Brand and spokesperson congruence in product advertising : How the level of congruence affects the consumers brand attitude and purchase intention, and how brand involvement moderates this relationship

Abstract

Marketers and advertisers are continuously trying to find new and better ways to reach and influence consumers. Brand and spokesperson personality congruence in product advertisements have been the focus of numerous studies. These studies have mainly focused on celebrities, endorsers or animated figures as spokespersons, while this study focused on unknown spokespersons. Previous research states that congruent advertisements are perceived more positively and will increase the consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intention compared to non-congruent advertisements, which is believed to have a negative effect. Brand involvement is included as a moderator in the research model to supplement the existing research.

With the basis in relevant theory this study focused on the following variables; level of congruence, brand attitude, purchase intention and brand involvement.

Relevant theory and research was presented, before introducing the chapter covering the methodological aspect of the thesis. The experimental design, validity, reliability, development of measurement, data collection and research ethics was presented and discussed.

The next chapter covered the analyses of the data material. First a manipulation check was conducted, before the hypotheses were tested using ANOVA and UNIANOVA. An ANCOVA was also conducted to check for the effects of other variables. The final chapter covered a discussion of the findings complemented with theoretical implications before the study limitations and suggestions for future research was discussed. Last a conclusion of the study was presented.

The study was conducted as an experiment with two fictive ads presented as stimuli. The experiment was conducted online where a questionnaire was distributed through an online link and the respondents were randomly selected into three different groups containing the congruent ad (stimuli 1), non-congruent ad (stimuli 2) or the brand separately (control group). The questionnaire was accessible for 2 weeks and 143 questionnaires were collected.

The hypotheses received no support. Level of congruence when using an unknown spokesperson was found to have no effect on brand attitude or purchase intention. Brand involvement had a direct significant effect on brand attitude and purchase intention, but had no effect as a moderator.