When Corporate Social Advocacy Meets Controversial Celebrity: The Role of Consumer–Brand Congruence and Consumer-Celebrity Congruence

Khalid Alharbi, Joon Kyoung Kim, Christopher Noland and Jackson Carter
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Khalid Alharbi: School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Joon Kyoung Kim: Herrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
Christopher Noland: The Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
Jackson Carter: School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: This study investigates the role of consumer–brand congruence and consumer–celebrity congruence in the formation of consumer attitudes toward brands and their impact on behavioral intentions within the context of corporate social advocacy (CSA) involving controversial celebrities. Using a U.S. sample drawn from a Qualtrics panel ( N = 372), the results of mediation analyses indicate that attitude toward a brand positively mediates the effects of consumer–brand congruence on consumers’ behavioral intentions, including purchase intention, brand preference, and boycott recommendation. The consumer–celebrity congruence moderated the indirect effect of consumer–brand congruence on brand preference and boycott recommendations, but not purchase intention. The findings of this study contribute to the CSA literature and practices by highlighting the role of consumers’ congruence with a controversial celebrity in determining consumers’ behavioral responses to CSA. When brands practice CSA, consumer–brand congruence rather than consumer–celebrity congruence could play a more important role in shaping consumer behaviors.

Keywords: congruence; corporate social advocacy (CSA); celebrity endorsement; controversial celebrity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1811-:d:742536

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