While authenticity has received considerable attention in the marketing literature, the factors that influence the perceived authenticity of a celebrity's “human brand” have remained unexplored. This research fills this void by identifying the antecedents of celebrity authenticity, defined as the perception that a celebrity behaves according to his or her true self. Based on a qualitative analysis of an open‐ended survey completed by 218 adults and on previous authenticity literature and attribution theory, the authors propose two antecedents of celebrity authenticity—rarity and stability—that are each composed of three sub‐dimensions. Analyses of cross‐sectional survey data from a sample of 428 adults provide support for the hypotheses that stability and rarity positively influence celebrity authenticity. Additionally, based on aging stability theory, the authors predict and demonstrate that the effects of rarity and stability on celebrity authenticity are moderated by age.

In the cause-related marketing (CRM) literature, the degree of fit between a firm and cause has been shown to positively impact the effectiveness of CRM campaigns. Throughout the literature, however, firm-cause fit has been operationalized as the relatedness of conceptual attributes such as brand image and positioning (i.e., conceptual congruence). Across three studies, the authors demonstrate that the relatedness of perceptual attributes such as color (i.e., perceptual congruence) can also enhance the effectiveness of CRM campaigns. Study 1 shows that perceptual congruence between a firm and cause positively affects perceptions of overall fit and participation intentions. Study 2 provides evidence that perceptual congruence impacts CRM effectiveness through a fit-as-fluency mechanism. Finally, Study 3 demonstrates the moderating effect of elaboration on the relationship between fit type (perceptual vs. conceptual congruence) and participation intentions. Consistent with previous findings, elaboration positively affects participation intentions when the fit type is conceptual, but the results of Study 3 indicate that elaboration negatively impacts participation intentions when the fit type is perceptual.

No abstract

Despite the fact that the art market is a multibillion dollar industry, marketing researchers have yet to fully explore the factors that drive consumers’ purchase intentions toward fine art. This research proposes that information about the artist who created a particular work is an important piece of information that consumers consider. This work is the first to empirically examine the impact of how one such characteristic of the artist, perceived authenticity, affects consumers’ behavioral intentions toward the art. This research, drawing on authenticity research in the arts, marketing, and psychology, builds on the proposed art valuation framework presented by Marshall and Forrest () by testing the effect of consumers’ perceptions of the artist's motives. Empirical data involving 518 respondents were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that artist authenticity affected attitude toward the artist, conceptualized as a human brand, which in turn influenced consumers’ evaluation of the artist's work and their behavioral intentions. In addition, this research provides support for the selectivity model by showing woman and men evaluate art differently. Attitude toward the artwork had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions for women compared to men, whereas attitude toward the artist had a stronger effect on behavioral intentions for men compared to women. Overall, the results reveal that consumers use information about that artist's brand in the valuation of the artwork and have important practical implications for the management of the artist's human brand.