match between expected and actual firm reaction) is also crucial. Overall, this dissertation helps to advance the knowledge regarding the financial risk of negative celebrity endorser publicity and provides firms with advice to best manage the situation.
Ph. D.

The aim of this master thesis is to find out whether celebrity endorsement is influencing factor on decision-making process when purchasing cosmetics (hair care and skin care) in Czech market. Master thesis is divided into two main parts. Theoretical part describes consumer decision-making process, role of celebrity endorsement and examples how celebrity endorsement is used nowadays by L'Oréal. Practical part then focuses on analysis of consumer behaviour through quantitative (online questionnaire) and qualitative research (focus groups) in order to analyse what consumer thinks about celebrity endorsement and to which extent is Czech beauty shopper influenced by it. Thanks to these analyses I was able to identify the most influencing factors, position celebrity endorsement within this group and create set of recommendations regarding most important tools when promoting skin care and hair care products on Czech market.

Having a celebrity endorse a product has in previous research been shown to increase both sales and brand awareness for companies. Celebrity endorsement can also be used by companies as a marketing communication strategy to build brand image. As a result of this, companies pay millions of dollars to have a celebrity endorse their products. It is therefore a very interesting area to investigate and do further research on. By using a qualitative research, this thesis explores, describes and analyse how celebrity endorsement affects consumers’ perception on brand image and purchase intention. To answer the research questions, interviews have been made. The main findings of this thesis are that the image of the celebrity endorser transfers to the brand image. Furthermore, trustworthiness and success has been shown as important factors in a celebrity endorser. Lastly, the research has shown that attributes such as familiarity, likability and similarity in a celebrity endorser affects consumers’ purchase intention.

TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE MAGÍSTER EN MARKETING
El celebrity endorsement corresponde a una estrategia de comunicación, la cual frecuentemente puede ser vista en diversos avisos de diferentes marcas. Hasta ahora ha sido estudiada mayormente en medios tradicionales como la televisión, diarios y revistas, sin embargo poco se ha investigado sobre sus efectos en medios online, específicamente redes sociales. Este estudio propone un experimento factorial, donde se pretende comparar los efectos a niveles cognitivos, afectivos y conductuales de cuatro piezas publicitarias, que alternan tanto el medio: online/offline y como el nivel de explicitness en la comunicación; explícito/implícito. El estudio se realizó con la red social Instagram, ya que esta tiene un uso frecuente en la población joven chilena, además de un mayor engagement o interacción por publicación que otras redes sociales como Facebook y Twitter (Elliot, 2015). Junto con esto resulta una medio idea para las marcas, puesto que al solo poder compartir fotos o vídeos y estar diseñada para aplicaciones móviles, permite ver publicaciones y/o publicidades de las marcas y celebridades en cualquier lugar y momento. Los resultados muestran mejores resultados cognitivos en el medio online y con mensajes implícitos, mientras que los resultados a nivel afectivo resultan superiores cuando se hace publicidad explícita en medios offline. A nivel conductual se observa acciones explícitas tienen una leve mejor respuesta, sobre todo en el medio online. Muchos de estos hallazgos coinciden con la literatura previa, mientras que otros que no habían sido tan estudiados resultan ser muy interesantes. Las implicancias de estos resultados son discutidos al final del estudio.

Forskningen kring marknadsföring med kändisar har fokuserat på hur företag väljer den lämpligaste endorsern för just sitt varumärke och hur associationerna mellan produkten och kändisen spelar in på annonseffekter. Det har visats i flera studier att konsumenternas uppfattning av kändisen som person återspeglas i betraktarens annonsattityd och varumärkesattityd. Vi har valt att fokusera vår uppsats på effekterna av marknadsföringen av kvinnoparfymen Chanel No. 5 och jämfört konsumenternas uppfattning för en manlig respektive en kvinnlig ambassadör.Studien är uppdelad i två enkäter där vi med kvantitativa metoder undersöker två olika ambassadörersom marknadsfört produktenChanel No. 5. Vi har valt en manlig (Brad Pitt) och en kvinnlig ambassadör (Marilyn Monroe).Resultatet visade på en skillnad mellan de två ambassadörerna i både sambandet mellan annonsattityd/varumärkesattityd och konsumentens uppfattning av ambassadören. Resultatet bekräftade även gängse uppfattning om att en kvinna som marknadsför en kvinnoparfym har en bättre matchning jämfört med den manliga. För den kvinnliga ambassadören med starkareanknytning till varumärket kunde vi se tydliga samband för både annonsattityd och varumärkesattityd medan för ambassadören med mindre anknytning fanns det främst samband för annonsattityden medan för varumärkesattityden fanns det knappt några sambandalls.

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Millions of dollars are spent on celebrity contracts each year by assuming that the benefits of using celebrities will exceed the costs. Accordingly, many researchers have studied the impact of celebrity endorsements on advertising effectiveness. One of the theories used frequently by these researchers is the match-up hypothesis. This theory suggests that there should be a good fit between the celebrity and the product; however, it is not clear what constitutes a good fit. Some researchers suggested that attractive celebrities will be more effective if they are used to promote attractiveness-related products. Other researchers claimed that when there is congruence between the product type and the celebrity profession, advertising effectiveness will be enhanced; however, these existing dimensions of the match-up hypothesis fall short of explaining some popular celebrity endorsement campaigns (e.g., Sharpie Pens and David Beckham). The current research contributes to the study of celebrity endorsements by adding another dimension, values, to the match-up hypothesis. Specifically, the congruence between celebrity values (as perceived by consumers) and values represented by products was considered as an alternative to the attractiveness and expertise dimensions. In a series of six experiments, support for the positive impact of celebrity-product value congruence on advertising effectiveness was found. College students exposed to the high value congruence ad spent less time in examining the ad, suggesting that participants were easily and quickly able to match up the celebrities and products. Moreover, participants who were exposed to the high value congruence ad had significantly more favorable attitudes toward ad and brand, had higher intentions to buy the product, and were more likely to recommend the product to other people than were participants who were exposed to the low value congruence ad. The results also suggested that value congruence with unfamiliar celebrities was more effective than value congruence with familiar celebrities for generating more favorable attitudes toward ad and brand and higher behavioral intentions, due probably to the minimized effect of pre-established thoughts or feelings about unfamiliar celebrities. Together these results suggest that the congruence between celebrity and product values plays an important role in advertising effectiveness.
Committee in charge: Lynn R. Kahle, Chairperson; Joan Giese, Member; David Boush, Member; Deborah Morrison, Outside Member

Seminario para optar al grado de Ingeniero Comercial, Mención Administración
El endorsement ha sido por muchos años una herramienta importante en la comunicación de marketing. La utilización de una figura o personaje como apoyo comunicacional de una marca o producto han sido estrategias recurrentes en las últimas décadas. La creencia de que existe un impacto positivo en las actitudes del consumidor hacia la marca o producto por la influencia de las características del endorser o vocero de marca ha sido fundamento para los altos niveles de inversión en esta herramienta comunicacional. En este contexto, el presente estudio busca indagar en las fuentes que determinan la efectividad del uso de endorsement, siendo más específico en el uso de celebridades como endorsers en publicidad gráfica. Mediante un estudio cuantitativo/experimental que contó de dos fases, un pre test y un test final, y con la utilización de actrices nacionales, se buscó analizar las fuentes que determinan la efectividad del uso de celebridades como endorsers. Además, y de forma más importante, se comparó el uso de endorsers versus otras alternativas, como lo son el uso de modelos o figuras anónimas y la utilización de avisos sin endorsers, obteniendo resultados muy interesantes. Basados en los modelos de credibilidad de la fuente (source credibility), atractivo de la fuente (source attractiveness), transferencia de significado (transfer meaning) y calce entre la celebridad y el producto o marca, se analizó de manera experimental el uso de celebridades como endorsers. Los resultados son reveladores en cuanto a la influencia que tienen las características del endorser (celebridad) en la recepción del mensaje y la actitud hacia el aviso por parte de la audiencia. Se midieron constructos como actitud hacia la marca, actitud hacia el aviso e intención de compra para distintas categorías de producto, y a la vez para las celebridades mejor y peor evaluadas en la etapa de pre test. Entre las conclusiones más importantes se pudo obtener que las características del endorser si son traspasadas al producto y, por ende, al consumidor, como lo indica el proceso de transfer meaning. Además, las opciones alternativas de uso de celebridades anónimas o avisos sin endorser resultan ser válidas ante la baja diferenciación que generan las celebridades para ciertas categorías de producto. Finalmente, es clave considerar el calce entre la celebridad y el producto o marca, donde celebridades con alto atractivo físico son mejor consideradas para productos de cuidado personal, así como también en productos ligados a alto performance o de alto involucramiento, la celebridad o endorser no genera una diferenciación para la marca, dado que el consumidor se enfoca en las características del producto por sobre las de la celebridad. El uso de esta herramienta comunicacional puede ser efectivo bajo ciertas condiciones. Se debe considerar el contexto comunicacional, las características de la marca y/o producto, los costos asociados y las alternativas disponibles. Las características de las celebridades tendrán un impacto significativo en la efectividad del endorsement. Características como confiabilidad, atractivo y expertise son claves para obtener mejores resultados en el proceso de endorsement. Finalmente, es importante destacar las limitaciones de este estudio, el cual deja de lado ciertas variables como el género, profesión, entre otros. Además, esta investigación considera solo actrices chilenas y no se utilizó producción gráfica profesional. Cualquier alteración de este contexto podría modificar los resultados obtenidos

The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle their products. Especially in cosmeticsindustry, this tactic is commonplace and often seen in TV advertisements, magazines and othertypes of media. If you flip through the television channels, you can easily find a number ofdifferent celebrity endorsers; from Eva Longoria for L’Oreal to Julia Roberts for Lancôme andeven Nicole Kidman for Schweppes. What do marketers expect from enormous amounts spenton celebrities appearing in their advertisements? Besides returns on the financial aspect andbrand awareness, using celebrities in advertisements can be a shortcut to assisting brands ingaining recognitions. All these efforts may be contributions in creating brand loyalty, which iswhere the marketing battle really begins. The brand loyalty concept has been somewhatoverlooked, in the sense that many studies have only been focused on the “behavioral” aspect.Recent studies actively propose that brand loyalty shall take both behavioral and attitudinalaspects into consideration in order to make it comprehensive. David Aaker (1991) suggested,“The brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity”. Because of theexistence of brand loyalty, it makes the brand choice and brand equity possible. For theseparticular reasons and arguments, the topic was chosen regarding both celebrity endorsement andbrand loyalty in cosmetics advertising, with the aim to probe the relationship between them. Thisstudy concerns celebrity endorsement in cosmetics advertisements and the creation of brandloyalty, thus investigating the use of celebrities in advertising and the effect it has and if and howit contributes to brand loyalty. It is based on customers’ perception of this type of advertisingtechnique in relation to the cosmetics industry, and two different types of brand loyalty,attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty.The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle their products. Especially in cosmeticsindustry, this tactic is commonplace and often seen in TV advertisements, magazines and othertypes of media. If you flip through the television channels, you can easily find a number ofdifferent celebrity endorsers; from Eva Longoria for L’Oreal to Julia Roberts for Lancôme andeven Nicole Kidman for Schweppes. What do marketers expect from enormous amounts spenton celebrities appearing in their advertisements? Besides returns on the financial aspect andbrand awareness, using celebrities in advertisements can be a shortcut to assisting brands ingaining recognitions. All these efforts may be contributions in creating brand loyalty, which iswhere the marketing battle really begins. The brand loyalty concept has been somewhatoverlooked, in the sense that many studies have only been focused on the “behavioral” aspect.Recent studies actively propose that brand loyalty shall take both behavioral and attitudinalaspects into consideration in order to make it comprehensive. David Aaker (1991) suggested,“The brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity”. Because of theexistence of brand loyalty, it makes the brand choice and brand equity possible. For theseparticular reasons and arguments, the topic was chosen regarding both celebrity endorsement andbrand loyalty in cosmetics advertising, with the aim to probe the relationship between them. Thisstudy concerns celebrity endorsement in cosmetics advertisements and the creation of brandloyalty, thus investigating the use of celebrities in advertising and the effect it has and if and howit contributes to brand loyalty. It is based on customers’ perception of this type of advertisingtechnique in relation to the cosmetics industry, and two different types of brand loyalty,attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty.

The literature and theories used for investigating and supporting this area mainly focused on thetwo most important concepts for this study, celebrity endorsement and brand loyalty. In order toreview these two theories and support the research question, additional concepts concerningendorsement, attitudes, behavior, brands and products were investigated and evaluated. These inturn enabled the creation of a questionnaire, covering the area to be scrutinized.The literature and theories used for investigating and supporting this area mainly focused on thetwo most important concepts for this study, celebrity endorsement and brand loyalty. In order toreview these two theories and support the research question, additional concepts concerningendorsement, attitudes, behavior, brands and products were investigated and evaluated. These inturn enabled the creation of a questionnaire, covering the area to be scrutinized.

For the purpose of this quantitative study, a self completion web based questionnaire was carriedout. The survey was sent by email to possible respondents, with a students’ email account atUmeå School of Business. The sampling method used when sending out the web survey was of anon-probability nature.For the purpose of this quantitative study, a self completion web based questionnaire was carriedout. The survey was sent by email to possible respondents, with a students’ email account atUmeå School of Business. The sampling method used when sending out the web survey was of anon-probability nature.

The findings led to a conclusion confirming that neither brand loyalty nor attitudinal loyalty isproved to be created by famous endorsers. Although, not bearing brand loyalty in mind, it can beseen that the endorsers help customers to get to know a brand better. The data findings alsosuggest that the costs of using celebrity endorsement are not reasonable in relation to gainingrespondents’ attitudinal loyalty. It is positively confirmed that both behavioural and attitudinalloyalty should be included when measuring actual brand loyalty concerning cosmetics brands.The findings led to a conclusion confirming that neither brand loyalty nor attitudinal loyalty isproved to be created by famous endorsers. Although, not bearing brand loyalty in mind, it can beseen that the endorsers help customers to get to know a brand better. The data findings alsosuggest that the costs of using celebrity endorsement are not reasonable in relation to gainingrespondents’ attitudinal loyalty. It is positively confirmed that both behavioural and attitudinalloyalty should be included when measuring actual brand loyalty concerning cosmetics brands.

Mestrado em Marketing
As redes socias são cada vez mais utilizadas pelas celebridades, enquanto meio de transmitir aos seus seguidores mensagens publicitárias de marcas, às quais estão associadas. O Instagram é a rede social que mais cresce, e onde esta prática predomina. Ter motivações distintas para utilizar o Instagram influenciará a perceção que se tem da credibilidade e atratividade dos endorsers neste contexto? Levará o celebrity endorsement no contexto da rede social Instagram a uma maior intenção de compra dos produtos patrocinados? Nesta investigação foi utilizada uma abordagem quantitativa com recurso a um inquérito online de natureza exploratória, tendo sido selecionadas duas celebridades portuguesas, das mais seguidas no Instagram, Cristiano Ronaldo e Rita Pereira, para servirem como exemplo aos inquiridos. As conclusões retiradas apontam para que seguir celebridades na rede social Instagram é uma prática comum. No que se refere à intenção de compra, esta é influenciada parcialmente pela credibilidade dos celebrity endorsers percecionada pelos utilizadores e influenciada positivamente pela congruência percecionada entre os celebrity endorsers e os produtos patrocinados. Diferentes categorias de motivações para utilizar esta rede social levam a que os utilizadores percecionem de modo distinto a credibilidade e atratividade de celebrity endorsers.
Social network sites are more and more used by celebrities, as a mean of sending their followers advertising messages, from brands to which they are associated with. Instagram is the social network site that is growing more now and where the use of celebrity´s profiles for advertising purposes is most common. Does having different motives for using Instagram influence the perceptions of credibility and attractiveness of the endorsers in that context? Does celebrity endorsement in the context of Instagram lead to greater purchase intentions of the featured products? In the present investigation it was followed a quantitative approach, using an online inquiry, with an exploratory nature. Two portuguese celebrities were selected, some of the most followed on Instagram, Cristiano Ronaldo e Rita Pereira, to serve as examples to the respondents. The conclusions indicate that indeed following celebrities on Instagram is common. As far as purchase intention, this is partially influenced by the perceived credibility of celebrity endorsers and positively by the match-up hypothesis perceived between celebrity endorsers and products. Distinct categories of motivation to use this social network site, lead users to perceive differently the credibility and attractiveness of celebrity endorsers.
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Sociala medier har under senare år växt och blivit en integrerad del av människors vardag. Tillväxten i populariteten av sociala medier har resulterat i att många företag flyttar delar av sin marknadsföring till dessa plattformar i förhoppningen om att få en bredare och mer engagerad publik. En följd av det ökade intresset för marknadsföring på sociala medier har blivit att sponsra och samarbeta med personer som har ett stort antal följare, även kallade influencers, på sociala medie-plattformar såsom Instagram, Twitter och Youtube. Samtidigt som sponsring av influencers blir allt vanligare så ser vi också att influencerns publik, följare och andra intressenter, har börjat tröttna på det sponsrade materialet. Tidigare forskning på marknadsföring med hjälp av kända personer har visat att det finns ett negativt samband mellan mängden produkter som en känd person marknadsför och den kända personens source credibility. Forskarna fann i samband med studierna även att konsumentens köpintention och varumärkesattityd påverkades negativt. Vår studie ämnade därför dels till att undersöka om samma slutsatser går att dra för dagens influencers. Å andra sidan visar forskning att konsumentens relation till en känd person kan skilja sig från relationen till en influencer. Då konsumenter ofta upplever att de har en relation till de influencers som de följer på sociala medier kan detta påverka den minskade source credibility som annars skulle uppstå när en influencer publicerar en större mängd sponsrat material. Därför syftade denna studie även till att undersöka huruvida konsumentens intention och attityd påverkas av att konsumenten följer en influencer eller inte. För att kunna besvara studiens syfte och frågeställning genomfördes därför en experimentell studie på nätet. Deltagarna i studien slumpades in i en av två grupper där de exponerades för olika mängder sponsrat material. Experimentet avslutades med en enkät och grupperna jämfördes sedan för att se huruvida attityden gentemot influencern, köpintentionen och varumärkesattityden förändrades vid en större mängd sponsrat material. Enkäten möjliggjorde även vidare analys av hur attityder och intentioner påverkas av att konsumenten är följare eller inte. Resultatet visade att antal sponsrade inlägg som en influencer publicerar inte påverkar konsumentens köpintention, varumärkesattityd eller attityd gentemot influencern. Dock fann studien stöd för att en influencers source credibility påverkas beroende på om konsumenten är följare eller icke-följare, vilket i sin tur även påverkar konsumentens köpintention och varumärkesattityd. Vi fann även att source credibility påverkar köpintention och varumärkesattityd i båda fallen. Vi kan därmed dra slutsatsen att det är mindre viktigt för konsumenten hur många sponsrade inlägg en influencer publicerar. Det handlar snarare om huruvida man följer personen eller inte gällande hur konsumenten tar emot det sponsrade materialet.
Social media has in recent years grown and become an integrated part of people's everyday lives. The growth in popularity of social media has resulted in many companies moving parts of their marketing efforts to these platforms in the hope of getting a wider and more committed audience. An effect of the increased interest in social media marketing has been to sponsor people who have large numbers of followers, also called influencers, on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. While sponsoring influencers is becoming more common, we also see that the influencer audience has begun to grow tired of the sponsored material. Earlier research on celebrity marketing has shown that there is a negative relationship between the amount of products that a celebrity endorses and the endorser's source credibility. Researchers also found that the consumer's purchase intention and brand attitude were negatively affected. Our study therefore aimed to investigate whether the same conclusions can be drawn for influencers. On the other hand, research shows that the consumer's relationship with celebrity may differ from the relationship to an influencer. Because consumers often experience that they have a relationship to the influencers that they follow on social media, this can affect the reduced source credibility that would otherwise occur when an influencer publishes a larger amount of sponsored content. Therefore, this study also aimed to investigate whether the consumer's purchase intention and attitude is influenced by the consumer following an influencer or not.In order to answer the purpose of the study, an online experiment was conducted. Participants in the study were randomized into one of two groups where they were exposed to different amounts of sponsored material. The experiment was completed with a survey and the groups were compared to see if the attitude towards the influencer, purchase intentions and brand attitude changed when the participant was exposed to a larger amount of sponsored material. The survey also enabled further analysis of how attitudes and intentions are affected by the consumer being a follower or not. The result showed that the number of sponsored posts published by an influencer does not affect the consumer's purchase intention, brand attitude or the source credibility of the influencer. However, the study found that an influencer's source credibility was affected by whether the consumer is a follower or non-follower, which in turn also affects the consumer's purchase intention and brand attitude. We also found that source credibility affects purchase intention and brand attitude in both cases. We can therefore conclude that it is less important for the consumer how many sponsored posts an influencer publishes. It is more about whether the consumer follows the influencer or not, than about how the consumer receives the sponsored material. The following thesis is written in Swedish.

Advertisements are today a large part of our daily lives, making marketing increasingly complex and hard to navigate for companies seeking to catch our attention. One way of engaging with consumers is with the help of celebrities, via so called celebrity endorsements. Previous research on women has shown that celebrity endorsements of exclusive brands seems to have a positive effect on the consumer’s attitude towards the ad, but no impact on its purchase intention, brand attitude or how luxurious the brand is perceived. Furthermore, several studies have shown that there are large differences between men’s and women’s purchase behaviors. However, there is a lack of previous research with regards to celebrity endorsements targeting men. With this in mind, our purpose with this study has been to analyze what celebrity endorsement for exclusive brands targeting men contributes with. The research question is “What does a celebrity contribute with when promoting exclusive brands to men?”. The study was conducted using a quantitative method based on existing theories about celebrity endorsement, meaning transfer model, consumer behavior and brand equity. The data that emerged from our survey was also analyzed based on the study’s chosen theories. After an analysis of the empirical data, the following conclusions have been made: Male consumers prefer celebrity endorsements over regular advertisements with a noncelebrity; however, celebrity endorsements are not perceived as more exclusive. Celebrity endorsements targeting men contributes to an increased brand awareness and creates positive brand associations when the right celebrity has been chosen; brand loyalty and perceived brand quality are not affected. Celebrity endorsements for exclusive brands targeting men does not necessarily lead to an increased desire for the brand.

It has become conventional to use product placement in music videos. Big brands have started marketing themselves through product placement, for example, brands such as BMW, VitaminWater and Virgin Mobile. Placing products in music videos could be perceived as the brands linking themselves with celebrities. This product placement could either have a positive or negative effect on the celebrity and/or the brand. This research study aimed to provide the world of brands with insights into 18-28-year-olds’ perception of product placement in music videos, and whether placing their product in a music video where the audience is not partial to the celebrity, could be detrimental or not. This research study aimed to determine the selected sample’s (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University students) perceptions of the product placement of three specific brands (VitaminWater, BMW and Virgin) in three specific music videos, namely: Jessie J and David Guetta “Laserlight” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syxd2n8S4AE JLo’s “Get on the Floor” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4H_Zoh7G5A Lady Gaga and Beyoncé “Telephone” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ95z6ywcBY An electronic survey questionnaire was concluded with both closed and open-ended questions relating to the use of product placement in these three music videos. The survey questionnaire helped to determine what the selected sample’s perceptions were of each brand and celebrity, what they were after the respondents and seen the relationship between the brand and celebrity and finally, of product placement in general. A semiotic analysis of screen shots from each music video was conducted to determine what kind of nature the product placement occurred in in each music video.

Celebrity endorsement has received academic attention since the 1970s and it has widely been used by companies in their marcom (marketing communications) activities as an effective strategic tool to promote their brands, companies, products and services. Instead of only being appointed as endorsers, this new phenomenon sees how celebrities have changed their roles as human brands and are now better known as celebrity brands. Celebrities, as they are known today, are progressively becoming brands in their own right (i.e. celebrity brand), have their own value, owning their own products and/or services and businesses/companies (i.e. corporate brand), and endorsing other corporate brands too. Companies use celebrity endorsements to position and communicate their individual/product brand image to consumers at large. However, due to the changing marketing environment (from traditional to digital marketing), companies are finding that their communication through celebrity endorsements have become costly and less efficient when trying to project a coherent corporate image and reputation across various audiences. Rather, the new trending phenomenon of celebrity chefs may achieve the desired effect. Unlike other human brands such as CEOs, athletes or artists, which roles limit to either personal or corporate roles, celebrity chefs are unique as they encompass both. Furthermore, they also endorse other brands and corporate brands simultaneously, enabling them to project their own personal and corporate brand as well as the brand they are endorsing. Hence, this study's novelty lies in the exploration and development of the celebrity chef concept at both the product and corporate brand level of their 'own' and 'endorsed' activities (termed as celebrity corporate brand or CCB in this study); and operationalises the CCB concept. The study aims to investigate whether a change in the celebrity brand roles by addressing both traits (human personality) and states (brand personality) and by associating it at the corporate brand level, given the best contextual setting, is one of the possible ways to strategically use celebrity brand beyond endorsement in marcom activities. The study has three objectives, which are: 1) to explore the concept of celebrity brand at a corporate brand level, known as Celebrity Corporate Brand - CCB; 2) to investigate the impact of CCB on attitudinal (identification, image and reputation) and behavioural (loyalty) outcomes (termed as corporate brand enhancement); and 3) to develop a holistic conceptual model to understand the consumers attitudinal and behavioural response and association impact of celebrity brand at corporate brand level named as Celebrity Corporate Brand Association Impact on Corporate Brand Enhancement Model. A mixed method approach was employed by using qualitative data (netnography - Study1; and in depths interviews - Study 2) as well as quantitative data (population-based survey experiments - Study 3). A qualitative approach is used to explore the concept and dimensions of CCB, which is later used to assist the items and measure development for Study 3. Data collection was done covering samples selection from the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Random sampling is used to select respondents that fulfilled the criteria required for the study. The study finds that CCB represents and carries his Personal Brand, Product/Service Brand and Corporate Brand. CCB Product Brand refers to the celebrity chefs own developed products and services which are their foods, cookbooks, kitchen utensils. CCB Corporate Brand refers to the celebrity chefs' businesses, corporations and companies such as their restaurants, colleges and programs. CCB is further conceptualised through the CCB's Authentic and Functional Quality, CCB's Cognition and CCB's Personal Quality. The CCB's Philosophy also projects the celebrity's own corporate brand and endorsed activities. CCB Personal Brand refers to the celebrity chefs' traits such as their interpersonal skills and quality, symbolic value and authenticity; and their and their personality states such as enterprising and technical quality. Theoretically, the research is novel in four different ways: 1) it offers a fresh insight to scholars and practitioners in celebrity endorsement, human or celebrity brand, into how to address the new phenomena of changing consumer and celebrity roles by going beyond the celebrity endorsement concept (i.e. via CCB); 2) it explores, develops, defines and provides measures for the newly developed CCB concept; and 3) it extends the nascent literature on celebrity brand, which explores mainly at product brand level, to corporate brand level (celebrity with personal brand also owning corporate brand), and 4) it test CCB empirically and further investigates its relationship in terms of both attitudinal and behavioural outcomes in an effort to enhance corporate brand (corporate brand enhancement process). Previously, studies on celebrity endorsement only look at the use of celebrity as an endorser and discussion in this area is made based on the Source Model which only discusses the personality traits of the celebrities. In addressing the changing roles of celebrities (having personal brands, product brands and corporate brands), this study defines CCB by including both the celebrity brand personality traits and states and researching its impact on corporate brand enhancement. Furthermore, this study looks at both the attitudinal and behavioural outcome of the CCB on multiple stakeholders (celebrities, consumers and endorsed corporate brands). Methodologically, the study contributes in three ways: (1) a new context (celebrity chefs) is chosen to add new insights to celebrity branding literature; (2) approaching the research with three different studies, namely Study 1- netnography; Study 2 - in depths interviews; and Study 3 - population-based survey experiments; and (3) the inclusion of multiple stakeholders as the samples. Practically, the study proposes marketers to select a new type of celebrity: one that has a personal brand of their own, own product and/or corporate brand to increase the promotional marketing campaign success. Thus, both parties need to work together to build upon their brand strategy to ensure that the consumer identifies closely with them, thereby enhancing their image and reputation and subsequently increasing brand loyalty to the advantage of both parties. Interestingly, once CCB has built upon reputation, this guides the business and marketers to carefully select them in the hope of enhancing its corporate brand. The study's findings also demonstrate that it is essential to address various audiences in this new era by designing an appropriate positioning and communication strategy. The results will assist businesses and organisations in the context of defining and developing strategy alongside celebrity chefs (as the CCB) with their businesses and the endorsed corporate brands.

Idag handlar marknadsföring inte längre bara om att kommunicera ut ett budskap till en kund, utan även att hjälpa till att skapa ett bra intryck så att kunderna börjar kommunicera och föra budskapet vidare. I och med digitaliseringen kan företagen använda sig av olika sociala kanaler för att nå ut till en större räckvidd och förmedla sitt budskap till en större grupp konsumenter. Förr kunde en bra Tv-reklam eller annons i tidningen vara tillräcklig för att konsumenten skulle vilja köpa produkten men idag räcker inte det. Idag kan konsumenter enkelt använda sig av sociala medier för att hitta inspiration och bli påverkade i sin köpprocess och sina beslut. I takt med att fler använder sociala medier bör även företagen följa. På grund av den digitala utvecklingen har allt fler företag valt andra marknadsföringsstrategier för att kunna nå ut till en större räckvidd bland konsumenterna. Ett exempel är genom sociala medier som har fått en större betydelse när det kommer till marknadsföring, reklam och kommunikation. Användarna inom sociala medier har även ökat exponentiellt varje år, vilket är en anledning till att allt fler företag väljer att använda sig av sociala medier som en marknadsföringsstrategi. I denna studie kommer användandet av sociala medier granskas och attityden kring influencer marketing via dessa kanaler undersökas. Syftet är att undersöka utfallet av denna typ av marknadsföring samt vilka marknadsföringsstrategier som bör tillämpas av företagen med hjälp av dessa kanaler. Vidare är även syftet med denna studie att lägga grunden och kartlägga attityder för att man i vidare forskning ska kunna fördjupa sig inom området. För att kunna svara på studiens forskningsfrågor har en kvantitativ forskningsmetod tillämpats. En kvantitativ ansats ansågs mest lämplig eftersom målet var att kunna uppnå ett mer representativt och brett resultat som möjligt. Studien resulterade i att influencer marketing via sociala medier hjälper företag att nå ut till fler potentiella konsumenter med färre resurser. Användandet av sociala medier är hög och kommer att fortsätta öka, därmed kan marknadsföring via dessa kanaler leda till att dess budskap når ut till en större räckvidd. Studien har även resulterat i att attityden gentemot influencer marketing via sociala medier är relativt positivt men att det kan bli för mycket reklam vilket leder till irritation. Därmed är det viktigt som marknadsförare att hitta en balansgång, där det inte blir för mycket reklam men ändå inte för lite. Sammanfattningsvis anser vi att denna strategi lyckats med något som traditionell marknadsföring har försökt med i decennier.
Today, marketing is no longer just about communicating a message to a customer, but also helping to create a good impression so that customers begin to communicate and convey the message further on. With digitalization, companies can use different social channels to reach a wider reach and convey their message to a larger group of consumers. In the past, a good TV commercial or advertisement in a magazine could be enough for the consumer to want to buy the product, but today it is not enough. Today, consumers can easily use social media to find inspiration and be influenced in their buying process and decision-making process. As more people use social media, companies should follow. Due to the digital developments, more and more companies have chosen other marketing strategies to reach a wider range of consumers. An example is through social media which has become more important when it comes to marketing, advertising and communication. Social media users have also increased exponentially each year, which is why more and more companies are choosing to use social media as a marketing strategy. In this study, the use of social media will be researched and the attitude of influencer marketing through these channels will be examined. The purpose is to investigate the outcome of this type of marketing as well as how the marketing strategies should be applied by the companies using these channels. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is also to lay the groundwork and map out attitudes so that in further research it will be possible to immerse in the field. To be able to answer the study's research questions, a quantitative research method has been applied. A quantitative approach was considered most appropriate as the goal was to be able to achieve a more representative and broad result as possible. The study proves that marketing via social media helps companies reach more potential consumers with fewer resources. The use of social media is high and will continue to increase, thus marketing through these channels can lead to its message reaching a wider range of people. The study has resulted in the attitude towards influencer marketing via social media being relatively positive, but when there is too much advertisement it leads to irritation. Therefore, it is important as a marketer to find the right balance, where there is not too much advertisement but not too little. In conclusion, we believe that this strategy has succeeded with something that traditional marketing has tried for decades. This study will be written in Swedish.

Människor har i alla tider sett upp till kända personer som förebilder och representanter för något som de själva drömmer om att vara, vilket gör dessa kända personer till idealiska ansikten utåt för ett företags varumärke och produkter. Detta fenomen kallas celebrity endorsement och har länge varit en populär metod inom marknadsföring där syftet är att skapa associationer mellan ett varumärke och en känd persons egenskaper. Även i Sverige förekommer denna form av marknadsföring och vi vill i denna studie se hur svenska företag arbetar med detta. Vi har tagit del av vetenskapliga studier som menar att könet på den kända personen i marknadsföringen har betydelse. Då Sverige är ett av de mest jämställda länderna i världen är det även intressant att öka förståelsen för hur svenska företag väljer idrottsstjärnor till sina marknadsföringskampanjer.

Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur svenska företag använder sig av svenska idrottsstjärnor i sin marknadsföring samt om det finns några skillnader i urval då det gäller kvinnliga och manliga idrottare. Vi vill även ta reda på om företagen gör någon uppföljning på resultatet av marknadsföringskampanjerna och i så fall på vilket sätt detta genomförs.

Den teoretiska referensramen har legat till grund för denna studie och teoridelen är baserad på vetenskapliga studier om ämnet athlete celebrity endorsement, samt hur arbetet med detta fenomen går till. De delar vi berör är vikten av ett starkt varumärke, en beskrivning av fenomenet athlete celebrity endorsement, fördelar och nackdelar med denna typ av marknadsföring, hur valet av idrottsstjärna går till, om det görs någon uppföljning och utvärdering, samt om idrottsstjärnas kön har någon betydelse. Dessa delar utgör sedan grunden för teori-, empiri-, analys-, slutsats- och diskussionskapitel.

För att öka förståelsen för hur svenska företag arbetar med athlete celebrity endorsement genomfördes fyra stycken telefonintervjuer med företag som är eller har varit aktuella med kampanjer tillsammans med idrottsstjärnor. Inför intervjuerna utformades en intervjuguide som baserades på den teoretiska referensramen. Dessa företag och idrottsstjärnor var: Länsförsäkringar och Henrik Larsson, Skellefteå Kraft och Heidi Andersson, Shapy och Jonathan Hedström samt Pärsons och Anja Pärson.

Empirikapitlet behandlar resultatet av intervjuerna där varje företag redovisas enskilt för att få en övergripande syn på hur respektive företag arbetar med athlete celebrity endorsement. Företagen i studien var positivt inställda till denna typ av marknadsföringsaktivitet och de ansåg bland annat att det är viktigt att idrottsstjärnas värderingar passar ihop med företagets.

De slutsatser vi kommit fram till i denna studie är att företagen är medvetna om de fördelar som finns men inte tänker lika mycket på nackdelarna med athlete celebrity endorsement. Vi har även sett en brist i att företagen inte planerar sitt val av idrottsstjärna utan går mer på känsla. Vi kan vidare dra slutsatsen att det inte heller görs någon uppföljning eller utvärdering av den specifika kampanjen samt att valet av en kvinnlig eller manlig idrottare inte har någon betydelse för de svenska företag som deltog i studien. En övergripande slutsats som vi kommit fram till är att athlete celebrity endorsement lämpar sig bäst när produkten är sportrelaterad på något sätt.

Celebrity endorsement is a global billion-dollar business used by food, beverage and restaurant companies to influence dietary behaviors that may contribute to overweight and obesity. Evidence suggests that existing government policies and industry self-regulatory programs in the United States (US) do not adequately protect young Americans from celebrity endorsement that promotes energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and beverage products. This PhD dissertation describes four studies that examine the nature, extent, and perceived influence of celebrity endorsement used by business firms and non-profit organizations to promote branded food and beverage products or branded campaigns to American children, adolescents and millennial young adults to inform future research and policies to promote healthy food environments. Study one created a database of US celebrities (n=732) involved with food and beverage group, brand or product endorsements (1990-2017) to examine celebrity profiles and their endorsement relationships, company partnerships, the nutritional profile of products and brands. Evidence was analyzed using Python version 3.5.5 and SPSS version 24. Study two examined celebrities associated with the Partnership for a Healthier America's Fruits and Veggies (FNV) Campaign (2015-2016). Evidence was analyzed using data visualization tools supported by Python and SPSS, and results informed the FNV Campaign. Study three used Q methodology to explore the views of Millennials, born 1981-1994 (n=40) at Virginia Tech about celebrity endorsement of food and beverage products and brands. Participants sorted 48 celebrity images depicting brand and product endorsements on a normal distribution (+4 to -4) based on celebrity trustworthiness and complete a post Q-sort questionnaire. Data analysis used PQMethod 2.35 statistical software program, centroid factor analysis, and qualitative interpretation of unique factor arrays for sorters. Study four identified relevant evidence about US celebrity endorsement of food and beverage products (2000-2019), used an accountability framework to evaluate the adequacy of accountability structures, and suggested future policies and action needed for diverse stakeholders to use celebrity endorsement to promote healthy food environments. Future research should explore the trend of celebrity endorsement used in the US marketplace and examine the influence of this marketing strategy on young people's food preferences and choices based on more representative experimental research.
Doctor of Philosophy
Celebrity endorsement is a marketing strategy that represents a person who uses public recognition to promote the sales, use or consumption of a brand, product, or service. Celebrity endorsement has been used by food, beverage and restaurant companies to influence eating behaviors that may contribute to overweight and obesity. Evidence suggests that existing government policies and industry self-regulatory programs in the United States (US) do not adequately protect young Americans from celebrity endorsement that promotes energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and beverage products. This PhD dissertation describes four studies that examined the nature, extent, and perceived influence of celebrity endorsement used by business firms and non-profit organizations to promote branded food and beverage products or branded campaigns to American children, adolescents and millennial adults to promote healthy food environments. Study one created a database of US celebrities (n=732) involved with food and beverage group, brand or product endorsements (1990-2017) to examine celebrity profiles and their endorsement relationships. Evidence was analyzed using Python data visualization tools and SPSS statistical software. Study two examined celebrities associated with the Partnership for a Healthier America's Fruits and Veggies (FNV) Campaign (2015-2016). Evidence was analyzed using baseline celebrity data (n=82) provided by the campaign initiator, and results informed the FNV Campaign. Study three used Q methodology to explore the views of Millennials, born 1981-1994 (n=40) at Virginia Tech about celebrity endorsement of food and beverage products and brands. Participants sorted 48 celebrity images depicting brand and product endorsements based on celebrity trustworthiness and complete a post Q-sort questionnaire. Data analysis used PQMethod 2.35 statistical software to generate shared viewpoints. Study four identified relevant evidence about US celebrity endorsement of food and beverage products (2000-2019), used an accountability framework to evaluate the adequacy of accountability structures, and suggested future policies and action needed for diverse stakeholders to use celebrity endorsement to promote healthy food environments. Future research should explore the trend of celebrity endorsement used in the US marketplace and examine the influence of this marketing strategy on young people's food beverage preferences and choices based on more representative experimental research.

Food and beverage marketing influences the preferences and diet quality of adolescents. In 2009, about one third (23.8 million US dollars) of the 77 million US dollars spent on celebrity marketing targeted to American adolescents promoted sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Research is limited on how celebrity endorsement influences adolescents' SSB choices and intake. This M.S. thesis describes a study with three research objectives conducted among 28 adolescents in Virginia to explore their beverage intake and views about celebrity endorsement of beverage products. Participants completed four activities including: BEVQ-15 to determine the type and amount of beverages consumed; a familiarity survey with 48 celebrities and their endorsements for six beverage product categories; Q methodology study that used 48 celebrity images depicting beverage brand and product endorsements where participants sorted the images on a normal distribution (+4 to -4) based on perceived celebrity credibility (i.e., expertise, attractiveness and trust); and a post Q sort questionnaire. The BEVQ-15 revealed that 96.3% of participants did not adhere to healthy beverage guidelines. A majority of participants recognized between 51% and 75% of the celebrities, but only 4.9% accurately identified celebrities and their associated beverage endorsement category. The Q methodology study used factor analysis to identify three unique viewpoints: (1) entertainment image emulators; (2) inspirational celebrities for perceived healthier beverages; and (3) multi-cultural celebrity appreciators. Study results may inform future policies and actions to ensure that celebrity endorsement encourages adolescents to buy and consume healthy beverages that align with guidelines.
Master of Science

Titel: Produktexponering på sociala medier - en studie om hur bloggar och Snapchat påverkar konsumenters inköpsbeslut. Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Maya Sundlöf och Malin Lund Handledare: Jonas Kågström Datum: 2015   Syfte: Vårt syfte är att undersöka om konsumenters inköpsbeslut och val av varumärke påverkas av exponering av produkter på bloggar respektive Snapchat.   Syftet med studien är att undersöka om konsumenter blir påverkade av kända personers produktexponeringar på deras bloggar och på deras Snapchat.   Metod: I studien genomfördes ett experiment med 98 deltagare som var uppdelade i fyra experimentgrupper. I studien blev en experimentgrupp exponerad av produkter från blogginlägg och en annan experimentgrupp blev exponerad av produkter från bloggares Snapchat. I resterande två experimentgrupper tillämpades defaulteffekten för att se om det skulle påverka deras val av varumärke.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet visar att Snapchat är den typ av social media som personer i större utsträckning blir påverkade av vid produktexponeringar. Bloggar påverkar i större utsträckning ett inköpsbeslut när kända personer ger rekommendationer. Vår slutsats är att Snapchat är ett fungerande marknadsföringsverktyg när det gäller att marknadsföra produkter och väcka uppmärksamhet hos personer. Bloggar är också ett fungerande marknadsföringsverktyg och påverkar konsumenten mest när någon vill marknadsföra ett varumärke för en produkt.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Se marknadsföring via sociala medier från ett företagsperspektiv, hur företagen tänker vid val av kända personer att marknadsföra sig via samt hur bloggare tänker vid val av företag att samarbeta med. Uppsatsens bidrag: Då bloggar visat sig vara ett bra marknadsföringsverktyg valde vi att genomföra en studie om Snapchat är ett likvärdigt marknadsföringsverktyg då forskningsområdet om detta är svagt. Vi har även undersökt om produktexponering påverkar konsumenters inköpsbeslut. Nyckelord: Sociala medier, celebrity endorsement, blogg, Snapchat, varumärke, defaulteffekt, personal branding
Title: Product Exposure on social media - a study on how blogs and Snapchat influence consumers' purchasing decisions. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor´s Degree in Business Administration: Marketing Author: Maya Sundlöf and Malin Lund Supervisor: Jonas Kågström Date: 2015   Aim: Our aim of this study is to investigate whether consumers' purchase decisions and brand of choice is affected by exposure of the products on blogs and Snapchat.   The purpose of this study is to investigate whether consumers are affected by known person’s product exposure on their blogs and on their Snapchat.   Method: The study conducted an experiment with 98 participants who were divided into four experimental groups. The study was an experimental group exposed to products from blog posts and another experimental group were exposed products from bloggers Snapchat. In the remaining two experimental groups were applied default effect to see if it would influence their choice of brand.   Results & Conclusion: The result shows that Snapchat is the kind of social media as people increasingly become affected by the product exposures. Blogs influences to a greater extent a purchase decision when famous people give recommendations. Our conclusion is that Snapchat is an effective marketing tool when it comes to marketing products and attract attention of people. Blogs are also an effective marketing tool and affects the consumer the most when someone wants to advertise a brand name for a product.   Suggestions for further research: Marketing on social media from a business perspective, how businesses in the choice of celebrity endorsement to work with and how do bloggers in the selection of companies to work with.   Contribution of the thesis: When blogs proved to be a good marketing tool, we chose to conduct a study on snapchat is an equivalent marketing then research on this is weak. We also investigated whether the product exposure affects consumers' purchasing decisions.   Key words: Social media, celebrity endorsement, blog, Snapchat, trademarks, default effect, personal branding

Avui en dia les companyies, com una estratègia més de màrqueting i comunicació, trien i utilitzen als celebrities perquè donin suport en els seus productes i es converteixi en més vendes. La proposta d'aquesta tesi és contribuir a augmentar el coneixement científic dels celebrity endorsement a Espanya i obtenir un major enteniment quan les empreses trien a un celebrity. Destacarem la importància cabdal de la gestió dels celebrities en promocionar productes, associant els atributs i la personalitat del celebrity a les marques i demostrant que aquesta estratègia és una manera eficaç d’apropar-nos al consumidor i apropar els productes als consumidors. Per dur a terme aquesta investigació hem partit d'un objectiu principal que ens ha derivat a tres subobjectius i a una hipòtesi. Per poder donar correctes respostes als objectius, hem dut a terme un treball de recerca compost per quatre fases. La primera hem realitzat enquestes a consumidors per donar resposta al primer subobjectiu que és l'impacte que perceben els consumidors entre els missatges de les marques i l'aparició dels celebrities. La segona fase formada per entrevistes a professionals del sector empresarial i a especialistes del sector acadèmic ens donaran resposta al nostre segon subobjectiu que és revisar si la figura del celebrity ha guanyat rellevància en les estratègies de màrqueting i comunicació de les empreses que ha provocat una transformació en les tècniques de màrqueting. La tercera fase composta per entrevistes realitzades a celebrities i mànagers de celebrities volem verificar si en els últims anys la figura del celebrity ha evolucionat i s'ha alineat amb els atributs corporatius i ha servit per apropar el producte al consumidor, augmentar les vendes i donar una bona imatge de la marca. Per finalitzar, en una quarta fase, hem analitzat contractes de celebrities per veure el seu grau d'involucració i influència amb les marques. Les principals conclusions derivades d'aquesta investigació és que els celebrities són una eina bàsica i fonamental en les estratègies de màrqueting i comunicació d'avui dia. El seu paper és fonamental per donar a conèixer els productes, per apropar els productes als consumidors, per augmentar les vendes, per aconseguir major difusió a les campanyes publicitàries, per donar més notorietat a la marca, etc. Però també hi ha un alt risc en fer una bona elecció d'un celebrity, tant pot donar un salt qualitatiu en positiu per a una marca com tot el contrari, un escàndol negatiu d'un celebrity pot arribar a ocasionar múltiples danys a una empresa. Per aquest motiu vam detectar que és essencial i prioritari fer una bona elecció d'un celebrity per assegurar l'èxit d'una campanya publicitària amb un celebrity. Després de tota la investigació fem un pas més i proposem un protocol d'actuació per a que les empreses tinguin una eina per verificar si l'elecció propostada d'un celebrity per la seva empresa és encertada o no. Actualment l'elecció d'un celebrity està basada més en sentiments, percepcions i intuïcions que en un model de mètode sistemàtic, d'aquí la nostra aportació a una proposta de protocol d'actuació.
Hoy en día las compañías, como una estrategia más de marketing y comunicación, eligen y utilizan a los celebrities para que den apoyo en sus productos y se convierta en más ventas. La propuesta de esta tesis es contribuir a aumentar el conocimiento científico de los celebrity endorsement en España y obtener un mayor entendimiento cuando las empresas eligen a un celebrity. Destacaremos la importancia capital de la gestión de los celebrities en promocionar productos, asociando los atributos y la personalidad del celebrity a las marcas y demostrando que esta estrategia es una manera eficaz de acercarse al consumidor y acercar los productos a los consumidores. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación hemos partido de un objetivo principal que nos ha derivado a tres subobjetivos y a una hipótesis. Para poder dar correctas respuestas a los objetivos, hemos llevado a cabo un trabajo de investigación compuesto por cuatro fases. La primera hemos realizado encuestas a consumidores para dar respuesta al primer subobjetivo que es el impacto que perciben los consumidores entre los mensajes de las marcas y la aparición de los celebrities. La segunda fase formada por entrevistas a profesionales del sector empresarial y a especialistas del sector académico nos darán respuesta a nuestro segundo subobjetivo que es chequear si la figura del celebrity ha ganado relevancia en las estrategias de marketing y comunicación de las empresas que ha provocado una trnsformación en las técnicas de marketing. La tercera fase compuesta por entrevistas realizadas a celebrities y managers de celebrities queremos verificar si en los últimos años la figura del celebrity ha evolucionado y se ha alineado con los atributos corporativos y ha servido para acercar el producto al consumidor, aumentar las ventas y dar una buena imagen de la marca. Para finalizar, en una cuarta fase, hemos analizado contratos de celebrities para ver su grado de involucración e influencia con las marcas. Las principales conclusiones derivadas de esta investigación es que los celebrities son una herramienta básica y fundamental en las estrategias de marketing y comunicación de hoy en día. Su papel es fundamental para dar a conocer los productos, para acercar los productos a los consumidores, para aumentar las ventas, para conseguir mayor difusión en las campañas publicitarias, para dar mayor notoriedad a la marca, etc. Pero también hay un alto riesgo en hacer una buena elección de un celebrity, tanto puede dar un salto cualitativo en positivo para una marca como todo lo contrario, un escándalo negativo de un celebrity puede llegar a ocasionar múltiples daños a una empresa. De ahí que detectamos que es esencial y prioritario hacer una buena elección de un celebrity para asegurar el éxito de una campaña publicitaria con un celebrity. Después de toda la investigación damos un paso más y proponemos un protocolo de actuación para las empresas tengan una herramienta para verificar si la elección propuesta de un celebrity para su empresa es acertada o no. Actualmente la elección de un celebrity está basada más en sentimientos, percepciones e intuiciones que en un modelo de método sistemático, de ahí nuestra aportación a una propuesta de protocolo de actuación.
Today, companies, as another strategy for marketing and communication, choose and use celebrities to give support to their products and to increase sales. The proposal of this thesis is to contribute to increasing the scientific knowledge about celebrity endorsement in Spain and gain a greater understanding of when and how companies choose a celebrity. We highlight the importance of the management of celebrities for promoting products, associating the attributes and the personality of celebrities with certain brands and demonstrating that this strategy is an effective way to reach and bring products to consumers. To carry out this research we started with one main objective which subsequently led us to three sub-objectives and a hypothesis. To offer correct answers to the objectives, we have conducted a research project which consists of four phases. The first surveys of consumers were made to respond to the first sub-goal, which is to assess the impact among consumers' perceptions of brand messages and the appearance of celebrities. The second phase consists of interviews with professionals and experts from academia and the business sector and gives us a response to our second sub-goal: to check whether the figure of the celebrity has gained prominence in the marketing and communication strategies of the companies, causing a transformation in marketing techniques. The third phase consists of interviews with celebrities and celebrity managers in order to verify that in recent years the figure of the celebrity has evolved and aligned with corporate attributes and has served to bring the product to the consumer, increase sales, and offer a positive brand image. Finally, in the fourth phase, we analyzed contracts with celebrities to ascertain their degree of involvement and influence with brands. The main conclusions from this research are that celebrities are a basic and fundamental tool in the marketing and communication strategies of today. Their role is essential for publicizing products, bringing products to consumers, increasing sales, for greater dissemination in advertising campaigns, and giving greater visibility to the brand, etc. But there is also a high risk involved in making the correct choice of a celebrity. This choice can lead to a positive qualitative leap for a brand as easily as it can lead to the opposite. Further, a negative celebrity scandal can potentially cause multiple damages to a company. Hence it is essential to detect priorities and to choose the right celebrity to ensure the success of an advertising campaign which uses a celebrity. After all the research, we move one step further and propose a protocol for businesses and a tool to check if the proposed selection of a celebrity for your company will be successful or not. Currently the choice of a celebrity is based more on feelings, perceptions and intuitions rather than on a model with a systematic approach, hence our contribution to a proposed action protocol.