Taking off a doctor’s white coat? Advertising effects of doctor endorsement

• Main Authors: Yu-Wei Li, 李祐瑋
• Other Authors: Hsuan-Yi Chou
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/zz85kq

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 行銷傳播管理研究所 === 106 === In recent years, quite a few scandals related to the food and supply industry have gained publicity in Taiwan’s market. Many businesses rely on expert spokespersons to endorse products so that consumer trust is increased; doctors are a popular choice for such expert endorsement. This paper combines the theoretical perspectives of language strength, the source credibility model, match-up hypothesis, and the persuasion knowledge model to examine how the endorsement style of doctors and multiple source endorsements affect advertising effectiveness. The paper also examines the moderating effect of product type. This study uses the experimental design method to verify the seven hypotheses with two experiments. Experiment 1 explores the individual impact and interaction of endorsement style (explicit vs. implicit) and the role presentation of a doctor spokesperson (only the doctor role vs. the doctor’s consumer role being highlighted), and whether product type (hedonic vs. utilitarian) can result in moderating effects. Experiment 2 discusses the interaction between endorsement style (explicit vs. implicit) and the number of doctor spokespersons (single male vs. single female vs. multiple) on affecting advertising effectiveness. The results of the two experiments revealed the following: (1) an explicit (vs. implicit) endorsement style can generate higher consumer purchase intention; (2) multi-role presentation (vs. single role presentation) leads to better product attitudes; (3) product type can play an important role as a moderator. For utilitarian products, advertising effects are better in two scenarios: in an explicit endorsement when only the doctor role is presented and in an implicit endorsement when the consumer role of the doctor is also highlighted. For hedonic products, highlighting the doctor’s consumer role can improve attitudes toward the advertisement and the product; (4) multiple (vs. single) endorsers acting as doctors yield better advertising effectiveness, and the number of such spokespersons does not moderate the effect of the endorsement style. The research results have theoretical and practical implications in expert endorsement.