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Publications
  • June 2012
  • Article
  • Journal of Advertising Research

The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements

By: Anita Elberse and Jeroen Verleun
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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

Citation

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

Anita Elberse

Marketing
→More Publications

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    By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente
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    FIFA and The World Cup: The Future of Football

    By: Anita Elberse, Oliver Band and Howard Johnson
More from the Authors
  • The NFL’s $110-Billion Media Rights Deals By: Anita Elberse and Elizabeth Warner
  • Toto Wolff and the Mercedes Formula One Team By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente
  • FIFA and The World Cup: The Future of Football By: Anita Elberse, Oliver Band and Howard Johnson
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