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The impact of self-congruity and virtual interactivity on online celebrity brand equity and fans’ purchase intention

Chengchen Liu (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China)
Ya Zhang (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China)
Jing Zhang (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China)

Journal of Product & Brand Management

ISSN: 1061-0421

Article publication date: 29 June 2020

Issue publication date: 5 September 2020

9860

Abstract

Purpose

There is growing interest among marketers in advertising and promoting their brands by adopting an online celebrity endorsement strategy. However, how online celebrities build their own brand equity and how online celebrity brand equity impacts fans’ purchase behavior have not been extensively researched in the extant literature. This paper aims to explore the factors that contribute to online celebrity branding and improving fans’ purchase intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey and an experiment were conducted among consumers from the mainland of China. A total of 12 hypotheses were proposed to exam how self-congruity and virtual interactivity impact online celebrity branding and to explore the moderating role of perceived quality and product type.

Findings

This paper reveals that customers’ perceived self-congruity with online celebrities’ image and virtual interactivity positively impact the brand equity of online celebrities. Additionally, compared with virtual interactivity, the effect of customer perceived self-congruity on a brand is more significant. The brand equity of online celebrities thereby drives followers’ purchase intentions and the perceived quality of products positively moderates this relationship.

Originality/value

The research conclusions provide managerial implications for marketing practitioners for how to use human brands on social media platforms in the web 2.0 era and ultimately enhance consumer purchase intentions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 71672068].

This research is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 71672068. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback during the review process. We also thank the editors of the Journal of Product & Brand Management.

Citation

Liu, C., Zhang, Y. and Zhang, J. (2020), "The impact of self-congruity and virtual interactivity on online celebrity brand equity and fans’ purchase intention", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 783-801. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-11-2018-2106

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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