Evaluating the advertising effectiveness of noncelebrity endorsers advantages of customer vs. Employee endorsers and mediating factors of their impact

Research on advertising endorsements offers only limited knowledge about noncelebrity endorsements. Different types of noncelebrity endorsers (i.e., customer versus employee), however, could have distinct influences on advertising effectiveness, which is of great managerial interest in optimizing endorser usage. This article indicates that the stated relation is mediated, both positively (advertisement empathy) and negatively (inferences of manipulative intent), resulting in two opposing effects. The relationship varies significantly, depending on the risk associated with the product category advertised. Whereas customer endorsements are preferable in product categories with high levels of social risk (e.g., sunglasses and luxury clothing), physically risky products (e.g., car maintenance and repairs) should be advertised through employee endorsements.