Cognitive mapping the topic of celebrity endorsement

Cognitive mapping the topic of celebrity endorsement

Joseph Kim-keung Ho

Independent Trainer

Hong Kong, China

Abstract: The topic of celebrity endorsement in the subject of Marketing is complex. By making use of the cognitive mapping technique to conduct a brief literature review on celebrity endorsement topic, the writer renders a systemic image on the topic of celebrity endorsement. The result of the study, in the form of a cognitive map on celebrity endorsement, should be useful to those who are interested in the topics of cognitive mapping, literature review and celebrity endorsement.

Key words: Celebrity endorsement, cognitive mapping, literature review

Introduction

As a topic in Marketing, celebrity endorsement is complex. It is thus useful to employ some learning tool to conduct its study, notably for literature review purpose. For a teacher in research methods, systems thinking and management, the writer is specifically interested in finding out how the cognitive mapping technique can be employed to go through a literature review on  celebrity endorsement. This literature review exercise is taken up and reported in this article.

On the cognitive mapping exercise for literature review

Literature review is an important intellectual learning exercise, and not just for doing final year dissertation projects for tertiary education students. On these two topics of intellectual learning and literature review, the writer has compiled some e-learning resources. They are the Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page. Conducting literature review with the cognitive mapping technique is not novel in the cognitive mapping literature, see Eden and Simpson (1989), Eden, Jones and Sims (1983), Open University (n.d) and the Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page. In this article, the specific steps involved in the cognitive mapping exercise are as follows:

Step 1: gather some main points from a number of academic journal articles on Celebrity endorsement. This result in the production of a table (Table 1) with the main points and associated references.

Step 2: consolidate  the main points from Table 1 to come up with a table listing the cognitive map variables (re: Table 2).

Step 3: link up the cognitive  map variables in a plausible way to produce a cognitive map (re: Figure 1) on the topic under review.

The next section applies these three steps to produce a cognitive map on celebrity endorsement.

Descriptions of cognitive map variables on celebrity endorsement topic

From the reading of some academic articles on celebrity endorsement, a number of main points (e.g., viewpoints, concepts and empirical findings) were gathered by the  writer. They are shown in Table 1 with explicit referencing on the points.

Table 1: Main points from celebrity endorsement literature and referencing

Main points from the celebrity endorsement literature	Referencing
Point 1: "Today, consumers are constantly inundated with images of celebrities; not only are celebrities endorsing a multitude of consumer products but they are also found gracing the covers of gossip and fashion magazines. These mass media images can aide in the familiarisation with a celebrity. Celebrities have a unique position in the advertising landscape due to the irrespective careers, as well as from the constant media attention many receive".	McComick, K. 2016. "Celebrity endorsements : Influence of a product-endorser match on Millennials attitudes and purchase intentions" Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 32, Elsevier: 39-45.
Point 2: "A celebrity endorser is someone who enjoys public recognition and who uses that recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (McCracken,1989). When celebrities are hired to endorse brands, they are able to draw more attention to the advertisements, break through the clutter of competing brands and can exert greater influence on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions".	McComick, K. 2016. "Celebrity endorsements : Influence of a product-endorser match on Millennials attitudes and purchase intentions" Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 32, Elsevier: 39-45.
Point 3: "Celebrities enjoy nationwide or worldwide popularity, and this allows them to wield power in a variety of spheres. Celebrities serve as role models, implicitly offering personal fulfillment to those who imitate them (Fowles, 1992; Gamson, 1992). Their names and images are used to market a variety of products and services, and their influence extends to business, politics, culture, and social movements".	Huh, H.R., D.S. Yi and H.Y. Zhu. 2014. "Facial width-to-height ratio and celebrity endorsements" Personality and Individual Differences 58, Elsevier: 43-47.
Point 4: "Celebrities usually experience fame for a relatively short period of time, and their success can be measured in terms of financial compensation, primarily from appearance fees and endorsements. A wide range of genetic and developmental variables probably influences the career choice and career success of celebrities".	Huh, H.R., D.S. Yi and H.Y. Zhu. 2014. "Facial width-to-height ratio and celebrity endorsements" Personality and Individual Differences 58, Elsevier: 43-47.
Point 5: "The body shape of endorsers is an important factor determining attitudes toward the brand in question (D’Alessandro & Chitty, 2011). Thus, the major criteria for selecting a celebrity endorser are credibility, familiarity, likeability, and gender (Knott & St. James, 2004). The effectiveness of celebrity endorsers is moderated by attractiveness, credibility, and several other factors (Erdogan, 1999), and attractiveness and credibility are associated with facial WHR [width-to-height ratio ]".	Huh, H.R., D.S. Yi and H.Y. Zhu. 2014. "Facial width-to-height ratio and celebrity endorsements" Personality and Individual Differences 58, Elsevier: 43-47.
Point 6: "Celebrities' profiles are at the top of the list of the most-followed pages on Instagram, frequently used to deliver marketing communication messages to their followers. Recently, one celebrity's profile with the highest number of followers, reached 92 million (Instagram, 2016). Consumers perceive individuals with a large number of subscribers as more attractive and trustworthy, this is in line with Source Credibility Theory and relates to electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (Jin & Phua, 2014). Source credibility refers to the consumer perception of the information source based on attractiveness, trustworthiness and knowledge in the area of the endorsed product (Ohanian, 1990). EWOM refers to any product information communicated by potential consumers via the Internet".	Djafarova, E. and C. Rushworth. 2017. "Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram  profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users" Computers in Human Behaviour 68, Elsevier: 1-7.
Point 7: "The impact of celebrity enforcements as marketing communication tools has been extensively researched previously, however there is a lack of academic research on the credibility of different types of celebrities within social networks (Jin & Phua, 2014; Spry et al., 2011). This is particularly the case for Instagram which is experiencing rapid growth and could, potentially, be of great importance to the marketer".	Djafarova, E. and C. Rushworth. 2017. "Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram  profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users" Computers in Human Behaviour 68, Elsevier: 1-7.
Point 8: "Celebrities appeal to a common reference group. ‘Reference group’ is defined as a person/group of people who serve as a reference to an individual in forming values and attitudes, and in so doing provide consumers with a reference in their purchasing decisions (Schiffman, Hansen, & Kanuk, 2012). This can also include celebrities or Instagram profiles belonging to non-traditional celebrities who could be considered famous online or ‘Instafamous’ (Scott, 2015). These individuals are known to the public and their identification is based upon elements such as admiration, association, aspiration or recognition".	Djafarova, E. and C. Rushworth. 2017. "Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram  profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users" Computers in Human Behaviour 68, Elsevier: 1-7.
Point 9: ".... when negotiating endorsement contracts, firms risk being rejected by their preferred celebrity. The cost of such rejection is critical, as firms' marketing strategies may crucially depend on successfully hiring a specific celebrity, and being unable to do so may imply substantial additional time and monetary investment in redefining such strategies and initiating efforts to hire other celebrities (Miciak & Shanklin, 1994). Thus, industry experts suggest firms to offer celebrities gifts or company equity (Aarts, 2013), and advise celebrities to become more popular and to amass a large social media following to be attractive for potential endorsers".	Zamudio, C. 2016. "Matching with the stars: How brand personality determines celebrity endorsement contract formation" International Journal of Research in Marketing 33, Elsevier: 409-427.
Point 10: "A celebrity endorsement contract is a partnership between a human brand (Thomson, 2006) and a corporate brand to communicate the merits of the corporate brand or its products and foster positive consumer attitudes (Kamins, 1990). Similarly, a brand alliance (Rao, Lu, & Ruekert, 1999) also aims to communicate value and increase consumer attitudes, but via a co-branded product in which two firms feature both corporate brands in the alliance".	Zamudio, C. 2016. "Matching with the stars: How brand personality determines celebrity endorsement contract formation" International Journal of Research in Marketing 33, Elsevier: 409-427.
Point 11: "The consumer-focused stream investigates consumers' response to stimuli featuring real or fictitious celebrity endorsements (e.g., Forehand & Perkins, 2005). Focus is on congruence: contracts between firms and celebrities similar along a specific dimension should induce positive consumer response, as compared to an incongruent contract where celebrity and firm are dissimilar (Kamins, 1990). Dimensions include perceived attractiveness (Bower & Landreth, 2001; Kahle & Homer, 1985), personalities (Misra & Beatty, 1990), expertise (Till & Busler, 2000; Till, Stanley, & Priluck, 2008), credibility (Lafferty & Goldsmith, 1999), ethnicity (Ryu, Park, & Feick, 2006) and the information provided by the celebrity and the brand".	Zamudio, C. 2016. "Matching with the stars: How brand personality determines celebrity endorsement contract formation" International Journal of Research in Marketing 33, Elsevier: 409-427.
Point 12: "The use of celebrities for product promotion is a popular advertising strategy (Choi & Rifon, 2012), which is used more frequently in Eastern than in Western countries. In Korea, for example, 75% of advertising depends on celebrity endorsement (Um & Lee, 2015). However, it has not been established that using a celebrity as a strategy in all marketing endeavors is always effective in Korea".	Kim, H.C. and J.Y. Jeong. 2016. "Effect of celebrity endorsement in marketing of musicals: poster versus social networking site" Social Behavior and Personality 44(8), Scientific Journal Publishers Ltd.: 1243-1254.
Point 13: "The congruence between the celebrity image and ideal self-image of consumers, that is, the congruence between a consumer’s perception of a celebrity’s personality characteristics and the consumer’s self-image, enhances the endorsement effect and influences the consumer’s purchase decisions".	Kim, H.C. and J.Y. Jeong. 2016. "Effect of celebrity endorsement in marketing of musicals: poster versus social networking site" Social Behavior and Personality 44(8), Scientific Journal Publishers Ltd.: 1243-1254.
Point 14: "Choi, Lee, and Kim (2005) suggested that the reason for the higher frequency of celebrity appearances in Korean advertising compared to Western countries, may be that Korean consumers are more likely to conform to group norms. Thus, in Korea, marketers in industries—including musicals—use celebrity endorsement as a promotional strategy".	Kim, H.C. and J.Y. Jeong. 2016. "Effect of celebrity endorsement in marketing of musicals: poster versus social networking site" Social Behavior and Personality 44(8), Scientific Journal Publishers Ltd.: 1243-1254.
Point 15: "Holt (2004) .... refers to the iconic status of a select few celebrities and brands that mobilize myths and resolve cultural contradictions. Alexander (2010), in contrast, emphasizes the religious connotations that are invoked in discourse around iconic celebrities, such as Audrey Hepburn. For Alexander (2010), celebrants’ accounts of their engagement with celebrity (visiting Elvis Presley’s former home, Graceland; shaking President Barack Obama’s hand; modelling Hepburn’s Little Black Dress (the notorious LBD) at Tiffany’s) can be understood as an introjection process in which “the celebrity-icon actually becomes part of their internal self” ...".	Hackley, C. and R.A. Hackley. 2016. "The iconicity of celebrity and the spiritual impulse" Consumption markets & culture 19(3), Routledge: 269-274.
Point 16: "The frequent use of religious metaphors such as “worship”, “icon”, “adore” and “divine” in connection with celebrity seems telling. In the Christian Bible, Jesus Christ declares his iconicity, saying that “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Christ is the image of a human creature, but also the likeness of God. Religious iconography reflects a Christological ontology (Baker 2011), counter to Enlightenment notions of individuality and identity. Identity is given in likeness to God, not constructed by material forces".	Hackley, C. and R.A. Hackley. 2016. "The iconicity of celebrity and the spiritual impulse" Consumption markets & culture 19(3), Routledge: 269-274.
Point 17: "In the last few years, shifts have been noted in the creation and maintenance of celebrity status and the parameters of stardom. The increasing popularity of online social media sites, especially Twitter, with celebrities, their fans and other types of users has led to new explorations of the management of online fame and modes of celebrity, and reinvigorated debates around authenticity and the presentation of the self. The convergence, connection and potential for interactive address between star and audience that Twitter enables has reconstructed stardom in this twenty-first-century multimedia, multi-platform context as something apparently new".	Thomas, S. 2014. "Celebrity in the 'Twitterverse': history, authenticity and the multiplicity of stardom Situating the 'newness' of Twitter" Celebrity Studies 5(3): 242-255.
Point 18: "Because of its position as one point of convergence between old and new media and producers and consumers (Jenkins 2006), the new capabilities of Twitter, particularly the potential for user agency in creating online content, has been emphasised in the current writing on celebrities’ use of Twitter".	Thomas, S. 2014. "Celebrity in the 'Twitterverse': history, authenticity and the multiplicity of stardom Situating the 'newness' of Twitter" Celebrity Studies 5(3): 242-255.

With a set of main points collected, the writer produces a set of cognitive map variables. These variables are informed by the set of main points from Table 1. These variables are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Cognitive map variables based on Table 1

Cognitive map variables	Literature review points
Variable 1: Drivers of interest in celebrity endorsement	Point 1: "Today, consumers are constantly inundated with images of celebrities; not only are celebrities endorsing a multitude of consumer products but they are also found gracing the covers of gossip and fashion magazines. These mass media images can aide in the familiarisation with a celebrity. Celebrities have a unique position in the advertising landscape due to the irrespective careers, as well as from the constant media attention many receive". Point 17: "In the last few years, shifts have been noted in the creation and maintenance of celebrity status and the parameters of stardom. The increasing popularity of online social media sites, especially Twitter, with celebrities, their fans and other types of users has led to new explorations of the management of online fame and modes of celebrity, and reinvigorated debates around authenticity and the presentation of the self. The convergence, connection and potential for interactive address between star and audience that Twitter enables has reconstructed stardom in this twenty-first-century multimedia, multi-platform context as something apparently new".
Variable 2: Improve intellectual understanding of  celebrity endorsement	Point 2: "A celebrity endorser is someone who enjoys public recognition and who uses that recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (McCracken,1989). When celebrities are hired to endorse brands, they are able to draw more attention to the advertisements, break through the clutter of competing brands and can exert greater influence on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions". Point 4: "Celebrities usually experience fame for a relatively short period of time, and their success can be measured in terms of financial compensation, primarily from appearance fees and endorsements. A wide range of genetic and developmental variables probably influences the career choice and career success of celebrities". Point 6: "Celebrities' profiles are at the top of the list of the most-followed pages on Instagram, frequently used to deliver marketing communication messages to their followers. Recently, one celebrity's profile with the highest number of followers, reached 92 million (Instagram, 2016). Consumers perceive individuals with a large number of subscribers as more attractive and trustworthy, this is in line with Source Credibility Theory and relates to electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (Jin & Phua, 2014). Source credibility refers to the consumer perception of the information source based on attractiveness, trustworthiness and knowledge in the area of the endorsed product (Ohanian, 1990). EWOM refers to any product information communicated by potential consumers via the Internet". Point 8: "Celebrities appeal to a common reference group. ‘Reference group’ is defined as a person/group of people who serve as a reference to an individual in forming values and attitudes, and in so doing provide consumers with a reference in their purchasing decisions (Schiffman, Hansen, & Kanuk, 2012). This can also include celebrities or Instagram profiles belonging to non-traditional celebrities who could be considered famous online or ‘Instafamous’ (Scott, 2015). These individuals are known to the public and their identification is based upon elements such as admiration, association, aspiration or recognition". Point 10: "A celebrity endorsement contract is a partnership between a human brand (Thomson, 2006) and a corporate brand to communicate the merits of the corporate brand or its products and foster positive consumer attitudes (Kamins, 1990). Similarly, a brand alliance (Rao, Lu, & Ruekert, 1999) also aims to communicate value and increase consumer attitudes, but via a co-branded product in which two firms feature both corporate brands in the alliance". Point 11: "The consumer-focused stream investigates consumers' response to stimuli featuring real or fictitious celebrity endorsements (e.g., Forehand & Perkins, 2005). Focus is on congruence: contracts between firms and celebrities similar along a specific dimension should induce positive consumer response, as compared to an incongruent contract where celebrity and firm are dissimilar (Kamins, 1990). Dimensions include perceived attractiveness (Bower & Landreth, 2001; Kahle & Homer, 1985), personalities (Misra & Beatty, 1990), expertise (Till & Busler, 2000; Till, Stanley, & Priluck, 2008), credibility (Lafferty & Goldsmith, 1999), ethnicity (Ryu, Park, & Feick, 2006) and the information provided by the celebrity and the brand". Point 15: "Holt (2004) .... refers to the iconic status of a select few celebrities and brands that mobilize myths and resolve cultural contradictions. Alexander (2010), in contrast, emphasizes the religious connotations that are invoked in discourse around iconic celebrities, such as Audrey Hepburn. For Alexander (2010), celebrants’ accounts of their engagement with celebrity (visiting Elvis Presley’s former home, Graceland; shaking President Barack Obama’s hand; modelling Hepburn’s Little Black Dress (the notorious LBD) at Tiffany’s) can be understood as an introjection process in which “the celebrity-icon actually becomes part of their internal self”..... ". Point 16: "The frequent use of religious metaphors such as “worship”, “icon”, “adore” and “divine” in connection with celebrity seems telling. In the Christian Bible, Jesus Christ declares his iconicity, saying that “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Christ is the image of a human creature, but also the likeness of God. Religious iconography reflects a Christological ontology (Baker 2011), counter to Enlightenment notions of individuality and identity. Identity is given in likeness to God, not constructed by material forces".
Variable 3: Effective celebrity endorsement practices	Point 3: "Celebrities enjoy nationwide or worldwide popularity, and this allows them to wield power in a variety of spheres. Celebrities serve as role models, implicitly offering personal fulfillment to those who imitate them (Fowles, 1992; Gamson, 1992). Their names and images are used to market a variety of products and services, and their influence extends to business, politics, culture, and social movements". Point 5: "The body shape of endorsers is an important factor determining attitudes toward the brand in question (D’Alessandro & Chitty, 2011). Thus, the major criteria for selecting a celebrity endorser are credibility, familiarity, likeability, and gender (Knott & St. James, 2004). The effectiveness of celebrity endorsers is moderated by attractiveness, credibility, and several other factors (Erdogan, 1999), and attractiveness and credibility are associated with facial WHR [width-to-height ratio ]". Point 9: ".... when negotiating endorsement contracts, firms risk being rejected by their preferred celebrity. The cost of such rejection is critical, as firms' marketing strategies may crucially depend on successfully hiring a specific celebrity, and being unable to do so may imply substantial additional time and monetary investment in redefining such strategies and initiating efforts to hire other celebrities (Miciak & Shanklin, 1994). Thus, industry experts suggest firms to offer celebrities gifts or company equity (Aarts, 2013), and advise celebrities to become more popular and to amass a large social media following to be attractive for potential endorsers". Point 13: "The congruence between the celebrity image and ideal self-image of consumers, that is, the congruence between a consumer’s perception of a celebrity’s personality characteristics and the consumer’s self-image, enhances the endorsement effect and influences the consumer’s purchase decisions". Point 18: "Because of its position as one point of convergence between old and new media and producers and consumers (Jenkins 2006), the new capabilities of Twitter, particularly the potential for user agency in creating online content, has been emphasised in the current writing on celebrities’ use of Twitter".
Variable 4: Learn from celebrity endorsement practices	Point 7: "The impact of celebrity enforcements as marketing communication tools has been extensively researched previously, however there is a lack of academic research on the credibility of different types of celebrities within social networks (Jin & Phua, 2014; Spry et al., 2011). This is particularly the case for Instagram which is experiencing rapid growth and could, potentially, be of great importance to the marketer". Point 12: "The use of celebrities for product promotion is a popular advertising strategy (Choi & Rifon, 2012), which is used more frequently in Eastern than in Western countries. In Korea, for example, 75% of advertising depends on celebrity endorsement (Um & Lee, 2015). However, it has not been established that using a celebrity as a strategy in all marketing endeavors is always effective in Korea". Point 14: "Choi, Lee, and Kim (2005) suggested that the reason for the higher frequency of celebrity appearances in Korean advertising compared to Western countries, may be that Korean consumers are more likely to conform to group norms. Thus, in Korea, marketers in industries—including musicals—use celebrity endorsement as a promotional strategy".

The next step is to relate the cognitive map variables to make up a cognitive map on celebrity endorsement. The cognitive map and its explanation are presented in the next section.

A cognitive map on celebrity endorsement and its interpretation

By relating the four variables identified in Table 2, the writer comes up with a cognitive map on celebrity endorsement, as shown in Figure 1.

These cognitive  map variables, four of them altogether, are related to constitute a systemic image of celebrity endorsement. The links in the cognitive map (re: Figure 1) indicate direction of influences between variables. The + sign shows that an increase in one variable leads to an increase in another variable while a -ve sign tells us that in increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another variable.  If there no signs shown on the arrows, that means the influences can be positive or negative.  For further information on celebrity endorsement, readers are referred to the Literature on luxury brands and celebrity studies Facebook page.

Concluding remarks

The cognitive mapping exercise captures in one diagram some of the main variables involved in celebrity endorsement. The resultant cognitive map promotes an exploratory way to study celebrity endorsement in a holistic tone. The experience of the cognitive mapping exercise is that it can be a quick, efficient and entertaining way to explore a complex topic such as celebrity endorsement in Marketing. Finally, readers who are interested in cognitive mapping should also find the article informative on this mapping topic.

Bibliography

1.      Djafarova, E. and C. Rushworth. 2017. "Exploring the credibility of online celebrities' Instagram  profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users" Computers in Human Behaviour 68, Elsevier: 1-7.

2.      Eden, C. and P. Simpson. 1989. "SODA and cognitive mapping in practice", pp. 43-70, in Rosenhead, J. (editor) Rational Analysis for a Problematic World, Wiley, Chichester.

3.      Eden, C., C. Jones and D. Sims. 1983. Messing about in Problems: An informal structured approach to their identification and management, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

4.      Hackley, C. and R.A. Hackley. 2016. "The iconicity of celebrity and the spiritual impulse" Consumption markets & culture 19(3), Routledge: 269-274.

5.      Huh, H.R., D.S. Yi and H.Y. Zhu. 2014. "Facial width-to-height ratio and celebrity endorsements" Personality and Individual Differences 58, Elsevier: 43-47.

6.      Kim, H.C. and J.Y. Jeong. 2016. "Effect of celebrity endorsement in marketing of musicals: poster versus social networking site" Social Behavior and Personality 44(8), Scientific Journal Publishers Ltd.: 1243-1254.

7.      Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-cognitive-mapping-800894476751355/).

8.      Literature on literature review Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.literaturereview/).

9.      Literature on luxury brands and celebrity studies Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-luxury-brands-and-celebrity-studies-1665293927038604/).

10. Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/managerial.intellectual.learning/).

11. McComick, K. 2016. "Celebrity endorsements : Influence of a product-endorser match on Millennials attitudes and purchase intentions" Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 32, Elsevier: 39-45.

12. Open University. n.d. "Sign graph" Systems Thinking and Practice (T552): Diagramming, Open University, U.K. (url address: http://systems.open.ac.uk/materials/T552/) [visited at April 10, 2017].

13. Thomas, S. 2014. "Celebrity in the 'Twitterverse': history, authenticity and the multiplicity of stardom Situating the 'newness' of Twitter" Celebrity Studies 5(3): 242-255.

14. Zamudio, C. 2016. "Matching with the stars: How brand personality determines celebrity endorsement contract formation" International Journal of Research in Marketing 33, Elsevier: 409-427.