The Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Equity: A Cross Cultural Comparison

Celebrity endorsement has become a popular advertising strategy on a global scale. However, although responses to celebrity endorsement are considered to diverge across cultures, cross-cultural research on celebrity endorsement as an advertising strategy is argued to be scarce. The purpose of this research is to extend the current literature by examining cross-cultural similarities and differences in celebrity endorsement effectiveness. We investigate the impact of celebrity endorsement strategies on brand image and brand identification and how these factors, in turn, influence brand equity, across markets. Data were collected through an online survey addressed to two markets: Portugal, and Moldova. A total of 365 valid answers were obtained, 195 from the Portuguese market, and 170 from the Moldovan market. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that the attitude toward the celebrity endorser has a significantly positive effect on brand image and a significantly positive effect on brand identification, only in the Moldovan market. In both markets, brand image and brand identification positively influence brand equity.