Do Celebrity Endorsements Benefit Familiar Luxury Brands? A Perspective From Social Adaptation Theory

Abstract From the perspective of social adaptation theory, this study empirically tests the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements of familiar luxury brands compared to that of noncelebrity endorsements. Two separate 2 (celebrity vs. non celebrity) × 2 (luxury vs. nonluxury brands) between-subjects-design experiments are conducted based on female college students (Study 1) and average female consumers (Study 2), respectively. The results show that celebrity endorsements are more effective than noncelebrity endorsements only in attitudes toward advertisements, but not in brand luxuriousness, brand attitudes, and purchase intention. A structural equation model identifies the significance of congruence between an endorser and an ad for luxury brand in generating brand luxuriousness and that greater brand luxuriousness does not warrant the high estimated price for the product featured in the ad. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed at the end.