Brand celebrities: analysis of celebrity sponsorship posts on Facebook
by Goetz Greve; Andrea Schlüschen; Claudia Fantapié Altobelli
International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising (IJIMA), Vol. 17, No. 1/2, 2022

Abstract: The social media accounts of celebrities have inspired innovative ways for companies to promote their brands. One form of celebrity-related advertising is celebrity-sponsorship posts. These posts often come at a high cost for the advertiser while it remains unclear which content characteristics are expected to influence the effectiveness of these posts. This paper investigates the impacts of content characteristics of celebrity-sponsorship posts on Facebook on customer engagement. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the characteristics of 313 sponsored posts from 128 celebrities endorsing 154 brands. Drawing on the dual mediation hypothesis and using gratification theory, this study reveals that distinct content characteristics drive either attitudes towards the celebrity or attitudes towards the brand, revealing the double-edged nature of celebrity-sponsorship posts. The findings suggest that marketing managers should carefully design celebrity sponsorship posts by adjusting the balance between celebrity and brand emphasis. Otherwise, there might be a threat of either the brand being overshadowed by the celebrity, thus reducing brand attitude, or the brand 'capturing' the celebrity by - from a fan's perspective - being obviously recognised as plain advertising; as such, this effect can harm the attitude towards the celebrity and, consequently, reduces customer engagement.

Online publication date: Wed, 31-Aug-2022

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising (IJIMA):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

    Username:        Password:         

Forgotten your password?


Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com