Congruence Effects, Types of Brands, and Celebrity Endorsement

Abstract

In the past, many researchers have examined various aspects of celebrity endorsements such as the effects of celebrity credibility, brand-celebrity congruence, celebrity-consumer congruence, and consumer-brand congruence in terms of attitude toward the brand. This study builds on the literature on the various streams of the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement, with a particular focus on celebrity athletes. Despite existing research efforts, there is insufficient empirical evidence for celebrity endorsement effectiveness based on three pairs of congruence with different brand types. This study primarily focuses on three types of congruences such as brand-consumer congruence, consumer-celebrity athlete congruence, and celebrity athlete-brand congruence in terms of brand types (e.g., functional brand and symbolic brand) to present the extent to effect of each congruence on consumers’ behaviors such as brand attitude and purchase intention. Also, this study examines how consumers’ perceptions of self-image (actual or ideal) congruence with different types of brands affect their attitude toward the brand and their purchase intentions. The findings of this study indicate that the importance of congruences in shaping consumers' attitudes toward brands and their purchase intentions varies depending on the type of brand (functional or symbolic), which has implications for brand positioning.