Asian Business & Management

, Volume 16, Issue 4–5, pp 272–289 | Cite as

Morality matters? Consumer identification with celebrity endorsers in China

Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Identification as a source of ethical attitudes is traditionally associated with Western rather than Confucian cultures. Here, two empirical studies examine the impact of celebrity endorsement on purchase intention among consumers of Chinese origin, through processes of consumer identification with celebrity moral traits. In this way, this paper develops the literature on ethics amongst consumers of Chinese origin and, more generally, the literature on source credibility through moral traits. It is also one of the first papers to consider the moral consumption habits of online gamers.

Keywords

Celebrity endorser Moral character Ethical marketing Online-game ethics Moral identification Cultural moral values 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Aaker, J.L. 1997. Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research 34 (3): 347–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Anderson, C.A., and K.E. Dill. 2000. Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviour in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78: 772–790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Anderson, C.A., D.A. Gentile, and K.E. Buckley. 2007. Violent video game effects on children and adolescents: Theory, research, and public policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Anderson, C.A., A. Shibuya, N. Ihori, E.L. Swing, B.J. Bushman, A. Sakamoto, and M. Saleem. 2010. Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries. Psychological Bulletin 136: 151–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Aquino, K., D. Freeman, A. Reed, W. Felps, and V.K. Lim. 2009. Testing a social-cognitive model of moral behavior: The interactive influence of situations and moral identity centrality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97 (1): 123–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Aquino, K., and A. Reed. 2002. The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (6): 1423–1440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Arora, R. 2005. China’s ‘Gen Y’ Bucks Tradition: Youngest Chinese Reject Confucian Work Ethic, Embrace West. The Gallup Poll Tuesday Briefing, 19 April. www.gallup.com/poll/15934/Chinas-Gen-Bucks-Tradition.aspx. Accessed 7 July 2016.
  8. Bartholow, B.D., B.J. Bushman, and M.A. Sestir. 2005. Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42: 283–290.Google Scholar
  9. Bearden, W.O., and M.J. Etzel. 1982. Reference group influence on product and brand purchase. Journal of Consumer Research 9 (2): 183–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Bednall, D.H.B., and A. Collings. 2000. Effect of public disgrace on celebrity endorser value. Australasian Marketing Journal 8 (2): 47–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Blasi, A. 1984. Moral identity: Its role in moral functioning. In Morality, moral behavior and moral development, ed. W. Kurtines, and J. Gewirtz, 128–139. NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
  12. Bushman, B.J., and C.A. Anderson. 2009. Comfortably numb: Desensitizing effects of violent media on helping others. Psychological Science 20: 273–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Carrigan, M., and A. Attalla. 2001. The myth of the ethical consumer—Do ethics matter in purchase behaviour? Journal of Consumer Marketing 18 (7): 560–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Chan, K. 2008. “Use of Celebrity in Television Commercials of Youth Products.” Working Paper. Hong Kong Baptist University.Google Scholar
  15. Chan, P.A., and T. Rabinowitz. 2006. A cross-sectional analysis of video games and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adolescents. Annals of General Psychiatry 5: 16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Choi, S.M., W. Lee, and H. Kim. 2005. lessons from the rich and famous: A cross-cultural comparison of celebrity endorsement in advertising. Journal of Advertising 34: 85–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Choi, W.J., and K.P. Winterich. 2013. Can brands move in from the outside? How moral identity enhances out-group brand attitudes. Journal of Marketing 77 (2): 96–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Chu, S., and J. Lin. 2012. Do chinese consumers care about corporate social responsibility? Asian Journal of Business Research 2 (1): 69–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Chung, K.Y., J.W. Eichenseher, and T.T. Taniguchi. 2008. Ethical perceptions of business students: Differences between East Asia and the USA and among ‘Confucian’ cultures. Journal of Business Ethics 79: 121–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Creyer, E.H., and W.T. Ross. 1997. The influence of firm behavior on purchase intention: Do consumers really care about business ethics? Journal of Consumer Marketing 14 (6): 421–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Cuneo, A.Z. 2004. Marketers Game for Action. Advertising Age 75 (3): 6.Google Scholar
  22. Davies, G., R. Chun, R.V. Silva, and S. Roper. 2004. A corporate character scale to assess employee and customer views of organization reputation. Corporate Reputation Review 7 (2): 125–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. De Mooij, M.K. 2005. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. London: Sage.Google Scholar
  24. Dean, D.H., and A. Biswas. 2001. Third-party organization endorsement of products: An advertising cue affecting consumer prepurchase evaluation of goods and services. Journal of Advertising 30 (4): 41–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Dwivedi, A., R.E. McDonald, and L.W. Johnson. 2014. The impact of a celebrity endorser’s credibility on consumer self-brand connection and brand evaluation. Journal of Brand Management 21: 559–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Eckhardt, G.M., R. Belk, and T.M. Devinney. 2010. Why don’t consumers consume ethically? Journal of Consumer Behaviour 9: 426–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Erdogan, B.Z. 1999. Celebrity endorsement: A literature review. Journal of Marketing 15 (4): 291–314.Google Scholar
  28. Erikson, E.H. 1964. Insight and responsibility. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
  29. Escalas, J.E. 2004. Narrative processing: Building consumer connections to brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology 14 (1/2): 168–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Escalas, J.E., and J.R. Bettman. 2005. Self-construal, reference groups, and brand meaning. Journal of Consumer Research 32: 378–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. ESPN. 2015. League of legends prodigy faker carries country on his shoulders. http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/13035450/league-legends-prodigy-faker-carries-country-shoulders. Accessed 30 July 2016.
  32. Friedman, H.H., and L. Friedman. 1979. Endorser effectiveness by product type. Journal of Advertising Research 19 (5): 63–71.Google Scholar
  33. Gentile, D.A. 2009. Pathological video game use among youth 8 to 18: A national study. Psychological Science 20: 594–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Gentile, D.A. 2011. The multiple dimensions of video game effects. Child Development Perspectives 5: 75–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Gentile, D.A., C.A. Anderson, K. Suzuki, E. Swing, K. Ming Lim, Y. Horiuchi, M. Jelic, B. Krahé, W. Liuqing, A.K. Liau, A. Khoo, P.D. Petrescu, A. Sakamoto, S. Tajima, R.A. Toma, W. Warburton, X. Zhang, and B.C.P. Lam. 2013. Long-term relations among prosocial-media use, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Psychological Science 25 (1): 358–368.Google Scholar
  36. Gilligan, C. 1982. In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  37. Greene, J., and J. Haidt. 2002. How (and where) does moral judgement work? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 6 (12): 517–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Gu, F.F., K. Hung, and D.K. Tse. 2008. When does Guanxi matter: Issues of capitalization and its dark sides. Journal of Marketing 72 (4): 12–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Hastings, E.C., T.L. Karas, A. Winsler, E. Way, A. Madigan, and S. Tyler. 2009. Young children’s video/computer game use: Relations with school performance and behavior. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 30: 638–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Highscalability. 2014. How league of legends scaled chat to 70 million players. http://highscalability.com/blog/2014/10/13/how-league-of-legends-scaled-chat-to-70-million-players-it-t.html. Accessed 30 July 2016.
  41. Horton, D., and R.R. Wohl. 1956. Mass communication and para-social interaction. Psychiatry 19: 215–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Hung, K., K.W. Chan, and C. Tse. 2011. Assessing celebrity endorsement effects in China—A consumer–celebrity relational approach. Journal of Advertising Research 51 (4): 608–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Hung, K., and S.Y. Li. 2007. The influence of eWOM on virtual consumer communities: Social capital, consumer learning, and behavioral outcomes. Journal of Advertising Research 47: 485–495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. IGN. 2015. Riot games releases awesome league of games infographic. http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/15/riot-games-releases-awesome-league-of-legends-infographic. Accessed 7 July 2016.
  45. Johar, J.S., and M.J. Sirgy. 1991. Value-expressive versus utilitarian advertising appeals: When and why to use which appeal. Journal of Advertising 20 (3): 23–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Johnson, A.R. 2005. When a celebrity is tied to immoral behaviour: Consumer reactions to Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant. Advances in Consumer Research 32: 100–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Kaye, B.K., and T.J. Johnson. 1999. Research methodology: Taming the cyber frontier techniques for improving online surveys. Social Science Computer Review 17 (3): 323–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Keller, K.L. 1993. Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing 57 (1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Kelman, H.C. 1961. Processes of opinion change. Public Opinion Quarterly 25: 57–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Kim, C.K., D. Han, and S.B. Park. 2001. The effect of brand personality and brand identification on brand loyalty: Applying the theory of social identification. Japanese Psychological Research 43 (4): 195–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Kohlberg, L. 1971. From is to ought: How to commit the naturalistic fallacy and get away with it in the study of moral development. In Cognitive development and epistemology, ed. T. Mischel, 164–165. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
  52. Lafferty, B.A., R.E. Goldsmith, and S.J. Newell. 2002. The dual credibility model: The influence of corporate and endorser credibility on attitudes and purchase intentions. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 10 (3): 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Langmeyer, L., and M. Walker. 1991. A first step to identify the meaning in celebrity endorsers. Advances in Consumer Research 18 (1): 364–371.Google Scholar
  54. Lee, H.-S., and C.-H. Cho. 2009. The matching effect of brand and sporting event personality: Sponsorship implications. Journal of Sport Management 23 (1): 41–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Liu, M.T., Y. Huang, and J. Minghua. 2007. Relations among attractiveness of endorsers, match-up, and purchase intention in sport marketing in China. Journal of Consumer Marketing 24 (6): 358–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Lohneiss, A., and B. Hill. 2014. The impact of processing athlete transgressions on brand image and purchase intent. European Sport Management Quarterly 14 (2): 171–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Louie, T.A., R.L. Kulik, and R. Jacobsen. 2001. When bad things happen to the endorsers of good products. Marketing Letters 12 (1): 13–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Louie, T.A., and C. Obermiller. 2002. Consumer response to a firm’s endorser (dis)association decisions. Journal of Advertising 31 (4): 41–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Lovett, S., L. Simmons, and R.J. Kali. 1999. Guanxi versus the market: Ethics and efficiency. Journal of International Business Studies 30 (2): 231–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. MacKinnon, D.P. 2008. Introduction to statistical mediation analysis. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
  61. Malhotra, N.K., and D.F. Birks. 2007. Marketing research: An applied approach. Harlow (England): Financial Times/Prentice Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. McCracken, G. 1989. Who is the celebrity endorser?: Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research 16 (3): 310–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Miller, F.M., and G.R. Laczniak. 2011. The ethics of celebrity–athlete endorsement—What happens when a star steps out of bounds? Journal of Advertising Research 51 (3): 499–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Mishra, A.S., R. Subhadip, and A. Ainsworth. 2015. Exploring brand personality–celebrity endorser personality congruence in celebrity endorsements in the Indian context. Psychology & Marketing 32 (12): 1158–1174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Misra, S., and S.E. Beatty. 1990. Celebrity spokesperson and brand congruence: An assessment of recall and affect. Journal of Business Research 21 (2): 159–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Money, R.B., T.A. Shimp, and T. Sakano. 2006. Celebrity endorsements in Japan and the United States: Is negative information all that harmful? Journal of Advertising Research 46 (1): 113–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Moon, J., and X. Shen. 2010. CSR in China research: Salience, focus, and nature. Journal of Business Ethics 94 (4): 613–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  68. New York Times. 2009. Phelps is suspended and loses a key sponsor. February 6. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/sports/06iht-swim.1.19984715.html. Accessed 8 Aug 2017.
  69. Ohanian, R. 1991. The impact of celebrity spokespersons’ perceived image on intention to purchase. Journal of Advertising Research 31 (1): 46–54.Google Scholar
  70. Pham, A. 2003. Sims Online gives creators a painful reality check. Los Angeles Times, February 4.Google Scholar
  71. Pornpitakpan, C. 2008. The effect of celebrity endorsers’ perceived credibility on product purchase intention: The case of Singaporeans. Journal of International Consumer Marketing 16 (2): 55–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  72. Sestir, M.A., and B.D. Bartholow. 2010. Violent and nonviolent video games produce opposing effects on aggressive and prosocial outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46: 934–942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. Sharif, I., and J.D. Sargent. 2006. Association between television, movie, and video game exposure and school performance. Pediatrics 118: e1061–e1070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Shrout, P.E., and N. Bolger. 2002. Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods 7 (4): 422–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Silvera, D.H., and B. Austad. 2004. Factors predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement advertisements. European Journal of Marketing 38 (11/12): 1509–1526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  76. Spry, A., R. Pappu, and T.B. Cornwell. 2009. Celebrity endorsement, brand credibility and brand equity. European Journal of Marketing 45 (6): 882–909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  77. Stanat, M. 2006. China’s generation Y: Understanding the future leaders of the world’s next superpower. Paramus, NJ: Homa & Sekey.Google Scholar
  78. Tan, D., and R.S. Snell. 2002. The third eye: Exploring Guanxi and relational morality in the workplace. Journal of Business Ethics 41 (4): 361–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  79. The Star. 2014. Justin Bieber and tennis, anyone? https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/01/22/justin_bieber_and_tennis_anyone.html. Accessed 7 May 2014.
  80. Thomson, M. 2006. Human brands: Investigating antecedents to consumers’ strong attachments to celebrities. Journal of Marketing 70: 104–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  81. Thwaites, D., B. Lowe, L.L. Monkhouse, and B.R. Barnes. 2012. The impact of negative publicity on celebrity ad endorsements. Psychology and Marketing 29 (9): 663–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  82. Till, B.D., and T.A. Shimp. 1998. Endorsers in advertising: The case of negative celebrity information. Journal of Advertising 27: 67–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  83. Till, B.D., S.M. Stanley, and M. Busler. 2000. The match-up hypothesis: Physical attractiveness, expertise, and the role of fit on brand attitude, purchase intent and brand beliefs. Journal of Advertising 29: 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  84. Till, B.D., S.M. Stanley, and R. Priluck. 2008. Classical conditioning and celebrity endorsers: An examination of belongingness and resistance to extinction. Psychology and Marketing 25 (2): 179–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. TMZ. 2014. Adidas standing by Bieber. http://www.tmz.com/2014/01/23/justin-bieber-adidas-support-endorsement-deal-shoes-arrest. Accessed 7 May 2016.
  86. Tripp, C., T.D. Jensen, and L. Carlson. 1994. The effects of multiple product endorsements by celebrities on consumers’ attitudes and intentions. Journal of Consumer Research 20 (4): 535–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  87. Vice.com. 2013. Shock news: Chinese teenagers are obsessed with Justin Bieber, too. https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/justin-bieber-fans-shanghai-believe-tour-china. Accessed 14 June 2017.
  88. White, D.W., L. Goddard, and N. Wilbur. 2009. The effect of negative information transference in the celebrity endorsement relationship. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 37: 322–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  89. Winterich, K.P., V. Mittal, and K. Aquino. 2013. When does recognition increase charitable behavior? Toward a moral identity-based model. Journal of Marketing 77: 121–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  90. Zhou, L., and P.A. Whitla. 2013. How negative celebrity publicity influences consumer attitudes: The mediating role of moral reputation. Journal of Business Research 66: 1013–1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  91. Zu, L., and L. Song. 2009. Determinants of managerial values on corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China. Journal of Business Ethics 88: 105–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Marketing DepartmentUniversity of LancasterBailriggUK

Personalised recommendations