Achieving social objectives using sponsorship-endorser portfolios

Abstract

Increasingly, nonprofits are utilizing social partnerships, such as celebrity endorsements or commercial sponsorships, to realize their social objectives and donation goals. The impact of corporate sponsorship on consumer behavior and the consequences of celebrity endorsement on consumer perceptions continue to be heavily researched. Surprisingly little has been done to integrate these two topics for understanding of the synergies between corporate sponsorship and celebrity endorsement. We apply social identity theory in conjunction with source credibility theory to consider if identification with an entity (sponsor or celebrity) mediates the impact of perceived trustworthiness on the evaluations of social partnerships. The model was tested for two distinct product categories (blood donations and cancer prevention). Results of three experiments indicate support for the proposed model