Multiple Endorsements and Consumer-Human Brand Attachment Jasmina Ilicic and Cynthia M. Webster Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Celebrity Endorsement Traditional Research Celebrity Characteristics Credibility (Hovland & Weiss 1951) Attractiveness (McGuire 1985) Match-up (Kamins & Gupta 1994; Till & Busler 1998) Attractiveness Match-up Attractive celebrity-attractiveness enhancing product (Kamins 1990) Recent Research Consumer-Celebrity connections Self-concept (Escalas & Bettman 2009) Attachment (Thomson, 2006) Relationships with celebrities (Thomson 2006) Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci 2000) Extent to which the object meets three fundamental human needs: Autonomy Relatedness Competence Attachment Theory (Bowlby 1980) Separation Distress indicator of the strength of attachment bonds (Berman & Sperling 1994) Strong Relationship Outcomes Satisfaction, Trust and Commitment (Fletcher, Simpson & Thomas 2000) Consumer-Human Brand Attachment Overexposure potentially detrimental (Till 1998) Negative perceptions (Mowen & Brown 1981) Perceived as less credible (Tripp, Jensen & Carlson 1994) Multiple Product/Brand Endorsements H1: Positive evaluations, in terms of a) attitude towards the advertisement b) attitude towards the brand and c) purchase intention are greater when celebrities endorse a single branded product as opposed to endorsing multiple brands. H2: Positive evaluations, in terms of a) attitude towards the advertisement b) attitude towards the brand and c) purchase intention are greater when strong human brand attachment is present compared to weak attachment. Highly familiar Equal on attractiveness Product categories perceived as attractiveness-unrelated Human Brand and product category perceived as being neither congruent nor incongruent Human brand not have previously endorsed any products Control: Celebrity Characteristics Pretesting Pretest 1: Celebrity selection 25 Students Rove McManus and Eddie McGuire Highly familiar and equal attractiveness Differing levels of attachment Eddie- Weak attachment Rove- Strong attachment Both had not endorsed brands previously Pretest 2: Product and brand name selection 19 students Product categories - attractiveness-unrelated Products neither congruent nor incongruent Photographica camera, Marc pen, Gafae coffee Translation in non-English languages Rove Eddie 2 x 2 Factorial Design Single Endorsement Multiple Endorsements Strong Attachment Celebrity 1 Celebrity 1 Hypothetical brand: 1 Hypothetical brands: 1, 2, 3 Weak Attachment Celebrity 2 Celebrity 2 Hypothetical brand: 1 Hypothetical brands: 1, 2, 3 Single Endorsement Ad Booklet Test Brand Multiple Endorsement Ad Booklet Test Brand Significant, moderate positive relationships between: Aad and Ab Pearsons r =.404, p