Celebrity endorsements and women consumers in India: how generation-cohort affiliation and celebrity-product congruency moderate the benefits of chronological age congruency

We examine the joint impact of celebrity-consumer age congruency, generation-cohort affiliation, and celebrity-product congruency on consumers’ evaluations. We propose that celebrity-consumer age congruency positively impacts consumers’ evaluations. Next, integrating key insights relating to the differential impact of celebrity advertising across Generation X versus Generation Y, we propose that the effects of age congruency are stronger in Generation Y consumers. Finally, we propose that the above results are moderated by the extent of celebrity-product congruency. Findings across multiple studies, across about 800 Indian women consumers, provide converging support for our propositions. These results contribute to the research on celebrity-consumer age congruency and differences in consumer behavior of Generation Y versus Generation X. On a practical note, these results help us better understand Indian women consumers, celebrity advertising, and Generation Y consumers, noting here that India has more Generation Y consumers than the USA and China combined.