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Celebrity endorsement: How celebrity–brand–user personality

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DOI: 10.1080/13527266.2014.914561

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Celebrity endorsement: How

celebrity–brand–user personality
congruence affects brand attitude and
purchase intention
a a b
Debasis Pradhan , Israel Duraipandian & Dhruv Sethi
a
Xavier School of Management, XLRI Jamshedpur, India
b
Boston Consulting Group, New Delhi, India
Published online: 13 Jun 2014.

To cite this article: Debasis Pradhan, Israel Duraipandian & Dhruv Sethi (2014): Celebrity
endorsement: How celebrity–brand–user personality congruence affects brand attitude and
purchase intention, Journal of Marketing Communications, DOI: 10.1080/13527266.2014.914561

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 Journal of Marketing Communications, 2014
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2014.914561

Celebrity endorsement: How celebrity –brand –user personality

congruence affects brand attitude and purchase intention
Debasis Pradhana, Israel Duraipandiana* and Dhruv Sethib
a
Xavier School of Management, XLRI Jamshedpur, India; bBoston Consulting Group, New Delhi,
India

The present study provides and tests a conceptual framework aimed at comparing the
relative effectiveness of celebrity – user, brand –celebrity, and user –brand personality
congruence on brand attitude and brand purchase intention (BPI) thereafter. The data
collection was done via an online survey of a representative group of consumers
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(n ¼ 431) located across India. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with
mediation approach. The results indicate that while user– brand and brand – celebrity
personality congruence have a significant impact on brand attitude and purchase
intention, celebrity– user congruence does not. Further, brand attitude is found to be a
partial mediator on the relationship between the pair-wise personality congruence on
BPI. The findings have major implications for marketers in understanding the
significance of personality congruence among celebrity –brand – user in the formation
of brand attitude and purchase intention that can be used in positioning and in
increasing the advertising effectiveness of brands using celebrity endorsement. The
present study is a pioneer in contributing to the celebrity endorsement literature by
investigating the relative impact of three pairs of personality congruence: celebrity–
brand, brand – user, and celebrity– user, on brand attitude and BPI, thereby supporting
the applicability of McCracken’s Meaning Transfer Model [McCracken (1989), The
Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3) 310– 321) and the Hierarchy-of-effects model
(Lavidge and Steiner (1961), Journal of Marketing, 25 (6) 59 – 62].
Keywords: celebrity – brand personality congruence; celebrity – user personality
congruence; brand – user personality congruence; brand attitude; brand purchase
intention; India

1. Introduction
The celebrity endorser enjoys public recognition and uses this quality on behalf of a
consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (McCracken 1989). The
popularity of celebrity endorsement among practitioners has been well documented for its
success in achieving major communication effects/objectives such as brand recognition,
brand recall (components of brand awareness), brand attitude and purchase intention,
as well as marketing objectives such as profit and sales (Agrawal and Kamakura 1995;
Elberse and Verleun 2012; Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg 2001; Erdogan 1999; Hung, Chan,
and Tse 2011; Kaikati 1987; Mathur, Mathur, and Rangan 1997). In recent years,
celebrities have appeared in nearly 14% of advertisements aired in the USA, while the
number is as high as 24% in India and 45% in Taiwan (Creswell 2008). In such a scenario,
it is important for marketers and advertisers to understand how celebrity endorsements
work and what factors must be kept in mind to create successful ad campaigns using
celebrities.

*Corresponding author. Email: disrael@xlri.ac.in

q 2014 Taylor & Francis

 2 D. Pradhan et al.

Celebrities provide a range of cultural meanings to products or brands (McCracken

1989). This meaning, or personality of the brand, is then transferred to the user as he or she
uses the brand to achieve the ideal or aspirational self-image that is congruent to that of the
celebrity. According to the ‘Meaning Transfer Model’, the effectiveness of celebrities as
endorsers stems from the cultural meanings which they embody (McCracken 1989). This
gets anchored in the work of literary theorist, Barthes (1977), ‘The voice loses its origin,
the author (celebrity) enters into his own death, writing (consumption) begins’. Marketers
also try and establish a distinct personality for their brands so as to give the brand a unique
meaning or identity (Aaker 1997; Plummer 1985). In contrast to product-related attributes,
which tend to serve a utilitarian function, brand personality tends to serve a symbolic or
self-expressive function (Keller 1993). It embodies product (brand) knowledge which
shapes perceptions about the product (brand) and influences the processing of product
(brand) information (Freling and Forbes 2005), thus providing a better understanding of
the celebrity– brand – user personality congruence.
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The ‘Self-Congruity Theory’ (Sirgy 1982) suggests that the favorability of brand attitudes
and motivation to purchase the brand increases as the similarity or congruence between one’s
self-image and a brand’s image increases (Gould 1991; Graeff 1996; Sirgy 1986). Other
studies covering a wide range of products and services have also shown support for the self-
brand congruity hypothesis. In addition, they have indicated that this congruence also affects
brand satisfaction (Achouri and Bouslama 2010; Jamal and Al-Marri 2007), emotional
attachment (Malär et al. 2011), preference (Branaghan and Hildebrand 2011; Dolich 1969),
purchase intentions (Erickson 1996), and choice (Malhotra 1988).
As the theories mentioned above suggest, the transfer of cultural meaning from the
celebrity to the user via the brand, as well as the significance of user –brand image
(personality) congruence, all three of these personality constructs – user, brand, and
celebrity – and the relationship between them seem to be important factors that affect
purchase intention and must be considered in determining advertising effectiveness.

2. Research objectives
Extant research has indicated the importance of the personality congruence between the
brand, its users, and the celebrity that endorses the brand in creating a positive brand
attitude and purchase preference. Yet, most of the work has focused on the congruence
between only two of these entities being considered separately: user – brand personality
(UP –BP) congruence (Govers and Schoormans 2005), brand – celebrity personality (BP –
CP) congruence (DeSarbo and Harshman 1985; Kamins and Gupta 1994), and CP –UP
congruence (Rossiter and Percy 1989). While a majority of the work has empirically tested
the impact of UP –BP and BP –CP congruence on the consumer purchase decision, the role
and importance of CP – UP is often overlooked and has evaded the attention it deserves
from the researchers. The present research recognizes this gap and thus aims at testing the
impact of all three pairs of personality congruence viz., UP –BP, BP –CP, CP – UP on
brand attitude (BA) and brand purchase intention (BPI), thereby expanding the current
literature on celebrity endorsement effectiveness. In doing so, the paper attempts to
contribute to the literature (Ladik and Stewart 2008) on celebrity endorsement by shedding
light on the neglected aspect of CP –UP congruence.

3. Hypothesis development
Celebrity endorsements and congruity theory have attracted extensive research by both
academicians and practitioners owing to the importance and managerial relevance of these
 Journal of Marketing Communications 3

concepts. The section below outlines the research conducted in this sphere, which also
forms the basis of the hypotheses that are laid out in this study to form the model
explaining the effect of personality congruence on BA and BPI.

3.1 Definitions
For the purpose of this study, UP is defined as certain persistent qualities in human
behavior that an individual (here the buyer) exhibits (Kassarjian 1971). BP is defined as
the set of human characteristics associated with a brand (Aaker 1997). CP is the set of
persistent qualities of human behavior exhibited by the celebrity. BA is defined as an
individual’s relatively lasting internal evaluation of the brand (Mitchell and Olson 1981).
BPI is defined as an individual’s conscious plan to make an effort to purchase a brand
(Spears and Singh 2004).
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3.2 UP – BP congruence and BA

Researchers have focused on how the personality of a brand enables a consumer to express
his or her own self (Belk 1988), an ideal self (Malhotra 1988), or specific dimensions of the
self (Kleine, Kleine, and Kernan 1993) through the use of a brand. Studies have also
demonstrated that brand personality can evoke positive emotions in consumers (Aaker and
Biel 1993). A favorable brand personality that the consumer relates to is expected to result
in favorable product evaluations and brand associations (Freling and Forbes 2005).
In addition, consumers have a preference for brands that are consistent with their
conception of themselves (Ross 1971). Consumers are more likely to hold favorable
attitudes toward those brands that match their personality (Lee 2009). Furthermore,
research has indicated that users tend to prefer brands which have an image that matches
their self-image (Govers and Schoormans 2005). The self-congruence theory (Sirgy 1982)
also states that the congruence between the self-image of the user and the product (brand)
image leads to a favorable attitude toward the product (brand). This is because the use of
products with a congruent image is a means by which an individual can express self-
image. This leads to the following hypothesis:
H1: UP –BP congruence leads to a favorable BA.

3.3 UP – BP congruence and BPI

A favorable brand personality is believed to accentuate the preference for the brand as well as
escalate its usage (Sirgy 1982). A positive brand personality is also thought to increase levels
of trust, loyalty, and purchase intention (Freling and Forbes 2005) and provide a basis for
product differentiation (Aaker 1996). Furthermore, a positive relationship between the user
and brand personality is shown to influence attitudinal and purchase loyalty (Matzler,
Bidmon, and Grabner-Kräuter 2006). For example, extraversion and openness were found to
be positively related to hedonic product value, and personality traits influenced brand effects
such as purchase intent or loyalty. Research has also shown that consumers prefer or often tend
to purchase those products (brands) whose product images match with their self-image
(Ericksen and Sirgy 1989; Jamal and Goode 2001; Lee 2009; Malhotra 1988; Wu, Tsai, and
Lo 2011). The effect of UP–BP congruence can, therefore, be seen on the consumers’
preference to purchase the brand. Hence, we posit the following hypothesis:
H2: UP –BP Congruence leads to a favorable BPI.
 4 D. Pradhan et al.

3.4 BP – CP congruence and BA

A match between the endorsed brand and the celebrity endorsing it increases the
endorsement’s ability to influence consumers and create a positive effect on BA (Till and
Busler 2000). The celebrity–product (brand) fit or match-up is thought to function as a key
determinant of endorsement effectiveness and positively influences it (Batra and Homer 2004;
Erdogan and Baker 2000; Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg 2001; Friedman and Friedman 1979;
Friedman, Santeramo, and Traina 1978; Kamins and Gupta 1994; Till and Busler 2000). This
is because congruence between the celebrity and brand allows communicating the intended or
suitable brand image to the consumer. Studies in the context of attractiveness-related products
show that congruity between the product (brand) and celebrity personality leads to the
enhancement of the credibility of the communication and a favorable BA (Kahle and Homer
1985; Kamins 1990). This leads us to posit the following hypothesis:
H3: BP – CP Congruence leads to a favorable BA.
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3.5 BP – CP congruence and BPI

The fit between certain personality attributes of the brand and the celebrity has been shown
to have a positive effect on the consumers’ intention to purchase the brand (Till and Busler
2000). Celebrity personality traits such as celebrity attractiveness and expertise, correctly
matched to the brand, are thought to influence purchase intent (Kahle and Homer 1985;
Kamins 1990; Wiener and Mowen 1985). For instance, an attractive celebrity would have
a positive effect on the BPI for a cosmetics (attractiveness-related) brand due to match-up
effects. Generalizing the logical arguments to the overall personality of the brand and
celebrity, we can suggest that the greater the match between them, the greater the
effectiveness of the endorsement in terms of it leading to enhancing the purchase intention
or the preference of the brand. Therefore, we posit the following hypothesis:
H4: BP – CP congruence leads to a favorable BPI.

3.6 CP – UP congruence, BA and BPI

While discussing the choice of presenter approach for formation of a positive BA, it has
been suggested that in high involvement or transformational advertising, similarity
(congruence) between the presenter (celebrity) and the target audience is more important
than the former’s likability (Rossiter and Percy 1989). Celebrity endorsers, who have
demographic characteristics similar to those of the target audience, are viewed as more
viable and persuasive (Kamins and Gupta 1994). Such congruence in the demographic
characteristics such as age and ethnicity helps the consumer to better relate to the celebrity
and, therefore, may help in developing a positive attitude toward the brand which in turn,
increases the consumer’s inclination to purchase it. On the other hand, if a celebrity who is
quite different from the target group of consumers endorses a brand, then the consumers
may not be much influenced by the brand communication. Extending the same line of
reasoning to the congruence between the personalities of the celebrity and the target group,
we may suggest that for the endorsement to have a greater impact on BA and BPI, CP –UP
congruence is important. This leads us to the following two hypotheses:
H5: CP – UP congruence leads to a favorable BA.
H6: CP – UP congruence leads to a favorable BPI.
 Journal of Marketing Communications 5

3.7 Brand attitude and Brand Purchase Intention

Brand attitudes cause a greater impact on purchase intentions as the motivation of the
consumer is increased (Mackenzie and Spreng 1992). The ‘Elaboration Likelihood Model’
(ELM; Petty and Cacioppo 1986) specifies that BPI is a function of BA. In addition,
research in the context of advertising effectiveness has also shown that BA is an
antecedent affecting the purchase intention (Homer 1990; MacKenzie and Lutz 1982;
MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch 1986). Furthermore, the ‘Theory of Reasoned Action’ (TRA;
Ajzen and Fishbein 1970, 1973; Fishbein and Ajzen 1975) provides endorsement for the
paradigm that BA leads to the formation of BPI. It suggests that a person’s behavioral
(purchase) intention depends on his or her attitude about the behavior as well as the
subjective norms associated with it, thereby suggesting that BPI is an outcome of the
attitude the consumer holds about the brand. In addition, the ‘Technology Adaptation
Model’ (TAM; Davis 1985) also lends support to the paradigm of attitude leading to
purchase intention. It suggests that attitude toward using a technology system determines
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the behavioral intentions to its use.

The ‘Hierarchy of Effects Model’ (Lavidge and Steiner 1961) or the standard learning
hierarchy, represented as the cognition – affection – behavior hierarchy, also supports the
paradigm of how the presence of congruence can lead to formation of attitude toward the
brand, which in turn affects subsequent purchase intention (Holbrook 1986). According to
the hierarchy of effects, attitude or feelings are formed based on cognitive information
processing which subsequently leads to a response or behavior from the consumer as
feelings stimulate desires in the consumer. Hence, we can argue that purchase intention
arises as a result of the attitude formed toward the particular brand. This is especially true
for products that are neither low-involvement nor experiential in nature, where alternate
learning hierarchies may also be followed (Holbrook and Hirschman 1982). This leads to
the next hypothesis for our study:
H7: Favorable BA leads to a favorable BPI.
Combining the hypotheses listed above, a holistic model explaining the effect of user –
brand personality congruence, brand – celebrity personality congruence, and celebrity –
user personality congruence has been presented in Figure 1. It is hypothesized that these
individual congruence measures affect BPI through BA. Hence, the higher the congruence

Figure 1. The effect of UP – BP, BP– CP, and CP– UP congruences on BPI with BA as a mediator.
 6 D. Pradhan et al.

between each pair of the three constructs, the more favorable is the brand attitude which in
turn leads to a favorable purchase intention or brand preference.

4. Method
The present study employed survey research to compare the predictability and relative
impact of UP –BP, BP – CP, and CP – UP congruences in determining BPI, and in addition,
to establish the mediating influence of BA as per the model hypothesized.

4.1 Product and brands studied

Sports footwear brands were chosen for the purpose of the study, as standard learning
hierarchy or medium involvement (Zaichkowsky 1985) is observed in the purchase of this
product category (as against a high involvement purchase such as a car). Another reason
for choosing sports footwear was that celebrity endorsements are common in this category
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and the brands it includes are well-known. This ensured that the effect of celebrity
personality congruity with user and brand personality could be easily studied, and that
respondents had a high level of familiarity with the brand. Preliminary research was
carried out to determine the set of brands which are popular among the target segment and
would, therefore, be relevant for the purpose of the study. This involved carrying out a
small survey of 42 post-graduate management students to determine their preference for a
sport shoes brand. The respondents chosen for the pretest were similar in terms of their
demographic profile to those who would be used in the final study. The four brands of sport
shoes which emerged from the preliminary research as popular choices (in terms of
response frequency) were Adidas, Nike, Puma, and Reebok.

4.2 Respondents
A sample of 447 adult consumers comprising full-time MBA students and participants of
various executive management programs offered by XLRI Jamshedpur, a well-known
Indian business school, were chosen for the purpose of the final survey, as they were
considered to be the main buyers of the product chosen for the study, namely, sport shoes.
An incentive in terms of providing credit toward the coursework was given to the
respondents for participating in the study; this resulted in a 100% response rate. Although
we obtained responses from all the respondents, data were collected from 431 usable
responses (27.85% from full-time students and the remaining 72.15% from executives
employed in different cities across India) which were retained for the purpose of the
analysis, while 16 had to be discarded owing to non-familiarity of the respondent with the
celebrity endorser (n ¼ 5) or lack of purchase inclination for the product category
(n ¼ 11). This yielded a response rate of 96%. Adequate measures were taken to ensure
respondent seriousness during the survey process in terms of administering the online
survey questionnaire to the respondents in a classroom environment under the supervision
of the authors. Table 1 presents the profile of the respondents for the study.

4.3 Questionnaire and survey administration

The questionnaire was divided into seven sections. Section 1 was used for the collection of
basic demographic information about the respondents including their age and sex. The
respondents were asked to choose one out of the four brands (Adidas, Nike, Puma, and
Reebok). In case of brands using more than one celebrity to endorse their product (e.g.
 Journal of Marketing Communications 7

Reebok using Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team, and Bipasha
Basu, an Indian movie star for endorsements), the respondents were asked to choose the
celebrity who they were most familiar with, while rating the celebrity personality.
In addition, to ensure that all subjects were well exposed to the celebrity who carried out
the brand endorsement, subjects were asked to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale
(1 ¼ Unfamiliar, 5 ¼ Familiar) ‘How familiar are you with , celebrity name . who
endorses , brand name . ?’ This check helped exclude those respondents (n ¼ 5) who
were not familiar with the celebrity and, therefore, would not be in a position to rate the
personality of the celebrity correctly. Data regarding purchase of shoes by the respondent
in the recent past or the intention to purchase in the near future were also recorded so as to
exclude the set of respondents (n ¼ 11) who had neither bought a pair of shoes in the
recent past nor were planning to do so and hence were not relevant for the purpose of the
study. Items to measure user personality were also incorporated in this section.
Section 2 was used to collect information regarding BA. Section 3 included dummy
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questions so that induced similarity in responses for the three personality constructs due to
a recency bias could be avoided. Section 4 was used to collect information regarding brand
personality. Section 5 included a short social desirability bias scale to check for bias in the
responses. In Section 6, the respondent selected the endorser (s)he was familiar with and
rated the level of familiarity (s)he had with the celebrity. Information regarding the
celebrity personality was also recorded in this section. The final section was used to collect
information regarding BPI. A sample questionnaire used in the survey is provided in the
Appendix.
Other manipulation checks, to avoid respondent biases, were also taken while
designing the research survey. Dummy questions were included in the questionnaire so as

Table 1. Profile of the respondents.

Frequency (n ¼ 431) Percentage
Gender
Male 369 86
Female 62 14
Age
20 – 29 227 53
30 – 39 146 34
40 – 49 54 13
50 – 59 4 1
Course studied
Two-year Business Management Program 130 30
One-year Executive Management Program 301 70
Brand chosen
Adidas 100 23
Nike 134 31
Puma 68 16
Reebok 129 30
Celebrity chosen
Bipasha Basu 26 6
Chitrangada Singh 68 16
Mahendra Singh Dhoni 103 24
Sachin Tendulkar 92 21
Sania Mirza 8 2
Virat Kohli 134 31
 8 D. Pradhan et al.

to divert the attention of the respondents from the main theme of the research and ensure that
respondents do not provide similar responses for user, brand, and celebrity personality,
owing to a recency bias. The dummy questions included asking the respondents about their
views on the political system in the country in addition to a short form of the Marlow –
Crowne social desirability scale (Reynolds 1982) which was incorporated into the
questionnaire. The data collected were tested for social desirability bias and the Pearson
correlation coefficients between the social desirability total score and each of the construct
total scores – UP – BP congruence, BP –CP congruence, CP –UP congruence, BA, and BPI
– were insignificant with the ‘r’ values ranging between a meager 0.000 and 0.048. This
signified that social desirability bias was not a threat to the data collected.

5. Measures – user, brand, and celebrity personality

Malhotra’s scale (Malhotra 1981) was used to measure the user, celebrity, and brand
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personalities. It uses fifteen 7-point semantic differential scale items (e.g. rugged–
delicate, excitable – calm, uncomfortable – comfortable) and has been used widely in
research for the purpose of determining user, celebrity, or brand personalities and
ascertaining the congruence between them (Ekinci and Riley 2003; Faircloth, Capella, and
Alford 2001; Goldsmith, Moore, and Beaudoin 1999; Lau and Lee 1999). Although
several scales are available for the measurement of user, brand, or celebrity personality
(Aaker 1997; Ohanian 1990; Sirgy et al. 1997), Malhotra’s scale was felt appropriate for
coordinating the person– product (brand) – celebrity image (Malhotra 1981; 463), and it is
this image that is often conceptualized in terms of personality traits ( Rekom, Jacobs, and
Verlegh 2006). Additionally, the brevity of Malhotra’s scale consisting of 15 personality
traits against the 42-item personality scale of Aaker (1997) was considered instrumental in
its choice for use in the present study, as the respondents were needed to rate the traits from
three spheres, namely, celebrity, brand, and the self.

5.1 Congruence scores

The congruity calculations were operationalized using the squared Euclidean distance or
the distance squared model of congruity calculation. This approach has been used widely
in literature for the purpose of congruity calculation (Parker 2009; Ross 1971; Sirgy and
Danes 1982). The squared distance model for calculation of congruence scores between
user, brand, and celebrity personalities is shown below. The lower the score obtained,
the greater the congruence between the two personality constructs.

X
n
2
UP – BP congruity : UPij 2 BPij ;
i¼1

X
n
2
BP – CP congruity : BPij 2 CPij ;
i¼1

X
n
2
CP – UP congruity : CPij 2 UPij ;
i¼1

where UPij represents the ith user personality item as rated by the jth respondent; BPij
represents the ith brand personality item as rated by the jth respondent; CPij represents the
ith celebrity personality item as rated by the jth respondent.
 Journal of Marketing Communications 9

5.2 Brand attitude

The measurement of BA was carried out using a five item, 7-point semantic differential
scale (bad/good, unfavorable/favorable, unlikeable/likeable, poor quality/high quality,
and unpleasant/pleasant), developed by combining items from scales used for BA
measurement in existing literature (Berger and Mitchell 1989; Faircloth, Capella, and
Alford 2001; MacKenzie and Lutz 1989; MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch 1986; Mitchell and
Olson 1981). Examination of the internal consistency of responses for the items used in the
BA scale, via Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient, showed high reliability (a ¼ 0.91).

5.3 Brand purchase intention

The measure for BPI was operationalized using a 5-point Likert scale (1 ¼ Definitely will
not buy, 5 ¼ Definitely will buy), in response to a single item question ‘What is the
likelihood that you would purchase a pair of , brand name . shoes in the future?’ This
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one-item purchase intention scale has been widely used in prior research (Friedman and
Friedman 1979; Kamins and Gupta 1994).

6. Analysis and results

The initial testing of the data included determining the skewness and kurtosis of each of
the 51 variables – scale items of user (¼ 15), brand (¼ 15) and celebrity (¼ 15)
personality, BA (¼ 5) and BPI (¼ 1). This was done to test the normality of the data.
Skewness of all the variables was within the acceptable limits of þ 2 to 2 2 (ranged from
2 1.823 to 1.543). The kurtosis of the majority variables was within the acceptable limits
of þ 4 to 2 4 (ranged from 2 1.422 to 3.864).
This was followed by a three-stage approach for testing the hypothesis of the model
presented in the study. The mediation testing approach described in Baron and Kenny
(1986) was used for this purpose. In this approach, three regression equations are
computed. First, the final outcome variable is regressed against the independent variables
to yield the first regression equation. The independent variables must be significant as per
this equation. Second, the mediating variable is regressed against the independent
variables. The independent variables must be significant as per the regression equation
obtained. Finally, the final outcome variables are regressed against the independent and
mediating variables. The mediating variable must be significant while the independent
variables may or may not be significant as per the regression equation obtained. If the
independent variables are not significant, it indicates full mediation, whereas if they are
significant and the regression coefficients are less than those obtained in the first regression
equation, it indicates partial mediation.
In the first stage, BPI was regressed against the independent variables UP – BP
congruence, BP – CP congruence, and CP – UP congruence. The results are mentioned as
per Equation (1) in Figure 2 (mentioned above the path lines connecting the respective
variables). The results indicate that the UP – BP and BP – CP congruences are significant in
explaining BPI. This provides support for Hypotheses 2 and 4. However, the CP –UP
congruence is not significant in explaining BPI.
In the second stage, BA was regressed against the independent variables UP – BP
congruence, BP – CP congruence, and CP – UP congruence. The results are mentioned as
per Equation (2) in Figure 2. The results indicate that UP-BP congruence and BP – CP
congruence are significant in explaining BA. This provides support for Hypotheses 1 and
 10 D. Pradhan et al.
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Figure 2. Effect of UP – BP, BP– CP, and CP – UP congruences on BPI with BA as mediator:
research results$. Notes: $ Standardized regression coefficients are shown along the path.
*Significant at p ¼ 0.05 level, nsNot Significant at p ¼ 0.05 level. Equation 1 is represented by
values above the path-line joining congruence scores to BPI. Equation 2 is represented by values
above the path-line joining congruence scores to BA. Equation 3 is represented by values below the
path-line joining congruence scores and BA to BPI.

3. However, CP – UP congruence is not significant in explaining BA. This shows that CP –

UP congruence did not have a significant impact on either BA or BPI.
In the third stage, the mediation effect of BA was tested. BPI was regressed against the
independent variables UP – BP congruence, BP – CP congruence, CP –UP congruence, and
BA. The results are mentioned as per Equation (3) in Figure 2 (mentioned below the path
lines connecting the respective variables). The results indicate that UP – BP congruence,
BP – CP congruence, and BA are significant in explaining BPI. This provides support for
Hypothesis 7 as BA significantly explains BPI. However, the CP –UP congruence was not
seen to be significant in explaining BPI.
In addition, on comparison of the standardized beta scores of UP –BP and BP – CP
congruence on BPI in Equations (1) and (3) in Table 2, we found that the standard
coefficients were lesser in Equation (3) as compared to Equation (1) (i.e. 0.223 vs.0.113 for
UP – BP congruence to BPI in Equations (1) and (3), respectively; and 0.196 vs. 0.102 for
BP –CP congruence to BPI in Equations (1) and (3), respectively). This indicates the
partial mediation effect of BA. The statistical significance of BA was also calculated using
Sobel’s z-statistic which indicated that it is significant at the 0.01 level for UP – BP
congruence to BPI and BP – CP congruence to BPI (z ¼ 2 2.41 and 2 2.68, respectively).
Table 2 provides a compendium of results of this model based on mediation testing.
Table 3 provides the correlation and descriptive statistics for the study variables.
Overall, it was established that BA mediates the relationship between UP – BP
congruence and BPI and also between BP – CP congruence and BPI. It was interesting to
observe that we did not find any statistical significance of the CP – UP congruence to either
BPI or BA, as was earlier hypothesized. To probe the possible existence of a spurious
relationship between UP –BP and BP – CP, we performed a partial correlation, controlling
for CP – UP congruence. A perusal of zero-order correlation among the pairs of congruity
measures indicated a moderate correlation (‘r’ ranging from 0.52 to 0.57) indicating no
threat of multicollinearity amongst the measures of UP – BP, BP –CP, and CP –UP pairs.
Having ensured that the measures were free from multicollinearity, we then proceeded to
assess the partial correlation coefficients between UP –BP and BP – CP. The partial
 Journal of Marketing Communications 11

Table 2. Regression results for testing the mediating effect of BA between UP – BP, BP– CP, and
CP– UP congruence scores on BPI.
Independent variable Standardized b F-Statistic R 2 Values
Equation (1) (BPI as dependent variable) 27.28 0.352
UP – BP congruence (Hypothesis 2) 0.223*
BP –CP congruence (Hypothesis 4) 0.196*
CP –UP congruence (Hypothesis 6) 0.050
Equation (2) (BA as dependent variable) 12.85 0.083
UP – BP congruence (Hypothesis 1) 0.180*
BP –CP congruence (Hypothesis 3) 0.153*
CP –UP congruence (Hypothesis 5) 0.004
Equation (3) (BPI as dependent variable) 110.29 0.509
UP – BP congruence 0.113*
BP –CP congruence 0.102*
CP –UP congruence 0.053
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BA (Hypothesis 7) 0.616*
Note: *Significant at p ¼ 0.05 level.

correlation results indicated that even after controlling for CP – UP congruence, the
correlation between UP –BP and BP – CP was found to be significant (rUP – BP,BP – CP.CP –
UP ¼ 0.284; p , 0.001), thus suggesting that the relationship between UP – BP and BP –
CP was not due to the confounding effect of CP – UP.

7. Discussion
According to the results obtained in the research, it was seen that the UP –BP congruence
influenced BA and BPI the most, and the BP – CP congruence also had considerable
influence on BA and BPI. However, the effect of the CP –UP congruence was not
significant on either BA or BPI. It was also clear that BA played a mediating role between
the user, brand, and celebrity personality congruence and the consumers’ purchase
intention for the brand.
The observed insignificant influence of the CP–UP congruence may be explained as per
the implications of the ‘Meaning Transfer Model’ (McCracken 1989). According to the
theory, celebrities provide cultural meanings or associations to brands which are passed on to
the user through them. Hence, the celebrity helps in creating a desire or a sense of aspiration
for the user to achieve an ideal self-image that has a likeness to the personality of the celebrity.
It is important for the brand to create this sense of aspiration in the minds of the consumers, so

Table 3. Descriptive statistics and correlation for study variables.

Variables Mean SD Age Gender UP BP CP BA BPI
Age 30.304 8.044 1.000
Gender 1.144 0.351 20.175* 1.000
UP 58.780 5.791 0.088 2 0.035 1.000
BP 52.673 6.312 20.041 2 0.080 0.384* 1.000
CP 52.360 7.306 20.065 2 0.044 0.206* 0.473* 1.000
BA 29.557 3.819 0.089 0.046 2 0.002 20.222* 2 0.163* 1.000
BPI 4.114 0.843 0.048 2 0.016 2 0.002 20.137* 2 0.063* 0.680* 1.000
Notes: *Significant at p ¼ 0.01 level (two-tailed).
Gender coded as 1 ¼ Male, 2 ¼ Female.
 12 D. Pradhan et al.

that the brand is used as a means to move from their current self-image to the ideal self-image
which is akin to that of the celebrity (Hong and Zinkhan 1995).
The celebrity personality, therefore, will have lesser congruence with the user
personality, in comparison to the UP – BP and BP –CP congruence, as the basis of the
endorsement itself is to showcase a celebrity whose image is superior to that of the user
and to which the user would want to migrate. As shown in Figure 3, the UP – BP and BP –
CP congruence would be greater as they appear as adjacent links in the meaning transfer
process and the brand is the means which the user adopts to carry out this migration toward
the superior celebrity personality. Hence, the similarity in the personalities associated with
these adjacent constructs (UP – BP and BP –CP) would be greater and, therefore,
congruence between UP –BP and BP – CP will have a greater influence on creating a
favorable BA and subsequent BPI, in comparison to the CP – UP congruence. Another
plausible explanation for the insignificance of the effect of CP – UP congruence on BA and
BPI might be the interaction of the UP –BP and BP – CP congruence scores with the CP –
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UP congruence scores. This interaction effect or overlap of the CP – UP scores, which were
already represented through the UP –BP and BP –CP scores, might have caused the CP –
UP congruence to insignificantly influence BA and BPI. However, a post hoc analysis of
interaction among the standardized scores of UP – BP, BP –CP, and CP – UP, did not reveal
any significant effect on the outcome variable of either BA or BPI.

8. Implications for practitioners

As per the results of the research, the UP –BP congruence significantly influenced the
consumers’ attitude toward the brand and their BPI. This has direct implications for
managers in terms of the positioning of their brands. Managers must make sure that the
brands are positioned in such a manner that they communicate a personality that is similar
to their personalities, to their target group. This would enable the target group to better
associate or connect with the brand, leading to the development of a favorable attitude
toward the brand and subsequent purchase intention.
The research results also demonstrated a significant influence of the BP – CP
congruence on BA and BPI. Hence, while selecting a celebrity for endorsement, managers
must ensure that the celebrity’s personality is in sync with the personality of the brand.
Greater fit of the celebrity with the brand would help make the communication more
credible and thus effective (Kahle and Homer 1985; Kamins 1990), thereby positively
affecting consumers’ attitude toward the brand and their BPI. At the same time, it is
important that the celebrity’s personality have an aspirational element associated with it
for the target group of consumers so that consumers have a desire to use the brand to move
toward the aspired personality of the celebrity.

9. Limitations and future research

Although adequate efforts were made to adhere to the elements to characterize a rigorous
and publishable research (Ladik and Stewart 2008), the present study has a few limitations

Figure 3. Meaning transfer process.

 Journal of Marketing Communications 13

and throws open avenues that are still to be explored to fully understand the impact of the
congruence between the user, brand, and celebrity personalities on the formation of
attitude toward the brand and subsequent purchase intention.
One of the limitations of this research was in terms of the calculation of the congruity
score using the squared distance model. However, the other methods of congruence score
calculation (Sirgy and Danes 1982; Sirgy et al. 1997), which have better predictive
validity, may be used for future studies to establish the consistency of the results. Another
limitation of the research may be the use of a single item scale for the purpose of recording
the purchase intention of the consumers. The purchase intention of consumers may be
better measured using different means such as a multi-item scale (Colliander and Dahlén
2011; Li, Daugherty, and Biocca 2002).
In terms of future studies that may be carried out in this area, it is important to
understand the impact that certain moderating variables have on the model tested in this
study. First, future research may establish whether the effects of the congruence described
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above would be different for male and female respondents and what, if any, would be the
degree of difference in effect among these two groups (Grohmann 2009). This would help
in establishing whether customized communications are needed for consumers based on
their gender. As the current research had a skewed respondent base with a higher
proportion of males, it was difficult to establish a result which could be generalized
regarding such gender-based differences in this study.
Second, some of the often-tested variables in celebrity endorsement research that would
affect the model tested in the study, communication or source credibility (Kamins 1990;
Ohanian 1991; Spry, Pappu, and Cornwell 2011), motivation or involvement in the purchase
(Mackenzie and Spreng 1992), familiarity with the brand (Miller, Mazis, and Wright 1971;
Paasovaara et al. 2012), familiarity with the endorser (Dubey and Agrawal 2011; McGuire
1985), and attitude toward the endorser (Silvera and Austad 2004), may be built into the model
as moderating variables and their effect may be tested in future research. It would also be
interesting to see how the results of the present model differ across different time periods
especially for celebrities who have had formerly positive and then negative image/likability
(e.g., Tiger Woods, Oscar Pistorious), involving a longitudinal design.
Third, the present model may be expanded to incorporate brand trust (Bendapudi and
Berry 1997; Lau and Lee 1999) and brand loyalty (Achouri and Bouslama 2010). It would
be important for practitioners and academicians alike to understand how congruence
between the three personality constructs may lead to the subsequent development of brand
trust and brand loyalty and how these fit into the model presented in terms of their
respective positions in the chain from congruence to a positive attitude formation to a
favorable purchase intention.
Fourth, it may be established if the model described in this study shows similar results
across different brands, and product and service classes, which have different consumer
involvement (Krohmer, Malär, and Nyffenegger 2007), so that the findings and the
implications of the study may be generalized and used in those domains as well. Future
research can test the model for different levels of purchase involvement wherein alternate
learning hierarchies may be applicable.
Fifth, the influencing power of celebrities can be studied further in the context of the
model tested in this study. The influencing power of male versus female celebrities and the
effect of celebrity background (Dubey and Agrawal 2011), in terms of being, say, a sports
personality or a movie star, can be studied as factors moderating the influence of
personality congruence on BA and BPI. This will help practitioners to select the celebrity
to endorse their products.
 14 D. Pradhan et al.

Sixth, although personality in the present study was measured using Malhotra’s (1981)
scale, future research should aim at determining the stability of the results of the current
model by using different measures of personality, say Aaker’s (1997) personality
dimensions, to assess the impact of the congruence between celebrity – user –brand on the
outcome variables of BA and BPI. Doing so will enable generalizing the results, thus
improving confidence about the validity of the findings on the impact of celebrity – user –
brand personality congruence on BA and BPI. This may be essential for certain product
categories where consumers may give more significance to some personality traits while
evaluating the brand and celebrity personalities, and hence the effect of these traits would
be higher in determining the overall congruity. For instance, attractiveness-related
personality attributes may be more important for cosmetics and beauty products (Kahle
and Homer 1985; Till and Busler 2000) while ruggedness-related traits may be significant
to consumers while evaluating sports and fitness products.
Seventh, the interaction effect of the UP –BP and BP – CP congruence scores can be
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studied in future research to explore the possible explanation for the insignificant impact
of the CP –UP congruence on BA and BPI. Although in the present study, the post hoc
analysis revealed no significant interactive effect among these variables, the mediating
effect of one of UP –BP or BP – CP on the outcome variables of BA and BPI is worth
examining by researchers in this field. In this context, we recommend the application of
Heider’s Balance Theory (Heider 1946) involving interaction effects among these pairs
of congruence; this may bring out more insights on the fit of the findings of the present
study.
Finally, future research may aim at generalizing the model presented in this study and
its implications across different cultures to reinforce and further substantiate its predictive
ability. In addition, such research may attempt to understand, how, if required, the model
may be tweaked by managers to incorporate consumer trends and variations local to their
markets.

Notes on contributors
Debasis Pradhan is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Xavier School of Management, XLRI
Jamshedpur. His academic interests include congruence research in celebrity endorsement, U&G
theory in social media, retail brand equity measurement and impulse buying. His papers and cases
have been published in Asian Case Research Journal, International Journal of Rural Management,
South Asian Journal of Management, among others. His award-winning business cases have been
published by London Business School. His Asia-centric Casebook, published by Cengage Learning
Pvt. Ltd., captures the essence of business practices of firms operating in different parts of Asia. He
has also presented papers at INFORMS Marketing Science Conferences held at Singapore
Management University, University of Michigan, University of Cologne in Germany, Rice
University at Houston, and Academy of Management [Philadelphia].
Israel Duraipandian is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Xavier School of Management,
XLRI Jamshedpur, India. He teaches research methods, consumer behavior, and marketing research
for the postgraduate and doctoral program students in management. He has authored/co-authored the
following books: Data Analysis in Business Research (Sage: New Delhi, 2008) and Marketing
Research: A South Asian Perspective (Cengage: New Delhi, 2009). He has presented papers in the
national/international conferences. His research works are published/accepted in International
Journal of Mobile Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing and The Learning Organization among
others.
Dhruv Sethi is a Senior Associate, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), New Delhi, India. His research
interests include celebrity endorsement, social media, and other aspects of marketing
communications.
 Journal of Marketing Communications 15

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