The Role of confidence in the effects of endorsing images

ABSTRACT

Even though research on the use of endorsing images in marketing is plentiful, the majority of prior works have mainly focused on investigating the effects of revealed endorsing images and leaves open the question of whether the use of concealed endorsing images would produce any differential effects. This research aims to address this important theoretical gap. We propose that in comparison with the use of revealed endorsing images, the use of concealed endorsing images can enhance ad appeals, which then help increase purchase intentions. However, this effect only happens when consumer confidence is low, and not when consumer confidence is high. Two studies reported in this research provide evidence to support these propositions.

KEYWORDS:

• Endorsing
• images
• concealed
• revealed
• confidence
• experiment

Acknowledgments

The author extends his gratitude to Dr. Jonathan Hasford at The University of Tennessee for his support in collecting data for this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In this research, the term ‘model’ is used broadly to refer to any human characters that appear in marketing communications to promote a marketing offer.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Can Trinh

Can Trinh (Ph.D.) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Troy University. He is interested in conducting research that can help guide strategic marketing communication decisions while enhancing the customer experience and social well-being.