How Are Peer Endorser Characteristics Related to Consumer Selfie Attitude?

People often post “consumer selfies” on social media. A form of peer endorsement, these are selfies that include identifiable branded products. Companies can leverage consumer selfies for brand-building purposes by reposting them on social media, but selecting the “right” consumer selfies to repost is challenging owing to their overwhelmingly great diversity (Rokka and Canniford, 2016). Moreover, the existing literature on consumer selfies lacks a comprehensive framework that explains how endorser characteristics in consumer selfies predict consumer selfie attitude (CSA). Therefore, drawing upon the attribution-based framework by Kapitan and Silvera (2016), this thesis develops a research model to explain how peer endorsers’ characteristics directly as well as indirectly relate to viewers’ responses through changed endorser authenticity in consumer selfies. A pre-test led to the selection of 360 consumer selfies from the Instagram accounts of two shoe brands (Puma and Reebok) and two coffee brands (Starbucks and Costa). The data were collected using an online survey of Instagram users in the UK (N=399) and analysed with PLS-SEM. Results highlight that the characteristics for superficial processing (i.e., endorser attractiveness, endorser-brand fit, and endorser-viewer similarity) directly and positively relate to CSA. Moreover, endorser happiness only indirectly influences CSA through endorser authenticity, whereas endorser-viewer similarity affects CSA partially through endorser authenticity. By contrast, characteristics for deep processing (i.e., conspicuous brand usage and monetary-gain motive) do not have significant relationships with CSA. Lastly, CSA leads to endorsement effects (i.e., consumer selfie engagement, brand attitude, purchase intention). This study contributes to the literature on the effectiveness of consumer selfies (Nanne et al., 2021), attribution-based framework (Kapitan and Silvera, 2016), and endorser authenticity (Nunes et al., 2021). The results help practitioners leverage consumer selfies in band promotion on social media.