Brand values, dilution and authenticity: evaluating celebrity co-branding partnerships

"Celebrity endorsements both Australia and worldwide are growing, with one in five ads now featuring a celebrity (Time Inc. 2006; Solomon, 2009). Today, celebrities commonly endorse multiple products, brands and organisations and are themselves referred to as human brands (Thomson, 2006). Celebrity brands can encompass unique and original associations that craft their authenticity and distinctiveness. A celebrity's image is crucial to understand when paired with any brand in a co-branding situation. Research within the area of celebrity endorsements mainly focuses on identifying the characteristics of celebrities that make them appropriate endorsers of particular brands. Surprisingly, little research examines why consumers value celebrities and the brands with which they are paired. Research in co-branding is limited to examining the combination or collaboration of product brands. This thesis examines co-branding partnerships between corporate and celebrity brands. This thesis presents four studies that examine how consumers value celebrity and corporate brands and the ways in which consumer judgments can be diluted when brands are paired collectively in a co-branding context." -- Abstract.