Journal of International Consumer Marketing

ISSN: 0896-1530 (Print) 1528-7068 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wicm20

The Mediating Effects of Presumed Influences

on Taiwanese Consumers’ Skepticism toward
Celebrity Endorsed Advertising

Po-Lin Pan, Juan Meng & Pei-Ling Lee

To cite this article: Po-Lin Pan, Juan Meng & Pei-Ling Lee (2016): The Mediating
Effects of Presumed Influences on Taiwanese Consumers’ Skepticism toward
Celebrity Endorsed Advertising, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, DOI:
10.1080/08961530.2016.1236310

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2016.1236310

Published online: 19 Oct 2016.

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Download by: [Ryerson University Library] Date: 01 November 2016, At: 01:15
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
2016, VOL. 0, NO. 0, 1–11
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2016.1236310

The Mediating Effects of Presumed Influences on Taiwanese Consumers’

Skepticism toward Celebrity Endorsed Advertising
Po-Lin Pana, Juan Mengb, and Pei-Ling Leec
a
Department of Communication, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA; bDepartment of Advertising and Public Relations,
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA; cShih Hsin University, Taipei, Taiwan

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
National media consumer panels were conducted in Taiwan to examine how the first-person and Advertising skepticism;
third-person perceptions would mediate the impacts of celebrity credibility on advertising credibility; third-person
skepticism. Results revealed that (a) the third-person perceptions took place in the context of perceptions
celebrity-endorsed advertising; (b) all three credibility variables were negatively correlated to
advertising skepticism, but only celebrity attractiveness and expertise yielded direct effects; (c)
indirect effects by the first-person perceptions were stronger than those by the third-person
perceptions on advertising skepticism. Theoretical and practical implication insights were discussed
to indicate that Taiwanese consumers did not want to be recognized as celebrity followers for a
self-enhancement purpose. However, their first-person perceptions played a more active role than
their third-person perceptions in mediating their perceived celebrity credibility and diminishing
their skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed advertising.

Introduction
The use of celebrity endorsement in advertising has
been one of the most popular creative strategies in
account planning processes, and this celebrity
endorsement phenomenon has transcended national
borders (Erdogan 1999). Approximately one quarter
of advertisements would employ at least one celebrity
to endorse a product or brand around the world
(Shimp and Andrews 2013). The bulk of studies has
indicated the validity of celebrity endorsement strat-
egy as an effective approach in marketing communica-
tions and confirmed that celebrity endorsers affect
consumers’ attitude toward a brand and their pur-
chase decision (Amos, Holmes, and Strutton 2008;
Erdogan 1999). However, few studies have investi-
gated celebrity-endorsed advertising from consumers’
first-person and third-person perceptions. According
to Perloff (1993), if media consumers presume that
others are influenced by media messages, it certainly
stands to reason that media consumers should be
affected as well. Otherwise, if media consumers believe
that they are not affected, and everyone else claims the
same lack of media influences, then it is exaggerated
of media influences on others. Therefore, it is
important to extend consumers’ presumed influences
in the context of celebrity-endorsed advertising and
examine the mediating effects of consumers’ first-per-
son and third-person perceptions on their skepticism
toward celebrity-endorsed advertising.
According to the GfK poll, Taiwanese consumers
learn to be more conscious of their spending, with
95% saying that they are likely to use a money saving
strategy to guide their purchase decisions (Retail in
Asia 2013). Despite the prudence and careful spending
attitude, many consumers still plan to make big-ticket
purchases in Taiwan. Thus, it is important for brand
managers to ensure a better understanding of Taiwa-
nese consumers’ sentiment, aspirations, and concerns,
and develop a creative strategy by using celebrity
endorsement in advertising. This study is aimed to
investigate the impacts of source credibility on con-
sumers’ presumed influences on themselves and
others and their skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed
advertising in Taiwan. The study examines such
impacts by incorporating the first-person and third-
person perceptions as key mediators and explored
whether perceived differences between themselves and

CONTACT Po-Lin Pan ppan@astate.edu Department of Communication, Arkansas State University, P.O. Box 2160, Jonesboro, AR 72467, USA.
© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 P.-L. PAN ET AL.
others yield indirect effects on consumers’ advertising
skepticism. This investigation is important for theoret-
ical and practical developments in the usage of celeb-
rity endorsement as a creative strategy in advertising
account planning processes. In short, the study may
offer both conceptual and practical insights into the
first-person and third-person perceptions of celebrity-
endorsed advertising that would facilitate or lessen the
impacts of source credibility on advertising skepticism
in the context of celebrity-endorsed advertising.
Literature review
Celebrity-endorsed advertising
Celebrity-endorsed advertising research has focused
on source credibility and source characteristics. Sev-
eral studies hypothesized that celebrities exert their
great influences on consumers through their perceived
attributes. Ohanian (1990) examined the effects of the
three dimensions of source credibility on consumers’
purchase intention in the context of celebrity-
endorsed advertising, including expertise, trustworthi-
ness, and attractiveness. Specifically, source expertise
is the extent to which the source is perceived to be a
source of valid assertion (Ohanian 1990). Source
expertise normally comes from knowledge, experi-
ence, or training that the celebrity endorser has in the
related field (Erdogan 1999). Source trustworthiness
refers to consumers’ confidence in the source for pro-
viding product or brand information in an objective
and honest manner (Erdogan 1999). Simply stated, a
celebrity endorser perceived as highly credible is more
effective and persuasive than a less credible endorser,
as well as inducing a more positive change of attitude
toward the brands or product and more changes in
behavior. Source attractiveness is related to how lik-
able or physically attractive the source is to consumers
(Ohanian 1990). As suggested by Kahle and Homer
(1985), a celebrity endorser perceived as more attrac-
tive is more persuasive for promoting products related
to physical beauty. Pornpitakpan (2003) further sug-
gested a positive relationship between all three dimen-
sions of source credibility and purchase intention. The
relationships are held with all individual celebrity
models. Pornpitakpan found that all three dimensions
of source credibility are positively relevant to purchase
intention.
Regarding the effects of source credibility on con-
sumers’ attitudes, Priester and Petty (2003) further
explored the impact of celebrity trustworthiness on
message elaboration with familiar and unfamiliar
celebrity endorsers. They found that endorsers with
lower trustworthiness promote greater elaboration of
product-related information than do those with higher
trustworthiness. Moreover, endorsers with higher
trustworthiness tend to garner relatively non-thought-
ful acceptance, even when they are familiar to the sub-
ject. In terms of trustworthiness of unfamiliar
endorsers, trustworthiness may influence persuasive
effectiveness. In certain conditions, the usage of unfa-
miliar endorsers may be advantageous. While the
usage of trustworthy endorsers may lead to more non-
thoughtful attitudes, the usage of unfamiliar endorsers
can cause more elaborated attitudes. Eisend and
Langner (2010) further examined immediate and
delayed effects of celebrity-endorsed advertising. They
found that attractiveness is the dominant factor for
immediate effects, whereas expertise plays the most
important role in the delayed effects of celebrity-
endorsed advertising. Moreover, higher expertise is
particularly effective when celebrity endorsers are
highly attractive, whereas the impact of less attractive
celebrity endorsers with low expertise can be worse
over time.
Another study by Goldsmith, Lafferty, and Newell
(2000) combined effects of both source credibility
and corporate credibility and explored such effects
on three dimensions of advertising effectiveness,
including attitude toward the advertisement, attitude
toward the brand, and purchase intention. The study
found that corporate credibility partially influences
consumers’ attitudes toward the advertisement,
brand, and purchase intention. Moreover, corporate
credibility has a greater influence than does endors-
ers’ credibility. The findings suggested that endors-
er’s credibility works only through the advertisement,
whereas corporate credibility works through all
the advertising effectiveness variables. A recent
study by de los Salmones et al. (2013) examined the
effectiveness of celebrity-endorsed advertising for a
humanitarian organization. They suggested that the
celebrity’s effectiveness and credibility as an endorser
depend on several factors, including perceived fit
with the social cause, attribution of altruistic motiva-
tion, celebrity image, and attitudes toward celebrity
activism.
The relationship between celebrities and products
has been investigated under the name of product

matchup hypothesis. A good matchup between a
celebrity and a product is more effective for generating
positive consumer responses to advertising than a bad
fit between them (Kamins 1990; Kamins and Gupta
1994). Perceived congruence between celebrity image
and product image is viewed as the most promising
matchup factor (Kamins and Gupta 1994; Till and
Busler 2000). From a cognitive viewpoint, Fleck,
Korchia, and Roy (2012) found that congruence
between celebrities and brands is shown to be as effec-
tive as celebrity likability. That is, congruence between
celebrities and brands as well as celebrity likeability
has an impact on the predisposition toward celebrity-
endorsed advertising, which would influence brand
belief and purchase intention.
Consumers’ self-concept has been empirically
shown to influence their consumption behavior. Self-
concept is viewed as the sum of an individual’s
thoughts and feelings about herself or himself with
respect to others (Onkvisit and Shaw 1987). Early
studies suggested that consumers’ self-concept is an
important factor in the matchup hypothesis (Ericksen
1997; Graeff 1996). As advertising is the most effective
vehicle to shape celebrities as a reference group for
consumers to construct their self-concept (Escalas and
Bettman 2003; Sirgy 1982), Choi and Rifon found that
ideal congruity (congruence between consumers’ ideal
self-image and celebrity image) can enhance explana-
tory power to a congruence model of celebrity
endorsement effects.
A meta-analysis of over 30 years of advertising
research on celebrity-endorsed advertising by Amos,
Holmes, and Strutton (2008) found that negative infor-
mation yields a solid impact on celebrity endorsement
effectiveness in advertising. Both negative and positive
information on celebrity endorsement would be trans-
ferred to the brand. Furthermore, trustworthiness,
expertise, and attractiveness are strongly relevant to
celebrity-endorsed advertising effects. Moreover,
Erfgen (2011) conducted a system review of 36 studies
from the literature of celebrity-endorsed advertising
to examine brand image effects. He identified key fac-
tors for brand image effects, including message, adver-
tising channel, celebrity characteristics, and recipient
characteristics. Regarding celebrity characteristics,
celebrity credibility (including expertise and trustwor-
thiness), physical attractiveness relevant to the product
domain, and image-based congruence emerged as key
factors that yield positive influences on brand image.
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 3
Advertising skepticism
Obermiller and Spangenberg (1998) defined advertis-
ing skepticism as a tendency toward disbelief in adver-
tising claims. As most advertising claims are subject to
some degrees of disbelief, advertising skepticism is a
stable characteristic that plays a key role in consumers’
response to advertising claims. Although certain skep-
ticism in product claims are widely accepted (e.g.,
price information and retail location), consumers are
skeptical of their experience or credence claims,
including quality, durability, and performance (Darby
and Karni 1973; Nelson 1970). According to the
report of 60-year survey data, approximately 70% of
U.S. consumers are skeptical of advertising claims
(Calfee and Ringold 1994). Furthermore, advertising
strategists strive to persuade people to purchase adver-
tised products they do not want. On the other hand,
Koslow (2000) found that advertising skepticism is
observed in the presence of highly persuasive and
apparently truthful advertising claims. Thus, advertis-
ing skepticism would evolve as a defense coping and
reactance response to these persuasive claims in
advertising.
The bulk of studies have examined the effectiveness
of advertising claims through a lens of advertising
skepticism. Mangleburg and Bristol (1998) found that
people learn of advertising skepticism through the
interactions with their parents, peers, and mass media.
Regarding various family communication styles, con-
cept-oriented family communication (with an empha-
sis on presenting and discussing ideas) is positively
relevant to advertising skepticism, but socio-oriented
family communication (with an emphasis on harmo-
nious social relations and the feelings of others) has
no significant effect on advertising skepticism in
socialization processes. Moreover, the tendency for
adolescents to yield peer influences is pertinent to
advertising skepticism, while the amount of television
watching is positively relevant to advertising skepti-
cism. Finally, greater marketplace knowledge creates
higher advertising skepticism. Chen and Leu (2011)
investigated the impact of advertising skepticism on
purchase intention. They suggested that advertising
skepticism yields a negative influence on consumers’
brand attitude and purchase intention. However, this
negative influence dissipates when an interaction
effect between advertising skepticism and product
involvement is incorporated. Additionally, Obermiller,
4 P.-L. PAN ET AL.
Spangenberg, and MacLachlan (2005) utilized three
studies to evaluate the effects of advertising skepticism
on consumers’ response to advertising. The first study
suggested that advertising skepticism does affect con-
sumers’ attitude toward advertising, believability of
advertising claims, perceived influence of advertising,
and perceived untruth of advertising. The second
study was conducted three to six weeks later. The
results demonstrated that advertising skepticism leads
to less attention to and reliance on advertising. The
final study suggested that advertising skepticism medi-
ates consumers’ response to various types of appeals in
advertising. Consumers with higher advertising skep-
ticism are less responsive to informational appeals.
Moreover, those with higher advertising skepticism
are less likely to be persuaded by informational adver-
tising than those with lower advertising skepticism.
Presumed influences on themselves and others
The third-person perception hypothesis has garnered
great attention in the field of mass communication.
Davison (1983) first proposed that people generally pre-
sume that the media’s greatest effect is not on them-
selves, but on others—the third persons, which would
influence their subsequent behaviors. In the midst of
more than one hundred studies on the third-person per-
ceptions, the perceptual component is examined in vari-
ous contexts of mediated messages. At the perceptual
level, topics are included with defamatory messages in
the news (Cohen et al. 1988), controversial issues in the
news (Reid 2005), television violence (Scharrer 2002),
sexual messages in the media (Pan, Meng, and Zhou
2012), direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription
drug (Delorme, Huh, and Reid 2006), body images
(David et al. 2002), sexual risk taking (Chapin 1999),
and political communication (Paek et al. 2005). More-
over, the third-person perceptions affect consumers’ atti-
tude toward and judgment about advertising. People
perceive that others are more influenced by advertise-
ments than themselves for various kinds of product cate-
gories, such as household products, liquor and beer, and
cigarettes (Gunther and Thorson 1992). Even elemen-
tary and middle school students perceive that cigarette
advertising would yield a significantly greater impact on
others than themselves (Henriksen and Flora 1999).
To sum up, these third-person scholars have pro-
vided robust evidence for the tendency for people who
believe that media has more harmful effects on others
than on themselves. Several studies also found that
motivational and cognitive explanations in the third-
person perception hypothesis are supported. Specifi-
cally, both motivational and cognitive explanations
play important roles in accounting for self-other dif-
ferences, with estimates of influence on the self-best
accounted for in terms of motivation and estimates of
influence on others best accounted for in terms of cog-
nition (Tal-Or, Tsfati, and Gunther 2009). Extending
the third-person perceptions hypothesis into the con-
text of celebrity-endorsed advertising, the study
attempts to examine whether consumers presume a
stronger influences of celebrity-endorsed advertising
on others than themselves. Thus,
H1: Consumers believe that celebrity-endorsed advertis-
ing yields a stronger influence on others than themselves.
Consumers who exhibit higher source credibility
toward celebrity-endorsed advertising would report
lower skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed advertis-
ing, given that they perceive celebrity endorsement as
more attractive, trustful, and expert in advertising. On
the other hand, consumers who perceive celebrity
endorsement as lesser attractive, trustful, and expert
in advertising would exhibit higher skepticism toward
celebrity-endorsed advertising. Therefore,
H2: Consumers with higher source credibility (e.g.,
attractiveness, trustfulness, and expertise) toward celeb-
rity-endorsed advertising exhibit lower skepticism toward
celebrity-endorsed advertising.
Third, the third-person perception hypothesis is
confirmed based on psychological processes in people
who perceive others as more vulnerable to influence
and themselves in ways that make them look good or
at least better than others. Therefore, consumers may
exhibit various levels of the third-person perceptions
that could mediate the relationship between their
source credibility of and skepticism toward celebrity-
endorsed advertising. Thus,
RQ1: Do the third-person perceptions mediate the impact
of source credibility on consumers’ skepticism toward
celebrity-endorsed advertising?
Similarly, the evidence of the first-person percep-
tions is confirmed that people sometimes claim to be
more influenced by messages than others. The first-
person perceptions emerge when people agree with
the message that can positively reflect the self or touch

on the topics congruent with what they identify.
Therefore, it is fair to examine whether the first-per-
son perceptions play a key role in consumers’ response
to celebrity-endorsed advertising. Thus,
RQ2: Do the first-person perceptions mediate the impact
of source credibility on consumers’ skepticism toward
celebrity-endorsed advertising?
Methods
This study aimed at examining the mediating role of
the first-person and third-person perceptions in
Taiwanese consumers’ response to celebrity-endorsed
advertising. An online survey was used to collect self-
reported opinions from target groups. Target partici-
pants were invited to evaluate their attitudes toward
and perceptions of celebrity-endorsed advertising. To
avoid any subsequent attitudes that could be relevant
to exposure to any specific celebrity, specific type of
endorsed product, and celebrity endorsement in
advertising, the study did not assign any specific
brands or celebrities in this online questionnaire. Par-
ticipants were asked whether they had come across
with any celebrity endorsement and product advertis-
ing endorsed by particular celebrities or whether they
had purchased any products that were endorsed by
any celebrities. The participants who answered “no”
were removed from the panel, and those who
answered “yes” were further invited to complete this
online questionnaire and answer a series of questions
relevant to celebrity-endorsed advertising.
Participants were recruited from a media consumer
panel, which mirrored the characteristics of popula-
tion in Taiwan. The sampling frame focused specifi-
cally on young adults, aged from 20 to 30 years,
regardless of occupation, education background, and
ethnicity. It is appropriate to limit the sampling frame
toward media consumers aged between 20 and
30 years because this target population is more active
to seek advertising messages and more interested in
entertainment news and celebrity-related information
(Keane and Fam 2006; Logan 2013).
Sample profile
Incomplete questionnaires were eliminated from the
sample. A total of 273 participants were confirmed as
the active samples for this online survey. Gender dis-
tribution indicated that the sample consisted of 213
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 5
women (78%) and 60 men (22%). Although female
participants heavily outnumbered male participants,
this sample could reflect the demographic features of
Taiwan in terms of celebrity-endorsed advertising
market. Available market research reports suggested
that female consumers are more likely to be attracted
and pay attention to celebrity-endorsed products and
relevant advertisements (Packaged Facts 2012). More-
over, most participants reported their age in the range
of 18 to 23 years (N D 270, 98.9%) with a mean of
20.22 [standard deviation (SD) D 1.28). The youngest
age was 18 years (N D 20), and the oldest age was
26 years (N D 1).
Measured variables
Source credibility was measured using a source credi-
bility scale developed by Ohanian (1990). This scale
was posited to be characterized by three dimensions:
source expertise, source trustworthiness, and source
attractiveness. The study used 15 items of the original
scale (three subscales) to measure perceived source
credibility. The participants were asked to indicate the
extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the
statements about perceived source credibility via
seven-point scales (from one at strongly disagree to
seven at strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alpha ranged
from 0.76 to 0.85 (a D 0.85 for attractiveness, a D
0.79 for trustworthiness, and a D 0.76 for expertise).
First-person and third-person perceptions were mea-
sured by first asking if the respondents presume the
influences of celebrity-endorsed advertising on them-
selves. The answer to each question was measured on
seven-point scales (from one at highly unlikely to
seven at highly likely). Six answers were summed to
indicate that the participants with high scores pre-
sumed a stronger influence of advertising on them-
selves—the first-person perceptions. The Cronbach’s
alpha for the first-person perceptions was 0.93. After
measuring their presumed influences on themselves,
the participants were asked six same questions about
the influences of celebrity-endorsed advertising on
others. The sum of six answers indicated that the par-
ticipants with high scores presumed a stronger influ-
ence of celebrity-endorsed advertising on others—the
third-person perceptions. The Cronbach’s alpha for
the third-person perceptions was 0.95.
Advertising skepticism was measured by adapting
Obermiller and Spangenberg’s scale (1998). The
6 P.-L. PAN ET AL.

original scale was defined as the general tendency Table 1. Correlation matrix of factors toward advertising
skepticism.
toward disbelief of advertising claims. The study
slightly modified the statements to fit the scenario of Variables 2 3 4 5 6

celebrity-endorsed advertising. A total of four items 1 Advertising skepticism ¡0.55 ¡0.26 ¡0.32 ¡0.43 ¡0.60
  

2 Source attractiveness — 0.46 0.40 0.34 0.54

were used to describe perceived skepticism toward
celebrity-endorsed advertising. The participants were
asked to indicate the level of agreement on seven-
point scales (from one at not at all to seven at always).
The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.85.
Data analysis
This study first analyzed the relationships between all
measured variables and examined the mediating role
of the first-person and third-person perceptions to
celebrity expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness
that feasibly affected advertising skepticism. The anal-
ysis exhibited which measured variables were priori-
tized significantly to the first-person and third-person
perceptions. Next, with the first-person and third-per-
son perceptions as two mediators, indirect effects by
the first-person and third-person perceptions on
advertising skepticism were investigated in order to
serve the purpose of this study.
Results
H1 was proposed to examine whether consumers per-
ceived a greater influence of celebrity-endorsed adver-
tising on others than themselves. The analysis was
conducted to compare differences between the first-
person and third-person perceptions. The results indi-
cated that the third-person perceptions occurred in
most consumers (t D 5.56, df D 272, p < 0.01). More-
over, consumers presumed that celebrity-endorsed
advertising yielded a greater influence on others (M D
4.11, SD D 1.31) than themselves (M D 3.74, SD D
1.31). Thus, H1 was confirmed.
3 Source trustworthiness — 0.49 0.11 0.37
4 Source expertise — 0.23 0.39
5 Third-person perceptions — 0.63
6 First-person perceptions —
Note. p <.05; p < .01.
H2 examined the relationship between source
credibility and advertising skepticism in the context of
celebrity-endorsed advertising. Based on three dimen-
sions of source credibility, table 1 indicates that all
source attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise
had negative relationships with advertising skepticism.
Furthermore, source attractiveness was the most pow-
erful predictor toward consumers’ skepticism toward
celebrity-endorsed advertising (b D ¡0.58, SE D 0.06,
CR D ¡10.33, p < 0.01), followed by source expertise
(b D ¡0.25, SE D 0.09, CR D ¡2.83, p < 0.01). There-
fore, two significant direct effects emerged, indicating
that consumers with higher source attractiveness
and expertise in celebrity-endorsed advertising
exhibited lower skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed
advertising.
RQ1 was proposed to examine the mediating role
of the third-person perceptions in the relationship
between source credibility and advertising skepti-
cism in the context of celebrity-endorsed advertising.
Figure 1 shows that with the third-person percep-
tions as a mediator in the relationships between
source attractiveness, trustworthiness, expertise, and
advertising skepticism, only source attractiveness
yielded a significant impact on advertising skepti-
cism (b D ¡0.48, SE D 0.06, CR D ¡7.44, p < 0.01),
but source expertise (b D ¡0.17, SE D 0.10, CR D
¡1.76, p D 0.08) and source trustworthiness (b D
0.02, SE D 0.08, CR D 0.28, p D 0.78) did not take

Table 2. Direct effects and indirect effects on advertising skepticism.

Direct effects
Indirect effects
Without mediator With mediator Bootstrapping significance
Predictor Mediator B B P Mediation
 
Source attractiveness Third-person perceptions ¡0.58 ¡0.48 0.010 Partial
Source trustworthiness 0.07 0.02 0.052 No
Source expertise ¡0.25 ¡0.17 0.028 Full
Source attractiveness First-person perceptions ¡0.58 ¡0.37 0.010 Partial
Source trustworthiness 0.07 0.22 0.241 No
Source expertise ¡0.25 ¡0.11 0.017 Full

Note. p < 0.05; p < 0.01.

 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 7

Figure 1. Third-person perceptions as a mediator in indirect effects of source credibility on advertising skepticism.

place in consumers’ advertising skepticism. Further-
more, table 2 indicates that two indirect effects of
source attractiveness (p D 0.010) and expertise (p D
0.028) were significant on advertising skepticism
through the third-person perceptions. Specifically,
the third-person perceptions partially mediated the
impact of celebrity attractiveness on advertising
skepticism but fully mediated the impact of celebrity
expertise on consumers’ skepticism toward celebrity-
endorsed advertising. Thus, the third-person percep-
tions fully affected the relationship between consum-
ers’ perceptions of celebrity expertise and their
advertising skepticism.
RQ2 investigated whether the first-person percep-
tions would mediate the impact of source credibility
on consumers’ skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed
advertising. Figure 2 points out that when the first-
person perceptions were considered as a mediator
between source credibility and advertising skepticism,
the direct effect of source attractiveness was only
significant on advertising skepticism (b D ¡0.37,
SE D 0.06, CR D ¡6.49, p < 0.01), but not those of
source trustworthiness (b D 0.11, SE D 0.06, CR D
1.76, p D 0.08) and expertise (b D ¡0.11, SE D 0.08,
CR D ¡1.37, p D 0.17). Moreover, table 2 shows that
the indirect effects of source attractiveness (p D 0.010)

Figure 2. First-person perceptions as a mediator in indirect effects of source credibility on advertising skepticism.
8 P.-L. PAN ET AL.
and source expertise (p D 0.017) were significantly
found on advertising skepticism through the first-per-
son perceptions. Therefore, the first-person percep-
tions yielded partial mediating effects on celebrity
attractiveness but produced full mediating effects on
celebrity expertise that directed to various levels of
consumers’ advertising skepticism. Simply stated, the
first-person perceptions fully played a key mediating
role between consumers’ perceptions of celebrity
expertise and their advertising skepticism.
Conclusions
Discussion
This study examined whether consumers would
exhibit the third-person perceptions of celebrity-
endorsed advertising and their first-person and third-
person perceptions would mediate the relationship
between their perceptions of celebrity credibility and
skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed advertising in
Taiwan. First of all, in line with previous studies on
the third-person perception hypothesis, consumers
presumed celebrity-endorsed adverting to yield a
greater influence on others than themselves. This was
further confirmed with Gunther and Thorson’s (1992)
study that most consumers always perceived others as
more vulnerable than themselves by various kinds of
persuasive components in advertisements (e.g., celeb-
rity endorsement in advertising). Based on three
dimensions of source credibility, all source attractive-
ness, trustworthiness, and expertise were negatively
correlated to consumers’ advertising skepticism. In
consonance with Obermiller and Spangenberg (1998),
advertising skepticism did play a key role in consum-
ers’ response to various persuasive components in
advertising. Specifically, celebrity attractiveness was
the most powerful factor to yield higher advertising
skepticism, followed by celebrity expertise. That is,
lower celebrity attractiveness and celebrity expertise in
advertising led Taiwanese consumers to report higher
advertising skepticism. Simply stated, Taiwanese con-
sumers were more conscious of their spending and
more likely to be prudent in response to advertising
claims. Thus, advertising account managers should
look at product matchup hypothesis that a good
matchup between a celebrity and a product is more
effective for generating positive consumer responses
to advertising than a bad fit between them (Kamins
1990; Kamins and Gupta 1994). Thus, it is important
to examine particular dimensions of celebrity credibil-
ity when various celebrities were considered as
endorsers for certain brands and products in advertis-
ing, given that various dimensions of celebrity credi-
bility would lead Taiwanese consumers to different
levels of skepticism toward celebrity-endorsed
advertising.
The mediating role of the third-person perceptions
was significantly active between source credibility and
advertising skepticism in the context of celebrity-
endorsed advertising. Tal-Or, Tsfati, and Gunther
(2009) suggested that the third-person perception pro-
cess is driven by not only cognitive mechanism but
also motivational device for self-other differences.
There was no doubt that the third-person perceptions
would shed some light on self-other differences in
consumers’ perceptions of celebrity attractiveness,
trustworthiness and expertise, and their advertising
skepticism. Moreover, the third-person perceptions
partially mediated the impact of celebrity attractive-
ness on advertising skepticism. Both direct and indi-
rect effects of celebrity attractiveness by the third-
person perceptions were significantly found on adver-
tising skepticism, indicating that higher presumed
influences on others facilitated the impact of celebrity
attractiveness in order to decrease consumers’ adver-
tising skepticism. Otherwise, the third-person percep-
tions fully mediated the influence of celebrity
expertise on advertising skepticism. Furthermore,
with the third-person perceptions as a mediator in the
relationship between celebrity expertise and advertis-
ing skepticism, direct effect of celebrity expertise was
not found, while indirect effect by the third-person
perceptions was significantly active on Taiwanese con-
sumers’ advertising skepticism. Evidently, after the
third-person perceptions terminated the direct rela-
tionship between celebrity expertise and advertising
skepticism, the third-person perceptions yielded inter-
active effects with celebrity expertise to decrease
Taiwanese consumers’ skepticism toward celebrity-
endorsed advertising.
Taiwanese consumers’ presumed influence on them-
selves significantly served as a more active mediator
between celebrity credibility and advertising skepticism.
Similar to the third-person perceptions, the first-person
perceptions partially mediated the impact of celebrity
attractiveness on advertising skepticism. Both direct
effect and indirect effect of celebrity attractiveness by
the first-person perceptions significantly led to various

levels of advertising skepticism. That is, higher first-per-
son perceptions facilitated the impact of celebrity attrac-
tiveness in order to decrease Taiwanese consumers’
advertising skepticism. Furthermore, the first-person
perceptions fully mediated the impact of celebrity exper-
tise on advertising skepticism. With the first-person per-
ceptions as a key mediator, the direct relationship
between celebrity expertise and advertising skepticism
was terminated, and higher celebrity expertise indirectly
affected Taiwanese consumers’ advertising skepticism
through their presumed influence on themselves. Thus,
Taiwanese consumers’ presumed influence on them-
selves and others significantly interacted with various
dimensions of celebrity credibility to affect their skepti-
cism toward celebrity-endorsed advertising. From prac-
tical perspectives, account planners and brand
managers should look at whether some distinctive char-
acteristics and personalities of celebrities in advertising
truly had stopping power to get consumers’ attention
and then help communicate some selling ideas for cer-
tain brands and products. Most importantly, celebrities
should be perceived as experts in certain fields to
decrease consumers’ advertising skepticism.
Implications and limitations
The third-person perceptions emerged more actively
than the first-person perceptions, indicating that con-
sumers perceived a greater influence of celebrity-
endorsed advertising on others than themselves. How-
ever, the first-person perceptions served as a more
active mediator than the third-person perceptions in
facilitating the impact of celebrity credibility on adver-
tising skepticism. Theoretically, consumers were more
unlikely to admit that they were influenced more by
celebrity-endorsed advertising for a self-enhancement
purpose. However, their presumed influence on them-
selves did play a more active role than their presumed
influence on others in mediating the impact of their
perceptions of celebrity credibility and diminishing
the power of their advertising skepticism. In the con-
text of celebrity endorsed advertising, Taiwanese con-
sumers may not want to be recognized as celebrity
followers. Specifically, their first-person perceptions
emerged to indicate their agreement with celebrity
endorsers that may reflect positively on themselves
and harmonize on the orientation of groups with
which they would identify in order to reduce their
advertising skepticism.
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING 9
Some limitations emerged for future research.
First, this study did not consider gender difference
as a crucial factor to the first-person and third-per-
son perceptions. Future research can investigate a
key relationship between gender difference and
celebrity-endorsed advertising that may lead con-
sumers to various levels of the first-person and
third-person perceptions. Although the study
explored whether celebrity-endorsed advertising
directed consumers to presume a stronger influence
on others, it did not focus on consumers’ subjective
knowledge about persuasive efforts of certain celeb-
rity endorsers in advertising. Future research could
examine whether consumers with exposure to par-
ticular celebrity-endorsed advertising (desirable or
undesirable) would believe that such advertising
might exert a stronger influence (positive or nega-
tive) on others’ perspective of and attitude toward
a particular brand or product.
Finally, several studies used different personality
traits as predicators toward the first-person and third-
person perceptions in the strategic communication
contexts; these studies did not investigate some inter-
action effects between personality traits and persuasive
messages. Future research may examine the impacts of
personality traits related to celebrities (e.g., material-
ism and self-esteem) on the first-person and third-per-
son perceptions and can examine whether consumers
with various personality traits would yield various lev-
els of advertising skepticism in response to celebrity-
endorsed advertising.
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