The Pinocchio Factor in Consumer Attitudes Towards Celebrity Endorsement: Celebrity Endorsement, the Reebok Brand, and an Examination of a Recent Campaign

Special Edition on Consumer Satisfaction – Global Perspective
97
THE PINOCCHIO FACTOR IN CONSUMER
ATTITUDES TOWARDS CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT:
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT, THE REEBOK BRAND,
AND AN EXAMINATION OF A RECENT CAMPAIGN
John Temperley, Daniel Tangen
Abstract
Celebrity endorsement is a widely used tactic in marketing and much research has been done on the selection and effect of celebrity endorsement. This article looks at consumer attitudes and associations towards celebrity endorsement, using the case of Reebok and their latest marketing campaign. An adapted version of metaphor elicitation was undertaken to find major constructs in a sample consisting of University students. Findings from this paper confirm the importance of selection perceived credibility of the spokesperson and image fit, the credibility of the setting, and the dangers of overshadowing and over-endorsement. An interesting finding regards what is referred to as the “Pinocchio factor”, the consumer perceiving the celebrity spokesperson as Pinocchio, where his nose grows when he is not telling the truth. The same “Pinocchio factor” also refers to the problems of controlling a celebrity spokesperson, one of the major flaws in using a celebrity spokesperson in marketing.
Key words: Celebrity endorsement, consumer attitudes, marketing campaigns, Pinocchio factor, celebrity spoke person, sport organisations.
Introduction
Celebrity endorsement is a billion dollar industry today (Kambitsis et al., 2002) with companies signing deals with celebrities hoping that they can help them stand out from the clutter and give them a unique and relevant position in the mind of the consumer. According to Solomon (2002), the reasons for using celebrity endorsement involves its potential to create awareness, positive feelings towards their advertising and brand. Advertisement featuring celebrity endorsement is often also perceived to be entertaining. McCracken (1989) has called the use of

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