Do we love celebrity endorsers? The joint impacts of consumers' need for status, celebrity’s star power and image congruence on celebrity endorsement effectiveness

Purpose The current study aims to examine the joint impact of consumers' need for status (NFS), celebrity's star power and consumer-celebrity image match on consumers' attitudes toward the celebrity endorsement. Design/methodology/approach A factorial design was employed to test the research model. Consumer-celebrity image match was manipulated, and consumers' NFS and celebrity's star power was captured using existing measurement scales. A total of 365 responses were collected via Qualtrics. Hayes's (2013) PROCESS procedure was used to analyze the data and test hypotheses. Findings Results indicate that consumers with high (vs low) NFS have more favorable attitudes toward the endorsed brand. More importantly, consumers high in NFS, in an endorsement where celebrity-consumer image matches, have more favorable attitudes toward the brand endorsed by a celebrity with more (vs less) star power. In contrast, in an endorsement where celebrity-consumer image mismatches, they react the same regardless of the endorser's star power. Practical implications This study offers suggestions to hospitality marketing professionals in strategically using celebrity endorsers in their marketing campaigns and strategies that allows firms to further formulate positive and enduring brand images while encouraging favorable consumer behaviors. Originality/value While most hospitality studies have focused on the traits of celebrity endorsers, little attention has been paid to the impact of consumers' characteristics on celebrity endorsement. This study advances the growing literature on hospitality celebrity endorsement by providing empirical evidence to delineate the relationship among celebrities, endorsed brands and consumers.