Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-87). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-87). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. S.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Jeanne Heitmayer, Florida State University, College of Human Sciences, Dept. of Textiles and Consumer Sciences. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 18, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 76 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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The research project explored the value of the personified celebrity endorser to brand endorsement and the effect on the original brand and the personified celebrity endorser. Endorsement has proven to be an effective marketing tool to increase purchase intent and positively influence consumer attitudes towards a brand and, as a result the use of endorsers, particularly celebrities, has grown. However the use of celebrities does have its challenges as aligning the celebrities brand with ones’ own brand can be a risk. Overcoming these challenges usually results in brands using personified endorsers, characters designed to personify the brand, designed to reflect, and share features of, the brand’s personality through endorsement. These characters require large amounts of investment in time and finance, which later are often terminated after a period resulting in sunk costs and loss of the characters’ equity. This loss of equity in turn leads to these personified endorsers losing credibility in the market and subsequently losing economic value when made redundant, particularly if they have celebrity status. While many studies have been done on personified endorsers, few have focused on human personified endorsers. Thus, to understand the potential impact of the personified celebrity endorser’s credibility on consumers and other brands, a quantitative study was undertaken that looked at the source credibility of an original brand (Hansa Pilsener) and a personified celebrity endorser (The Vuyo character). The source credibility was measured across three attributes: attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise. These attributes were measured pre and post respondents being shown fictional stories involving Vuyo endorsing other brands or products. The main finding of the research was that the personified celebrity endorser has his/her own credibility that is separate from the original brand and if the personified celebrity endorser promotes another brand or product, the original brand’s credibility remains unharmed. This suggests that the personified celebrity endorser’s value can be extended to other brands in order to gain further economic value / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Previous studies on celebrity endorsement have focused on merits of the celebrity endorser as the key factors for predicting endorsement effectiveness. This research extends previous research by exploring the effects of the consumer's para-social interaction (PSI) with the celebrity. Based on the Source Credibility Model, the proposed model takes PSI as the core variable and examines its relationship with self-brand connection and ideal congruency. Two studies were conducted using online questionnaires to collect consumers' self-reported data. Study 1 tested a partial model using sports celebrities. Study 2 tested the full model using entertainment celebrities. Study 1 had 605 respondents and study 2 had 387 respondents. The respondents were young, well-educated and included both fans and no-fans of the selected celebrities. The results showed that consumer-celebrity PSI was an essential factor in the endorsement process. The perceived attractiveness of a celebrity was an antecedent to PSI, which in turn allowed the consumer to establish a personal connection with the endorsed brand and resulted in positive brand attitude. Furthermore, the results showed that consumers tend to have stronger PSI with a celebrity when they hold a higher degree of ideal congruity with the celebrity. Finally, results indicated that the context in which the celebrity was shown with the brand had significant effects, with a real-life context yielding stronger effects than an ad endorsement context or a product placement context. In sum, this research extended the source attractiveness model by clarifying the endorsement process to include consumer-celebrity PSI and brand-related responses. It also contributed to the audience-celebrity PSI theory. In addition, this research revealed the potential impact of celebrity-brand associations in real-life contexts on endorsement effectiveness, thus providing new insights for research related to the various forms of celebrity endorsement.

Purchasing is an important concept in the life of students. The decision whether to purchase branded apparel is hence a very important one. The 21st century student is less loyal and more demanding when choosing branded apparel. Marketers should understand how students evaluate celebrity endorsers when they appear in printed advertising and respond accordingly. The objective of the research is to find out how celebrity endorsed print advertisements affect Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) students’ purchase behaviour. The results of this study could assist marketers in improving the quality of their advertising and to more accurately meet the needs of this dynamic student market. A literature review was conducted to provide an understanding of the consumer purchasing behaviour and the role celebrity endorser played in printed advertisements. The empirical study was designed to assess the impact of the use of celebrity endorsements of printed advertisements targeted at NMMU students. The empirical findings showed that both male and female students indicated that the use of celebrity endorsers get their attention and created interest, and make advertisements more memorable. Males were more influenced than ii females. Moreover, both groups indicated that for a desired or familiar product, celebrity endorsers did not easily change their purchase decisions. It was also found that the use of pictures, colours and wording featured in the advertisements are important to students. The study proposes that marketers should continue to focus on effective marketing communications and establish whether a celebrity should be used. The correct selection of a celebrity endorser can help to create greater consumer persuasion.

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The purpose of this study is to establish the means to understand how female sport endorsers are chosen in advertising - whether the choice is based upon physical appeal or professional career.

It has become conventional to use product placement in music videos. Big brands have started marketing themselves through product placement, for example, brands such as BMW, VitaminWater and Virgin Mobile. Placing products in music videos could be perceived as the brands linking themselves with celebrities. This product placement could either have a positive or negative effect on the celebrity and/or the brand. This research study aimed to provide the world of brands with insights into 18-28-year-olds’ perception of product placement in music videos, and whether placing their product in a music video where the audience is not partial to the celebrity, could be detrimental or not. This research study aimed to determine the selected sample’s (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University students) perceptions of the product placement of three specific brands (VitaminWater, BMW and Virgin) in three specific music videos, namely: Jessie J and David Guetta “Laserlight” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syxd2n8S4AE JLo’s “Get on the Floor” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4H_Zoh7G5A Lady Gaga and Beyoncé “Telephone” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ95z6ywcBY An electronic survey questionnaire was concluded with both closed and open-ended questions relating to the use of product placement in these three music videos. The survey questionnaire helped to determine what the selected sample’s perceptions were of each brand and celebrity, what they were after the respondents and seen the relationship between the brand and celebrity and finally, of product placement in general. A semiotic analysis of screen shots from each music video was conducted to determine what kind of nature the product placement occurred in in each music video.