The whole or the parts? Exploring the role of Gestalts in multiple celebrity-endorsed advertisements
(R2024-122701)

AUTHORS

Subhadip Roy, IIM, Ahmedabad; Kirti Sharma, Management Development Institute

ABSTRACT

Brand advertising by multiple celebrity endorsers is a global practice. Despite rich celebrity endorsement literature, its behavioral aspects had been overlooked. Current study utilizes the Gestalt theory to explore the design of product endorsements by multiple celebrities. Three lab experiments were conducted to find the effects of two gestalts, i.e., similarity and proximity on consumer attitudes and behavior towards multiple celebrity endorsements. Findings reveal certain gestalts like closure may be effective conditionally. It was also observed that consumers with holistic or analytical thinking are more/less affected by multiple celebrity endorsements where the gestalt requires audience interpretation.