Abstract
Despite the fact that companies increasingly value online star endorsements as Internet celebrity economy booms, scientific knowledge on the effect of online star endorsements on consumers’ purchase intention is limited. Based on the theories of self and construal level theory, this study investigates the impact of online star vs. celebrity endorsements on purchase intention and explores the underlying mechanism as well as boundary conditions. The results of four studies reveal the following: (1) Compared with no endorsement, both celebrity endorsements and online star endorsements lead to increases in consumers’ purchase intention, with no significant difference between the two. (2) Self-concept mediates these relationships; specifically, celebrity and online star endorsements activate the ideal and actual self respectively, and enhance consumers’ willingness to purchase. (3) The effect of endorsements on consumers’ purchase intention is moderated by advertising appeals. That is, celebrity endorsements enhance purchase intention when consumers are exposed to symbolic appeals in advertisements, and online star endorsements enhance purchase intention when it is matched with functional advertising appeals.
Highlights
Online stars, known as Internet celebrities are becoming most popular with Internet users due to the rapid expansion of social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, Sina Weibo, Tik Tok, and Kuaishou
In Study 1, we examined the influences of celebrity and online star endorsements on consumers’ purchase intention and determined that both associations were positive
The results revealed that a significantly greater number of participants in the celebrity endorsement condition considered the advertisement as being endorsed by traditional celebrities (Mcelebrity endorsement = 4.889, SD = 0.682; Monline star endorsement = 2.924, SD = 0.782, p < 0.001)
Summary
Known as Internet celebrities (wang hong in Chinese) are becoming most popular with Internet users due to the rapid expansion of social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, Sina Weibo, Tik Tok, and Kuaishou. While social celebrities remain popular influencers in mainstream markets and are highly valued by companies, online stars have increasingly begun to be deployed as endorsers, for example, Bella Hadid endorsing Nike, and Papi Jiang and Zhang Dayi advertising Weibo Story. As businesses increasingly rely on social media platforms to promote their products, consumers are changing their purchasing habits, their state of mind, cognition or perception (Lazaroiu et al, 2020). Their self-concept and purchase intention are influenced (Verwijmeren et al, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Vrontis et al, 2021). Research has remained largely dedicated to matching symbolic and functional appeals with different product categories but has failed to match them with celebrity and online star endorsements
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