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Beyond traditional brand endorsement, many celebrities have in recent years decided to launch their own product lines, which may be used to promote their own celebrity brand. Which product categories or social causes match a celebrity’s brand personality? This study aims to investigate the antecedents of celebrity–product degree of fit and willingness to pay (WTP)/make a donation in different scenarios. The manipulation of the scenarios aims to capture the role of celebrity attributes, perceived personality profiles, product involvement and acceptance of social causes.

In total, 335 respondents answered an online questionnaire with a factorial plan corresponding to 20 different matching scenarios: five celebrities/perceived personalities (Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johansson) × four types of branding scenarios (a lipstick for low involvement; a watch for high involvement; an eco-foundation for “high social acceptance” and vodka for “low social acceptance/controversial”).

Scarlett Johansson obtained the highest degree of fit, both for launching her own brand of lipstick or a watch. Kim Kardashian had the best degree of fit for launching her own vodka brand, while Emma Watson’s attributes confirmed that she would be seen as the ideal founder of an eco-foundation. Significant predictors of WTP/make a donation were assessed by multiple linear regression for each type of product.

The paper provides recommendations that may help guide celebrity brand managers through the celebrity–product matching process.

Celebrity branding in relation to social causes is also discussed in this paper.

This study explores a gap found in the literature as it explores the product match-up hypotheses within a celebrity branding context and moreover extends this investigation to social causes and products with different degrees of involvement and social acceptance.

This paper aims to examine the importance of celebrity brands in influencing consumer perceptions of celebrity authenticity, which drives positive consumer attitudes and intentions. In addition, the notion of low-celebrity investment is investigated as a factor that diminishes the positive outcomes associated with celebrity brands.

Study 1 examines the effect of brand situation (endorsement versus celebrity brand) on consumer attitudes and intentions. Studies 2 and 3 investigate the role of celebrity authenticity in explaining the effects observed in Study 1. Study 4 examines celebrity investment as a bound of the phenomenon.

Study 1 demonstrates that consumers report heightened attitudes and intentions towards celebrity brands when compared to endorsements. Studies 2 and 3 provide evidence that authenticity explains the effects observed in Study 1. Results of Study 4 show that when consumers are aware of low-celebrity investment, the celebrity is viewed as inauthentic regardless of brand situation.

This research is limited as it focuses only on known celebrity endorsers who were matched with products that had a high level of fit. In addition, purchase intentions were measured as opposed to the study of actual purchase behaviour.

This research has important implications for the development of endorsements and celebrity brands by demonstrating that consumers view celebrities as authentic when they are involved with brands for reasons other than monetary compensation.

This research shows that consumers have heightened attitudes and intentions towards celebrity brands compared to endorsements. This research identifies celebrity authenticity as the process underlying the observed phenomenon. However, celebrity investment is identified as a boundary condition demonstrating that knowledge of low investment results in a celebrity being viewed as inauthentic.

This paper aims to explain a celebrity’s deep resonance with consumers by unpacking the individual constituents of a celebrity’s polysemic appeal. While celebrities are traditionally theorised as unidimensional semiotic receptacles of cultural meaning, the authors conceptualise them here instead as human beings/performers with a multi-constitutional, polysemic consumer appeal.

Supporting evidence is drawn from autoethnographic data collected over a total period of 25 months and structured through a hermeneutic analysis.

In rehumanising the celebrity, the study finds that each celebrity offers the individual consumer a unique and very personal parasocial appeal as the performer, the private person behind the public performer, the tangible manifestation of either through products and the social link to other consumers. The stronger these constituents, individually or symbiotically, appeal to the consumer’s personal desires, the more s/he feels emotionally attached to this particular celebrity.

Although using autoethnography means that the breadth of collected data is limited, the depth of insight this approach garners sufficiently unpacks the polysemic appeal of celebrities to consumers.

The findings encourage talent agents, publicists and marketing managers to reconsider underlying assumptions in their talent management and/or celebrity endorsement practices.

While prior research on celebrity appeal has tended to enshrine celebrities in a “dehumanised” structuralist semiosis, which erases the very idea of individualised consumer meanings, this paper reveals the multi-constitutional polysemy of any particular celebrity’s personal appeal as a performer and human being to any particular consumer.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and examine the effect of a celebrity’s eye gaze on self-celebrity connection. A celebrity’s direct (vs averted) eye gaze can be used as a tactic in social media posts to increase self-celebrity connection and behavioral intentions. Examining the effectiveness of a celebrity’s eye gaze is important, as celebrities regularly use social media to manage their brand image and to build a relationship with consumers.

Study 1 examines the effect of a celebrity’s eye gaze (direct vs averted) on self-celebrity connection. Study 2 investigates the role of celebrity authenticity in explaining the effect of a celebrity’s eye gaze on consumer–celebrity brand relationships. Study 3 examines the moderating role of a non-Duchenne smile (fake, social smile) in diluting the effect of a celebrity’s direct eye gaze on self-celebrity connection and the downstream consequences on behavioral intentions.

The findings from Study 1 indicate that a celebrity’s direct (averted) eye gaze strengthens (weakens) self-celebrity connection. Study 2 provides evidence of celebrity authenticity as the explanation for stronger consumer–celebrity connection when a celebrity is featured with a direct eye gaze. The results of Study 3 show that a fake smile in a celebrity’s social media posts can weaken relationships with and behavioral intentions toward celebrities with a direct eye gaze.

This paper is limited, as it focuses only on eye gaze and smiles as non-verbal cues depicted in celebrity images on social media.

This paper has important implications for celebrities, celebrity brand managers (including digital/social media marketing managers and public relations professionals) and advertisers. Celebrities, celebrity brand managers and advertisers should develop social media posts that can strengthen consumer–celebrity relationships and positively influence behaviors toward the celebrity through: 1) ensuring that photographs are taken with the celebrity looking directly into the camera at the target (audience); and 2) avoiding posting images of a celebrity’s direct eye gaze with a non-Duchenne (fake) smile.

This paper introduces and provides evidence of a celebrity’s direct eye gaze–self-celebrity relationship effect. Tactics, such as eye gaze, can strengthen consumer–celebrity relationships, which is crucial in building brand equity and in increasing financial value for the celebrity.

Quantitative objective studies on the problem of celebrity selection are lacking. Furthermore, existing research does not recognize the group decision-making nature and the possibility of customer involvement in celebrity or influencer selection for social media marketing. This study conceptualizes celebrity selection as a multi-attribute group decision-making problem while deriving the final ranking of celebrities/influencers using interactive and flexible criteria based on the value tradeoff approach. The article thus proposes and demonstrates a quantitative objective method of celebrity selection for a brand or campaign in an interactive manner incorporating customer's preferences as well.

Each decision-maker's preferences for celebrity selection criteria are objectively captured and converted into an overall group preference using a modified generalized fuzzy evaluation method (MGFEM). The final ranking of celebrities is then derived from an interactive and criteria-based value tradeoff approach using the flexible and interactive tradeoff method.

The approach gives a different ranking of celebrities for two campaigns based on group members' perceived importance of the selection criteria in different scenarios. This group includes decision-makers (DMs) from the brand, marketing communication agency and brand's customers. Further, each group member has an almost equal say in the decision-making based on fuzzy evaluation and an interactive and flexible value tradeoff approach to celebrity selection for receiving a rank order.

The approach uses secondary data on celebrities and hypothetical scenarios. Comparison with other methods is difficult, as no other study proposes a multi-criteria group decision-making approach to celebrity selection especially in a social media context.

This approach can help DMs make more informed, objective and effective decisions on celebrity selection for their brands or campaigns. It recognizes that there are multiple stakeholders, including the end customers, each of whose views is objectively considered in the aspects of group decision-making through a fuzzy evaluation method. Further, this study provides a selection mechanism for a given context of endorsement by objectively and interactively encapsulating stakeholder preferences.

This robust and holistic approach to celebrity selection can help DMs objectively make consensual decisions with partial or complete information. This quantitative approach contributes to the literature on selection mechanisms of influencers, celebrities, social media opinion leaders etc. by providing a methodological aid that encompasses aspects of interactive group decision-making for a given context. Moreover, this method is useful to DMs and stakeholders in understanding and incorporating the effect of nature or context of the brand and the campaign type in the selection of a celebrity or an influencer.

In light of the new way of interpreting work spearheaded by Generation Z, the objectives of this study are to investigate (1) whether young entrepreneurs identify their start-ups with “zebras” – that is, as a concrete response to the evanescence and fantasy of “unicorns” based on the simultaneous pursuit of profit and social value, mutualism and resilience – and (2) whether they adopt a “teal” organizational configuration – that is, one characterized by evolutionary purpose, self-management and wholeness.

Through a qualitative approach with 41 interviews, this study focuses on start-uppers and companies that are particularly innovative and promising in the Italian context, as selected by Forbes magazine in its ranking of the brightest entrepreneurs, leaders and stars under 30.

The results suggest that young entrepreneurs recognize the importance of the common themes of the zebra movement and therefore identify their startups with zebras. More specifically, Generation Z entrepreneurs: (1) pursue a dual (economic and social) purpose, (2) are mutualistic and (3) build their organizations with resilience and capital efficiency. In addition, the interviews show that the organizational approach taken follows the paradigm of teal organizations, particularly in terms of evolutionary purpose, distributed leadership and decision-making power, and employee wholeness and empowerment.

This is the first study to analyze the evolutionary trends of animal entrepreneurial “species” led by Generation Z entrepreneurs and organized on the basis of the teal paradigm.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how generational differences impact America’s workforce as it changes and to provide strategies for companies to address aging Millennials (born 1982-2000), Generation X (born 1961-1981) and Baby Boomers (born 1943-1960).

The author's approach was based on research on behalf of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging; insights and expertise from her 20 years at the helm of Generational Targeted Marketing, LLC; her teaching at New York University; her experience working with clients and organizations in a wide range of diverse industries; and the insights from her book Marketing to the Millennial Woman.

Every generation is unique. Practitioners, employers and managers of human resources (HR) who understand and respect the differences between Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers can develop strategies from a generational point of view and thereby enable these employees to perform at their peak regardless of age.

Practical examples are given for HR practices in employee retention, benefits, performance management and review, work-life balance, digital and technology applications and for meaningful corporate outreaches.

This tried and true approach to dealing with distinct generations in the workplace leads to increased employee motivation and satisfaction, so that employees not only remain longer at a job but also are eager and happy to report to work each day; they are more productive; and the company’s bottom line benefits as a result.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of celebrity endorser credibility on consumer self-brand connection and endorsed brand equity. A conceptual model is developed, positioning consumer self-brand connections as a partial mediator of the effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity.

A cross-sectional survey of 382 consumers of sports drinks in the USA was conducted to estimate the conceptual model. Stimuli, devised on the basis of a pre-test, involved celebrity–brand pairings in the context of the US non-aseptic sports drinks industry. Structural equation modeling is used as the analytic tool.

The research model is empirically supported. Celebrity endorsements impact endorsed brand equity via two pathways. First, a direct effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity was observed, which is positively moderated by the degree of consumer-perceived endorser–brand congruence. Second, self-brand connection partly mediates the effect of endorser credibility on endorsed brand equity, supporting an indirect mechanism of brand equity enhancement.

Managers can now consider using celebrities as tools to develop meaningful self-concept-related connections with consumers. Additionally, the results of this study support for the use of celebrity endorsers as direct brand equity-enhancing tools.

This study is among pioneering investigations that examine the self-concept repercussions of celebrity endorsements, suggesting that celebrity endorsers possess the ability to engage with consumers at the self-concept level, in turn, impacting endorsed brand equity. Additionally, this paper examines the direct and indirect mechanisms by which celebrities influence consumer-based brand equity of the endorsed brand.

This paper aims to outline the role of brands as relationship builders and to offer a better understanding of the recent developments and key literature in the area of consumer–brand relationships.

This paper is an editorial based mainly on a literature review on consumer–brand relationships. It uses the sentiment range and passion intensity to position various brand relationship constructs. This work follows the same bibliometric-analysis approach used by Fetscherin and Heinrich (2014) and looked for publications in the Web of Science on brand relationships, with reference to Fournier’s (1998) seminal work and data collected for the period between January 2010 and November 2018.

First, this work presents the key consumer–brand relationship terms and positions the work on brand love, brand like, brand hate, brand dislike and brand indifference. In addition, the bibliometric analysis offers a number of insights into the current state of the academic research in the area of consumer–brand relationships, including a clear indication that the research on consumer–brand relationships is increasing.

This work and the whole special issue together help in the understanding of brands as relationship builders, clearly explaining the continuum from strong positive or negative relationships with brands to no relationship with brands and the current state of research in the area.