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 celebri ...