Endorsement Practice: How Agencies Select Spokespeople
B. Zafer ErdoganBilecik University, Turkey
Tanya DrollingerUniversity of Lethbridge, Canada
INTRODUCTION
Perhaps the most compelling reason to juxtapose brands with celebrities is that much-admired characteristics may transfer to products they endorse (McCracken, 1989). In turn, this may boost the marketing-communications effectiveness by helping messages stand out from surrounding clutter, thereby improving communicative ability. Although their positive impact on economic returns of sponsoring companies is well documented (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995; Farrell, Karels, Montfort, and McClatchey, 2000; Mathur, Mathur, and Rangan, 1997), celebrities can present such risks as public controversy and overexposure. In...