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Journal of Promotion Management
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofit
Organizations: The Role of Celebrity
Motive Attribution and Spontaneous
Judgment of Celebrity-Cause
Incongruence
Sun-young Parka & Moonhee Chob
a Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, USA
b University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Published online: 29 Apr 2015.
To cite this article: Sun-young Park & Moonhee Cho (2015) Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofit
Organizations: The Role of Celebrity Motive Attribution and Spontaneous Judgment of Celebrity-Cause
Incongruence, Journal of Promotion Management, 21:2, 224-245, DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2014.996802
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2014.996802
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Journal of Promotion Management, 21:224–245, 2015
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1049-6491 print / 1540-7594 online
DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2014.996802
Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofit
Organizations: The Role of Celebrity Motive
Attribution and Spontaneous Judgment of
Celebrity-Cause Incongruence
SUN-YOUNG PARK
Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, USA
MOONHEE CHO
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
This study investigated relationships among celebrity motive attri-
bution, celebrity-cause congruence, and involvement with a cause.
A 2 (altruistic motive: high vs. low) X 2 (congruence: high vs.
low) X 2 (involvement: high vs. low) experimental study examined
perceptions of celebrity credibility, attitudes toward celebrity en-
dorsement and nonprofit organization, and intentions to donate
money and volunteer time. The findings attest to main effects of
causal attribution of a celebrity’s altruistic motive and interaction
effects between motive attribution and congruence (i.e., sponta-
neous judgment of celebrity-cause incongruence). Further, three-
way interaction effects suggest the role of involvement in sponta-
neously activating celebrity-cause disassociation.
KEYWORDS causal attributions, celebrity endorsement, congru-
ence, nonprofit organizations, spontaneous judgment
Effective communication strategies to accomplish organizational mis-
sions are a key issue for both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.
Central to this issue is selection of an appropriate message source for an
organization. Interest in the potential uses of different marketing approaches
has surged in the nonprofit sector recently (Andreasen, Goodstein, & Wil-
son, 2005; Andreasen & Kotler, 2003), and using celebrities to raise awareness
Address correspondence to Sun-Young Park, Department of Public Relations and Adver-
tising, College of Communication and Creative Arts, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd,
Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA. E-mail: parks@rowan.edu
224
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 225
and funds for socially worthy causes is becoming a popular technique. Many
celebrities support organizations addressing a wide range of causes and have
been actively involved in campaigns with strong impacts on public aware-
ness and attitudes while gathering millions of dollars in donations. Charities
can benefit from celebrity endorsements because stars can strengthen media
attention to a cause as well as create an emotional attachment with the public
(Traub, 2008).
Given the popularity of celebrity endorsement for charities, people
might question celebrities’ motivation for endorsing a nonprofit organiza-
tion and wonder if they are supporting the organization to revive a tarnished
reputation or if they are sincere and truly involved in the charitable works
(Soden, 2007). Amid the popularity of celebrity endorsers in a nonprofit
setting, their association with a social cause can enhance or undermine the
perception of a charitable organization. It is important to note that the rela-
tionship between a celebrity endorser and a cause is strengthened when the
celebrity’s features are carefully matched up with the image of the organi-
zation. Moreover, depending on individuals’ involvement with a cause, the
response to advertising messages can differ (Flora & Maibach, 1990; Hajjat,
2003).
Nevertheless, minimal research has offered a theoretical explanation for
the effects of celebrity endorsers in socially oriented communications; most
research focuses on their effects on the demand for consumer products. Thus,
the current study centers on the nonprofit sector and investigates the effects
of attributions of celebrities’ motives and the perceived congruence between
celebrities and causes, as well as the influence of individuals’ involvement
with a cause on their attitudinal and behavioral responses to celebrity en-
dorsements. Specifically, the findings of this study attest to source effects on
consequential responses, including perceptions of the celebrity’s credibility,
the celebrity’s endorsement, and the nonprofit organization and intentions to
donate money and volunteer time to the charitable organization. This study
lays the theoretical groundwork that explains the effects of an individual’s
attribution of celebrity motive on spontaneous generation of celebrity–cause
(in) congruence, and boundary conditions for the spontaneous activation,
highlighting the role of individuals’ involvement.
CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND
Communication Strategies for Nonprofit Charitable Organizations
The nonprofit sector, or the third sector, is no exception for the use of
a celebrity endorser when it comes to seeking an effective messenger to
communicate an organization’s mission. In fact, with limited resources, non-
profit organizations have a critical need to implement effective communi-
cation strategies to raise funds for accomplishing their missions. More than
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226 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
1.6 million nonprofit organizations in 27 distinct categories are registered
with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the majority (over 950,000) are
501(c)(3) charitable organizations (National Center for Charitable Statistics,
2010). As the third sector expands, nonprofit organizations face various chal-
lenges such as increased responsibility for public service, high competition
for funds and in-kind and volunteer assistance, difficulty in raising funds
and meeting higher operating costs, and increased public concern about
their accountability (Broom & Sha, 2012). Moreover, government policies
that have reduced support to the third sector since the Reagan era have
led nonprofit organizations to seek effective communication strategies to
develop and maintain relationship with donors (Levy, 1999). The sector’s
special attention to marketing and branding strategies has been documented
since the 1980s (Andreasan & Kotler, 2003). For instance, nonprofit organi-
zations with annual revenues of more than $10 million collectively spend
$7.6 billion per year in marketing and public relations efforts (Watson,
2006).
Several areas of study have investigated effective communication strate-
gies in nonprofit settings, including message appeals (Hung & Wyer, 2009),
fund-raising techniques (Sargeant & Hudson, 2008), relationship manage-
ment strategies (O’Neil, 2008), and media strategies (Waters, Burnett, Lamm,
& Lucas, 2009). One of the important concepts in the nonprofit research
field is personal involvement with a cause. The role of involvement has
been tested in various communication settings, such as consumer behavior
research (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983), health campaigns (Rimal &
Real, 2005), and corporate social responsibility effects (Grau & Folse, 2007).
Of particular interest, Grau and Folse found that consumers who are more
involved with a cause are more likely to participate in a marketing campaign
related to that cause. Those who are less involved are more likely to be per-
suaded by peripheral message cues, such as donation to a local community
and positive message framing.
With regard to celebrity endorsement, one study compared the effective-
ness of three different types of spokespersons in a public service announce-
ment relating to Hurricane Katrina—national celebrity, local celebrity, and
victims, suggesting that people considered the fictitious victims more credi-
ble and believable than actual celebrities (Toncar, Reid, & Anderson, 2007).
Samman, McAuliffe, and MacLachlan (2009) revealed that survey respon-
dents were not personally influenced by a celebrity’s endorsement even
though they were fairly aware of celebrity involvement in international aid
and matched celebrities with various social causes they supported. Wheeler
(2009) found that celebrity endorsers who were highly matched to a non-
profit organization produced high source credibility, which ultimately influ-
enced the intention to volunteer time or donate money.
Clearly there is a lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of
celebrity endorsers in the nonprofit context (Samman et al., 2009). Thus,
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 227
it is important to understand theoretical underpinnings in evaluating the
effectiveness of using celebrity endorsement for nonprofit sectors.
Attributions of Celebrity Motives
Attribution theory is a useful theoretical approach for understanding celebrity
endorsement effectiveness. This theory posits that individuals make causal
inferences that enable them to understand and predict events they observe
and experience, describing the personal factors internal to the actor (called
intrinsic motives) and the situational factors that are external to the actor
(called extrinsic motives) (Heider, 1958). This attributional approach to un-
derstanding effectiveness of celebrity endorsement could be significant for
examining its effects. In particular, attribution theory provides a comprehen-
sive theoretical framework of how individuals understand and predict events
by suggesting discounting principles (Kelley, 1972). According to Kelley, the
augmentation principle explains situations in which extrinsic factors function
as inhibitory factors (e.g., monetary loss), while intrinsic factors assume the
role of facilitative factors. In this case, individuals are most likely to augment
internal motivation toward events. If a celebrity makes a socially responsible
choice despite the possibility of wasted time and monetary loss, people de-
termine the celebrity’s ethical standard as the primary reason for the socially
responsible behavior.
On the other hand, the discounting principle proposes that a given
cause (either internal or external) of the behavior is discounted if other
plausible causes are also present and become salient (Kelley, 1972). People
discount a celebrity’s intrinsic motive if they infer that the celebrity makes
endorsements merely for financial compensation or to improve his or her
reputation (an extrinsic motive) rather than from a belief in the social cause
(an intrinsic motive) (Mowen & Brown, 1981). Unless it is clearly stated
that a celebrity endorser does not receive financial compensation for an
endorsement, individuals are more likely to infer that it occurs because the
celebrity believes in the positive characteristics of the product or because
of external factors such as monetary incentives (Moore, Mowen, & Reardon,
1994; Sparkman, 1982).
It can be expected that individuals would regard a celebrity who has
been perceived as caring about the public welfare as an endorser who has
intrinsic motives about a cause. A celebrity who has been widely recognized
as being philanthropic with regard to specific social causes may influence
individuals’ inference of their motives behind his or her promotion of social
causes. The attributions of the celebrity’s altruistic (i.e., intrinsic) motives,
as opposed to self-serving (i.e., extrinsic) motives, may generate stronger
perceptions of perceived celebrity credibility and more positive attitudes
toward the celebrity (Moore et al., 1994). Attribution of altruistic motives may
also general a positive attitude toward the ad and the brand and increase
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228 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
purchase intention (Tripp, Jensen, & Carlson, 1994). Thus, the following
hypothesis is posited:
H1: Attribution of high altruistic motives of a celebrity will elicit (a)
stronger perceptions of celebrity credibility, (b) more positive attitudes
toward the endorsement, (c) more positive attitudes toward the charitable
organization, (d) stronger intentions to donate money to the charitable or-
ganization, and (e) stronger intentions to volunteer time to the charitable
organization than will attribution of low altruistic motives of a celebrity.
Spontaneous Activation of Celebrity–Cause (In)congruence
In celebrity endorsement literature, academic discourses exist concerning the
congruence between the type of spokesperson and brand are derived from
the principle of congruity of Osgood and Tannenbaum (1955). The effective-
ness of celebrity endorsement has been explained in terms of how well the
image and/or personality of the celebrity fits perceptions of the endorsed
brand (Erdogan, Baker, & Tagg, 2001). Celebrity–message congruence en-
hances advertising effectiveness by increasing recall of the brand as well as
by transferring the affect from spokesperson to brand (Misra & Beatty, 1990).
Congruence generates perceptions that the celebrity may be believed and
creates a more favorable attitude toward the brand (Kamins & Gupta, 1994).
Similarly, the match-up hypothesis maintains that a good fit between the
message conveyed by the celebrity image and the brand leads to effective
advertisement (Kamins, 1990).
Although no literature has explicitly suggested a theoretical relation-
ship between congruence effects between celebrity and cause and attribu-
tional inferences of celebrity endorsement motives, it is plausible that when
people suspect a possible hidden motive for a source’s actions, the per-
ceived congruence between source and message is lowered (Schul, Mayo,
& Burnstein, 2004). The perception of a celebrity endorser’s philanthropic
motives associated with a nonprofit cause is more likely to moderate the
effects of celebrity–cause congruence, given the importance of the per-
ceived motive of the endorser. People are likely to infer that a source has
certain desirable traits that resonate with their sense of self if the source
behaves in a socially responsible manner (Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail,
1994). When people are distrustful of a source’s motive, the cognitive sys-
tem reacts to the distrust by automatically triggering incongruent associ-
ations between the source and its messages. That is, a great likelihood
exists that people spontaneously activate associations that are incongruent
with the given message when they are distrustful of the source’s motive
(Schul et al.). Such a reaction is explained by individual suspicion increas-
ing the complexity of integrating the messages within a single frame as a
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 229
form of testing counter-scenarios (Kruglanski & Freund, 1983). Along similar
lines, receivers who suspect the validity of messages encode the messages
and process information that they are about to receive as if they are true
and, simultaneously, as if their opposites are true (Fein, Hilton, & Miller,
1990).
In light of this, individuals’ attribution of the celebrity’s motive may
moderate the impact of congruence. In particular, the positive effect of
celebrity–cause congruence could be more pronounced for celebrities with
altruistic motives than those with self-serving motives. Therefore, the follow-
ing hypothesis is suggested:
H2: The level of celebrity altruistic motive and celebrity–cause congru-
ence will interact. Under the condition of high altruistic celebrity motive,
high celebrity–cause congruence will result in (a) stronger perceptions
of celebrity credibility, (b) more positive attitudes toward the endorse-
ment, (c) more positive attitudes toward the charitable organization, (d)
stronger intentions to donate money to the charitable organization, and
(e) stronger intentions to volunteer time to the charitable organization
than will low celebrity–cause congruence. Under the condition of low
altruistic celebrity motive, there will be no significant difference between
high and low congruence.
Moderating Role of Involvement
This study assumes that the interaction effects between celebrity altruistic
motives and celebrity–cause congruence are differentiated based on the level
of personal involvement with causes. The important role of involvement has
been well researched. Defined as an individual’s “perceived relevance of the
object based on inherent needs, values, and interests” (Zaichkowsky, 1985,
p. 342), personal involvement has been considered to be a key antecedent
in information process and persuasion (Chaiken, 1980; Petty & Cacioppo,
1986). Emphasizing both active and passive cognitive responses of people
toward persuasive messages, Petty and Cacioppo proposed the Elaboration
Likelihood Model (ELM), which includes two different mechanisms or routes,
central and peripheral, to reach persuasion goals: building, reinforcing, and
changing attitudes and behavior. Personal involvement plays a significant
role in determining which route an individual takes during the information
process. People who are highly involved take the central route and engage
in thoughtful and responsible consideration of the information provided,
whereas people with low involvement are highly influenced by peripheral
cues, such as the number of arguments, expertise, or physical attractiveness
of the message sources, and question order (Chaiken, 1980; Petty et al., 1983;
Rimal & Real, 2005).
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230 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
Consistent with the ELM, people with high involvement generate sig-
nificantly less spontaneous source derogation and more message comments
than those with low involvement (Wright, 1974). A spontaneous source eval-
uation is more likely in the low-involvement condition in which people are
less motivated to expend a great deal of cognitive effort on processing per-
suasive messages (Kardes, 1988). Therefore, the effects of automatic and
spontaneous judgment of celebrity endorsers will remain under the low-
involvement condition, while the effects will not remain under high involve-
ment. Thus, the following hypothesis is posited:
H3: There is a three-way interaction effect among celebrity al-
truistic motive, celebrity–cause congruence, and involvement level.
Under high-involvement conditions, there will be no interaction ef-
fect between celebrity altruistic motive and celebrity–cause congru-
ence; however, under low-involvement conditions, there will be an in-
teraction effect between celebrity altruistic motive and celebrity–cause
congruence.
Mediating Role of Celebrity Credibility
Source credibility has been considered a crucial dimension in determin-
ing message sources of campaigns (Salmon & Atkin, 2003). In particular, a
celebrity’s credibility is composed of three dimensions: expertise, trustwor-
thiness, and attractiveness (Ohanian, 1990). Expertise describes an endorser’s
knowledge, experience, or skills as perceived by the target audience (Hov-
land, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; Ohanian, 1990), whereas trustworthiness refers
to the perceived honesty, integrity, and believability of an endorser (Er-
dogan et al., 2001). Attractiveness denotes the similarity, familiarity, and
likeability of an endorser as well as his or her “physical attractiveness”
(McGuire, 1968). The influence of source credibility on delivering messages
effectively—especially expertise and trustworthiness—was described in nu-
merous communication studies (Ohanian, 1991; Till & Busler, 2000). Also,
many studies have shown that physically attractive communicators, com-
pared to unattractive counterparts, serve as an important cue in an individ-
ual’s initial judgment of another person as well as in enhancing attitudes
(Kahle & Homer, 1985) and generating purchase intentions (Petty et al.,
1983).
More importantly, if the attribution of the celebrity endorser’s intrinsic
motives undermines the celebrity’s credibility and likeability, it will nega-
tively affect ad and brand evaluations and purchase intentions (Tripp et al.,
1994). Similarly, Rifon, Choi, Trimble, and Li’s (2004) study indicates that
credibility perceptions of the sponsor mediate the relationship between indi-
viduals’ judgments about a sponsor’s altruistic motives and attitudes toward
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 231
the sponsor. In nonprofit settings, Wheeler (2009) found that the impact of
the perceived connection of the celebrity endorser to an organization, which
emphasizes a logical fit between the celebrity and the organization, on in-
tention to support the organization is mediated by celebrity credibility. It
is plausible that the spontaneous reaction to celebrity endorsement can be
mediated by increased perceptions of celebrity credibility as well. Thus, the
following hypothesis is posited:
H4: Perceptions of celebrity credibility will mediate the ef-
fects of (a) attribution of altruistic motives of a celebrity, (b)
celebrity–cause congruence, and (c) interaction between attribution and
congruence.
METHOD
Pretest
Prior to the main experiment, a pretest was conducted to determine an ap-
propriate celebrity endorser and a social cause. A group of 20 undergraduate
students from a communication class in a large state university participated
in the pretest. To increase the ecological validity, real and familiar celebrities
were considered for inclusion, and four were chosen based on People’s 25
Most Intriguing People of the Year: Taylor Swift,Rihanna,Robert Pattin-
son,andKim Kardashian. Based on the guidelines of Charity Navigator,
one of the premier independent charity evaluators in the United States, nine
charity categories were identified: animals, arts/culture/humanities, educa-
tion, environment, health, human services, international, public benefit, and
religion. The questionnaire was produced on paper and distributed to partic-
ipants in classrooms. Participants indicated their identification with the four
celebrities (i.e., a satisfying self-defining relationship to the celebrities), their
interest in donating money to and volunteering in the charity categories, and
the perceived fit between each celebrity and charity category.
The highest mean score and the highest standard deviation of celebrity
identification was found for Kim Kardashian (M=4.53, SD =1.12), and
the highest mean score of both donating and volunteering was found in
human services, such as helping children in extreme poverty (M=4.35 and
5.05, respectively). Identification with celebrity was measured with a 7-item,
7-point Likert-type scale, which was adapted from the measurement scale of
Basil (1996). To test identification with celebrities, as a sense of friendship
or intimacy, can naturally occur through regular media exposure over time,
and has been found to generate positive cognitive and behavioral responses
(Brown, Basil, & Bocarnea, 2003). Participants were asked to indicate the
likeability of, feelings toward, and relevance of the celebrity (α=.80).
Also, regarding volunteer and donation intentions, participants were asked
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232 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
to indicate to what extent they would be interested in donating money
and volunteering time to each of the nine charity categories. Indeed, it was
most appropriate to select Kim Kardashian as a spokesperson for the social
cause (i.e., helping children in extreme poverty) because she had no prior
endorsement history regarding this issue. Based on a single-item, seven-point
semantic differential scale, which was anchored by not a good fit/good fit,
the results showed a moderate perceived fit between the celebrity and the
social cause (M=3.17, SD =1.70).
Study Design and Stimulus Development
For this study, a 2 (celebrity motives) ×2 (celebrity–cause congruence)
×2 (involvement) between-subjects randomized experimental study was
conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The main experimental study
used news articles as stimulus materials. First, a celebrity with high versus
low altruistic motives was manipulated in a cover story in which Kim Kar-
dashian was described either as a person deeply involved in socially worthy
causes who cared about helping children in extreme poverty, or as a per-
son who was not deeply involved in the causes but did care about doing
a variety of work not necessarily focused on helping children. That is, she
was very concerned about child hunger under the altruistic condition, while
the self-serving version presented her as being vaguely concerned with a
variety of different social causes. All executional elements were held con-
stant across the experimental conditions. For example, the experience-based
congruence was held constant across the two experimental conditions, in-
cluding her quotes, “When I was young and I would watch television and I
would see all the children suffering, I always said: when I grow up, I want
to help” in both stories. In doing so, motive was distinguished from con-
gruence operationalized as the experience-based congruence (Toncar et al.,
2007; Brown et al., 2003). The other independent variables, celebrity–cause
congruence and the participants’ involvement with the cause (i.e., helping
a child in poverty), were gauged prior to the motive manipulation in or-
der to be split at the sample median. Each stimulus news article contained
information about a fictitious charity called the Help Child Foundation that
worked to save children at risk of hunger and malnutrition and those af-
fected by natural disasters, along with descriptions of the celebrity’s role as
a spokesperson for the foundation.
Participants and Data Collection
A total of 201 undergraduate students from communication classes in a large
state university participated in the main study in exchange for extra course
credit. The use of convenience samples is justified for exploratory purposes
“to probe for possible explanations or hypotheses, and to explore constructs
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 233
for dealing with particular problems or issues” (Ferber, 1977, p. 58). Further,
the sample had clear relevance to the topic under the current study. Accord-
ing to previous research in the field of volunteering activities (Toncar et al.,
2007), young adults have positive views of volunteering in particular. Indeed,
the use of convenience college student samples is well documented within
social issue advertising or advocacy advertising research, including the fol-
lowing: Nan (2008), who examined the influence of attitude toward a PSA on
issue attitudes using a series of social issues (e.g., aiding the poor); Reinhart,
Marshall, Feeley, and Tutzauer (2007), who examined the effects of mes-
sage framing on reactions to campaign messages promoting organ donation;
and Toncar et al. (2007), who investigated the impact of spokespersons on
reactions to messages related to contributions for victims of natural disaster.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two experimen-
tal conditions. Upon consenting to take part in the Web-based study,
participants were asked to rate their likelihood of identification with Kim
Kardashian and their involvement with helping children in poverty. Next,
they were asked to view the corresponding scenario with the manipulated
celebrity motives. The participants then filled out the questionnaire. Men and
women composed 37.3% and 62.7% of the sample, respectively. The average
age of participants was 20.3 years (SD =1.32). Sixty-seven percent of partic-
ipants were White, 15% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 6% African American, and 2%
other. In addition, 51.2% of the participants reported that they had donated
money to a charitable organization similar to Help Child Foundation (e.g.,
UNICEF, Save the Children), and 53.0% indicated that they had volunteered
their time for a charitable organization similar to the featured organization.
Measures
For the manipulation of celebrity altruistic motives, participants were asked
to respond to statements concerning the reasons for the celebrity’s endorse-
ment of the charitable organization. To assess participants’ attributions to the
celebrity’s altruism, a four-item Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (extremely
unlikely) to 7 (extremely likely) was created for this study, adapted from
Rifon et al. (2004). The participants’ perceptions of the celebrity’s altruis-
tic motives were gauged via four statements: the celebrity’s belief in the
characteristic of the cause, concern about the cause, sincere belief in the
cause, and concern about public welfare in general (α=.92). The ma-
nipulation of celebrity–cause congruence was examined with a four-item
semantic differential scale, adapted from Rifon et al.: not a good fit/a good
fit, not congruent/congruent, not compatible/compatible, and not consis-
tent/consistent (α=.98). Also, the involvement was evaluated using the
Personal Involvement Inventory (Zaichkowsky, 1985) for the involvement
manipulation. Participants were asked to rate five seven-point semantic dif-
ferential scales: important/unimportant, of no concern/of concern to me,
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234 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
means a lot to me/means nothing to me, matters to me/does not matter, and
significant/insignificant (α=.93).
For the dependent variables, the 15-item semantic differential scale of
Ohanian (1990) was used to measure the perceived overall credibility of
celebrity endorsers (CCredibility)(α=.94). Specifically, for trustworthiness,
each 5-item, 7-point scale was anchored by undependable/dependable,
dishonest/honest, unreliable/reliable, insincere/sincere, and untrustwor-
thy/trustworthy in the dimension of trustworthiness (α=.94). For ex-
pertise, the anchors were inexpert/expert, inexperienced/experienced, un-
knowledgeable/knowledgeable, unqualified/qualified, and unskilled/skilled
(α=.94). For attractiveness, the anchors were unattractive/attractive, not
classy/classy, ugly/beautiful, plain/elegant, and not sexy/sexy (α=.86).
In addition, based on the measurement for attitudes of MacKenzie and
Lutz (1989), subjects were asked to rate their overall attitudes of celebrity
endorsement (AEndorsement)(α=.97) and the charitable organization
(AOrganization)(α=.98) on a 3-item, 7-point bipolar adjective scale. The scale
was anchored by good/bad, favorable/unfavorable, and pleasant/unpleasant.
The intentions to donate to the foundation (DI) (α=.91) and volunteer
(VI) (α=.94) were assessed via a 3-item, 7-point bipolar scale anchored
by very likely/very unlikely, probable/improbable, and possible/impossible
(Yi, 1990).
RESULTS
Manipulation Checks
A series of independent-sample t-tests were performed to verify whether the
manipulation of the celebrity’s altruistic motive significantly altered partic-
ipants’ attitudes toward the celebrity and the cause. The results show that
there were significant effects of altruistic motive manipulations (t=5.39,
p<.001). The motive mean score for the news article featuring celebrities
with high altruistic motive (M=5.08) was significantly higher than that for
the advertisement featuring celebrities with low altruistic motive (M=4.21).
Also, the mean score of high congruence (M=4.32, SD =.73) was signifi-
cantly higher than that of low congruence (M=2.59, SD =.42, t=18.70,
p<.001). Finally, the mean score of low involvement (M=6.75, SD =.31)
was found to be significantly higher than that of high involvement (M=
5.03, SD =.77, t=21.11, p<.001).
Test of Hypotheses
A series of three-way ANOVAs were used to test the hypotheses to deter-
mine the main effects of attribution of altruistic motives of celebrity and the
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 235
FIGURE 1 Three-Way Interaction (DV: Celebrity Credibility).
interaction effects between attribution and congruence, and the interaction
effects among attribution, congruence, and involvement. The results for H1
show that the celebrity’s perceived altruistic motive had significant effects on
overall CCredibility,F(1, 193) =15.27, p<.001, p<.001, η2=.07. Significant
effects of the perceived altruistic motive were also found for AEndorsement,F(1,
193) =5.70, p<.05, η2=.03, AOrganization,F(1, 193) =F=9.02, p<.01, η2
=.04, DI, F(1, 193) =4.05, p<.05, η2=.20, and VI, F(1, 193) =6.80, p<
.05, η2=.03. Thus, H1(a) through H1(e) are supported.
Regarding the interaction effects predicted in H2, the results show that
celebrity altruistic motive and celebrity–cause congruence significantly im-
pacted CCredibility,F(1, 193) =7.58, p<.01, η2=.15, AEndorsement ,F(1, 193)
=4.80, p<.05, η2=.10, and AOrganization,F(1, 193) =6.02, p<.05, η2=
.03. However, the interaction effects were not significant for DI, F(1, 193)
=.87, p>.1, and VI, F(1, 193) =.53, p>.1. As shown in Table 1, the
results of the simple main effects reveal that the mean difference between
high and low congruence within a high altruistic motive condition reached
statistical significance for all the dependent variables; on the other hand,
when the celebrity’s perceived altruistic motive was lower, there were no
significant differences between high- and low-congruence conditions. The
results confirm that the direction of interaction effects is consistent with the
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236 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
FIGURE 2 Three-Way Interaction (DV: Endorsement Attitude).
prediction in H2. Therefore, H2(a) through H2(c) are supported, but H2(d)
and H2(e) are not supported.
Regarding the three-way interaction effects suggested in H3, the results
show significant interaction effects on CCredibility,F(1, 193) =5.06, p<.05,
η2=.04, AEndorsement,F(1, 193) =4.49, p<.05, η2=.02, and AOrganization ,
F(1, 193) =4.45, p<.05, η2=.03. but no significant interaction effects on
DI, F(1, 193) =.22, p>.1, and VI, F(1, 193) =2.05, p>.1. As shown
in Table 2, the results of the simple main effects for the low-involvement
condition show that there was a significant difference between high and low
congruence under a high altruistic motive condition for all the dependent
variables. Nevertheless, for the high-involvement condition, the effects of
high celebrity altruistic motive on high versus low celebrity congruence
were nearly identical to the effects of low celebrity altruistic motive on
celebrity high versus low congruence as predicted (see Figures 1, 2, and 3).
Therefore, H3(a) through H3(c) are supported, but H3(d) and H3(e) are not
supported. The means and standard deviations for all dependent variables
are summarized in Table 3.
Finally, the mediation effects of celebrity credibility were tested by
adding overall credibility perceptions to the original hypothesis testing mod-
els as a covariate based on previous research (Rifon et al., 2004). All changes
in the significance of main effects of attribution and congruence and their
interaction effects were examined. A precondition of the mediation analysis
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 237
FIGURE 3 Three-Way Interaction (DV: Organization Attitude).
was that the independent variables had significant effects on both mediating
variable and dependent variables. Based on the experimental results, the
mediating effects of CCredibility on attribution were thus tested for AEndorsement,
AOrganization, DI, and VI. The mediating effects of CCredibility on congruence
and on the attribution–congruence interaction were examined for all of these
variables except DI and VI. As shown in Table 4, CCredibility had significant
effects on all four variables (p<.001), whereas Fvalues for the main effects
of congruence and attribution and the interaction effects decreased when
the effects of CCredibility were accounted for. Specifically, the significant main
effects of attribution became nonsignificant for all attitudes and behavioral
intentions. The significant main effects of congruence and the significant
interaction effects also became nonsignificant for all attitudinal responses.
Thus, H4(a) through H4(c) were supported.
DISCUSSION
The present study gives a basic understanding of how to utilize a celebrity
endorser for nonprofit causes to maximize the effectiveness of communica-
tion efforts. Results of the present study have both theoretical implications for
scholars and applied value for nonprofit practitioners. First of all, this study
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238 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
TABLE 1 Simple Main Effects of Means (Motive ×Congruence)
High motive Low motive
Dependent
variable
High- vs. Low- congruence High- vs. Low- congruence
CCredibility 5.56 vs. 4.36 (1.20)∗4.62 vs. 4.25 (.37)
AEndorsement 6.02 vs. 4.66 (1.34)∗5.11 vs. 4.69 (.42)
AOrganization 6.60 vs. 5.79 (.81)∗5.70 vs. 5.73 (.03)
Note. CCredibility =celebrity credibility; AEndorsement =endorsement attitude; AOrganization =organization
attitude.
∗p<.05.
focused on the role of celebrity altruistic motives in enhancing the overall
effectiveness of celebrity endorsement for not-for-profit charitable organi-
zations. Consistent with previous findings in consumer research (Mowen &
Brown, 1981; Tripp et al., 1994), individuals’ attribution of celebrity motives
is a direct determinant of behavioral responses (e.g., donation and volunteer-
ing intentions), as well as attitudinal responses (e.g., celebrity endorsement
attitudes).
Of particular interest are the interaction effects between celebrity mo-
tive and celebrity–cause congruence. A theoretical relationship between con-
gruence and attributional inferences of the endorser’s (sponsor’s) behavior
has been suggested in previous research; however, conceptual distinctions
between the two constructs and empirical tests of their relationships are
limited in the literature. Thus, the present study points to the need to the-
oretically distinguish celebrity motive from celebrity–cause congruence in
order to understand celebrity credibility and endorsement effectiveness. The
results of the study show that the effects of celebrity–cause congruence
on individuals’ overall attitudinal responses might depend on their attribu-
tions of celebrity altruistic motives. Indeed, preliminary empirical evidence
TABLE 2 Simple Main Effects of Means (Motive ×Congruence ×Involvement)
High involvement Low involvement
High motive Low motive High motive Low motive
Dependent
variable
High- vs. Low-
congruence
High- vs. Low-
congruence
High- vs. Low-
congruence
High- vs. Low-
congruence
CCredibility 5.73 vs. 4.63
(1.10)∗
4.86 vs. 3.89 (.97)∗5.29 vs. 4.14
(1.15)∗
4.40 vs. 4.57
(−.17)
AEndorsement 6.09 vs. 4.79
(1.30)∗
5.75 vs. 4.48
(1.27)∗
5.90 vs. 4.64
(1.26)∗
4.52 vs. 4.88
(−.36)
AOrganization 6.67 vs. 6.10
(.57)
6.47 vs. 6.06 (.41) 6.47 vs. 5.51
(.85)∗
4.93 vs. 5.42
(−.49)
Note. CCredibility =celebrity credibility; AEndorsement =endorsement attitude; AOrganization =organization
attitude.
∗p<.05.
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 239
TABLE 3 Results of Mediation Effects Analyses
Variable ordering
Sources of
variation Original model Mediation model
FpF P
1. CCredibility M 11.87 .00
C 31.31 .00
MXC 6.30 .01
2. AEndorsement CCredibility 68.25 .00
M 5.02 .03 .44 .51
C 21.61 .00 3.46 .06
M X C 4.35 .04 .59 .44
2. AOrganization CCredibility 17.76 .00
M 8.23 .01 3.32 .07
C 4.12 .04 .36 .55
M X C 5.06 .03 3.34 .07
3. DI CCredibility 68.25 .00
M 5.02 .03 .44 .51
3. VI CCredibility 17.76 .00
M 8.23 .01 3.32 .07
Note. M=motive; C =congruence; CCredibility =celebrity credibility; AEndorsement =endorsement attitude;
AOrganization =organization attitude; DI =donation intention, VI =volunteer intention.
indicates celebrities are more effective as endorsers when they are per-
sonally and sincerely connected to a cause, as well as when they are se-
lected based on how relevant their work and personality are to the cause
(Wheeler, 2009). The findings of the current study suggest that a perceived
lack of sincerity in the celebrity endorser’s motives can have a detrimen-
tal effect on endorser credibility evaluation and endorsement effectiveness,
even when the celebrity is well matched with the cause. Weakening the unit
connection between the endorser and the cause, the self-serving attribution
could have increased participants’ distrust of the message and elicited more
incongruent thoughts about the endorser and message than the altruistic
attribution.
The results of the three-way interaction effects suggest that for people
who have low involvement with a cause (e.g., the general public), the impact
of congruence was greater for the celebrity whose motive was attributed to
altruism rather than self-interest; yet, no significant differences between high
and low congruence were shown in the condition of low altruistic motive.
Only when people perceive that a celebrity endorser genuinely cares about
the advocated cause can the celebrity–cause congruence effect be maximized
in terms of celebrity credibility and attitudes toward celebrity endorsement.
Nevertheless, these patterns were not shown under the high-involvement
condition (e.g., donors, members). Therefore, nonprofit practitioners should
keep in mind the importance of creating tailored messages targeting each
segment as well as selecting the appropriate celebrity endorsers.
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TABLE 4 Cell Means and Standard Deviations
High motive Low motive
High Congruence Low Congruence High Congruence Low Congruence
Dependent
variable
High IV
(N=30)
Low IV
(N=18)
High IV
(N=22)
Low IV
(N=26)
High IV
(N=23)
Low IV
(N=25)
High IV
(N=27)
Low IV
(N=30)
CCredibility 5.73 5.29 4.63 4.14 4.86 4.40 3.89 4.57
(.68) (.73) (.95) (.92) (1.25) (1.00) (.97) (.75)
AEndorsement 6.09 5.90 4.79 4.64 5.75 4.52 4.48 4.88
(1.23) (.87) (1.80) (1.07) (1.11) (1.36) (1.80) (1.00)
AOrganization 6.68 6.44 6.13 5.51 6.50 4.96 6.06 5.42
(.64) (.60) (1.21) (1.15) (.93) (1.21) (1.17) (1.28)
DI 5.24 4.09 5.38 4.00 4.49 3.52 4.83 4.01
(1.61) (1.16) (1.53) (1.23) (1.88) (1.45) (1.23) (1.37)
VI 5.38 5.09 5.84 4.25 5.15 3.72 5.46 3.98
(1.44) (1.29) (1.31) (1.62) (2.03) (1.40) (1.41) (1.44)
Note. IV =Involvement, CCredibility =celebrity credibility; AEndorsement =endorsement attitude; AOrganization =organization attitude; DI =donation intention, VI =
volunteer intention.
240
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Celebrity Endorsement for Nonprofits 241
Finally, the results of the mediation analyses showed that perceived
celebrity credibility plays a significant role in the effects of attribu-
tional inferences of and celebrity–cause congruence. It fully accounted
for the main effects of attribution and congruence and their interac-
tion effects on sequential attitudes and behavioral intentions. Consider-
ing the strong persuasive influence of endorser credibility consistently
evidenced in the extant literature, these results suggest that decreased
perceptions of celebrity credibility as a result of extrinsic attribution of
the celebrity’s endorsement motives have a significant bearing on inten-
tions to perform the requested behaviors as well as attitudes toward the
celebrity endorsement and organization. In addition, the effects of spon-
taneous inference formation regarding the celebrity-message incongruence
can be mediated by perceptions of decreased celebrity credibility, which
lead to negative evaluations of both celebrity endorsement and charitable
organizations.
Although it has theoretical and practical implications, several limitations
of this study need to be acknowledged. First, it employed a college student
convenience sample even though the celebrity and cause were relevantly
chosen based on the sample’s characteristics. Second, only one type of char-
ity was tested. Human services were the most preferred charitable category
among the student participants, and the study conclusions are confined to
this type of charity and this sample. Indeed, the results of the interaction
effects consistently showed that behavioral intentions such as donating and
volunteering intentions were not influenced by the endorsement. It is pos-
sible that participants based the perceived costs and benefits of helping
through donations or volunteering not only on their values but also their fi-
nancial situation (Lichtenstein, Drumwright, & Braig, 2004). Compared to the
general population, college students are likely to have limited money and
time. Therefore, future research should be conducted with a more represen-
tative population sample and other social causes for greater generalizability
of the results.
Another major limitation of this study is that while a real social cause
was used, the use of a fictitious nonprofit organization weakened the ex-
ternal validity of the experiment. Also, the use of a real celebrity, which
was intended to strengthen the external validity of the study, might have
confounded participants’ prior perceptions of the celebrity with regard to
familiarity and likeability. Although considerable caution was used to tighten
both manipulations through pretests, it would be hard to dismiss the pos-
sibility that some degree of participants’ personal preferences about the
celebrities might have introduced noise in the observed treatment effects.
Thus, an alternative experimental design that uses a real celebrity and or-
ganization, while statistically controlling for prior perceptions of celebrity
endorsers, would enhance external validity.
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242 S.-Y. Park and M. Cho
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