Celebrity trait transference: when brands pick up endorsers' personality traits

This research adds celebrity trait transference (CTT) to the psychological processes that can account for non-evaluative image transfer in celebrity endorsement. CTT was studied in three experiments. The first experiment found transfer of personality traits associated with three celebrities to nonfamiliar brands. Two additional experiments explored boundary conditions by using familiar instead of nonfamiliar brands. Results from the latter two experiments suggest that CTT can reinforce existing trait associations in familiar brands but is less likely to change or create trait associations. Unlike previous process studies of non-evaluative celebrity image transfer, the present research demonstrates transfer exclusively of the target personality trait with no effect on other traits. As the present study used a different methodology compared to previous research (single exposures to one celebrity-brand pairing vs. multiple exposures to several celebrity-brand pairings) the results were interpreted to mean that different processes account for celebrity image transfer under different circumstances.