When brands use CEOs and employees as spokespersons
Résumé
Purpose – This paper aims to clarify the persuasion mechanism of CEOs and employees as endorsers of
brand advertising and helps discern consumer attitudes toward internal endorsement.
Design/methodology/approach – The exploratory character of the present research required a
qualitative approach combining focus groups and face-to-face interviews considered as both meaningful and
complementary.
Findings – The findings suggest that while the celebrity endorsement ensures familiarity and likability,
internal endorsement supports credibility and congruity with an important role of storytelling. Moreover,
employee endorsements induce an internalization process based on the real-self, while the endorser CEO
induces admiration grounded in the ideal self. More fundamentally, the study reveals how the internal
endorsement modifies the meaning transfer model and involves a process of meaning translation, which
affects the corporate brand image rather than the product brand image.
Originality/value – The present paper reveals that CEOs and employees can be strong levers for gilding
the corporate brand image compared to the celebrities who enhance the product brand image. Moreover, the
authors show that the CEO is a character who can be admired without the threat of upward comparison at the
opposite of celebrities. Finally, this research highlights the specific role of employees bringing authenticity
because of their anchorage in real life.