Does Gender Impact the Perception of Negative Information Related to Celebrity Endorsers?

Abstract

The study examines the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements by examining how a respondent's gender impacts identification with a celebrity spokesperson and the processing of negative information about that celebrity's behavior. The authors found that negative information is harmful to both celebrities’ reputations and sponsors’ brands across a variety of effectiveness measures. Gender congruency between consumers and celebrities did impact attitudes, but was not found to interact with the processing of negative information. Implications for advertisers are addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• advertising
• celebrity endorsement
• gender
• negative information

The authors would like to thank Yun Chen, Wan-yun Lee, Hsiao-yun Wen, and Emily Gerkin-Palsrok for their conribution to the initial research undertaken for this article.