Traditional vs natural celebrity endorsements: an empirical investigation of their impact on brand attitude, purchasing intent and willingness to pay

Abstract

This study aims to assess the relative effectiveness of different types of endorsement contexts, those being traditional (ad, product placement) and natural-brand endorsement in terms of brand attitude, purchasing intent and willingness to pay. Moreover, it assesses if correspondence bias and suspicion mediate these relationships. The between-subjects experimental design and Hayes Mediation Model 4that were used in this study, indicate that natural brand endorsements indeed produce higher brand attitudes, purchasing intent but not higher willingness to pay. Correspondence bias showed to mediate some of these relationships, while suspicion did not indicate any significant mediating effects.