The potential paradox of endorsersʹ exterior traits: Worship at what cost?

This study applies Balance Theory and Elaboration Likelihood Model to explain consumersʹ counterfeit purchase behaviors. The results find that endorsersʹ exterior traits enhance not only consumersʹ worship levels, but also foster consumersʹ counterfeit purchase behaviors. Endorsersʹ interior traits enhance only worship levels, but not counterfeit purchase behaviors. In contrast, the role of worship level is to minimize the positive association between exterior traits and counterfeit purchase behaviors. Elder consumers display more counterfeit purchase behaviors than do younger consumers. This study contributes to the literature by extending the focus of the products to the focus of the endorsers and indicating that how people judge an endorser (i.e., the traits of the endorser) influences the actions they take on the endorsed authentic goods or counterfeiting counterparts. The study raises a contradiction for the application of celebrity endorsement, namely; augmenting endorsersʹ exterior traits substantially encourages consumersʹ counterfeit purchase behaviors unless the worship due to exterior could be motivated to a high level so as to counterbalance the detrimental effect of exterior. Emphasizing endorsersʹ interior traits intensifies consumersʹ worship level but not at the expense of authentic goods. Study implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.