The moderating role of consumer personality and source credibility in celebrity endorsements

Purpose – The aim of the present study is to investigate the comparative effect of sports vs film celebrity with the moderating effect (if any) of the celebrity credibility and consumer personality on consumer attitudes. Design/methodology/approach – The present study uses a 3×1 experimental design (celebrity being the independent variable), on a combined sample of 463 respondents to investigate their attitudes towards celebrity endorsement, moderated by their personality traits and source credibility. Findings – Major findings indicate a film celebrity to create more positive consumer attitudes than a sports celebrity. The components Agreeableness, Openness and partially, Conscientiousness were important moderators of consumers' attitudes out of the Big Five Personality dimensions. All dimensions of source credibility were found to have significant moderating effects on consumer attitudes. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to the Indian context, but has theoretical implications in terms of testing a new relationship affecting the success/failure of celebrity endorsements. Practical implications – For a practitioner, the study findings suggest that the marketers should aim at matching the personality traits of the target audience when opting for a celebrity endorsement and also select a celebrity with a high perceived credibility. Originality/value – The study proposed and tested a new theoretical framework, thereby contradicting the traditional notion of source credibility of a celebrity endorser as an independent variable affecting consumer attitudes. It also has included the effect of consumer personality which is a new contribution to literature.