Effect of celebrity endorsement in marketing of musicals: Poster versus social networking site

• Hyeon-Cheol Kim

  Chung-Ang University

• Jae-Yeob Jeong

  Yewon Arts University

We investigated the effect of the message sender, communication type, and recipient’s involvement in the marketing of a musical show. This study had a 2 (sender: celebrity vs. noncelebrity) × 2 (communication type: poster advertisement vs. Twitter word-of-mouth [WOM]) × 2 (recipient involvement: high vs. low) design. Data were collected from 259 Korean university students. Results showed that a celebrity poster advertisement had a more positive effect on consumer attitude than did a noncelebrity poster advertisement. In contrast, with Twitter WOM, the noncelebrity message sender was more effective in eliciting a positive response from consumers. The interaction of sender, communication type, and recipient involvement for musical ticket purchase intention was significant. Our findings will help marketers strategically allocate resources, as the effect of celebrity endorsement differed according to communication type and recipient characteristics. Specifically, in the social networking site promotion condition, the similarity or social connection between the message sender and recipient was more influential than was the power of a celebrity to attract consumers.

1. Hyeon-Cheol Kim, Chung-Ang University
   School of Business Administration, College of Business and Economics
2. Jae-Yeob Jeong, Yewon Arts University
   Department of Media Arts

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