Social Network Connectedness to Soap Operas, Celebrity Product Endorsement, and Consumer Behavior

One factor that has not received attention in the literature but that affects the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement and product placement is consumers’ perceptions of their social networks. We propose and demonstrate that perceptions about attitudes and behavior of consumers’ social networks toward a given medium (network connectedness) directly affect consumers’ purchase intentions of brands advertised through soap opera celebrities. Data from a field study of Brazilian consumers show that this network connectedness effect exists independently from that of self connectedness (the extent to which viewers develop parasocial relationships with characters that resemble real close relationships.)

Citation:

Valeria Noguti and Cristel A. Russell (2008) ,"Social Network Connectedness to Soap Operas, Celebrity Product Endorsement, and Consumer Behavior", in LA - Latin American Advances in Consumer Research Volume 2, eds. Claudia R. Acevedo, Jose Mauro C. Hernandez, and Tina M. Lowrey, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 192-192.