Assessing celebrity endorsement effects in China : a consumer-celebrity relational approach

Abstract

Celebrity endorsement is a salient executional strategy in China, where national celebrities often endorse more than 20 brands. This paper adopts a relational perspective to examine this research issue. The relational perspective is driven by three core Chinese cultural values: collectivism, risk aversion, and power distance. The authors propose a model that postulates how celebrity-worship leads to value transfer that, in turn, affects brand purchase intent. Findings from a survey involving 1,030 respondents from a national panel of consumers, showed that consumer celebrity worship is a significant antecedent to endorser effects; over-endorsement by a celebrity is an important moderator; and the model is robust across both sports and entertainment celebrities.