Article | Journal of Advertising Research | June 2012

The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements

by Anita Elberse and Jeroen Verleun

Abstract

What is the payoff to enlisting celebrity endorsers? Although effects on stock returns are relatively well documented, little is known about any impact on sales—arguably a metric of more direct importance to advertising practitioners. In this study of athlete endorsements, we find there is a positive payoff to a firm's decision to sign an endorser, and that endorsements are associated with increasing sales in an absolute sense and relative to competing brands. Furthermore, sales and stock returns jump noticeably with each major achievement by the athlete. However, whereas stock-return effects are relatively constant, sales effects exhibit decreasing returns over time. We outline implications for practitioners.

Keywords: Stocks; Value; Advertising; Sales; Brands and Branding; Decisions; Economics; Marketing Strategy; Investment Return;

Format: Print Find at Harvard Read Now

Citation:

Elberse, Anita, and Jeroen Verleun. "The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements." Journal of Advertising Research 52, no. 2 (June 2012): 149–165.

About the Author

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Anita Elberse
Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration
Marketing

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