Changing brand personality through celebrity endorsement

Using a 2x2 experimental design with 2 control groups, we found that the brand personality of a watch, as assessed using Aaker’s (1997) scale, can be changed when different celebrities endorse it. When the image-fit between the celebrity and product (in this case a watch) is good (e.g., Swatch + Orlando), the transfer of the personality from the celebrity to the product is more likely to occur and this tends to be positive. On the other hand when the image-fit is bad (e.g., Swatch + Willis), this is less likely to occur, but if it does occur, it tends to be negative. Furthermore, we found that if a product has a strong brand personality (e.g., Breitling), the use of celebrity endorsement is not effective in shifting its image.8 page(s