A Contingency Approach: The Effects of Spokesperson Type and Service Type on Service Advertising Perceptions

Recent growth in the U.S. economy has been in the service sectors, and increased understanding of the marketing and advertising of services is critical to sustaining this growth. This paper investigates issues related to the advertising of common retail services. Results from an empirical study into the relative effectiveness of four types of spokespersons for a hedonic and a utilitarian retail service indicate that a created character fits well with the hedonic service but not with the utilitarian service. The celebrity spokesperson performed well for both types of services, but effects varied across service type. The hypothesized contingency relationship between spokesperson type and service type was supported.