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The purpose of this paper is to determine whether negative meanings consumers attribute to a corporation transfer to the endorser and to examine the moderating effects of corporate-specific and product-specific negative meanings on an endorser’s credibility.

Following a protocol designed by Till and Shimp (1998), two experiments were conducted to examine if meaning transfer exists (experiment 1) and if meaning type moderates reverse meaning transfer (experiment 2). A doubly repeated multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to investigate changes in the endorser’s credibility and attitudes toward the brand.

The results revealed that the negative meanings consumers associated with these corporate crises influence consumer perceptions of the endorser as well as attitude toward the brand.

This finding supports the position that meaning type moderates reverse meaning transfer and may explain variances in the literature on the significance of reverse meaning transfer. Based on these findings, brand crises have a negative effect on the endorser’s credibility.

The results lead the authors to suggest that endorsers as well as marketers should closely scrutinize brand partnerships, as the relationship may positively and negatively influence consumer perceptions of the athlete endorser.

Based on the findings from this study, brand managers need to appreciate differences in brand crisis type by tailoring brand image remediation strategies to fit the type(s) of meaning(s) associated with a specific controversy.

The results from the current study add, significantly, to the literature by being the first to evidence that different meanings associated with different types of brand crises produce different attitudes toward the brand.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate reverse image transfer as it applies to both celebrities (actors/models) and celebrity athletes in a New Zealand context. It extends the work of Garland and Charbonneau which examined reverse image transfer (product image transferring to endorser) as it applied to celebrity athlete endorsers alone.

The data for the study are collected from 240 New Zealand university undergraduate students who are split equally into eight treatment groups. Using Ohanian's source‐credibility scale, each group rate several celebrities or celebrity athletes on their suitability for endorsing two contrasting products: orange juice (representing a positively perceived product) and cigarettes (representing a negatively perceived product). ANOVA (analysis of variance) is used to compare means between celebrities/celebrity athletes and the products they endorse. The study is a close replication of Till's work in the USA.

The results show a pronounced polarising effect for celebrity athletes, as opposed to celebrities (actors/models), for the endorsement of both products but particularly for cigarettes, the negative product. The potential for reverse image transfer is real, demanding careful attention by celebrities, agents and marketers during evaluation of endorsement opportunities.

Though not compromising the research integrity, the sample of New Zealand students is restrictive. Further extension of the research is advisable to address limitations based on sample composition, cultural setting and time of research.

Aside from addressing the paucity of research on reverse image transfer, this paper signals important managerial implications for celebrity endorsers and their agents.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate reputation interacts with corporate social responsibility (CSR) fit and affects stakeholders’ skeptical attribution (SA) of CSR motives, as well as their attitudes, supportive communication intent and purchase intent. This study proposes that a high-fit CSR program does not necessarily engender more favorable outcomes, nor does it stimulate SA. The study proposes the effects of CSR fit differ by corporate reputation. For bad-reputation companies, low-fit is anticipated to generate more desirable CSR outcomes than high-fit initiatives.

Two experiments were conducted. The first experiment employed a randomized 2 (CSR fit: high fit vs low fit) × 2 (good reputation vs bad reputation) × 2 (Industry: food retailing and insurance) full factorial design to examine the suggested hypotheses. The second study employed a randomized 2 (CSR fit: high fit vs low fit) × 2 (good reputation vs bad reputation) full factorial design with consumer samples to replicate the conceptual relationships among variables in the first study.

While reputation plays a dominant role in influencing stakeholders’ CSR-related responses across both CSR fit situations, a SA partially mediates the relationship between reputation and stakeholder reactions. CSR fit interacts with reputation, and influences the partial mediation process through SA; under a bad reputation condition, low-fit CSR engenders less SA and results in better stakeholder reactions. A similar tendency was found with supportive communication intent and purchase intent. High-fit CSR initiatives by a negative reputation company engendered the weakest supportive intent and purchase intent. For a reputable company, across both CSR fits, respondents displayed generally very positive attitudes toward, greater intent to support, and intent to purchase from the company.

The study findings provide useful and empirically supported logical explanations of why high-fit CSR programs sometimes cause backlash effects, despite the general consensus that such initiatives generate positive outcomes. This study offers an alternative and more relevant perspective to conceptualize the complexity of anticipating CSR outcomes.

Of the three major streams of research in celebrity endorsements, the “Meaning Transfer Model (MTM)” has received the least attention from researchers. In the present study, the authors aim to investigate the basic components of the “Meaning Transfer Model” proposed by McCracken (1986, 1989) and outcome of the flow of meaning through celebrity endorsements.

The authors used an interpretive approach to address four broad research questions framed after a comprehensive literature review. Eight focus group discussions (FGD) (along with embedded word association techniques) were conducted among audience from heterogeneous demographic backgrounds from India. Content and thematic analysis were carried out on the FGD transcripts and the word association test results to generate findings.

The findings indicate seven themes of celebrity meaning, namely, personality, credibility, physical appearance, feelings, performance, values and cogent power. Most meanings were found to be transferred to a brand via the endorsement. The possibility of reverse meaning transfer and the change of celebrity meanings overtime were also observed.

The major contribution of the present study is the development of a measurable and applicable model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements, along with a set of testable propositions.

The findings provide a guiding framework for practitioners who would like to use a celebrity endorsement strategy.

This is one of the first attempts to develop a comprehensive model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements that includes sub-constructs of “meaning” and the moderators in the process.

Celebrity endorsement is one of the most popular forms of marketing, and this study aims to suggest that celebrity endorsement should be considered as a brand alliance, where meanings and values can transfer from either partner to the other. This paper seeks to report on an exploratory attempt to identify the processes involved and explore whether celebrity endorsement should be considered a brand alliance.

After a review of both celebrity endorsement and brand alliance literature, a case of meaning transfer process was examined. The collaboration between Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was studied as a case, within which a special episode of negative publicity emerged and was analysed through newspaper articles.

A model for a reciprocal meaning transfer process is proposed and the existence of a brand‐alliance‐like relationship in the case is established.

The paper is the first qualitative study to examine meaning transfer process in a real life celebrity endorsement context. It indicates the need for managing celebrity endorsement as a brand alliance by suggesting that celebrity endorsement should be considered as an alliance of equals. A model illustrated and supported by a case study is proposed.

Women’s conspicuous display of luxury brands is known to serve the purpose of sending signals to other women, but little is known about how men interpret those signals. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how men interpret the signals sent by women displaying luxury brands.

An interpretivist approach and phenomenological methods were applied, involving interviews with selected men in Hong Kong.

The men interviewed suggested that if a woman’s overall image matches that of the brands she displays and the situation, luxurious brands can amplify the woman’s beauty and perceived class status. However, if these factors clash, men react negatively and tend to view the woman as engaging in impression management and pretending to have high social status unjustifiably.

The sample for this phenomenological study was limited to Hong Kong men only. Culture must, almost by definition, influence men’s views toward women and branded products, so similar exploratory research in other cultures seems justified.

The findings suggest that marketers should offer “brand education” to help make their female consumers aware of the images their products are trying to establish, and what are the appropriate usage situations. Such consumer education would also reduce the risk of negative image transfer from the brand user to the brands.

The current understanding of female luxury brand signals is limited to female-vs-female intra-sexual competition. By examining how men interpret female luxury brand signals, this research addresses an important research gap.

This empirical study examines the psychometric comparability of Aaker's Brand Personality Scale (Aaker, 1997) in sponsorship matching. It employs a structural validation protocol - the congenerity test (Ohanion, 1990) - to investigate the extent to which sports events and sponsors can be psychometrically matched. The results show that sports events and sponsors are comparable only in terms of limited numbers of the dimensions of the a priori scale. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

To date the vast majority of sponsorship research has focused on the perspective of sponsors. The purpose of this paper is to use this research to identify factors that sponsored institutions and organizations (sponsees) should be cognizant of before entering into a sponsorship arrangement, and to propose a research agenda based on these factors.

The authors leverage sponsorship research that has been published in business journals with an impact factor above 0.5 (Reuters, 2015).

This paper argues that sponsees should be aware of the benefits that sponsorship brings to sponsors so that they can better appeal to potential sponsors. A sponsee also needs to be aware of the impact a sponsorship partnership may have on its own brand, image, and equity.

This is a conceptual paper grounded in the literature that aims to stimulate further research in the domain of sponsorship and provide deeper understanding for sponsees. Empirical research addressing the research questions posed is required.

In a holistic manner, this literature review offers insights into factors that sponsees should consider before entering a sponsorship relationship.

Previous research in the sponsorship domain has focused primarily on dyadic sponsors. This paper considers sponsorship from the sponsee’s perspective.

Reviews an article on celebrity endorsement and brand alliance

Reviews a case study of Jamie Oliver's endorsement of Sainsbury's

Jamie Oliver launched his career as a TV chef in the late 1990s with The Naked Chef. Soon loved for his cheeky persona and approachable demeanour, he attracted the attention of Sainsbury's, a UK supermarket chain whose reputation had become outdated. The consumer market at the time understood the Sainsbury's demographic as middle aged and middle class. Oliver's charisma, his good, simple cooking, and his wide appeal to young people made him the perfect choice to revitalize their brand. In 2000, he became the face of the chain in a deal worth £2m a year. The Sainsbury's/Oliver partnership is one of the longest standing brand alliances in the UK, and has therefore attracted much analysis.

Suggests that a celebrity endorsement should be approached as a brand alliance. Offers suggestions for further research

Puts forward a new thesis on branding