Celebrity influence on word of mouth: the interplay of power states and power expectations

Veronica L. Thomas (), Kendra Fowler () and Christina Saenger ()
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Veronica L. Thomas: Towson University
Kendra Fowler: Youngstown State University
Christina Saenger: Youngstown State University

Marketing Letters, 2020, vol. 31, issue 1, No 12, 105-120

Abstract: Abstract Despite the widespread use of celebrity endorsers to stimulate word of mouth in marketing practice, surprisingly little academic research investigates factors that influence consumers to spread word of mouth about celebrity-endorsed brands. In accord with compensatory consumer behavior research on consumer power states, we find that consumers in low-power states report stronger intentions to spread word of mouth about a brand that is celebrity-, compared to model-, endorsed, and that consumers in low-power states report stronger intentions to spread word of mouth about celebrity-endorsed brands than consumers in high-power states. However, consumers in high-power states can be encouraged to spread word of mouth about celebrity-endorsed brands when the endorsement message communicates high-power expectations, because such messages are easier to process. Consumers in high-power states seek to conform to expectations of how powerful people behave, and spread word of mouth in order to self-verify their power state. Consumers in low-power states are attuned to status cues that facilitate perceptions of the brand as possessing referent power, and spread word of mouth in order to remedy the aversive nature of feeling powerless.

Keywords: Celebrity endorsement; Word of mouth; Power; Compensatory consumer behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-020-09513-z

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