For Better, for Worse? What to Do When Celebrity Endorsements Go Bad

This experimental study examined what is the optimal decision for a company whose brand is endorsed by a celebrity immersed in a scandal (revoking versus continuing the endorsement) as a function of brand/endorser fit (congruence versus incongruence) and of the veracity of the negative event created by the celebrity's reaction (denying versus admitting the facts). In the case of congruence, revoking the endorsement is suboptimal with respect to brand attitude and purchase intention. Furthermore, denying lowered the endorser's trustworthiness which, in turn, hampered attitude and intention. Managerial and theoretical implications, as well as directions for further research, were also considered.