Celebrity endorsement and product harm crisis management: a comparative study

Abstract

Product harm crises are increasing at an accelerating rate throughout the world along with significant negative impact on companies. Therefore, the main purpose of current study is to investigate the feasibility of the usage of celebrity endorsement in a product harm crisis context in order to enhance the purchase intention of the affected brand. Total 200 Chinese and Sri Lankan undergraduate students were participated in two experiment surveys in two countries. Results related to a fictitious product harm crisis scenario in conjunction with a hypothetical yogurt brand, and a fictitious celebrity endorser, revealed that celebrity endorsement yields rewarding results in enhancing purchase intention of the affected brand and the products of the affected brand in the product harm crisis situation. Most interestingly gender moderates this link. Current study offers important managerial implications for crisis managers and for further research investigations.