The Effect of Celebrity Endorsements on Gift-Giving Purchases: An Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Main Author: Anghel, Christine
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholar Commons 2009
• Subjects: product involvement; Oprah Winfrey; advertising; marketing; attitudes; purchase intent; behavioral intent; American Studies; Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1834; https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2833&context=etd

The purpose of this study is to determine how effective celebrity endorsements are in regards to the type of gift purchase one decides to make (i.e., buying for someone who has a high significant meaning to the buyer, such as a best friend, versus buying for someone who has a low significant meaning to the buyer, such as a casual friend). The study seeks to extend upon the anthropology research exploring gift-giving and marketing research exploring celebrity endorsements by applying the tenants of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). This study uses an experimental procedure in order to determine the effect of using celebrity endorsements on buyers' attitudes and purchase intentions for gift-giving purchases in low and high involving categories. Results indicate that celebrity endorsements have no influence on attitudes and purchase intention in different product involvement and gift giver-receiver conditions.