Introduction

The celebrity endorsement technique has been employed by many brands as their main technique of advertising (Wei & Lu, 2013). By choosing the appropriate endorser, the marketer may enhance attitudes and reinforce behavioural intentions (Knoll & Matthes, 2017) and shape brand perceptions (Erdogan et al., 2001). Companies devoted a lot to celebrity endorsement to exploit emotional bonds between consumers and brands to accomplish higher brand image, brand awareness, differentiation, and brand loyalty (Thomson, 2006). Recent studies have indicated that celebrity endorsement contributes to the perceived quality of the brand, but the direct and indirect effects of celebrity attachment on brand attachment and brand loyalty have not been fully investigated (Um & Jang, 2020; Özer et al., 2022). The number of celebrity endorsement strategies has increased over the past few years by brands. While in Western countries the contribution of celebrity endorsement is around 15% (Schimmelpfennig & Hunt, 2020), this has reached 60% in some Asian countries (Chung & Cho, 2017). Jain and Roy (2016) stated that the celebrity endorsement process not only transfers the meanings from celebrities to the endorsed brand as well as emotions. In addition, celebrities can foster brand-related attitudes such as self-concept and brand quality as well as behavioural intention in a celebrity endorsement process. Consumers set personal goals based on reference points of their celebrities (Choi & Rifon, 2012). Studies by Erdogan (1999) and Spry et al. (2011) suggested that celebrities enhance the success of the celebrity endorsement strategy because consumers trust their favourite celebrity and the recommendation made by them. Brands endorsed by a favourite celebrity become more credible and trustworthy.