Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Spring 2018

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

PAUL

Department

Marketing

Program or Major

Business Administration (Marketing)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

First Advisor

Bruce Pfeiffer

Abstract

In today’s marketplace, a significant amount of brands are utilizing celebrity endorsers as a marketing tool. Traits of the brand and the endorser are typically not congruent. As a result, trait transference between a brand and a celebrity can occur once the brand and celebrity endorser are linked in the consumer’s mind. Further, celebrity endorsers often endorse multiple brands at one time. Therefore, it may be possible for traits to transfer from one brand to another via a common celebrity endorser. Although research has shown that the traits of celebrity endorsers can influence br and perceptions and vice versa, no research has investigated the potential trait transfer from one brand to another via a common celebrity endorser. Study 1 investigates trait congruency of brands and celebrity endorsers using a multidimensional scaling positioning analysis, demonstrating a clear trait incongruence between the brands and the celebrity endorsers used in the study. Study 2 utilizes both implicit and explicit measures to investigate trait transference from one brand to another via a common celebrity endorser. Both measures found evidence to support this type of trait transference. This research has important theoretical and practical implications and helps further our knowledge and understanding of branding, trait transfer, and the use of celebrity endorsers.

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