The effects of schema congruity on consumer response to celebrity advertising

Abstract

The trend of celebrity-branded products is on the rise, creating a new domain in which to explore the match-up hypothesis. Moving beyond the celebrity as an endorser, but rather, a brand promoting a brand extension, this article examines how perceived congruence between a celebrity's image and the brand image of products they have developed is related to attitudinal and behavioral measures of advertising effectiveness. Employing a 2 × 3 full factorial design, congruence between the celebrity's image and the brand's image was varied (less vs. more congruent), along with the use of the celebrity's image (present, absent, non-celebrity models) to determine how schema congruity influences consumer's response to celebrity advertising. The results of a multivariate analysis of covariance analysis indicating lower levels of congruence between the celebrity's image and the brand's image led to greater advertising effectiveness compared to higher levels of congruence. Specifically, the means of the attitudinal dependent variables in the less congruent condition were significantly higher than the means in the more congruent condition. These effects were more pronounced when a celebrity's image was featured in the advertisement compared to when it was not featured. The implication of the findings suggests that moderate violations in the consumer's celebrity schema may improve advertising effectiveness.

Keywords:

• celebrity
• schema congruity
• brand extension
• match-up hypothesis
• advertising

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tracy R. Harmon-Kizer

Tracy R. Harmon-Kizer is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Dayton. Harmon-Kizer obtained her PhD from the University of South Florida, MBA from Rollins College, and her BS from Florida A&M University. Her main research interest is in the intersection of the self concept and branding.