Foreign versus local non-celebrity endorser effects in emerging economies

: the role of ideal identity salience

Abstract

Non-celebrity endorsers are widely used in advertising to display similarity or offer affective appeals to an audience. In emerging economies, however, a foreign non-celebrity endorser is typically utilized for status products to arouse symbolic meanings such as social distinctions and modernity, whereas a local non-celebrity is often used for non-status products because s/he could inspire a feeling of similarity in consumers’ minds and thus favorably influence consumers’ attitudes. This study investigates the mediating mechanism of consumers’ exposure to ads endorsed by a foreign versus a local non-celebrity for both a status and a non-status product in emerging economies. Specifically, it compares effects of these four combinations and proposes ideal identity salience as a partial mediator that influences source credibility and consumers’ ad attitudes positively. Experimental results reveal that the interactions of a foreign non-celebrity and a status product and of a local non-celebrity and a non-status product lead to more favorable responses. The mediating role of ideal identity salience and its impact on source credibility and ad attitudes were supported.

Date of Award	16 Jul 2007
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Nan ZHOU (Supervisor)