Article

Are Classic Theories of Celebrity Journal of Creative Communications

14(1) 15–30, 2019
Endorsements Applicable to © 2019 MICA-The School of Ideas
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DOI: 10.1177/0973258618822608
A Qualitative Investigation of journals.sagepub.com/home/crc

Saudi Social Media Users

Shuaa Aljasir1

Abstract
This study aims to investigate the extent to which classic celebrity endorsement theories are
applicable when such endorsements are performed on interactive social media platforms. It utilizes
phenomenological semi-structured interviews with 73 participants. The data analysis shows several
perceived characteristics of convincing celebrity endorsements on social media from the Saudi users’
viewpoints. Trustworthiness is perceived when an endorsement discloses that it is a paid advertisement
or uses indirect ways to endorse the product. When it comes to high-tech products, it is not necessary
for the celebrity to be an expert in the field of the product they are endorsing, but when endorsing
accessories, these celebrities should be attractive, should test the product before advertising it and
should endorse a reasonable number of products. Endorsements are most acceptable from either
likeable celebrities or from normal people with a reasonable number of social media followers.
The results show that while some elements of classic theories of celebrity endorsements are applicable
on social media platforms, others should be modified to align with new media users. A celebrity
endorsement model is proposed based on the current findings.

Keywords
Celebrity endorsements, advertisements, celebrity, social media, endorsement theories

Introduction
Celebrity endorser is defined as ‘any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recog-
nition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement’ (McCracken, 1989,
p. 310). Although celebrity endorsement is a widely used marketing strategy today, a review of celebrity

1
College of Communication and Media, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Corresponding author:
Shuaa Aljasir, College of Communication and Media, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
E-mail: shaljasir@kau.edu.sa
16 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

endorsement literature reveals that studies investigating this strategy have mainly focused on consumers’
perspectives of celebrity endorsement effectiveness in traditional television and printed media
(e.g., Aggarwal-Gupta & Dang, 2009; Arsena, Silvera, & Pandelaere, 2014; Aureliano-Silva, Lopes,
De Lamônica Freire, & da Silva, 2015; Banytė, Stonkienė, & Piligrimienė, 2011; G. E. Belch & Belch,
2013; Bhatt, Jayswl, & Pate, 2013). These studies have either been conducted in the West, such as the
United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Lithuania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, or in the
East, such as Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.
However, beyond political marketing (e.g., Crawford, 2009; Grant, Moon, & Grant, 2010), few
studies have focused on celebrity endorsements in new media, such as social media or the effectiveness
of such endorsements on consumer behaviour. For instance, Johns and English (2016) focused on
Australian celebrities’ use of social media to strengthen their own brands. Van Norel, Kommers, Van
Hoof, and Verhoeven (2014) examined the extent to which celebrity Twitter messages can be used to
repair a damaged corporate reputation in the Netherlands, how such a message should be designed and
which celebrities should be used. To the researcher’s knowledge, the only study that has investigated
consumers’ perceptions of celebrity endorsements on social media was conducted by Jin and Phua (2014),
but they only examined the impact of Twitter-based electronic word of mouth on American consumers’
source of credibility perceptions, buying intentions and social identification with celebrities. Due to this
gap in the literature regarding consumers’ perceptions of celebrity endorsements on social media, and
given that all celebrity endorsement theories have mainly been developed based on traditional one-way
media, this study aims to investigate the extent to which these celebrity endorsement theories are
applicable when such endorsements are performed on interactive social media platforms.

Celebrity Endorsement Theories and New Media Platforms:

An Overview
A review of the literature on celebrity endorsement theories shows that researchers have primarily
explored the best criteria for selecting a suitable celebrity to endorse the product and effective ways
through which the desired characteristics are transferred from the celebrity to the product and from such
products to consumers. Laying the foundation for marketing purposes, previous studies have highlighted
models for finding proper endorsements. The studies exploring celebrity endorsements have generally
employed one of three foundational celebrity endorsement models: source models, the meaning transfer
model and the match-up hypothesis. Additional studies have focused on how to monitor and predict the
effectiveness of celebrity endorsements alongside social science research, which has examined higher
brand identity and product success as a result of celebrity endorsements. One key issue here is that the
majority of the theories developed to date have been in Western countries. Culturally, a divide exists
between Western nations and those in the rest of the world. Such a divide manifests itself in many ways,
particularly the values that people find important for things such as celebrities and endorsements.
As such, the Western-developed models are critical for a foundation in this field of research, but they
leave a large gap, which this study intends to fill.
The source model is considered the oldest model and has two parts: source credibility (Hovland
& Weiss, 1951; Ohanian, 1991) and source attractiveness (Kamins, 1990). According to Ohanian (1990),
source credibility is defined as ‘a communicator’s positive characteristics that affect the receiver’s
acceptance of a message’ (p. 41). Thus, this model proposes that the level of the two constructs of source
credibility—the endorser’s expertise and trustworthiness as perceived by the consumer—are factors that
determine the effectiveness of a message. The source attractiveness model, however, theorizes that
attractiveness consists of three factors: similarity, familiarity and likeability. Therefore, if consumers
Aljasir 17

perceive a celebrity as similar to them and they like that celebrity, it is likely that they will find the cele-
brity attractive and will buy the product endorsed by the celebrity. The meaning transfer model (McCracken,
1989) hypothesizes that people assign a distinctive persona to celebrities as a result of the ways they are
portrayed in the media, and when an advertising agency hires a celebrity to endorse a product, it hopes
that the meaning developed around this particular celebrity will be transferred to the product. Thus, a
consumer—who identifies with the celebrity—will buy the product, hoping that some of these meanings
will be transferred to his/her own life. Finally, the match-up hypothesis (Till & Busler, 1998) indicates
that the consumer’s perceived fit between the celebrity endorser and the endorsed product determines the
extent to which the advertisement of this product is persuasive.
Banytė et al. (2011) suggested the three-stage model to select celebrity endorsers. Stage one includes
identifying the possibility of using celebrity endorsements and holds some points of thought, such as
meaning transfer, product differentiation level, consumer engagement level, queries of brand positioning
and repositioning, introduction of a new brand and entering global campaigns. It should be understood
that other reasons may exist for why celebrity endorsements are utilized based on specific circumstances.
This model points out a few reasons that should not be viewed as exclusive or fixed, as they are simply
acknowledged as the most common reasons for use overall. The second stage describes the assessment
of a celebrity’s suitability or appropriateness to endorse a product or brand. It covers eight important
factors for choosing a certain celebrity, such as matching the brand with the person, matching the brand
with the celebrity’s audience, physical attractiveness, respect, familiarity and the celebrity’s perceived
trustworthiness, expertise and likeability. The third stage describes the prediction of possible risks that is
connected with using celebrity endorsements. With high-risk levels, brands should consider revisiting
the evaluation stage for celebrity advertising and selecting a different celebrity.
In addition to applying these fundamental models to the process of choosing celebrity endorsers,
previous research has focused on how these endorsements are rendered effective or ineffective, particu-
larly by marketing communication researchers who have applied theories from social science fields.
For instance, some studies have applied social influence theory, such as those conducted by Biswas,
Hussain, and O’Donnell (2009), to explain how a person’s behaviour is easily influenced to match the
behaviour in a community (Venkatesh & Brown, 2001). Two recognized types of social influences, as
coined by Deutsch and Gerard (1955), are informational and normative. Influence that occurs based on
information that was gathered and presented as evidence is known as informational social influence,
whereas influence that comes from the pressure to change one’s behaviour to match the behaviour of
others in a group is referred to as normative social influence. Groups that seek to reach conformity from
within and need to receive positive praise from other group members describe a normative influence
process in which conversations among the group are generally geared to positions that the group sup-
ports. Members of a group in which normative influence is taking place feel a greater sense of pressure
to conform, even if the desired behaviour is completely against the member’s prior held attitudes and
beliefs. Individuals affected by informational influence, however, experience a re-evaluation of their
former opinions and beliefs, mainly because the facts presented in support of the new belief are
presented by well-respected and trusted group members (Kaplan & Miller, 1987).
Jin and Phua (2014) applied social capital theory, or the idea that social capital is gained when social
network relationships are formed, in their studies. Social network structures are strengthened by groups
of people who socialize based on mutual interests and the other social factors they may have in common
(Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Nahapiet and Ghoshal (2000) described social capital as the result
of combining potential and actual resources that can be acquired through the network of the individual’s
unit and of the entire social group. They considered social capital as part of either the bridging or bond-
ing process. Bridging social capital involves combining the resources gained from connections with
18 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

little-to-no personal or emotional backing. In contrast, bonding social capital involves creating and
maintaining the capital gained through sturdy and stable connections (Putnam, 2000).
Jin and Phua (2014) also tried to apply social identity theory to celebrity endorsement settings. Social
identity theory describes the manner in which, for socialization purposes, identifying features that are
similar to other features can become a useful tool for organizations (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). In other
words, some people tend to naturally define themselves based on their perceived position in a group, such
as social groups, professional groups or racial groups. As this occurs, people are often more likely to create
and maintain a positive self-view since they understand that other group members will tend to mirror
their behaviour rather than that of someone from an external group. As such, these individuals are also
likely to identify their own status as higher or superior, and they begin to disassociate themselves from
members who they consider are of a lower or inferior status (Simon, Pantaleo, & Mummendey, 1995).
Expounding upon the research into how to choose celebrities and what makes them effective, researchers
have also examined the features of what is known as applied social judgement theory in celebrity
endorsement settings (e.g., Lord & Putrevu, 2009). Social identity theory describes a change in a per-
son’s attitude as the result of a judgmental process. This theory suggests that a stand a person takes is but
one point in a continuum of possible opinions based on the fact that an individual’s tolerance level is
critical to gauging his/her response to external stimuli and persuasion (Sherif & Hovland, 1961).
Specifically, a person’s stated opinion is only tolerated by another person if he/she views the opinion as
similar to his/her own. This newly accepted opinion is then considered to be the individual’s latitude of
acceptance. Presented opinions, however, are neither supported nor opposed if another individual does
not perceive the opinion as either extremely similar or extremely different than their own; this lack of
opinion support or opposition is referred to as being in the latitude of non-commitment. It is clear that
these three different latitudes are determined by special factors, such as a person’s ego and the level of
knowledge the person has about the subject. As a presented opinion enters another person’s latitude of
acceptance or simply remains in the latitude of the non-commitment, a sense of assimilation takes place
because the presented opinion is viewed as more similar to another’s standpoint than what it actually is.
As such, this newly formed positive opinion may influence the other individual to take a new stance on
it. Ultimately, the larger the difference between the two separate opinions from the presented opinions,
the more one can expect a significant change in attitude (Sherif, Sherif, & Nebergall, 1965).
Anderson (1983) further examined the effectiveness of applying these theories with his model of the
associative network, which was studied and applied by researchers Kelting and Rice in their 2013 study
of celebrity endorsement. According to this model, long-term memory can be described as a network of
nodes, which represents collected data, and interconnecting links, which act as the strength between the
interconnected nodes. When this model is applied to advertisements, for example, it assumes that when
consumers are exposed to advertisements, they tend to collect and store information, such as the type of
product, its uses, its name and their evaluation of the brand that is promoting it, into distinct nodes in
their long-term memories. Similarly, a strong association between any two nodes in the long-term
memory is dependent on the advertisement’s effectiveness and how frequently it is shown to the general
public, as well as how well the advertisement is able to demonstrate a unique link to the data stored in
the memory nodes. Marketing researchers have hypothesized that when consumers view an ad and
attempt to recall its information, especially after some time has passed, the process of data retrieval
spreads activation. In other words, as nodes become activated in data retrieval from long-term memory
storage, activation spreads from one node to another, connecting both nodes to the data stored in the
memory. This activation process relies on the level of strength between the node that has become
activated and the remaining nodes that are connected. When connected nodes are linked to nodes that
have become activated, the activation spreads outward from the main memory to more distant memories.
Aljasir 19

These findings on consumer memory support the concept of retrieval cue, which describes the action
taken when the factors that influence activation retrieve saved data, providing consumers with their
sought-after information. This information can be verbal or visual and provides a link between two
memory nodes by presenting clear and purposeful information that can be retrieved from long-term
memory (Keller, 1987).
Other research has applied what is known as either the associative learning theory or the classical
conditioning theory (Biswas, Biswas, & Das, 2006; Chen, Chang, Besherat, & Baack, 2013). The asso-
ciative learning theory suggests that the process of learning is accomplished through interactions with
the physical and social surroundings. The environment, according to this theory, is responsible for
shaping behaviour, emotions, thoughts and feelings. Associative learning, however, can be separated
into two sub-fields: classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. Classical conditioning refers
to the mental state as it conforms to stimuli, and instrumental conditioning is more associated with
response-outcome situations. Two unconnected nodes have to become linked (the event) to cause a
behavioural change (Hall, 2002). In both forms of conditioning, however, behavioural changes are said
to emanate from the occurrence of two different events, which are explained as parts of a (conceptual)
system of nodes that can connect to each other to form strong links.
Some studies have applied affective and cognitive theory of mind or cognitive information and pro-
cessing theory (e.g., Eisend & Langner, 2010; Mathys, Burmester, & Clement, 2016). Social cognition
can be described as a broad construct with required processes, such as emotional recognition, empathy
and theory of mind, which all play important roles in determining an individual’s overall behaviour
and his/her ability to identify with the ideas and feelings of other people. Thus, social cognition is an
individual’s ability to gauge mental states, such as a person’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs and motivations,
in order to determine and explain another individual’s behaviour (Premack & Woodruff, 1978).
Perspectives of the cognitive information and processing theory are rooted in gaining an understand-
ing of how people process information, which is often loosely determined by three primary factors:
(a) uncertainty or the number of alternatives against the amount of information acquired and understood;
(b) the basic structure or information platform; and (c) familiarity or the human information processing
ability. These factors do not serve as the sole explanations, but format and uncertainty factors of informa-
tion can and often produce an overlap (Lloyd & Jankowski, 1999).
Other researchers have formed their own models built on classical theories, such as the trustworthi-
ness, expertise, attractiveness, respect and similarity (TEARS) model by Shimp (2003). Shimp asserted
that credibility and attractiveness greatly contribute to the endorser effect and added five distinctive sub-
attributes (TEARS): trustworthiness and expertise, which signify two dimensions of credibility for the
targeted audience, and physical attractiveness, respect and similarity, which act as components of overall
attractiveness.
Determining the impact of celebrity endorsements is, of course, critically important to those brands
that employ them. To that end, the model created by Dwivedi and Johnson (2013) to gauge trust and
commitment is similar to that analysed by Spry, Pappu, and Bettina Cornwell (2011), as it supports the
notion that celebrity endorsements make a significant impact on brand equity. Rather than brand credi-
bility, as seen with physical products, Dwivedi and Johnson (2013) relied on the trust–commitment
framework developed by Morgan and Hunt (1994) and viewed brand trust and relationship commitment
as mediators. Along with the importance of brand equity, they also examined relationship continuity
intentions.
Finally, endorsement credibility has been shown to potentially influence the trust–commitment frame-
work (e.g., Dwivedi & Johnson, 2013), which is associated with the reciprocal action theory coined
by Li and Dant (1997). A primary principle of this theory suggests that consumers will gain a sense of
20 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

commitment or loyalty towards a brand as a reaction to the efforts conducted to build relationships.
While celebrities provide the general public with benefits, they are equally important for the growth and
development of consumer self-identity. Consumers become more supportive of brands and are more
likely to engage in relational-type behaviour with these brands, especially with those involving a high
amount of celebrity endorsement, as they receive benefits that help to shape their own identities.
The literature review shows that marketing communication researchers have typically explained the
celebrity endorsement processes in old media platforms, using either classic celebrity endorsement
theories, theories in other disciplines or by forming their own models. Therefore, the current study aims
to investigate the extent to which classic celebrity endorsement theories are applicable when such
endorsements are performed on interactive social media platforms. In particular, this study aims to
answer the following research question:

RQ: To what extent are celebrity endorsement theories applicable to new media platforms?

By conducting intensive phenomenological interviews with Saudi consumers, this study particularly
aims to investigate and answer the following two sub-questions:

RQ1: Which elements of traditional celebrity endorsement theories are applicable when endorsing a
product on a new media platform?

Considering all the dimensions covered in previous celebrity endorsement theories, this research also
investigates the role of endorsers’ characteristics (i.e., trustworthiness, expertise and attractiveness) and
the effect of celebrity–product congruence (on the basis of expertise, image and attractiveness) on adver-
tising effectiveness measures (in terms of consumers’ attitudes and behaviours towards the brand and
advertisements, brand recall, brand recognition, purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour) in
order to answer the second sub-question of the study:

RQ2: What is the most suitable model to describe the celebrity endorsement process on social media
platforms?

Materials and Methods

Phenomenological interviews are among the most common strategies for collecting qualitative data.
According to Creswell (1998, p. 51), phenomenology is defined as individuals’ meanings of a phenom-
enon based on their lived experiences. Sorrell and Redmond (1995) indicated that the purpose of the
phenomenological interview is to reveal common meanings among the participants based on their lived
experience. This researcher aims to gain a better understanding of the ‘inside-out experience’ of the
participants. The current research utilizes this method to obtain a wealth of details regarding the applica-
bility of classic celebrity endorsement theories to new media platforms. As the phenomenon of celebrity
endorsement through new media among Saudis is still relatively unexplored, this qualitative method will
help provide a robust description and close analysis of the participants’ experiences to form a clear
understanding of how meaning is generated through their embodied perceptions (Starks & Trinidad,
2007). According to DiCicco-Bloom and Crabtree (2006), contemporary scholars have categorized
qualitative interviews into three different types: unstructured, semi-structured and structured.
This research utilizes the semi-structured interview strategy. The semi-structured interview is defined as
Aljasir 21

a qualitative form of interview in which the interviewees are asked a number of pre-set but open-ended
questions (Ayres, 2008). Thus, semi-structured interviews consist of predetermined questions that are
asked in a constant and systematic way, interpolated with prompts in order to stimulate rich answers by
directing the interview towards the issues and themes the interviewer is aiming to explore. A major
advantage of this method is that it allows the interviewee to clearly understand and communicate, over-
coming ambiguities during the interview while sustaining their subjective framework (Wojnar & Swanson,
2007). Besides the flexibility in collecting the data and the depth of data collected, a phenomenological
semi-structured interview also enables the researcher gain previously unanticipated data and investigate
the research phenomenon from the perceptions of the research population (Silvermann, 1993). A pilot
study was conducted with 10 volunteers to ensure the questions’ reliability and to help identify any
problematic questions—ones that were ambiguous or that made participants uncomfortable. Further, a
face validity test was conducted by two professors in the field and the interview questions were edited
according to the professors’ feedback.

Participants
Participants were recruited randomly from one of the main shopping centres in the second-largest
city in Saudi Arabia. A total of 73 interviewees volunteered to participate in this research (female = 44,
males = 29; MAge = 27.14, SDAge = 2.87) in the fall of 2016. According to Green and Thorogood (2009),
20 interview participants are considered a sufficient number among qualitative researchers. Particularly
for phenomenological interview studies, Starks and Trinidad (2007) indicated that typical sample sizes
range from one to 10 participants. Thus, the sample size of the current study was considered to be more
than adequate.

Interview Questions
After answering questions about their ages and genders, the participants were provided with four open-
ended interview questions to answer. The first question asked them who they follow on social media
platforms. It was made clear to the participants that all social media platforms were considered (e.g.,
Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.). When they mentioned that they follow celebrities—and all the par-
ticipants did—they were then asked to recall if any of those celebrities endorsed any product or service
and on which social media platforms. They were also asked if they were convinced by their endorse-
ments or not and to state the reasoning behind that. Finally, they were asked about the characteristics of
the celebrities they perceived as convincing in their product endorsements.

Procedure
After all the interviews were conducted, a verbatim transcription was completed, and the data were
analysed. Following Creswell’s (1998) description of the systematic coding data process of phenomeno-
logical research, the responses were grouped together and coded to look for patterns in the data. Codes,
categories and themes emerged through the inductive analysis of this data, allowing the researcher to
capture the essence of the subjects’ experiences. The transcripts were then read twice for any further
codes, categories or themes. Rich description was used, involving reporting details of the interviews
through the inclusion of quotations from the participants. These were independently reviewed to verify
the accuracy of the codes, categories and themes suggested by the researcher’s findings.
22 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

Analysis of the Results

The results showed that the sample considered make-up artists, fashionistas, self-help trainees, models,
young businessmen and businesswomen, comedians and technology experts to be celebrities. For
instance, one of the participants said, ‘I am following a number of celebrities in different fields, such as
fashion, business, and technology’. Interestingly, most of these celebrities first appeared on social media
platforms, as one of the participants indicated: ‘Before social media, I never heard of these celebrities in
my social life or saw them on television. I really think they started to be famous with the spread of social
media’. According to the participants, many of these celebrities left their offline jobs for the paid adver-
tisements offered through social media platforms. One of the participants said

[S]ome of the celebrities I follow have indicated that it is time to quit their jobs and dedicate their lives to their
channels and accounts in several social media platforms. I think they are earning good money from the advertise-
ments they made through these platforms in order to make such decision.

The majority said that they follow celebrities on Snapchat and Instagram more so than other social media
platforms because of their features. In particular, these platforms allow them to see and hear celebrities,
as opposed to Twitter or other social media. For example, one of the participants said,

[F]or me and most of the people I know, we prefer to see and hear these people and not just read what they wrote.
So, we mainly follow them on Snapchat and Instagram. Twitter is considered a place to find out what is happen-
ing in the world right now and not to watch other people’s lives.

When asked about their reasons for following these celebrities, most of the sample agreed that they did
so because others did and to be up to date with current trends. One participant stated, ‘I was only follow-
ing my family and friends on social media, but I started to follow some celebrities because I always heard
my friends talking about what these celebrities did and talked about’. The participants also indicated that
they follow social media celebrities because of the interesting things they broadcast, to be introduced to
new things, for entertainment and to kill time. Some of the participants also said that they mainly follow
celebrities because they give discounts and free coupons. For instance, one of the participants stated that
‘receiving coupons from the celebrities is the main reason I would buy the products they endorse’.
Regarding the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements on social media platforms, surprisingly, the
data analysis showed that Saudis are aware that celebrities, when talking about a product, do not share
their daily life experience but explicitly endorse a product in order to get paid. For example, one of the
participants said

In the beginning, when I started to follow these celebrities, I really thought they were giving us good advice
about what they would consider a good product. However, over time, I started to realize that these are not honest
endorsements, and they are getting money in exchange for advertising the products to us.

Participants were also aware that some companies target celebrities’ followers, especially when they
have a large number, to guarantee the sale of their products: ‘sometimes a product of a big name is being
endorsed exactly in the same way by those celebrities who are considered the most influential to make
sure that many people will believe their endorsements and buy the products’. Most of the participants
said they have started to treat celebrity endorsement posts on Instagram or Snapchat as the new form of
television advertisements and that they as viewers should be responsible for their choices. For instance,
one of the participants stated
Aljasir 23

It is not like before; now we are aware that these social media posts are the new form of advertisements, and
advertising agencies and celebrities cannot be blamed for that. It is our responsibility as celebrities’ followers to
determine if we want to buy the endorsed product or not, just as we did when watching television advertisements.

The credibility of some of these social media celebrities is questionable to Saudis for several reasons.
Saudis are aware that these celebrities are being paid to advertise products by using their fame and social
media audience, which makes their endorsements less trustworthy. Others commented on the high cost of
utilizing celebrity endorsements to promote products. For instance, one of the participants said, ‘Maybe
the most important reason why I do not believe the endorsements these people make is that I am truly
convinced they are getting huge payments for it, and they may not advertise these products if it was
for free’. The participants also believed that some celebrities are using their huge numbers of followers
to become rich by advertising products they would not even test on themselves and that some often
exaggerate in their endorsements, which the sample considered a kind of cheating. For example, one of
the participants stated, ‘After buying several unsatisfactory products endorsed by a favourite celebrity,
I realized that the endorsements are paid advertising and not personal recommendations of these pro-
ducts’. Another participant said, ‘I believe that some celebrities did not even test the product they were
endorsing. They even endorse a number of products that are supposed to do the same job on the same day!’
Product comparisons, or advertising two products from different companies but saying that each is the
best, also causes followers to question celebrities’ credibility, according to the participants. For example,
one participant noted that ‘one of the celebrities, whom I follow, suddenly believed that XXX (a private
Saudi airline) was the best airline although he used to say that he would only fly with XXX or XXX
whenever he needed to travel’. Similarly, another participants said that

[A] fashionista continually said she would not allow a house maid to enter her house and advised Saudi house-
wives to do the same, but when a maid service company asked her to endorse their service in exchange for free
maid service, she began to praise their services and highlighted the advantages of having a maid without provid-
ing any rationale for why she changed her opinion.

Most of the current Saudi participants’ reactions to celebrity endorsements were not positive, and they
said they often end up researching the endorsed products more via the comments, opinions and experi-
ences of other followers before buying. Interestingly, the participants indicated that the most effective
endorsements are for restaurants because they are the least harmful and cheapest to test.
Regarding the perceived characteristics of a convincing celebrity endorsement on social media from
the Saudis’ viewpoints, the result shows that the most important characteristics is trustworthiness, gained
by disclosing that the endorsement is a paid advertisement. For instance, one of the participants said,
‘Celebrities who state that she or he has been asked to advertise or review a product and those who say
the consumer is free to buy the product or not seem more convincing to me than others’. In addition, the
participants believe that those who state the disadvantages of using a product raise their credibility in
comparison with those who only mention the benefits. The participants also mentioned that untrust-
worthy celebrities do not reveal that they are being paid but use indirect ways to endorse products.
For instance, one participant recounted an incident when a male celebrity pretended that he was looking
for a product in the supermarket that he could not live without but could not find, so he asked his
followers for help; this respondent was totally engaged with the process and did not realize the post was
an advertisement until he/she read the comments of other followers. Another said,

After I was disappointed by the products I bought after their endorsements, I started to only buy products the
celebrities were wearing or had next to them, as opposed to the ones they endorse, because I believe these are the
ones the celebrities actually use.
24 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

When it comes to high-tech products, Saudis do not think it is necessary for these celebrities to be experts
in the field of the product. It is enough that they need this product in their daily lives. Their endorsements
will be more effective than an expert’s because it comes out of their need. Further, according to the
participants, if recommendations only come from experts, they will not be viewed by a large segment of
the society because it is boring to follow people who talk about technical stuff all the time. When endors-
ing accessories such as clothes or cosmetics, however, they believe that these celebrities should be attrac-
tive. When it comes to medications, the participants tend to believe doctors’ endorsements over models’
or fashionistas’ endorsements. For example, one participant said,

Unless a doctor I follow is the one recommending pills I need, I will not buy them. I see many fashionistas who
advertise vitamins for hair and skin or weight-loss pills, but it never even crossed my mind to buy any medica-
tions that a non-professional recommended. Health comes first.

Being an expert is more important than having used the product in this case.
Testing the product beforehand and providing a frank opinion of it were also mentioned as perceived
characteristics of the most convincing celebrity endorsements. Celebrities who apologized when they
realized that a product was faulty were more credible, according to the participants. Endorsing a reason-
able number of products was another perceived characteristic of a convincing celebrity endorsement—
too many endorsements lessen their credibility. For instance, one of the participants stated, ‘I usually
unfollow celebrities who advertise too many products, as I viewed this as disrespectful to us as their
followers’. The Saudi participants also tended to believe the endorsements of celebrities they had liked
before the social media phenomenon or of non-celebrities with a reasonable number of followers more
than those they label as social media celebrities because, according to one of the participants, ‘… they
are more likely telling their real experience than being paid for their endorsement’.

Discussion
Based on the literature review, it can be said that the majority of the theories developed to date are from
Western countries. Culturally, a divide exists between Western nations and those in the rest of the world,
Saudi Arabia in particular. Here, the divide manifests itself in the form of the values people find impor-
tant for things such as celebrities and endorsements. As such, the Western-developed models are critical
for a foundation in this field of research, but they leave a large gap pertaining to what other nations
would find important and what Saudi Arabia would find important specifically.
The data analysis showed some perceived characteristics of a convincing celebrity endorsement on
social media that are unique to Saudis’ viewpoints. Comparing these characteristics with those indicated
in previous traditional media celebrity endorsement models shows that while some of them are applica-
ble to social media, other new characteristics appear in this new media. Based on the current findings,
the key differences between classic theories and models compared to the Saudi view of celebrity endorse-
ments are illustrated in Figure 1.
The considered source model had two key components: source credibility (Hovland & Weiss, 1951;
Ohanian, 1991) and source attractiveness (Kamins, 1990). This model proposed that source credibility
was determined by the expertise and trustworthiness of the endorser, as perceived by the consumer, and
these factors determined how effective a message was. The source attractiveness found that similarity,
familiarity and likeability were most important such that consumers who perceived a celebrity was
similar to them and liked this celebrity would be more likely to buy the product endorsed by the celebrity.
Aljasir 25

Figure 1.  Classic Theories and Models Versus the Saudi View of Celebrity Endorsement Model
Source: The author.
26 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

The Saudi participants believed that those who state the disadvantages of using the product raise their
credibility in comparison with those who only mention the benefits. While Saudis and Western partici-
pants wanted celebrity endorsements from credible and trustworthy celebrities, Western studies did not
show any cases in which consumers failed to buy because of a lack of either, whereas the results from
the Saudi participants in this research indicate that, at times, consumers chose not to use an endorsed
product in these cases.
When reviewing the foundational celebrity-endorsement source model, the two constructs of source
credibility models, expertise and trustworthiness, are applicable to some extent. While the current
participants also agreed that trustworthiness is the main perceived characteristic of a convincing celebrity
endorsement on social media (gained by disclosing it as a paid advertisement and endorsing a reasonable
number of products), they added that these celebrities might also use indirect ways to endorse the products.
The expertise characteristic was, to some extent, applicable to the current participants regarding high-
tech products; it is not necessary for these celebrities to be experts on the products, but when endorsing
accessories, celebrities should be attractive. This characteristic supports the match-up hypothesis, which
posits that the consumers’ perceived fit between the celebrity endorser and the endorsed product deter-
mine the extent to which the advertisement is persuasive. Saudis also indicated that they prefer endorse-
ments from either celebrities they liked before the prevalence of social media or those of a normal person
with a reasonable number of followers. Such characteristics go along with the three factors of attractive-
ness theorized by the source-attractiveness model: similarity, familiarity and likeability. This shows that
being a normal person with a few followers, such as in the case of the average consumer, is relatable to
consumers and will increase their attraction to the product. These results show that while some elements
of classic theories of celebrity endorsements are applicable to social media platforms, others should be
modified to align with new media users.
When reviewing the social influence theory, such as Jin and Phua’s (2014) social capital theory, the
literature indicated that social capital is gained when social network relationships are formed. For modern
advertising, consumers form social network relationships that are strengthened by groups of people who
socialize based on mutual interests and other social factors they may have in common (Ellison et al.,
2007). Nahapiet and Ghoshal (2000) described the idea of social capital as the result of combining poten-
tial and actual resources acquired through a social group, something seen in the results of this study
where Saudi consumers engaged with celebrity endorsements via social networks. To that end, people
tend to naturally define themselves based on their perceived position in a group, including social media
groups, and their positive self-view is improved by mirroring the behaviour of others in the group they
believe to have a higher status, which in this case is the celebrity. Western consumers will mirror what
celebrities do and purchase the products they endorse because it increases the views customers have of
themselves. By comparison, this research found that Saudi consumers do not inherently trust a celebrity
endorsement because they recognize that celebrities are being paid for the product and may not neces-
sarily use it. As such, the Saudi consumers in this study indicated that they will check other reviews long
before deciding, not just blindly follow the celebrity recommendations.
With regard to models built on classical theories, other research has applied what is known as the
classical conditioning theory (Biswas et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2013). This suggests that the process of
learning is accomplished through interactions with the physical and social surroundings. The environ-
ment, according to this theory, is responsible for shaping behaviour, emotions, thoughts and feelings.
Associative learning, however, can be separated into two sub-fields: classical conditioning and instru-
mental conditioning. Classical conditioning refers to the mental state as it conforms to stimuli, and
instrumental conditioning is more associated with response-outcome situations. In both, behavioural
changes are said to emanate from the occurrence of two different events, which connect to each other to
Aljasir 27

form strong links. Previous researchers have formed their own models built on classical theories, such as
the TEARS model by Shimp (2003). Shimp asserted that credibility and attractiveness greatly contribute
to the endorser effect and added five distinctive sub-attributes (TEARS): trustworthiness and expertise,
which signify two dimensions of credibility for the targeted audience, and physical attractiveness, respect
and similarity, which act as components of overall attractiveness.
The classical theory opposes the Saudi view such that it heavily emphasizes similar attributes found
in the source model, specifically trustworthiness and expertise. However, this classical theory states that
celebrities must be perceived as experts, they must be respected and they must be attractive and trustworthy.
As mentioned earlier, while Western consumers take no issue with those celebrities who do not reveal
they are being paid for an endorsement, Saudi consumers find this to be untrustworthy. More to the point,
this research indicates that Saudi consumers do not expect their celebrity endorsers to be experts on the
products they endorse, especially high-tech products, and they will search for other reviews/information
beyond the celebrity endorsement before buying.

Conclusion
Overall, the findings from this research indicate that previous researches on media celebrity endorsement
models are not entirely applicable to new media. Expertise and trustworthiness are applicable, as the
participants preferred situations in which celebrities disclosed that they were being paid. The findings of
this study are significant because they lay the foundation for new media to utilize celebrity endorsements
in a more effective fashion. Previous research on the subject was somehow limited, and as a result, dated
methods for finding celebrities and ensuring their success as endorsers were applied to new media. With
the results of this study, new media can begin to better integrate celebrity endorsements that are selected
specifically for social media purposes (not a generalized print form of media), which include characteristics
that are most important to viewers and are more successful in ensuring brand recognition after the fact.
The self-reported data (from the interviews) used in this study leave room for limitations, including
biases such as selective memory, where the participants remember or fail to remember things from the
past, as well as telescoping, where participants remember things from one point in time as though they
took place at another point in time. There is also the risk of attribution, where participants attribute
events or outcomes to other things, or exaggeration, where people recall things in an embellished fashion.
Given that this study used a phenomenological interview method, it was heavily reliant upon lived expe-
riences and could contain these issues. Language fluency is another possible limitation. Cultural bias
may also impact the results of this study. The purpose of the study did, by design, focus on a Saudi
perspective, which means that it was limited to Saudi views and not generalized to include other views.
By its very nature, it is biased, but it was acknowledged early on, and measures were taken to avoid any
biases unrelated to the research.
While the available prior research is somehow limited as well, this limitation served as an opportunity
to identify new gaps in the literature and highlight the need for expansive studies in the future on the
effectiveness of celebrity endorsements in new media among other things. Future studies could compare
responses among demographics such as race, gender, age and occupation. Moreover, given that the
participants were a set of volunteers from shopping centres, future studies could capitalize on a larger
sample area by conducting interviews with participants across different cities, different countries and so
on. In the future, the proposed Saudi model in this study could be empirically tested using appropriate
quantitative research methods. Further, it could be investigated across a variety of demographic
contexts.
28 Journal of Creative Communications 14(1)

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of
this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

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Author’s Bio-sketch
Shuaa Aljasir is an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at King Abdulaziz University,
Saudi Arabia. She holds a PhD degree in New Media from Coventry University, UK. Her area of interest
includes cultural studies, new media studies and the applicability of classic media theories on new set-
tings. She has published a number of papers in these fields and presented her work in some related
conferences.