Journal of International Consumer Marketing

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Who is the Celebrity Endorser? A Content Analysis

of Celebrity Endorsements

Christian Schimmelpfennig

To cite this article: Christian Schimmelpfennig (2018) Who is the Celebrity Endorser? A Content
Analysis of Celebrity Endorsements, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 30:4, 220-234,
DOI: 10.1080/08961530.2018.1446679

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2018.1446679

Published online: 16 Apr 2018.

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JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING, 2018
VOL. 30, NO. 4, 220–234
https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2018.1446679

Who is the Celebrity Endorser? A Content Analysis of Celebrity Endorsements

Christian Schimmelpfennig
Executive MBA Universit€at Z€urich, Z€urich, Switzerland

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Much of the academic literature suggests that 25%–30% of all advertising in western countries uses Advertising strategy; brand
celebrities. The celebrity endorser is considered a famous personality who is recognized by name strategy; celebrity
and face by the general public. This study investigates the usage of different types of celebrities in endorsements; endorsement
German print advertising. It finds that the share of celebrity endorsements as defined by the strategy
literature, adverts that feature individuals known to the general public, is as low as 2.9%. Moreover,
the study’s results are compared with results from US studies and it is shown in what product
categories celebrity usage differs substantially between markets. Conclusions are drawn as to where
advertisers need to adapt their ad strategy to differentiate their brand’s advertising from the
competition in the German and the US market.

Introduction
A celebrity endorser is defined as any individual who
enjoys favorable public recognition, which s/he uses on
behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an
advertisement (McCracken 1989). This definition con-
tains two crucial dimensions: (i) a high degree of recog-
nition that is (ii) used for product promotion. Thus, a
celebrity endorser is a person who is very well known
by the general public or at least the target audience of
the brand (Avery and Rosen 2005; Choi and Rifon
2007; Fleck, Michel, and Zeitoun 2013; Thomson
2006). Consequently, prominent literature suggests
that celebrity endorsers are well-known public figures,
such as famous actors, comedians, athletes, enter-
tainers, or musicians (Atkin and Block 1983; Friedman,
Termini, and Washington 1976; McCracken 1989; Sol-
omon 2002), who are recognized by name and face by
the general public or at least among the audience with
an affinity to the promoted product class.
Academic literature suggests that the use of celebri-
ties in advertising has increased significantly, and a
majority of authors claim celebrity endorsements are a
widely employed advertising technique (e.g., Agrawal
and Kamakura 1995; Choi, Lee, and Kim 2005; Erdo-
gan 1999; Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg 2001; Halonen-
Knight and Hurmerinta 2010; Stafford, Stafford, and
Day 2002; Till, Stanley, and Priluck 2008; Till and Bus-
ler 1998). Table 1 shows an overview of figures and
propositions presented in academic literature indicat-
ing the widely held belief that celebrity endorsements
are a frequently used advertising strategy. Also shown
in table 1 are the original sources to where each of the
figure that is quoted in the literature traces back. In
total eight original sources could be identified that
academic literature references to. These original sour-
ces, however, are no academic studies that investigate
celebrity usage with appropriate methodology, but
practitioner estimations published in the business
press without further information on how the figures
are derived.
The rise of celebrity endorsements, as suggested by
academic literature, over the past decades may be
explained by the declining effectiveness of other mar-
keting communications (Bonde and Roozen 2007;
Keller 2003; Roozen and Clayes 2010). Differentiating
products through their specifications and features has
become very limited since it cannot be assumed that
consumers are interested in a product because of
some combination of basic ingredients (Carroll 2008;
Onkvisit and Shaw 1987). Mature brands are in an
“image stage,” in which the functional advantages
have eroded and the symbolic values have become

CONTACT Christian Schimmelpfennig christian.schimmelpfennig@emba.uzh.ch Executive MBA University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 14, 8032 Zurich,
Switzerland.
© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 221

Table 1. Academic literature’s estimations concerning celebrity usage.

Proposition or figure Sources Original sources

Increase of celebrity usage in US
advertising from 15%
(1979) to 25% (1997)
25% of all US-based commercials use
celebrities
25% of all US advertisements use
celebrities
17% of global advertisements use
celebrities
33% of all television commercials use
celebrities
20% of all television commercials use
celebrities
20% of all commercials use
celebrities
20% of UK marketing
communication use celebrities
Proposition that the use of celebrity
endorsers continues to grow
Proposition that the number of
celebrity campaigns
has increased markedly and
steadily over the years
Hsu and McDonald (2002); Stafford, Spears, and Hsu Stephens and Rice (1998), article in Finance
(2003) Week
Amos, Holmes, and Strutton (2008); Choi and Rifon Shimp (1997), who extrapolated the estimate
(2007); Ding, Molchanov, and Stork (2011); of Spielman (1987), an article in Marketing
Erdogan (1999); Erdogan, Baker, Tagg (2001); News, and the estimate of Miciak and
Money, Shimp, and Sakano (2006), Schaefer, Shankling (1994), an article in Marketing
Parker, and Kent (2010); Silvera and Austad Management. Shimp (2000), who cites
(2004); T€orn (2012); White, Goddard, and Wilbur White (2004).
(2009)
Biswas, Hussain, and O’Donnell (2009); Carroll Stephens and Rice (1998), article in Finance
(2008); Hsu and McDonald (2002); Huang, Chan, Week
and Tse (2011); Money, Shimp, and Sakano
(2006); Petty and D’Rozario (2009); T€orn (2012)
Money, Shimp, and Sakano (2006); Shimp and White (2004), article in The Wall Street Journal
Andrews (2013)
Freiden (1984); Klebba and Unger (1983); Kamins Business Week (1978), article in Business Week
(1990); Stout and Moon (1990); Wiener and with no identified author
Mowen (1986)
Adweek (1986); Agrawal and Kamakura (1995); Sherman (1985), article in Fortune
Belch and Belch (1998); Biswas, Biswas, and Das
(2006); Dyson and Turco (1995); Louie, Kulik, and
Jacobson (2001); Louie and Obermiller (1998);
Till, Stanley, and Priluck (2008)
Till (1998); Mehulkumar (2005) Bradley (1996), article in Brandweek
Mehulkulmar (2005); Seno and Lukas (2007) Erdogan, Baker, Tagg (2001), academic study
on endorser selection of UK agencies. The
figure is an estimation of the agencies that
participated in the study.
Chung, Derdenger, and Srinivasan (2013)
Carroll (2008); Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg (2001);
Eisend and Langner (2010); Kamins (1989); La
Ferle and Choi (2005); Lord and Putreveau
(2009); Till and Priluck (2008); T€orn (2012)

more important (Murphy 1990). Celebrities provide
such symbolic values, which can be transferred to a
brand through compelling advertising (McCracken
1989).
Moreover, celebrity endorsements represent excellent
vehicles to achieve the major objectives of marketing
communication: creating awareness and differentiating
the brand and its products from competitors in order to
influence consumers’ buying decisions (Erdogan, Baker,
and Tagg 2001).
Lack of data on celebrity usage
Although a majority of academic literature on
endorsement strategy claims that celebrity usage in
advertising has risen and that today celebrity strategy
is a frequently used advertising vehicle, only very few
studies have actually investigated the usage of celebri-
ties in advertising. The amount of knowledge pro-
vided by academic studies on the quantitative
usage of celebrity endorsers in advertising differs
tremendously from the amount of academic knowl-
edge on the efficiency of different endorsers as adver-
tising vehicles. In the latter research stream a
multitude of studies have been reported that investi-
gate which kind of endorser (e.g., celebrity or con-
sumer) or which set of endorser traits are more
effective for advertising different kinds of products.
The vast amount of research on celebrity endorser
effectiveness also includes the investigation of the
effectiveness of different endorser-brand-consumer
constructs. For example, Bergkvist, Hjalmarson, and
M€agi (2016) study attitude toward the endorsement
as a mediating variable for the effectiveness of celeb-
rity endorsements, and Albert et al. (2017) show that
celebrity-brand and celebrity-consumer fit have lim-
ited impact on celebrity endorser effectiveness. A
comprehensive overview of academic studies investi-
gating the efficiency of different kinds of celebrity
endorsers is provided by Erdogan (1999), Amos et al.
(2007), and Bergkvist and Zhou (2016). Due to limita-
tions of scope this study will concentrate on the first,
222 C. SCHIMMELPFENNIG
much neglected research stream, which is the quanti-
fication of celebrity usage in advertising.
Moreover, there is a great lack of empirical data on
the types or kinds of celebrity endorsers used in ad
campaigns. Various authors have claimed what types
of celebrities are typically used in advertising and
numerous exemplary brand-celebrity relationships
have been presented in the literature. However, no
study has yet investigated celebrity endorsers’ profes-
sion (what they are famous for), their level of fame
among consumers, or if they are nationally or interna-
tionally known. Moreover, we know very little about
what types of products the different types of celebrities
endorse.
This lack of knowledge on celebrity usage in
advertising is unsatisfying in multiple ways. First,
the argumentation of academic literature regarding
the increase and frequent usage of celebrities in
advertising lacks empirical data. The few studies
that examine celebrity usage only investigate US
advertising and report much lower figures. Addi-
tional studies are needed to complement existing
data from the United States and reveal whether the
lower usage only is true for US advertising, or if
the phenomenon is more general. Second, litera-
ture’s assumption of the types of celebrities used in
advertising practice lacks empirical data. Yet, such
data is vital for any research that seeks to investi-
gate the effectiveness of different types of celebrity
endorsers. For only if we know what types of celeb-
rities advertisers use is academic research able to
investigate celebrity-brand constructs that are truly
relevant to marketing practice and to determine
those relationships that are most effective. Third,
data on what type of products different types of
celebrities endorse are crucial to identify product
categories that make excessive use of (certain types
of) celebrities, and those product categories where
the use of (certain types of) celebrities would be a
rather unique ad strategy and thus, would differen-
tiate the brand’s advertising from competitors.
Literature review
While there is a vast amount of research on celebrity
endorsement strategy (Amos, Holmes, and Strutton
2007), there are only few studies that have attempted
to quantify the use of celebrities versus anonymous
models in advertising and investigate the types of
celebrities used. Table 2 provides an overview of the
studies that examine related research questions or pro-
duce data that allow to deduce conclusions related to
them.
As this literature review shows, three studies have
been reported that examine the use of celebrities in
general. All other studies investigate the use of indi-
vidual types of celebrities only, e.g., athletes, and/or
code for celebrity categories incongruent to common
definitions. Stout and Moon (1990) determine that
22.2% of advertisements feature a celebrity. They,
however, draw a very small sample; only four different
magazines were content analyzed. It might therefore
be possible that the figure is not representative for
print advertising in general. Choi, Lee and Kim (2005)
determine the use of celebrities in US and Korean
Television commercials to be 9% and 57%, respec-
tively. These results suggest that (i) the use of celebri-
ties in US (western) advertising is much lower than
academic literature assumes, and that (ii) Asian adver-
tising features much more celebrities than western
advertising (as other authors have suggested, e.g., Kil-
burn 1998; McCaughan 2007; Twose 2013; Wang and
Du 2012). Finally, Belch and Belch (2013) determine
the use of celebrities in US print advertising to be
9.5%. Similarly to Choi and colleagues (2005) their
results suggest that the use of celebrities in US (west-
ern) advertising is much lower than academic litera-
ture assumes.
Moreover, Shimp (1976) reports that 42.3% of US
Television commercials contain one or more persons,
and Belch and Belch (2013) show that 68% of US print
advertisements contain persons.
Research questions
The prevalence of celebrity endorsements in ad
campaigns
Only three studies have investigated the actual use of
celebrities in advertising in only two countries. The
results of these studies indicate that the prevalence of
celebrities in advertising of western countries is much
lower than academic literature assumes, or that it has
decreased significantly in recent years.
More data, drawn from a greater sample and pref-
erably from a country other than the United States
and Korea, are necessary, to support or disprove the
proposition that celebrity usage in western countries is
indeed much lower than literature assumes. Thus, the
Table 2. Studies that examine the usage and/or types of celebrities in advertising.
Author(s) and year of
the study Purpose of the study
Belch and Belch (2013) Usage of celebrities in advertisements
in different types of magazines, of
different types of products/services,
and bases for their use.
Choi, Lee, and Kim Analysis of the differences in celebrity
(2005) usage of US and Korean advertising.
Grau, Roselli, and Taylor Analysis of the use of female athlete
(2007) endorsers in advertising.
Iyer, Banerjee, and Gulas Analysis of green television
(1994) advertising.
Shimp (1976) Methods of message presentation
utilized in US Television
commercials.
St. James (2010) Analysis of the proportion of celebrity
athletes to celebrity nonathletes
and the proportion of female to
male celebrity athlete endorsers in
advertisements that target female
teenagers. Product category
endorsed and nature of portrayal or
depiction of the celebrity athlete
were also examined.
Stone, Joseph, and Investigation whether current athlete
Jones (2003) endorsements have declined in
relation to the previous decade.
Stout and Moon (1990) Usage of different endorser types
(celebrity, expert, typical consumer,
CEO) in advertising.
Turner, Bounds, Hauser, Investigation of advertising of
Motsinger, television sport broadcasts.
Ozmore, and Smith
(1995)
Zandpour, Chang, and Comparative analysis of French,
Catalano (1992) Taiwanese, and US Television
commercials.
Method and sample size
Content analysis of advertisements in high
circulation
magazines in the United States; 2,358 ads in
total.
Content analysis of prime time US and Korean TV
commercials aired on major networks in each
country for the week of July 29 to August 2,
2002. In total 841 Korean and 975 US
commercials were analyzed.
Content analysis of 6 monthly to 8 weekly issues
of different magazines in the following
categories: sports publications, general
magazines, general men’s magazines,
women’s fitness magazines, women’s teen
magazines. 5,253 ads in total.
95 ads were drawn from a pool of ads recorded
by Ogilvy and Mather during 1991–1992 for
other purposes, and content analyzed.
Content analysis of 243 US Television
commercials.
Content analysis of all issues of SEVENTEEN from
2004 to 2009, the top selling US magazine
targeting female teenagers.
Content analysis of randomly selected ads
appearing in Sports Illustrated magazine over
two similar 6-year periods. In total 4,905 ads
were analyzed.
Content analysis of full-page ads contained in
the twelve annual US issues of Reader’s
Digest, Newsweek, Ladies’ Home Journal, and
Esquire of 1980 and 1986; 655 ads in total.
35 h of television sport broadcasts and 35 h of
television nonsport broadcasts were content-
analyzed. In total 872 commercials were
investigated.
Content analysis of 187 US, 225 Taiwanese, and
247 French Television commercials.
Results (related to the usage and nature of celebrities
and anonymous models in advertising)
9.5% of the advertisements used celebrities; celebrities
are used in advertising for all product categories
except “financial services”; 34% of the celebrities
featured are actresses/actors, 27% athletes, 18%
fashion models, 16% entertainers, 2% business
executives, 1% news personalities, and 2% other
types of celebrities. 68% of the advertisements
contain one or more persons.
479 (57%) of the Korean and 87 (8.9%) of the US
commercials featured celebrities.
169 ads (3.2%) of the advertisements featured an athlete
endorser.
15% of the commercials used testimonials, defined by
the authors as “celebrities,” “experts,” and “J. Does.”
42.3% of the television commercials used people to
present products and services.
347 celebrity ads were identified. The distribution is as
follows: 12.1% athletes, 40.1% actresses/actors, 42.4%
musicians, 3.5% TV personalities, 2.0% beauty
contestants/winners. Athletes endorse products in the
categories: cosmetics and personal care, food and
beverages, and clothing/shoes/apparel.
The use of athlete endorsers in sports magazine
advertising has slightly decreased from 5.6% (period
1983–1988) to 5.4% (period 1993–1998).
22.2% of advertisements featured celebrities.
11% of the commercials used sports figures.
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
In the US 48%, in France 22%, and in Taiwan 34% of the
commercials used “testimonials by a celebrity, a
credible source, or a user of the product” (p. 31).
223
224 C. SCHIMMELPFENNIG

first research question is concerned with the actual use
of celebrities in advertising campaigns.
RSQ1: How prevalent is the use of celebrities in advertis-
ing campaigns?
Types of celebrities used in advertising
Academic literature considers celebrity endorsers to be
individuals who are recognized by the general public
by name and face (Avery and Rosen 2005; Choi and
Rifon 2007; Fleck, Michel, and Zeitoun 2013; Thom-
son 2006), such as famous actors/actresses, comedians,
athletes, entertainers, musicians, or supermodels who
have achieved celebrity status (Atkin and Block 1983;
Belch and Belch 2013; Friedman, Termini, and
Washington 1976; McCracken 1989). Table 3 depicts
examples that established academic literature provides
to point out what type of individuals are meant when
referring to the concept of “celebrity endorser”: truly
famous stars and starlets who are recognized by name
and face by a majority of consumers. Hence, Carroll
(2008) argues that advertising campaigns using celeb-
rities in general tend to be repetitive, high-profile, and
loud extravaganzas.
Some authors, however, suggest that there are other
types of individuals who have attained celebrity status
and have been used for endorsements more recently,
for example, news personalities, sportscasters, politi-
cians, authors, and business executives (Belch and
Belch 2013). Furthermore, practitioners argue that
new types of celebrity endorsers have emerged that,
although less well-known among consumers, may be
featured in advertising campaigns. For example,
“experts” from do-it-yourself or home remodeling TV
programs, hosts, judges, and contestants from reality
TV shows, “It girls,” and bloggers (Fitch 2006; Pike
2012; Pringle and Binet 2005). Moving beyond past
studies that have captured the usage of well-known
actresses/actors, athletes, musicians, TV personalities,
and fashion supermodels, the current investigation
seeks to identify what other types of celebrities are
used in ad campaigns.
RSQ2: What types of celebrities are used in celebrity
endorsement campaigns and what is the percentage of
their appearance?
International versus local celebrity endorsers
While much of the academic literature suggests that
most celebrity endorsers would be widely known, and
therefore potentially internationally known individu-
als (see table 3 for the examples presented in the aca-
demic literature), marketing practitioners observe an
increasing trend to use local personalities over inter-
national celebrities (Pike 2012). It is argued that by
choosing local stars, advertisers are responding to the
preference of many consumers who would like to see
more local endorsers in advertising campaigns (Rob-
erts 2009). However, no academic study to date has
investigated the relation of local versus international
celebrities in contemporary advertising campaigns.
Based on these controversial assumptions, the third
research question emerges:

Table 3. Examples of celebrity-brand relations presented in the RSQ3: To what degree are national versus international
literature. celebrities used in endorsement campaigns?

Endorser(s) Brand Source

Tiger Woods, LeBron Nike Avery and Rosen (2005); Choi, The use of different types of celebrities by product
James Lee, and Kim (2005);
Koernig and Boyd (2009) category
Bill Cosby Coca-Cola Agrawal and Kamakura (1995)
Tiger Woods Buick Avery and Rosen (2005) It is believed that particular endorser types would not
Celine Dion Chrysler Avery and Rosen (2005)
Madonna, Michael Pepsi Batra and Homer (2004); Fleck,
be equally effective for all types of products (Biswas,
Jackson, Cindy Korchia, and Le Biswas, and Das 2006; Friedman and Friedman 1979;
Crawford, The Spice Roy (2012); Till (1998)
Girls Kamins and Gupta 1994; Kim, Wang, and Ahn 2013).
Cindy Crawford, Linda Pizza Hut Fleck, Korchia, and Le Roy This assumption is based on the notion that each
Evangelista, (2012)
Pamela Anderson, endorser type influences consumers via a different
Justin Bieber attribute that would induce attitude change via a differ-
Michael Jordan Gatorade Bradley (1996)
Venus Williams Reebok Bush, Martin, and Bush (2004); ent route. Multiple studies show that the effectiveness
St. James (2010) of different endorser types depends on the category of
Catherine Zeta-Jones T-Mobile Jaiprakash (2008)
the advertised product (e.g., Chang, Wall, and Tsai

2005; Freiden 1982, 1984; Friedman and Friedman
1976; Kim, Wang, and Ahn 2013; Stafford, Stafford,
and Day 2002; Stephens and Faranda 1993). Further-
more, it has been shown that the effectiveness of a
celebrity as an endorser for a certain product category
depends on his/her characteristics and image. Most
notably, the meaning transfer model (McCracken
1989) and the match-up hypothesis (Kamins 1990;
Kahle and Homer 1985; Kamins and Gupta 1994;
Lynch and Schuler 1994; Misra and Beatty 1990; Till
and Busler 1998, 2000) suggest that marketers must
decide on the symbolic meanings or the image that the
advertised product is to assume and then identify those
individuals who best represent these meanings or
images. Since most of the endorsement literature sug-
gests an interrelatedness of endorser type and product
category in ad effectiveness, it is worthwhile investigat-
ing whether a pattern of the use of different celebrity
types for different product categories is evident in
advertising practice.
RSQ4: How does the use of different celebrity types vary
by product category?
The prevalence of anonymous models in advertising
It has become particularly difficult for companies to
differentiate their brands and products through ratio-
nal and economic features such as quality, consistency,
and reliability in increasingly competitive markets
(Murphy 1990). Thus, brands seek differentiation by
the means of lifestyle advertising, which communi-
cates information about the people who might use the
product rather than information about the product
itself (Baran and Blasko 1984; Goodyear 1996). As a
result, today many advertisements portray individuals
who might use a product or service, or individuals
depicting what a product or service does for its user.
For the most part, these individuals are anony-
mous models, as opposed to endorsers, such as
celebrities, typical consumers, CEOs, employees,
and experts. To put the usage of celebrities into
perspective, also the usage of anonymous models in
advertisements is examined. Moreover, the share of
advertisements that features anonymous models
also indicates the additional potential for the use of
endorsers in advertising. Hence, the last research
question is concerned with the share of adverts
that contain anonymous models.
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 225
RSQ5: To what degree do nonendorsement advertise-
ments (dominantly) portray anonymous models?
Research method
This study intends to investigate the prevalence of
(different types of) celebrity endorsers and anony-
mous models in contemporary advertising. As Kassar-
jian notes: “content analysis is a scientific, objective,
systematic, quantitative, and generalizable description
of communications content” (1977, p. 10). Thus, con-
tent analysis is an appropriate methodology to achieve
the objective of this study.
Sample
Due to its reportedly huge share of advertising, the
magazine medium appears to be the preferable
medium for analyzing the content of advertisements.
The sample was drawn from German publications. All
magazines with a readership greater than 1,000,000
per issue, and magazines with a lower readership in
the case that no other magazine of the category
reached that figure, were considered. The outreach
and categories of magazines were determined by data
from the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse, the pri-
mary media user behavior verification service in Ger-
many.1 The data were collected in the last week of
October 2013; hence, the most recent issues available
in book stores at the end of October 2013 were ana-
lyzed. In the case of magazines weekly published, only
one issue was considered. In accordance with other
studies, only advertising units of around a quarter of a
page or larger were analyzed (e.g., Belch and Belch
2013). Classifieds (usually printed in sections toward
the back of magazines) were not considered. Each
page of multiple-page advertisements was considered
as an individual advertisement unit, in order to cap-
ture more accurately the actual prevalence of celebrity
endorsers and models in advertising, rather than cal-
culating the ratio of ads that feature celebrity endors-
ers or models. For the same reason, duplicates were
not excluded. Multiple-page promotional inlays were
considered as a single advert, since most viewers are
highly likely to discard them without further attention
unless they have a particular interest in the advertised
products. In total, 80 magazines were analyzed, con-
taining a total of 11,037 pages and 2,877 advertising
units.
For the categorization of advertised products and
services, the schema used by Belch and Belch (2013)
226 C. SCHIMMELPFENNIG
was applied. These product categories accounted for
more than 80% of the total amount spent on US mag-
azine advertising in 2007 (Belch and Belch 2013) and
provide a sufficiently detailed categorization for the
purpose of this study. Using the Belch and Belch
(2013) schema also allows a comparison of celebrity
usage across categories in the United States vs.
Germany.
Coding
The coding of the adverts followed a two-step coding
process. First, all adverts were coded for whether they
contained a person at all, and if so, whether the indi-
vidual featured qualifies as a celebrity endorser, a non-
celebrity endorser (expert, typical consumer, company
president, or employee endorser), or an anonymous
model. Furthermore, adverts containing anonymous
models were further coded for whether the person was
the dominant object in the ad.
In a second coding, all identified celebrity endorse-
ment adverts were furthermore coded for the type of
celebrity used, and whether the individual may be
nationally or internationally known. The different
categories of “celebrity type” were formed based on
literature’s suggestions (see section “Types of celebri-
ties used in advertising” for a review). The categories
were separated into a group of categories with celeb-
rity types that are likely to be known to the general
public in Germany, and a group of categories with
celebrity types that are likely to be known only to a
minority of German consumers. The former group
includes the celebrity types: “famous musicians,”
“famous athletes,” “famous fashion supermodels,”
“famous actors/actresses,” “famous entertainers,
commentators, presenters, TV hosts,” and the latter
group includes the celebrity types: “top models,”
“fringe sport athletes,” “musicians special interest,”
“It girls,” “TV program contestants,” “professionals
hosting TV shows,” “personified characters,” and
“others.” Moreover, all celebrity types were further
categorized into “only in Germany recognized Ger-
man celebrities,” “internationally recognized German
celebrities,” and “internationally recognized non-
German celebrities.”
Coders were given written coding rules that include
indications on how to categorize the different adver-
tisements that feature anonymous models, celebrity
endorsers, and noncelebrity endorsers. For example,
the rules indicate that for the categorization of an
advert as celebrity endorsement the individual’s
degree of media coverage/presence, his/her score at
IMDb’s STARmeter rating, the (non)existence of a
personal website, the (non)existence of a Wikipedia
entry and its contents, and other factors should be
considered. For the categorization if anonymous mod-
els are the dominant object in an advert the coding
rules indicate to consider whether the individual takes
up more than 50% of the space in the ad, more space
than the product, or whether no picture of the product
but only the individual is shown.
Also for the second coding of the celebrity adverts,
coders were provided with coding rules in a similar
vein. While the categorization of athletes into “famous
athlete” and “fringe sport athlete” did not generate
much disagreement between coders, the categorization
of musicians into “famous musicians” and “musicians
special interest,” or models into “famous fashion
supermodels” and “top models” was a more challeng-
ing task, since the degree of fame of the individuals
appears to be the main differentiator of these catego-
ries. Thus, coders were particularly attentive during
the second coding of the 121 identified celebrity
endorsements and took a considerable amount of time
to consider the various indications expressed in the
coding rules, and to resolve coding discrepancies
through discussion.
Interjudge reliability
The advertisements were classified by a three-judge
panel, composed of male and female judges. All coders
were given written rules and procedures and trained
with a small set of ads, which were not included in the
study sample, prior to the main coding task. All three
judges were German nationals to increase the likeli-
hood of correct classification, particularly of potential
celebrity endorsers. The percentage of agreements
between coders for the initial identification of celebrity
endorsers was 97%. The agreement on whether an
individual qualifies as a noncelebrity endorser (typical
consumer, expert, company president, or employee
endorsers) was 100%, due to the fact that the vast
majority of adverts portraying such endorsers identify
them as such. The initial percentage of agreement in
terms of the classification of celebrity type and anony-
mous models dominant in ads was 92% and 95%,
respectively. Coding discrepancies could be resolved
 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 227

Table 4. Usage of different types of celebrity endorsers in German print advertising.

Only in Germany-recognized Int. recognized German Int. recognized non-German Total in
German celebrities celebrities celebrities total %

Famous musicians 1 1 2 4 3%
Famous athletes 9 9 11 29 22%
Famous fashion supermodels — — 6 6 5%
Famous actors/actresses 6 1 23 30 23%
Famous entertainers, comentators, presenters, TV 12 — 3 15 12%
hosts
Total of celebrity endorser known to the general 28 11 45 84 64%
public in Germany
Top models — — 18 18 14%
Fringe sport athletes 1 — 2 3 2%
Musicians special interest — — 4 4 3%
It girls 1 — 2 3 2%
TV program contestants 10 — — 10 8%
Professionals hosting TV shows 4 — — 4 3%
Personified characters — — 2 2 2%
Others 3 — — 3 2%
Total of celebrity endorsers known only to a 19 0 28 47 36%
minority of German consumers
Total of all celebrity endorsers 47 11 73 131 100%
36% 8% 56% 100%

through discussion, eased by the indications provided
in the coding rules.
Results
The prevalence of celebrity endorsements in ad
campaigns
In total, 2,877 advertising units were identified in the
80 magazines considered in this study. Of those adver-
tisements, 121 (4.2%) were classified as celebrity
endorsements. Similarly to the research by Belch and
Belch (2013) and Choi, Kim, and Lee (2005), who con-
tent analyzed US adverts and commercials, also the
celebrity usage in German advertising is much lower
than most of the literature assumes.
Types of celebrities used in advertising
The second research question was concerned with the
types of celebrity endorsers featured in contemporary
advertising campaigns. To reflect the use of different
types of celebrity endorsers more accurately, in multi-
ple-endorser adverts each individual was considered
separately. Hence, the total number of celebrity
endorsers is slightly higher than the total number of
celebrity endorsements identified.
As table 4 shows, 64% of the celebrity endorsers are
personalities who are known to the general public by
name and/or face. Another 36% of the endorsements
feature celebrities who can be expected to be known
only to a minority of German consumers. It was
observed that advertisements that feature these types
of celebrities often explicitly indicate who they are.
Celebrity endorsers of that group include: top models,
who are presented as such in the advert by stating
their names, who have, however, not (yet) become
celebrities in their own right, like Kate Moss, Gisele
Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Claudia Schiffer, etc.; minor
sports athletes and musicians of special interest cate-
gories who might only be known to a particular audi-
ence; “It girls” and TV program contestants whose
stardom is most likely only very short-lived; professio-
nals who feature in TV shows focusing on cooking,
home remodeling, real estate, and the like or who fre-
quently serve as discussants on TV shows; and other
individuals, such as the movie character “James Bond”
or aristocrats whose names may be occasionally
recognized.
No study has been reported yet that explicitly inves-
tigates what types of celebrities are used in advertising.
Therefore it is not possible to compare the usage of
different types of celebrities in German advertising
with advertising practice in other countries. On a gen-
eral level, the fact that more than a third of celebrity
endorsements identified in this study feature individu-
als who are not known to the general public but need
to be introduced to consumers by being presented as
notables in the advert, was unexpected.
Some studies, however, report the profession of
celebrity endorsers used. Choi, Kim, and Lee (2005)
 228

Table 5. Usage of different types of celebrities across product categories.

Famous Famous entertainers, Fringe
Famous Famous Famous fashion actors/ comentators, presenters, Top sport Musicians It TV program Professionals Personified
C. SCHIMMELPFENNIG

musicians athletes supermodels actresses TV hosts Total models athletes special interest girls contestants hosting TV shows characters Others Total

Alcoholic beverages — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2 2
Athletic products/ — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
equipment
Athletic services — — — 1 — 1 — — — — — — — — —
Automobiles — 8 — — — 8 — 1 — — — — — — 1
Business products — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Cigarettes/tobacco — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Consumer electronics — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Fashion and apparel — — — 1 1 2 6 1 — 3 — — — 1 11
Fast food/restaurants — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Financial services 1 1 — 3 5 10 — — — — — 2 — — 2
Food — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Furniture/home — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
furnishings
Gambling — 1 — — — 1 — — — — — — — — —
Home appliances — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Jewelry and 1 11 — 4 1 17 1 — 4 — — — — — 5
accessories
Media 2 — — 1 — 3 — — — — — 1 — — 1
Nonalcoholic — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
beverages
Personal care and — 8 6 20 2 36 11 1 — — — 1 2 — 15
cosmetics
Pharmaceuticals — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Retail stores — — — — 1 1 — — — — — — — — —
Social cause — — — — 5 5 — — — — — — — — —
Telecommunications — — — — — — — — — — 10 — — — 10
Travel/tourism — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Total 4 29 6 30 15 84 18 3 4 3 10 4 2 3 47

classify 39.6% of the celebrity endorsers featured in US
advertising as actors/actresses, 22.6% as athletes, 7.5%
as music artists, 9.4% as comedians, and 21% as
“other.” Belch and Belch (2013), report that 34% of
the celebrity endorsers are actors/actresses, 27% ath-
letes, 18% fashion models, 16% entertainers, 2% busi-
ness executives, 1% news personality, and 2% of
“other” categories.
International versus national celebrity endorsers
As table 4 indicates, 36% of the celebrity endorsers
might only have celebrity status among consumers in
German-speaking countries, such as violinist David
Garrett, soccer player Christoph Metzelder, actress
Iris Berben, or TV anchorman Ulrich Wickert. Eight
percent of celebrity endorsers are individuals who are
German by nationality but have achieved international
stardom, such as former Formula 1 driver Michael
Schumacher, actress Diane Kr€ uger, DJ Paul van Dyk,
goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who has won four consecu-
tive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards and
three IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper awards, or Mag-
dalena Neuner, the most successful woman of all time
at the Biathlon World Championships and two-time
Olympic gold medalist. Despite their worldwide rec-
ognition, it can be reasoned that their nationality, Ger-
man, might have considerably influenced the decision
to use them in these advertising campaigns. Lastly,
56% of the celebrity endorsers can be classified as
international celebrities, who may or may not be rec-
ognized by a broad global audience, but who could
likewise be used for advertising in non-German mar-
kets. This category includes global stars such as Alicia
Keys, David Beckham, Kevin Costner, or Julia Roberts,
as well as endorsers with whom only a particular audi-
ence is familiar, such as Swedish fashion blogger Elin
Kling, Swiss racing car driver Christina Surer, Chinese
pianist Yuja Wang, or Dutch kitesurfer Youri Zoon.
In conclusion, a little less than half of the celebrity
endorsements feature individuals who have a German
background and are only known or particularly
famous among a German audience. Around 35% (45
in total) of the endorsers are international superstars,
known to a greater audience around the world. This
number is similar to the figures of other western coun-
tries (e.g., the United States or the United Kingdom)
but considerably lower than the ratio in Asian coun-
tries (Twose 2013).
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 229
It is somewhat surprising that the share of non-
German celebrity endorsers who are known only to a
minority of German consumers is greater than the
share of German celebrity endorsers who are known
only to a minority of German consumers. One would
expect that if advertisers use individuals that are likely
to be only recognized by a minority of consumers they
would use individuals with a German background for
campaigns in the German market.
The use of different kinds of celebrities by product
category
Table 5 shows that a substantial portion of celebrity
endorsements in the categories automobiles and finan-
cial services, and to some extent also jewelry and
accessories, feature celebrity endorsers that are recog-
nized by the general public in Germany, whereas cam-
paigns in telecommunications and fashion and
apparel make considerable use of celebrity types that
might only be known to a minority of German con-
sumers. Advertising for personal care products and
cosmetics, on the other hand, relies so heavily on the
celebrity endorsement strategy that a significant num-
ber of campaigns feature endorsers recognized by the
general public as well as a minority of consumers only.
The prevalence of anonymous models in advertising
The last research question pertains to the portrayal of
models in advertisements. Of the 2,877 adverts ana-
lyzed, 1,651 (58%) feature a person, while 1,226 (42%)
only depict the brand’s logo, the advertising text, the
advertised product, or other objects.
The study finds that 121 (7%) of the adverts that
portray a person feature a celebrity, 149 (9%) feature
other endorsers, and the remaining 1,381 (84%)
adverts depict anonymous models. While 401 adverts
(14% of all the advertising units) show anonymous
models in the background or very small in size as
some kind of extra in the ad scenery, 1,226 adverts
(43% of all the advertising units) show blow-ups of
the models or feature them very prominently in the
foreground. This means that dominantly portraying a
person is apparently deemed necessary by advertisers
to convey the advertising message effectively in 43%
of all the advertisements.
The portrayal of people in German advertising as
determined by this study is roughly in the magnitude
230 C. SCHIMMELPFENNIG
of US advertising as determined by Shimp (1976) and
Belch and Belch (2013).
Conclusion
Summary
Much of the academic literature suggests a prevalence
and significant increase of celebrities in advertising of
western countries. It is estimated that 25%–30% of
western advertising employs celebrities. This study,
however, finds that only 4.2% of German print adver-
tisements employ celebrity endorsement strategy.
Around two-thirds of the celebrities used are famous
individuals, recognized by the general public, such as
widely known actors/actresses, entertainers, musi-
cians, athletes, or supermodels. One-third of the cam-
paigns use celebrities that are likely to be only known
to a minority of consumers and thus often need to be
introduced in the ad, such as minor or extreme sports
athletes, It girls, TV show contestants, fashion models,
and the like. This finding is supported by the assess-
ment of marketing experts who argue that “new varie-
ties of celebrity have emerged” that may be an
alternative to the typically featured stars and starlets
(Fitch 2006, p. 1).
It can be concluded that in German print advertis-
ing the usage of celebrity endorsers as defined by liter-
ature, which suggests that celebrity endorsers are truly
famous personalities who are recognized by name and
face by the general public, is as low as 2.9%.
Discussion
In fact, the average usage of celebrities across all media
might even be considerably lower. Most studies draw
their data set from commercials aired on national net-
works during prime time as well as the highest circula-
tion national magazines. Such advertising slots have
great viewer and readership reach and are particularly
expensive. As a result, the sampled data are dominated
by advertising for national consumer brands that have
much larger advertising budgets and are better able to
afford celebrities (Belch and Belch 2013). Adverts in
magazines with lower circulation and commercials in
regional TV stations are likely to contain much fewer
celebrities. As this study draws its sample from the
highest circulation magazines in Germany, it must be
reasoned that the overall usage of celebrities in Ger-
man advertising is even lower as the results imply.
In conjunction with data from research that ana-
lyzes the celebrity usage in the United States, it can be
concluded that celebrities are featured in less than
10% of advertising in western countries. Celebrity
endorsements are therefore a much lesser employed
advertising strategy than academic literature assumes.
The comparison of celebrity usage in US print
advertising and German print advertising shows that
although in both countries celebrities are used much
less than estimated, US advertisers use celebrities twice
as much as German advertisers. One possible explana-
tion for the difference may be that the celebrity system
is primarily an American cultural enterprise and it
may therefore be possible that Americans identify
especially strongly with them and are more willing to
accept and internalize endorsement messages (Silvera
and Austad 2004). Congruent with this suggestion, a
metaanalysis of the effectiveness of celebrity endorse-
ments finds that celebrity endorsements are far less
influential in non-US studies (Amos, Holmes, and
Strutton 2008). Hence, the authors conclude that
“non-US populations are less responsive to celebrity
endorsers” (p. 228).
Furthermore, this study indicates that certain sec-
tors, most notably personal care and cosmetics, but
also jewelry and accessories, and financial services
make frequent use of celebrities that are known to the
general public. Contrary to the sectors telecommuni-
cation, retail, fashion and apparel, and athletic serv-
ices, where only few campaigns feature celebrities that
are known to the general public. Thus, in these latter
categories, e.g., fashion and apparel, the use of a truly
famous celebrity that is known to the general public
might be an effective strategy to differentiate a brand’s
advertising from that of the competition in the Ger-
man market. Interestingly, this is very different from
US advertising practice, where the usage of celebrities
in advertising for fashion and apparel is the second
highest, following cosmetics and personal care (Belch
and Belch 2013). A brand that intends to enter the US
or the German market, may want to consider these
significant differences in celebrity usage in some cate-
gories. To differentiate the brand’s advertising from
that of the competition a global advertising strategy
needs to be adapted or a local strategy conceived in
certain product categories.
Finally, this study reveals that 58% of the advertise-
ments contain one or more persons, and 43% of the
advertisements feature them very prominently. The

large share of advertising that focuses on the portrayal
of people as an effective and persuasive ad vehicle
shows the huge potential for celebrity endorsements,
particularly those celebrity types that are likely to be
known only to a minority of consumers. For it must
be assumed that anonymous models were chosen over
celebrities due to the fact that either the marketing
budget did not permit contracting a celebrity or
because the advertisers felt that the brand could be
overshadowed or tarnished by them. Less popular per-
sonalities might provide benefits over anonymous
models, since they allow brands to elaborate on their
“story” and image in the advertisement, but are less
risky and expensive than major celebrities.
Implications
This study’s results have significant implications for
marketing theory and practice. First, the quantifica-
tion of the usage of celebrities in advertising pro-
vides scholars with valid data for a solid
argumentation. The frequently cited practitioner
estimates are considerably higher than the data
produced by empirical research, and are therefore
most likely incorrect. Second, the use of different
celebrity types varies among product categories.
While using a particular type of celebrity in an ad
campaign might be a unique strategy for some
products, it can be a very common ad strategy for
other products, and thus does not allow differentia-
tion. Also, the usage of different types of celebrities
in different product categories varies across mar-
kets. Marketers therefore need to consider local dif-
ferences when conceiving an advertising strategy
for a new market that aspires to differentiate the
brand’s advertising from that of the competition.
Third, a third of the celebrity adverts use individu-
als that are likely to be only recognized by a
minority of consumers. The effectiveness of such
endorsers has not received much attention in the
academic literature yet. Research therefore needs to
investigate the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers
recognized by only a minority of consumers for
different products in order to provide marketing
practice with valuable guidance. Forth, in almost
every second campaign marketers bank on the por-
trayal of people as an effective ad vehicle. Appar-
ently advertisers choose anonymous models due to
the costs and risks that come with working with a
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 231
major celebrity. Thus, there is a huge potential for
the use of celebrity types that are likely to be rec-
ognized only by a minority of consumers, but that
combine the extra value that such individuals are
able to bring to adverts through elaborating on
their “story” with the lower costs and risks of
anonymous models.
Limitations and suggestions for future research
The findings of this study yield insights into the use of
anonymous models and celebrities in German print
advertising. The results are congruent with data pro-
duced by studies investigating US advertising. How-
ever, there are two major limitations to be noted.
First, the culture of each country and market is very
unique: academic research has suggested that the
receptivity of consumers to marketing messages con-
veyed by celebrities varies significantly between cul-
tures, and as a result, the usage of celebrities as ad
vehicles differs substantially between countries (Choi,
Kim, and Lee 2005; Silvera and Austad 2004). There-
fore, attempts to generalize from the data presented in
this study as to the usage of celebrities in western
advertising must be done with caution.
The second major limitation is concerned with the
comparability of the results of different studies and
data. The academic studies discussed in this article
apply slightly different methodologies and use differ-
ent advertisement samples. For example, some stud-
ies examine print advertising, while others examine
TV commercials, some draw its sample from national
networks only, while others also consider more
regional media, some only consider prime-time com-
mercials or print ads larger than a third of a page
and others a much broader sample. Thus, there are
certain limitations to the comparability of results
yielded through research that uses somewhat incon-
gruent methodology.
As this study shows, one-third of celebrity cam-
paigns use individuals who are likely to be only
recognized by a minority of consumers. However,
the usage of such celebrities has not yet received
much attention in the academic literature. There is
an urgent need for marketing research to provide
advertising practice with knowledge on endorse-
ment concepts other than those that feature major
celebrities.
232 C. SCHIMMELPFENNIG
As with any content analysis, the findings of this
study do not provide answers as to the effectiveness of
different celebrity types in advertising campaigns. Yet,
the findings pose new questions. Do celebrity endors-
ers who are likely to be only known to a minority of
consumers provide benefits over the traditionally used
widely famous celebrities? Under what circumstances
are they equally or more effective than celebrities
known to the general public? Do the smaller fees they
are able to charge financially offset the “stopping
power” that many advertisers expect world-famous
stars to create?
This study compiles and provides strong evidence
that the quantity and quality of celebrity endorse-
ments in advertising practice significantly differs from
literature’s assumptions. Academic research is now
challenged to investigate the effectiveness of different
types of celebrities as product endorsers.
Note
1. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse (agma) is the Ger-
man association for media analysis. It was founded in
1954 and commissions an annual survey of media user
behavior of German consumers. Agma uses panels of up
to 50,000 consumers and analyzes the outreach of media
such as print, TV, radio, movie theater, billboards, and
online media. Due to its acknowledged validity and rigor,
tariffs for advertisements in different media are frequently
based on the study’s results (Wolff 2006).
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