Katarina Hellén

Love at First Sight or a Long-Term Affair?: Different Relationship Levels as Predictors of Customer Commitment

Abstract Relationship marketing has increased in importance during the past decades. We suggest that different types of relationships exist, and propose a relationship continuum, in which the customer advances from having a relationship with a product to having one with the firm, leading to commitment towards the firm. By targeting the right type of customers, relationship strategies become enhanced, and firms can recognize the motivations customers have for engaging in a relationship with them. Maybe it is just love at first sight with a product, or a lifetime commitment towards a firm.

Development of a scale measuring childlike anthropomorphism in products

Abstract In this paper, the measurement of childlike anthropomorphism in products is investigated. A measurement scale to capture childlike anthropomorphism in products is introduced, and three studies are reported to support the validity of the scale. Scale development procedures suggest that childlike characteristics comprise four dimensions: sweetness, simplicity, sympathy, and smallness, measured on a 23-item scale. The results show that consumers react positively to childlike anthropomorphic characteristics in products. Across samples, men perceived such characteristics to be more sympathetic than women did. These findings suggest that childlike anthropomorphic characteristics are liked by consumers but that their appeal is based on different factors for men and women.

Sometimes a celebrity holding a negative public image is the best product endorser

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine women’s reactions to celebrity endorsers holding positive and negative public images and the consequences for purchase intentions of the endorsed product. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on the social comparison literature and applies the theory of upward and downward comparisons to the celebrity endorsement context. Findings Study 1 shows that exposure to celebrities holding a positive public image decrease consumers’ temporal self-esteem, while celebrities holding a negative public image increase temporal self-esteem. Study 2 suggests that this change in self-esteem transfers to the product depending upon the type of social comparison focus (similarity vs dissimilarity) which people have. Study 3 shows that for consumers low in true self-esteem, i.e. self-esteem based upon a stable foundation, celebrities holding a positive public image decrease purchase intentions. For consumers high in true self-esteem, there was no difference between exposure to celebrities holding a positive and a negative public image for purchase intentions. Study 4 focused on replicating the results found in Studies 1-3 in the context of an achievement celebrity (as opposed to a regular celebrity). The findings in Study 4 provide further support for the results of Studies 1 and 3, and identify expert celebrities as a boundary condition for the effects found in Study 2. Practical implications The results provide evidence suggesting that celebrities holding a negative public image can be used as celebrity endorsers in product categories in which it can be considered helpful to protect women’s self-esteem, such as beauty products or self-expressive products. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature on celebrity endorsement by adding a boundary condition for the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement. According to the results, choosing a positive celebrity can, for some groups, have negative effects on purchase intensions and that a negative celebrity might be the safer choice.