The matchup effect of spokesperson and product congruency: A schema theory interpretation

The Matchup Effect of Spokesperson and Product Congruency: A Schema Theory Interpretation James Lynch Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

Drue Schuler University of Oklahoma

ABSTRACT

This article examines the matchup hypothesis or the notion that the congruence in advertisements between spokesperson characteristics and product attributes is related to observed variations in source credibility, product evaluations, perceived product gender, and other measures of advertising and communication effectiveness. Schema theory is used to interpret the results of previous inquiries into the matchup hypothesis, and the results of two experiments that provide additional insight into how schema might be changed by a spokesperson/product match are reported. Areas of future research into the matchup hypothesis on schema theory implications are discussed. 0 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The selection of a spokesperson, model, or endorser for an advertisement can be one of the most important decisions of the marketing practitioner. Who is shown in an advertisement can say much to the consumer about the intended users of a product and about the benefits resulting from product use. Considerable attention, therefore, has been directed in the literature at identifying those characteristics of spokespersons, models,

Psychology & Marketing Vol. l l(5): 417-445 (September/October 1994) 0 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 0742-6046/941050417-29

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and endorsers that tend to enhance communication effectiveness or otherwise help to achieve advertising objectives. A recurring observa- tion or conclusion in the empirical work that has been done with spokespersons is that some sort of congruence or matchup between the characteristics of the spokesperson in advertisements and the characteristics of the product advertised appears to enhance or interact with the dependent measures employed. The sections that follow attempt to provide additional insight into why congruence or a match might affect communication effectiveness by reviewing the development in the literature of a matchup hypothesis regarding spokesperson and products and by probing the implications of this hypothesis in terms of schema theory. Two experiments are also reported. The first addresses how a match might affect the schema of the spokesperson. The second considers how a match might affect the schema of the product. The discussion section interprets the results of these experiments in terms of schema theory and identifies possible avenues for future research.

EMPIRICAL BASIS FOR MATCHUP HYPOTHESIS

Kanungo and Pang (1973) propose that a fittingness should exist between a model in an advertisement and the type of product being advertised. In their initial study they manipulated product type using four products (a car, a sofa, a stereo, and a television) and three model types (males, females, and male/female couples). For each product type, they also used a control advertisement that featured no models. Each subject viewed one advertisement for each product type and was asked to evaluate the product shown using a set of rating scales based on product attributes. For each attribute, the mean rating for the advertisement with no models (the control) served as a baseline. Mean differences were then computed for each attribute for each treatment (separately for male and female subjects). Reaction to individual advertisements was considered favorable if mean differences were significant and positive and unfavorable if mean differences were significant but negative. For the car advertisements, they found that the male models produced favorable evaluations of product attributes among both male and female subjects. For the sofa advertisements, female models produced favorable attitudes and male models produced negative attitudes among male subjects. For the stereo advertisements, the male models, the female models, and the male/female couples all produced favorable product evaluations among both male and female subjects. For the television advertisements, male subjects showed negative reactions to the use of any models and female subjects showed favorable evaluations only for the advertisements with the malelfemale couples.

As a follow-up, Kanungo and Pang asked a second sample to cate- gorize the product types used in the initial study as being either masculine, feminine, equally masculine and feminine, or neither masculine

418 LYNCH AND SCHULER

nor feminine. Within their sample, the car was viewed as masculine, the sofa as feminine, the stereo as equally masculine and feminine, and the television as neither masculine nor feminine. Combining the results of their initial and follow-up studies, Kanungo and Pang found that, in general, a car was viewed as a masculine product and the most effective models were male; a sofa was viewed as a feminine product and the most effective models were female; a stereo was viewed as both masculine and feminine and male models, female models, or couples as models would be effective; and a television was viewed as neither masculine nor feminine and the control advertisements (with no models) were the most effective. Kanungo and Pang interpret the results of their two studies as supporting a fittingness hypothesis. They conclude that if there is a match or fittingness between the product and a model in an advertisement, consumer evaluations of the product advertised will be favorable because perceptual and attitudinal congruence will exist. On the other hand, if a match and perceptual and attitudinal congruence are missing, unfavorable product evaluations will result. A match is expected when the general or stereotype image evoked by a product based on its features and the associations it brings to mind is consistent with the type of model featured in an advertisement. In their words, this means that the “use of a model with one product may cause a favorable attitude towards [that] product, whereas use of the same model with another product may cause an unfavorable attitude” (p. 177). Kanungo and Pang show that even a simple match between physical characteristics of spokespersons and perceived characteristics of products can produce identifiable effects in consumer evaluations of those products.

Peterson and Kerin (1977) also suggest the need for product/model congruency within an advertisement if the function to be served by the presence of the model is the enhancement of communication. In their study, they found that the combination of a seductive model and a body oil product, as opposed to their other treatments, produced a more appealing advertisement, a higher quality rating for the product advertised, and better reputation for the product’s manufacturer. The point of congruence in the seductive-advertising-type/body-oil-product-type combination was likely the sensuality of the seductive execution and the sensual experiential nature of a body oil application. Sensuality and, therefore, congruence were probably lost in the other treatments when the model was either fully dressed or completely nude or when the product was a ratchet set. Peterson and Kerin show that it is possible to manipulate the degree of match between spokesperson and product and that the match may only be effective within a specific range. They also show that this manipulation can be of the physical appearance of the spokesperson and is not limited to preexisting physical features.

Baker and Churchill (1977) specifically tested the hypothesis of a product/spokesperson-characteristic interaction. They used physically

SPOKESPERSON AND PRODUCT 419

attractive and unattractive male and female models and a romantic product (perfume/cologne/after-shave) and an unromantic product (coffee) and measured changes in cognitive, affective, and conative components of advertising effectiveness. They observed a significant model- by-product interaction, supporting their hypothesis, but only for their conative component (i.e., behavioral intentions), and then only when the female models were used. In other words, the attractiveness of the male models did not significantly interact with product type on any of the components measured and interactions were not significant for the female models on the cognitive and affective components. It may be, however, that the construction of the stimulus advertisements employed by Baker and Churchill inadvertently caused product-by-model interactions for the cognitive and affective components to wash out. For their romantic-product advertisement, Baker and Churchill incorporated perfume, cologne, and after-shave into the same advertisement with a headline reading “SIGNET BELIEVES THAT A PERFUME, CO-

EXCITING AS THE PERSON WHO WEARS IT.” Note that this advertisement could have been broken into 12 different treatments (perfume: attractive male, unattractive male, attractive female, unattractive female; cologne: attractive male, unattractive male, attractive female, unattractive female; after-shaue; attractive male, unattractive male, attractive female, unattractive female). In effect, subjects were not being asked to evaluate a single product (as with coffee) but rather a group of related products or a product line. Given this potentially confounding influence of naming three different products in the same advertisement, the observed significant interaction between female- model attractiveness and product type is even more remarkable (although it should probably be interpreted with some caution). Impor- tantly, Baker and Churchill do introduce the idea that spokesperson characteristics (and, therefore, the level of match) can be manipulated by using different spokespersons who share a common characteristic in different degrees.

Friedman and Friedman (1979) examined the effects of matching endorser types and product type. They used three categories of endorser (celebrity, expert, and consumer) and three product types defined by risk. They selected costume jewelry as a product high in psychological and social risk but low in financial, performance, and physical risk; a vacuum cleaner as a product high in financial, performance, and physical risk but low in psychological and social risk; and a box of cookies as a product with little or no risk. Mary Tyler Moore was used as their celebrity endorser (with permission), a woman identified as Jane Greene and described as an expert concerning the type of product being advertised was used as the expert endorser, and the same woman (still identified as Jane Greene but identified as a housewife) was used as the consumer endorser. A control treatment with no endorser was also

LOGNE, OR AFTER-SHAVE SHOULD BE AS INTERESTING AND


employed. Consistent with their expectations, significant product-by- endorser-type interactions were observed for overall evaluations of the advertisements, overall attitudes toward the products, intentions to purchase the products advertised, and endorser credibility. Consistent with their hypotheses, the highest evaluations were achieved by the celebritylcostume j e w l e y , the expertluacuum cleaner, and the typical consumerlcookies treatments. By manipulating the sociallcultural role of the spokesperson, Friedman and Friedman show that an effective match is not limited to the physical characteristics of spokespersons.

Caballero and Pride (1984) and Caballero and Solomon (1984) both produce additional evidence of the need to consider congruency between spokesperson and product type. Caballero and Pride (1984) address the effects of varying the levels of physical attractiveness of the spokespersons shown in direct-mail advertisements. In general, they found relatively few treatment effects. One explanation they give for this result is that the somewhat impersonal nature of the product being advertised (a book) lacked saliency with attractiveness. Caballero and Pride, therefore, show that a mismatch can have important, practical consequences. Caballero and Solomon (1984) examined the effect of model gender and physical attractiveness in point-of-purchase displays for beer and facial tissues (representing high-involvement and low- involvement products, respectively). They found that the presence of models in point-of-purchase displays tended to increase a product’s ap- peal but their mixed results made it “difficult to draw a decisive conclusion” (p. 22). Importantly, the use of male models in the beer display tended to produce more beer sales among both male and fema1.e cus- tomers than did either the presence of a female model or a control treatment with no model. Caballero and Solomon attribute this result to the match between the “predominantly male image” of beer and the gender of the male model. By using a field experiment, Caballero and Solomon show that a match can have a significant effect on actual product sales.

In contrast to the studies discussed above, Debevec and Iyer (1986) specifically tested the effects of mismatching spokespersons and product types in advertisements. They found that a spokesperson’s gender is an “effective cue” in altering the gender image of products perceived as masculine or feminine (but not of gender-neutral products). They used dishwashing liquid as their feminine product, beer as their masculine product (based on a pretest), and toothpaste as a gender-neutral product (based on the literature). They found that dishwashing liquid (the feminine product) was perceived as more masculine when endorsed by a male spokesperson rather than by a female spokesperson and that beer (the masculine product) was perceived as more feminine when endorsed by a female spokesperson rather than by a male spokesperson. The gender of toothpaste was found to be influenced by the male spokesperson but not by the female spokesperson.

SPOKESPERSON AND PRODUCT 42 1

In addition, in contrast to Kanungo and Pang (19731, Debevec and Iyer found that the male spokesperson generated more positive attitudes and purchase intentions for the feminine product than did the female spokesperson. Likewise, the female spokesperson generated more positive attitudes and purchase intentions for the masculine product than did the male spokesperson. The difference between Debevec and Iyer and Kanungo and Pang may be explainable by the changes in sex roles and advertising portrayal of sex roles in the 13 years intervening between the publication of the two studies. The Kanungo and Pang college-student subjects (in the early 1970s) may have been responding to traditional sex-role portrayals and cultural stereotyping. The Debevec and Iyer college-student subjects (in the mid 1980s) may have been more receptive to opinions expressed by males and females in nontra- ditional roles. This explanation is consistent with the Debevec and Iyer finding that their subjects considered males and females to be equally appropriate spokespersons for beer and toothpaste (given the product, spokesperson, and product-usage situations created in the beer and toothpaste advertisements). For dishwashing liquid, male spokespersons were actually considered by the Debevec and Iyer subjects as being more appropriate. It is worth noting that the Caballero and Solomon (1984) sample, who purchased more beer when the male model rather than the female model was used on the point-of-purchase display, consisted of general-population supermarket shoppers. The Caballero and Solomon sample and the Kanungo and Pang sample, therefore, may have held similar, traditional sex-role views, whereas the Debevec and Iyer mid-1980’s college-student subjects may have been more receptive to less stereotypical advertising. Importantly, Debevec and Iyer show that the image of the product can be significantly altered not only through a match but through a purposeful mismatch. This also suggests that the product’s image could also be altered through an unintentional mismatch.

Kahle and Homer (1985) propose that a matchup hypothesis can be explained, a t least with regard to celebrity endorsers, using social adaptation theory. They formulate the hypothesis as the enhancement of advertising effectiveness traceable to a match between “the message conveyed by the image of the celebrity and the message about the product” (p. 955). Consistent with their expectations based on social adaptation theory, they found a significant main effect for the physical attractiveness of celebrities on measures of attitudes, purchase intentions, and brand recall. They did not report an attractiveness-by- message-type interaction, however, because all of their stimulus advertisements contained the weak arguments employed in Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann (1983). In addition, even though they used two products (disposable razors and toothpaste), no attractiveness-by-product- interaction was reported. In spite of these limitations, Kahle and Homer show that a theoretical foundation for interpreting and predicting the


consequences of a match can be provided. They also introduce the idea that an effective match might be between the spokesperson and the message in the advertisement as well as between the spokesperson and the product. This suggests that a match between the spokesperson and the message might also be used to give the product perceived characteristics that it does not already possess.

Kamins (1990) designed a study to specifically test the matchup hypothesis. Kamins defines the hypothesis as holding “that the message conveyed by the image of the celebrity and the image of the product should converge in effective advertisements” (p. 5 ) . Kamins manipulated the physical attractiveness of celebrity endorsers (attractive and unattractive) and product type (based on the degree to which use of the product enhances a consumer’s attractiveness). He used Tom Selleck as his attractive celebrity and Telly Savalas as his unattractive celebrity. A luxury car was used as the product that would make subjects more attractive and a home computer was used as the product that would not enhance attractiveness. The copy in each treatment advertisement contained claims about product attributes. Advertiser credibility, spokesperson credibility, brand attitudes, attitude toward the ad, and purchase intentions were used as dependent measures. Kamins observed a marginally significant interaction between attractiveness and product type ( p I .lo>. The univariate analysis of variance revealed a significant interaction effect for spokesperson credibility and attitude toward the ad. Consistent with the matchup hypothesis, Kamins con- cludes that “the use of an attractive celebrity spokesperson appears to be effective for a particular category of product, those which are attractive” (p. 11).

SCHEMA CONSEQUENCES OF MATCHUP EFFECT

The possible effects of a match up between spokesperson and product may be explainable in terms of schema theory. Such an explanation would be consistent with the social adaptation basis of the match-up hypothesis explored by Kahle and Homer (1985) and Kamins (1990). Social adaptation theory suggests that a consumer will utilize a source of information only as long as that source facilitates adaptation to environmental conditions. If a match between spokesperson and product exists on some relevant attribute, the spokesperson becomes an effective source of information with regard to the effectiveness or benefits of the product (Kamins, 1990). The strategic value of the spokesperson is that this information can be conveyed quickly, letting the consumer know of the adaptive significance of the product, before the consumer moves to other sources of information. In explaining social adaptation theory, Homer and Kahle (1986) specifically acknowledge the consequences on schemas of the social adaptation process. They observe that consumers


adapt to environmental conditions “by assimilating new information into existing schemata while accommodating mental structures to in- corporate new, discrepant information” (p. 52).

Schema theory proves to be a useful framework for examining why the match and mismatch conditions reported in the literature might have produced changes in consumer reactions to brands, spokespersons, and advertisements. Figure 1 shows a simple representation of the possible effects of a match between an attractive spokesperson and an attractiveness-related product. The figure is based on the treatments and results reported by Kamins (1990). A match between the attractiveness of the spokesperson and the attractiveness-related dimension of the product is shown in the figure as adding the attribute “Spokes-

Figure 1 Consequences of spokesperson-product match.

LYNCH AND SCHULER 424

person S knows about Brand X ’ to the schema of the spokesperson. The match, in effect, is responsible for creating new meaning by synthe- sizing information about the spokesperson and information about the product (and transferring this new meaning to the schema of the spokesperson). This change in the spokesperson’s schema would be an example of assimilation or the integration of a new concept into an existing schema. The interpretation shown in Figure 1, reflecting the assimilation of the matched or credibility concept into the spokesperson’s schema, is consistent with Kamins’s finding that an attractive spokesperson and attractiveness-related product match resulted in enhanced spokesperson credibility.

Figure 1 also shows that the new information created by a match might spawn an entirely new schema, a schema of the advertisement itself. This depiction of accommodation or the creation of a new schema is consistent with Kamins’s finding that a match enhanced measures of attitude towards the ad (Aaa>. Had no schemas regarding the treatment advertisements been generated, Kamins would have had nothing to measure in terms of Aad. The ability to measure Aad is consistent with the schema theory interpretation that schemas can hold both affect and cognitive beliefs (Fiske & Pavelchak, 1986).

Figure 1 shows no change occurring between the product schema at the time of exposure and the subsequent schema of the product/brand as affected by that exposure. This is because the product schema already contains the concept attractive, so the attractiveness-attractiveness match creates no new information (and would, therefore, produce no net significant change in brand evaluations). This interpretation is also consistent with Kamins (1990) as he found no significant differences in brand evaluations related to the match/no match treatments. This is not to say that the brand schema in this instance is likely to be entirely unchanged. The product /brand schema could easily contain new concepts, such as “Spokesperson S uses Brand X,” that produce no measurable changes in subjects’ evaluation of the schema (at least on the dimensions measured by Kamins). For example, Kamins’s Tom Selleck and Telly Savalas treatments may have added “Tom Selleck uses a WYSEIdrives a Sterling” and “Telly Savalas uses a WYSE/drives a Sterling” to the respective brand schemas. These changes would produce no measurable changes in brand evaluations, however, if the reactions of subjects to these two concepts are not significantly different. A different result might have been obtained had celebrities with greater perceived differences been used. Telly Savalas was characterized by Kamins as only being less attractive than Tom Selleck and not as being visually offensive. The two celebrities otherwise share many traits: both played television detectives, both portrayed rough but sensitive char- acters, both are very masculine, et cetera. Had an affirmatively unattractive celebrity (creating a more extreme or mismatch treatment) or celebrities equally attractive but otherwise very dissimilar been used,


significant differences in brand evaluations across treatments might have been observed.

This mismatch situation is depicted in Figure 2. This figure is based upon Debevec and Iyer (19861, where mismatches produced changes in the perceived product gender of products. Schema theory suggests two possible consequences that a mismatch (as discrepant information) might produce in product schemas. First, the mismatch may indicate to respondents that the advertised brand is only mildly different from other brands of this product type. According to Sujan and Bettman (19891, moderate discrepancy between the generic product schema and information about the advertised brand can produce product differen- tiation if the incongruent information is assimilated into the existing

i EFFECT

I

ADvEmEMENT SCHEMA I

Figure 2 Consequences of spokesperson-product mismatch.


product schema. The advertised brand will then share consistent attrz- butes with the generic schema but “the brand also will be seen as different from other brands in that its schema will contain a unique tag linking the differentiating attribute to the brand” (p. 455). On the other hand, if the mismatch produced information that was sufficiently inconsistent with the existing generic product schema, a subcategory of the product type may be created to accommodate the discrepancies (Sujan & Bettman, 1989). If the product in question is generally viewed as a product for one sex, sufficiently discrepant information (as from a mismatch) might produce a new subclass of the product as a product for the other sex. For example, women’s cigarettes and hair salons for men may be sufficiently different from well-entrenched schemas to represent entirely new product subcategories rather than merely differentiated products.

The possible effects of a match between the spokesperson and the message or copy in an advertisement are shown in Figure 3. This would be the type of match described by Kahle and Homer (1985) as congruence between the message conveyed by the image of the spokesperson and the message conveyed about the product. As shown in Figure 3, this type of match might also produce changes in spokesperson, advertisement, and product schemas. Matches between spokesperson and message might be especially useful for positioning brands, because product schemas could be purposefully manipulated (through assimilation or accommodation) to produce schemas exhibiting attributes that a particular brand was not generally perceived as possessing before publication of the advertisement. It is worth noting that this interpretation is not inconsistent with the notion of picture-word consistency, even though that type of match has generally been assumed to be between words and a pictured situation rather than between words and a spokesperson (for example, see Houston, Childers, & Heckler, 1987). The potential of matching spokespersons with the headlines and copy in advertisements (as well as with the product advertised) is addressed by McCracken (1989). Speaking with regard to celebrity endorsers, Mc- Cracken proposes that the cultural meaning attached to celebrities can be transferred and become part of the meaning of the product and that this process is facilitated by the degree of similarity between the spokesperson and the other elements in the advertisement. Spokesperson might be matched with appropriate messages, therefore, and (in McCracken’s words) “virtually any meaning” might be attached to any product or brand.

MODIFYING SPOKESPERSON AND PRODUCT SCHEMAS: TWO EXPERIMENTS

Two experiments were conducted that appear to provide additional insight into the schematic consequences of the matchup effect or hypoth-


CONSEQUENCES

SPOKESPERSON SCHEMA

Figure 3 Consequences of spokesperson-message match.

esis. The first experiment addresses the effect on spokesperson credibility of a matchup between a spokesperson characteristic and a product attribute. This experiment differs from previous studies in that a wide variety of products (28) were used, allowing for the testing of several hypotheses related to product type. The second experiment considers the effect of a matchup between a spokesperson characteristic and a product attribute on the schema of the product. This experiment addresses how a matchup might facilitate the transfer of the spokesperson’s symbolic meaning to the product. Taken together, the two experiments can be viewed as an examination of the robustness of the matchup hypothesis.


In order to minimize the introduction of extraneous variables, the two experiments described in the following use the unique approach of varying a physical characteristic of a single stimulus person rather than utilizing a variety of stimulus persons possessing the characteristic of interest in different degrees. Muscularity was selected as the characteristic to be manipulated because it could be effectively and notice- ably changed without surgical procedures or other intrusive means and because the male physique is one of the most widely used execution elements in advertisements and package illustrations. The bare male figure is frequently used in advertisements coincidental to the portrayal of actual product use (e.g., swimming suits, bath soaps) or for the pur- poses of appealing to the ideal self (or self-actualization need) of a male- target segment (e.g., tanning lotions, body-building equipment). In addition, the use of the male physique is also widely used in advertisements in which muscularity is unrelated to actual use of the product advertised or to the ideal self (or self-actualization) of any identifiable target segment. In these instances, the male figure is most likely being used to attract the attention of a particular target segment (usually but not always women) or to imply some specific product attribute (usually strength or durability).

EXPERIMENT 1

Hypotheses for First Experiment

Three hypotheses that predict the effect of a product-spokesperson matchup on the schema of the spokesperson were developed for Exper- iment 1. Spokesperson expertise was selected as the dependent variable of interest for the experiment because of its frequently observed relationship with source credibility (e.g., Maddux & Rogers, 1980; Ohanian, 1991). In general, source credibility refers to the characteristics of a communicator that have a positive effect on the receivers’ acceptance of a message (Ohanian, 1990). Source credibility is an important consideration for advertisers when they select spokespersons, because credibility has been shown to have a significant, direct effect on purchase intentions and brand attitudes (e.g., Kahle & Homer, 1985, Ohanian, 1990). Although the efficacy of highly credible sources is not always straightforward (Homer & Kahle, 1990; Sternthal, Dholakia, & Leav- itt), a concern for credibility is central to many advertising and pro- motion strategies. As reflected in the hypotheses which follow, there were also a priori reasons for believing that muscularity would be significantly related to perceived expertise about some products.

On the other hand, source attractiueness, another component of source credibility (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 19511, was not selected as a dependent variable of interest in the first experiment because increased muscularity does not necessarily correlate with an increase in perceived


attractiveness. The inability to predict the presence or sign of a mus- cularitylattractiveness interrelationship simply reflects the fact that some people find muscularity attractive and others do not (Fallon & Rozin, 1985). Beauty, as so often noted, remains in the eyes of the beholder. Attractiveness items were included in the measurement in- strument as independent variables, however, because increased attractiveness has repeatedly been shown to have a positive effect on perceptions of spokesperson, including their perceived expertise (Baker & Churchill, 1977; Joseph, 1982; Patzer, 1983; Petroshius & Crocker, 1989). It was hoped that the unique nature of the stimulus objects used in Experiment 1 would allow attractiveness to be held constant across treatments (which could be verified using the independent-variable attractiveness measures). The third component of source credibility- trustworthiness-was not incorporated into the research design, because there is no evidence in the literature to suggest that it is related to muscularity (within the ranges of muscularity displayed in the stimulus objects) or that it might independently affect perceived expertise.

HYPOTHESIS 1 As the muscularity of the spokesperson increases, the perceived expertise of the spokesperson about products that help produce muscularity will increase.

The first hypothesis is based upon the simple and well-established relationship between muscular development and exercise. In general, in a healthy individual, a muscle becomes stronger and enhanced the more it is used and exerted. Muscular growth can come from work, play, or purposeful muscle-building activity. Apparent muscularity, therefore, should be a strong cue that someone knows how to become muscular, because people who are muscular should know how they got that way. Although the nonmuscular person might also know how to become muscular and have consciously chosen not to do so, in the absence of muscular development itself and without benefit of any other indicators, there should be no specific evidence or cues with regard to this knowledge. It is expected, therefore, that as the muscularity of the stimulus person is increased, the perceived knowledge of the stimulus person about exercise equipment will also increase. In other words, consistent with the depiction of expected schema modification shown in Figure 1, a matchup between a muscular person and devices to produce muscularity should add the attribute “this person knows about Product X,” where X is a product that helps to produce muscularity, to the schema of the spokesperson.

HYPOTHESIS 2 As the muscularity of the spokesperson increases, the perceived expertise of the spokesperson about products that are tradtionally male targeted will increase.


The second hypothesis is based upon the physiological link between muscularity and masculinity or manliness. Absent artificial induce- ment by anabolic steroids or other substance, muscularity in the male is directly related to the increase in hormonal (testosterone) activity which begins during puberty. Like other secondary sexual characteristics such as facial hair, muscular development is evidence of the onset of manhood and, consequently, of growing involvement in those concerns and pursuits that society and culture have relegated to men. Within this context, experience and cultural stereotypes should dictate that the more manly and less boyish a person appears to be, the more that person should know about manly things and be involved in manly pursuits and concerns. It is expected, therefore, that as muscularity increases, the perceived knowledge of the stimulus person about products traditionally targeted to men will also increase. This expectation is also consistent with the situation depicted in Figure 1. As the muscularity of the spokesperson increases, the perceived expertise of the spokesperson about products that are traditionally male targeted will increase.

HYPOTHESIS 3 Changes in the muscularity of the spokesperson will not produce changes in the perceived knowledge of the spokesperson for those products lacking a strong association with muscularity or masculinity.

The third hypothesis is based upon the notion that absent any cultural or experiential links with muscularity, spokesperson knowledge about products other than exercise equipment and traditionally male targeted products has no reason to be related to the muscularity of the spokesperson. It is expected, therefore, that if there is no matchup, no change in the schema of the spokesperson with regard to product knowledge will be observed. It is important to note that no negative attribute regarding product knowledge is expected to attach to the spokesperson’s schema, even if a mismatch condition exists under this hypothesis. For example, the attribute “this person does not know about Product X”, where X is a product traditionally targeted to women, is not expected to become part of the spokesperson’s schema because muscularity should be irrelevant (rather than discrepant) information about the spokesperson with regard to nonmuscular and nonmasculine products.

Methodology for First Experiment Stimuli. As stated, a unique feature of this research is that a single model was used to represent the three treatments or the three stages of muscularity. This model had agreed in advance to undertake a bodybuilding program sufficient to produce significantly noticeable changes in his physique. What was desired was a relatively low level

SPOKESPERSON AND PRODUCT 43 1

of muscular development, an average level, and a relatively high level (although these were not predefined in any way). The only precondition was that the resulting three levels be within the range of what would be seen in true advertisements (in other words, both emaciated and muscle-beach stages were avoided). The three pictures eventually used in the experiment (shown in Figure 4) were selected from a great num- ber of photographs taken at various times during the course of the bodybuilding program. To the extent that was physically possible, light- ing, hairstyle, facial expression, and body position were all kept consistent across photo sessions. In all of the photographs, the model wore only plain white casual shorts.

Figure 4 (a) Black-and-white reductions of four-color originals used in first experiment. (b) Black-and-white reductions of four-color advertisements used in second experiment.


Procedure. A sample comprised of university students drawn from three large state universities was used. Students in marketing classes were asked to participate in an in-class advertising experiment. Students not willing to participate were not required to complete the questionnaire. Both male and female students were included. Subjects were randomly divided into three treatment groups and asked to complete a written questionnaire. Enclosed in each questionnaire was a full-page, four- color reproduction (on ordinary paper) of a photograph of the stimulus person at one of the three stages of muscularity. Each subject viewed only one photographic reproduction and completed only one questionnaire. Subjects who indicated on a screening question that they knew or thought they knew the stimulus person were allowed to complete the questionnaire, but their responses were excluded from any subsequent analysis. Subjects were asked to view the photograph included in their questionnaire and to keep it within their field of view as they completed the questionnaire. This allowed the subjects to refer back to their photograph as often as necessary. A total of 177 usable questionnaires was obtained.

Dependent Measures. The questionnaire contained two sets of rating scales. The first set consisted of a series of semantic-differential scales representing a variety of personality traits and physical characteristics. Subjects were asked to use this set of bipolar adjectives and phrases to describe the stimulus person. The second set consisted of a series of 7- point scales ranging from “not knowledgeable at all” to “very knowledgeable.” Subjects were asked to use these scales to indicate how knowledgeable the stimulus person would be about each of 28 products.

Results of First Experiment

Responses to each of the two sets of ratings scales were subjected to separate factor analyses. The factor analysis of the descriptive scales produced the four factors shown in Table 1. The first factor, physical strength, was used as a manipulation check in the subsequent analyses. The remaining three factors, attractiveness, intelligence, and tenacity, were used as covariates. The factor analysis of the product scales produced the 10 factors shown in Table 2. These factors were labeled television sets, tanning salons, legal services, male-targeted products, female-targeted products, PCs and accessories, hair-care products, household sundries, exercise equipment, and shaving products.

Manipulation Check. Before proceeding with the principle analysis, the homogeneity-of-regression or parallelism assumption fundamental to an analysis of variance was tested. This assumption holds that no interaction exists between the covariates and the factors in the experimental design or, in other words, that the effect of the covariates on


Table 1. Spokesperson Trait Factors.

Loading Factor Scale Item

1. Muscularity Strongiweak 0.83 Muscular inonmuscular 0.80

Masculineinot masculine 0.68 Nonathletic/ athletic - 0.68

2. Intelligence Not intelligentiintelligent Smartinot smart Shallow thinker/deep thinker Bad memoryigood memory Fast thinkerislow thinker

3. Attractiveness

4. Tenacity

0.72

0.63 0.61

- 0.66

- 0.59

Attractivenessiunattractiveness - 0.83

Pleasant featuredunpleasant features - 0.73 Not handsomeihandsome 0.79

Not sexyisexy 0.57

Strong willediweak willed Aggressiveishy Determinedieasily distracted Dominatingieasily intimidated Leader/ follower

0.75 0.66 0.65 0.64 0.55

Note. Only scale items with loadings of 0.55 or greater are shown.

the dependent variables is the same across all treatments. Because this pooled covariate-by-factor effect proved to be nonsignificant (F = 0.987, p > .lo), it can be said that the attractiveness, intelligence, and tenacity characteristics of the spokesperson were effectively held constant across the treatments.

A preplanned contrast using Turkey’s HSD procedure was used to determine if the manipulation of muscularity across treatment groups had been successful. The HSD procedure showed that the means of all three groups were significantly different from each other ( p 5 .05) and, therefore, that the manipulation of muscularity had been successful. Subjects perceived the stimulus person as shown in Treatment One to be relatively nonmuscular (factor score mean = 0.6691). The stimulus person was perceived to be relatively muscular in Treatment Three (mean = -0.5408). The stimulus person as shown in Treatment Two was perceived to be roughly midway between the other two treatments in terms of muscularity (mean = -0.1284). The ability to vary muscularity while holding the covariates (attractiveness, intelligence, and tenacity) constant was probably the result of the strong influence of facial features in people perceptions (McArthur, 1982) and the fact that, although apparent muscularity was manipulated, the fundamental body shape of the stimulus person was not altered.

Test of Hypotheses. The multivariate test of factor-by-dependent-variable interaction reported revealed that the manipulation of muscularity


Table 2. Product Factors.

Factor Scale Item Loading 1. Television set Television sets 0.98

2. Tanning salons Tanning salons 0.98

3. Legal services Legal services 0.97

4. Male-targeted products Car batteries Lawn mowers Screw drivers Auto repair shops Stereo speakers Beer Barber shops

5. Female-targeted products Coffee makers Laundry bleach Steam irons Bathroom cleaners Frozen turkeys

6. PCs and accessories

7. Hair-care products

8. Household sundries

9. Exercise equipment

0.86 0.80 0.78 0.76 0.60 0.57 0.57

0.81 0.77 0.69 0.65 0.57

Personal computers - 0.93 Word-processing programs - 0.85 Floppy disks - 0.85

Shampoo Hair conditioner

Paper towels Kitchen knives Light bulbs

- 0.88 - 0.67

- 0.85 - 0.82 - 0.75

Weight-lifting equipment 0.80 Running shoes 0.64 Weight reducing equipment 0.62

10. Shaving products Shaving cream 0.59 Electric shavers 0.56


across the three treatment groups produced significantly different perceptions concerning the perceived knowledge of the spokesperson (F = 2.14, p < . O l ) and that there were no significant sex (3’ = 1.36, p > .lo) or treatment-group-by-sex (F = 1.02 p > .lo) effects. The results of the univariate tests of group-by-product interaction are shown in Table 3. As can be seen in the table, the treatment stimuli produced a significant difference in how the spokesperson was viewed in terms of knowledge about exercise equipment. As the muscularity of the spokesperson increased, perceived knowledge about exercise equipment also increased. This supports the first hypothesis. The table also shows that perceived knowledge about male-target products increased as muscularity increased. This supports the second hypothesis. A marginally


Table 3. Univariate Tests of Treatment-Group-by-product Interaction.

Product factors

~

Perceived Knowledge Means

Low- Mid- High- Muscularity Muscularity Muscularil

F P Treatment Treatment Treatmen

1. Television sets

2. Tanning salons

3. Legal services

4. Male-targeted products

5. Female-targeted products

6. PCs and accessories

7. Hair-care products

8. Household sundries

9. Exercise equipment

10. Shaving products

0.22"

0.19

0.09

4.37

0.20

0.01

2.73

2.05

7.97

3.06

.803

.830

.914

.014**

323

.993

.068

.132

.ooo*

.049***

-0.109

- 0.069

0.019

- 0.283

0.017

- 0.050

0.200

- 0.186

- 0.415

0.067

0.033

0.067

- 0.094

0.004

-0.011

0.090

0.052

0.161

- 0.003

- 0.213

0.106

0.002

.075

0.280

- 0.006

- 0.040

- 0.252

0.025

0.418

0.146

"F values correspond to Wilks's lambda. * p < .01.

**p < ,015. ***p < .05.

significant effect ( p < .05) was observed for shaving products. This marginal result probably represents the offsetting effects of the masculinity dimension of the shaving of facial hair and the female custom of shaving leg and other body hair. No other significant results are contained in Table 3. This supports the third hypothesis that perceived knowledge would not be added to the spokeperson's schema if muscularity or masculinity are not pertinent to product usage or otherwise match with the product via a cultural stereotype.

EXPERIMENT 2

Hypotheses for Second Experiment

The following hypotheses were developed for the second study based upon the simple notion that the muscularity of the spokesperson would match with the strength attribute of products. Products with significant strength attributes were expected to be those (a) that help to produce muscles, (b) that have masculine images, or (c) that require strength to be effective. It was believed that a match would create or enhance the perceived strength of each of these three types of products on the assumption that muscularity would be symbolic of strength or convey the meaning of strength. Although the results of the first experiment


show that the expertise component of source credibility may be significantly affected by a matchup, implicit in the matchup hypothesis is the further notion that product schemas may be affected by spokesperson schemas even in the absence of credibility. This expectation would be consistent with the results of Debevec and Iyer (1986) just discussed, showing that the perceived attributes of a product can be purposefully manipulated even in situations where credibility would be expected to be low (as for a male spokesperson for a stereotypically feminine product or a female spokesperson for a stereotypically masculine product). The criterion by which the effectiveness of an advertisement would be judged in this situation would be the ability of the advertisement to produce the desired change in the schema of the advertised brand. This approach recognizes that positioning a brand in the minds of consumers is often the primary objective of many advertisers, especially for national brands of consumer products.

HYPOTHESIS 1

HYPOTHESIS 2

HYPOTHESIS 3

HYPOTHESIS 4

As the muscularity of the spokesperson increases, the perceived strength of the products that help to produce muscularity will increase.

As the muscularity of the spokesperson increases, the perceived strength of masculine products will increase.

As the muscularity of the spokesperson increases, the perceived strength of nonmuscular, nonmasculine products will increase.

The muscularity of the spokesperson will not affect the perceived strength of products that are nonmuscular, nonmasculine, or have no significant strength attribute.

Methodology for Second Experiment

Stimuli. Treatment advertisements were constructed for the second study by selecting four products from the first study and combining them with color photographs of the spokesperson used in the first study. Weight-lifting equipment was selected to represent a product directly related to producing muscles. Car batteries were selected to represent a traditionally male-targeted or masculine product. Bleach was selected to represent a nonmasculine product. A law firm was selected to represent a product without a significant strength attribute. Two test advertisements were then prepared for each product: one featuring the spokesperson in the low-muscularity condition and another featuring the spokesperson in the high-muscularity condition. The mid-muscularity photographs were not used in the second study. Each treatment


advertisement contained a headline, two sentences of copy, and a sub- head. Black rectangles appeared in each advertisement where brand names should have appeared. This approach was used in order to avoid any confounding influence from actual or fanciful brand names and to add to the illusion that an advertising test was being conducted. The headlines and body copy in all the advertisements contained an endorsement of the unnamed brand. The only product attribute mentioned in the advertisements was reasonable price. All eight treatment advertisements (reduced from their original 8% x 11” size) are shown in Figure 4.

Procedure. The procedure used for the second experiment was very similar to the first. A new sample comprised of university students drawn from two large state universities was used. Students in marketing classes were asked to participate in an in-class advertising experiment. Students not willing to participate were not required to complete the questionnaire. Both male and female students were included. Subjects were randomly divided into eight treatment groups and asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Attached to each questionnaire was a full-page four-color reproduction (on ordinary paper) of a simulated advertisement. Each subject viewed only one advertisement and completed only one questionnaire. Subjects who indicated on a screening question that they knew or thought they knew the stimulus person were allowed to complete the questionnaire, but their responses were excluded from any subsequent analysis. Subjects were asked to detach the advertisement from the questionnaire and to keep it within their field of view as they completed the questionnaire. This allowed the subjects to refer back to their advertisement as often as necessary. A total of 200 usable questionnaires was obtained.

Dependent Measures. The questionnaire contained one set of rating scales consisting of a series of 25 semantic-differential scales representing a variety of product attributes. Subjects were asked to use this set of bipolar adjectives and phrases to describe the brand being advertised.

Results of Second Experiment

Responses to the set of ratings scales were subjected to a factor analysis. The results of this analysis are shown in Table 4. The factor analysis failed to produce a distinct strength factor. Instead, those attributes most directly related to strength (i-e., strong and powerful) loaded on the same factor as those attributes related to importance (i.e., important, necessary, useful, valuable), as well as on those related to quality of construction (i.e., well crafted, well made). This factor was labeled importance. The remaining factors have been labeled durability, complexity, innovatiueness, and price.


Table 4. Product Attribute Factors.

Factor Scale Item Loading

1. Importance Important/unimportant Necessaryhnnecessary Usefulhseless Valuable/worthless WeaWstrong Weak/powerful Well craftedlcrudely-made Luxuryhecessity Well made/poorly made

Sturdy/delicate Fragileldurable DurabilityXlimsy Heavy/light Long-lasting/wears out quickly Feminine/masculine

2. Durability

0.77 0.74 0.73 0.72

- 0.65 - 0.62

0.61

0.50

0.79

0.74 0.70 0.60

- 0.51

- 0.78

-0.57

3. Complexity Hard to understandleasy to understand 0.80

Complicated/straightforward 0.76 Compledsimple 0.62

Understandablelmy sterious - 0.79

Easy to use/difficult to use - 0.58

4. Innovativeness Exciting/dull Newlold Unusualicommonplace

0.71 0.70 0.57

5. Price Inexpensive/expensive - 0.84 Preminum pricedleconomy priced 0.76


Test ofHypotheses. A MANOVA, using sex of respondent as a covariate, was conducted to determine the effects of the treatments on the perceptions of product attributes. The overall multivariate test revealed that the manipulation of muscularity and product type across the eight treatment groups did produce significant differences in the perceptions of the brands being advertised (F = 1.251, p I .02). The effect of the covariate sex was significant (F = 2.763, p 5 .02), with the univariate tests showing that the sex of the subject did make a difference in terms of how important (F = 7.168, p I .Ol) and how innovative (F = 5.264, p 5 .02) products were perceived to be.

The multivariate test of group-by-product interaction, however, indicated that the spokesperson-muscularity/product-type interaction was not significant (F = 0 . 4 6 5 , ~ > .lo). This result is inconsistent with all four hypotheses and suggests that the presence of a matchup as hypothesized had no significant effect on product schemas. On the other hand, the MANOVA results showed that the products were perceived as significantly different from one another (F = 7.906, p < . O l ) and


Table 5. Univariate Tests of Product-Type and Muscularity Effects.

Effects

Product Type Muscularity

Product Attributes F P F P Importance 13.505" .ooo* 3.34l .069

Durability 0.758 .519 9.053 .003*

Complexity 16.142 .ooo* 0.263 .609

Innovative 4.570 .004* 0.378 5 3 9

Price 4.028 .008* 0.866 .353 aF values correspond to Wilks's lambda. *p < .01.

there was a significant effect for muscularity across products (F = 7.906, p I .02). As shown in Table 5 , products were perceived as being significantly different from one another on importance, complexity, innovativeness, and price, but not on durability. In contrast, muscularity affected perceptions of product durability but not product importance, complexity, innovativeness, or price.

The results reported in Table 5 appear to suggest that the muscularity of the spokesperson did not differentially affect the perceived strength of products as hypothesized, but rather affected perceived durability (and only durability) consistently across all products. The durability factor contains the dimensions related to product sturdiness, durability, weight, endurance, and gender. Muscularity could be a symbol for each of these dimensions or, conversely, each of these dimensions is an aspect of muscularity to the extent that muscularity connotes the ability to work over an extended period of time or to work without failure or exhaustion. Implicit in the concept of durability is a time aspect. Product durability should mean that a product is long lasting in spite of hard wear or frequent use or that a product is resistant to wearing out or fatigue. For the bleach, durability might mean that the brand continues to work even as it is diluted by the wash water or that it continues to work throughout the wash cycle. For car batteries, durability should mean that the brand has sufficient energy to start the automobile even after the battery has been used over an extended period of time (and perhaps that it remains strong even in adverse weather conditions). For weight-lifting equipment, durability should mean that the brand can take the punishment associated with frequent, repetitive muscle- building sessions. For a law firm, durability may mean the constancy of a legal practice over an extended period of time. It may mean that a firm is well established in the community and that it has repeatedly withstood the most aggressive legal tactics of rival firms. It might be supposed that the tangibles connected with the delivery of legal services


are often specifically intended to give the impression of sturdiness or durability. These tangibles frequently include mahogany and leather furniture, plush carpets, and oversize desks and chairs. Overall, the perceived durability of the four products shifted from an average durability factor score of 0.844 when the spokesperson exhibited low muscularity to an average factor score of -0.628 for high muscularity (where a negative factor score indicates a higher level of perceived durability).

DISCUSSION

The two studies reported above do appear to substantiate that a matchup between a spokesperson’s characteristics and a product attribute has the potential to bring about a change in spokesperson and product schemas. The results of the first experiment appear to show that a matchup can produce a unique meaning that is transferable to a schema. In this instance, a match between spokesperson muscularity and products related to muscularity or masculinity appeared to facilitate the transfer to the schema ofthe spokesperson of the information that the spokesperson knew about the product. Consistent with the idea that the information originated with a match, this new information contained references to both the spokesperson and the product. In general, as muscularity increased, and presumably greater congruence oc- curred between spokesperson trait and product attribute, the greater the perceived knowledge appeared to be. The (almost cliche) linkage between perceived knowledge about muscular and masculine categories of products and muscularity suggests that some type of cultural stereotype regarding muscular (or nonmuscular) persons may have been evoked by the treatments. It may be that part of the schema for a product category, before exposure, contains a stereotype of the type of person who would know about products in that category. If this is true, the critical match may be between this stereotype attached to the product schema, as the relevant product attribute, and the visual image (or other meaning) conveyed by the spokesperson.

In the second experiment, the point of congruence was not the seem- ingly obvious match between the muscular strength or power of the spokesperson and the strength dimensions of the product. Had this been the critical match, the effects would have been limited to specific types of products (i.e., those having strength attributes). Instead, the match appears to have been between the increased stamina associated with a muscular, healthy person and a more prevalent durability or stamina attribute of products. The observance of a durability effect rather than a strength effect may be directly related to the execution style of the treatment advertisements. In the pictures used in these advertisements, the spokesperson is standing, facing the camera in a nondynamic, mo- tionless pose. This pose simply may have not exhibited the muscular


strength (or nonstrength) of the spokesperson to any significant degree. Instead, the variation between the photographs in the treatments that conveyed different degrees of durability may have been the differences in the muscle mass of the spokesperson.

Because the inherent degree of durability associated with each product was not measured prior to the treatments, it cannot be determined if all four of the products included in the second experiment had some type of durability attribute before exposure to the low-muscularity treatment. In other words, it is impossible to say whether the low- muscularity condition of the spokesperson lowered the perceived durability of the products or whether the treatment added durability at an extremely low level. If all of the products had a durability component of their schemas, however slight, prior to exposure to the treatments, then the results would be consistent with the matchup hypothesis. The matchup between the muscularity of the spokesperson and the product attribute durability would then appear to have brought about a change in the schema of the product. Importantly, this change in the product schema would be independent of any change in the spokesperson schema, because spokesperson muscularity did not affect perceived knowledge about types of products such as bleach and legal services in the first study but muscularity did affect the perceptions of the attributes of those products in the second study.

The alternative explanation is that no match was required to being about changes in the perceived durability of the products used in the second experiment. Although this is possible, it would appear to imply that information can be transferred indiscriminately from spokesperson to product without regard to inherent product attributes or characteristics. In this interpretation, it would be possible to give any product any meaning if endorsed by the right spokesperson.

The results of the present studies suggest several areas of future research. The notion that the critical match affecting source credibility is between the visual image of the spokesperson and a cultural stereotype (embedded in the product schema) regarding the type of person who would know about a particular type of product suggests that future research regarding the matchup hypothesis might consider the schema- triggered affect model. When they applied the model to salespersons, Sujan, Bettman, and Sujan (1986) found that matches and mismatches between stereotypes and salespersons affected product evaluations. In general, they found that when a match existed between a salesperson and a stereotype, product evaluations were affected more by affect toward the stereotype than by product arguments. When salespersons were discrepant from expectations, product evaluations tended to be based on the product arguments rather than on affect. It may be that comparable results would be obtained for spokespersons if, as suggested by the results of the first study, stereotypes regarding spokespersons are part of existing product schemas.


The brand-positioning consequences of the matchup hypothesis, from a schema theory point of view, could also be addressed by future research, The second study suggests that spokespersons can be used to alter brand perceptions. It may be possible to manipulate spokesperson characteristics in such a way that perceptions of the brand advertised become strongly discrepant of the product category. Sujan and Bettman (1989) demonstrate how strong discrepancies between brand schemas and product-category schemas can result in the brand occupying a sub- type or niche position. Based on the results reported by Sujan and Bettman, if spokesperson characteristics were manipulated so that brand perceptions are only mildly discrepant from the product category, the brand would be expected to occupy a differentiated position within the product category. The key to this type of spokesperson manipulation could easily be the degree of match between the spokesperson and the product being advertised.

A final area suggested for future research concerns matchups between the spokesperson and other elements in the advertisement. Be- cause relatively few advertisements contain only pictures and a brand, the interactions between spokesperson characteristics, message claims, and product attributes from a match/mismatch point of view would appear to be an important consideration. On the surface, it might be supposed that complete congruency between spokesperson, message, and product would always be the preferred situation. Following Sujan et al. (19861, however, it may be that mismatches between spokespersons, messages, and products would result in greater attention to message detail, whereas matches would result in greater consumer reliance on affect toward the spokesperson.

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James Lynch is Associate Professor of Marketing, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026-1 105. Drue Schuler is Assistant Pro- fessor of Marketing, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019-0450.


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The matchup effect of spokesperson and product congruency: A schema theory interpretation