Title: Celebrity vs. ordinary: an experimental investigation of the effect of celebrity vs. ordinary people endorsement on charity donations in Egypt

Authors: Samira Abdelhamid; Abeer A. Mahrous

Addresses: Business Administration Department, Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University, Egypt ' Business Administration Department, Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University, Egypt

Abstract: The importance of investigating the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement in the non-profit sector is increasingly attracting the attention of academics and practitioners. Therefore, this study examines the effect of celebrity attributes (expertise, trustworthiness, physical attractiveness, respect, and similarity) on donation intention. Specifically, this study conducted a quasi-experimental design to compare three alternatives; using celebrities, using no celebrities (ordinary persons), and using no persons in the ad, on the attitude toward the charitable organisation and the intention to donate. In addition, it examined the moderating effects of attitude toward charities on the relationship between celebrity attributes and donation intention. A two-group, post-test-only, and non-randomised experimental design was used. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 293 respondents via an offline structured questionnaire. To test the hypotheses, partial least square-based structural equation modelling and one-way ANOVA were used. The results indicate that celebrity attributes have a significant positive effect on donation intention, and the audience's general attitudes toward charities are a significant moderator of the influence of celebrity attributes on donation intentions. Insightful implications are provided.

Keywords: celebrity endorsement; celebrity attributes; donation intention; charity marketing; social advertising; TEARS model; Egypt.

DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2023.130046

EuroMed Journal of Management, 2023 Vol.5 No.2, pp.118 - 129

Received: 31 Aug 2022
Accepted: 21 Oct 2022
Published online: 04 Apr 2023 *

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