Celebrity Skin

Why don't brands suffer when celebrity spokespeople entangle in scandal?

When a celebrity spokesperson garners bad publicity, will product sales suffer unless the controversial star is pulled from the campaign? Not necessarily, says a Harris Interactive poll that examined consumer attitudes and celebrity endorsement scandals. The vast majority of American adults—about three-quarters—say that a celebrity’s sudden bad behavior does not affect their perception of the brand that he or she endorses. While there were no sex differences, older Americans were more likely than younger ones to say that their opinion of a brand would diminish if the company held onto a scandalous spokesperson. There were also regional differences: Midwesterners are more likely than those on the East Coast to have a negative attitude about a brand following a scandal.

Aaron J. Moore, PhD, assistant professor of public relations at Rider University says that the poll results were not surprising.

“Our society has changed as a result of the media,” he explains “It is all about the power of celebrity.”

Noting Kim Kardashian’s celebrity, Moore notes that what brought her national attention initially was a scandalous sex tape. "I was at the gym today and she was on the cover of OK! Magazine," he tells demodirt.com.

Today’s tabloid journalism makes it impossible for well-known figures to hide salacious behavior, he adds. “Fifty or sixty years ago the brand or celebrity had ability to hide skeletons and the public would not have known [about their private lives], but today with TMZ following them around, it is difficult.”

With so many news outlets exposing every move, the public has become “desensitized,” Moore maintains.

Older Americans are not as unfazed by scandal, the poll showed. Of those who say that they would think worse of a brand following a spokesperson’s misdeeds, nearly one-third (28 percent) of respondents were between 45 and 54 years of age, versus one in five (21 percent) of those 18 to 34 years old. Respondents between 35 and 44 were the least affected (18 percent), but the trend did not move upwards according to age: those aged 55 and older had a similar reaction—or non-reaction—as the younger cohort (19 percent).   Moore says that, the oldest cohort notwithstanding, that it “makes sense” that older Americans would be more negatively affected by scandal than younger ones.   

“They have more traditional values and ways of looking at people in social norms, which is far different than today,” he explains. “The younger generation exposed to so much more good and bad content—they see more. The older generation still has that traditional outlook of how someone should act in public, regardless of celebrity status.”

Midwesterners were also more likely cast doubt on a brand attached to a controversial star, the poll found. Of those who would feel worse about the product, one-quarter of respondents (26 percent) were from the Midwest, compared with about one in five from each coast (19 percent from the East Coast, and 20 percent from the West Coast).   

Moore says that in the Midwest, traditional values still “ring true.”

New York, Los Angeles and he adds, even Florida are “traditional media hotbeds and where scandal comes from—it is not the Midwest.”    

Jordan McAuley, founder of ContactAnyCelebrity.com and author of Celebrity Leverage says that the differences in who gets offended and why “all boils down to trust.”

“Older consumers and consumers in the Midwest are more likely to trust the celebrity giving the endorsement, and are more likely to trust people in general,” he says.

“Younger consumers have grown up in a world where it's difficult to trust people. They do not trust politicians, corporations, or on some level, celebrities,” McAuley explains. “They have seen from watching reality TV, reading celebrity magazines, [and so on] that celebrities endorsing products is part of the game to get attention.”

While younger consumers may not take celebrity endorsements as seriously, older consumers and those from the Midwest may actually believe that the spokesperson “actually uses and loves the product,” he notes.

“Take Oprah for example. Businesses send her products all the time hoping she will pick one as her ‘Favorite Thing’ or endorse it on the show,” McAuley maintains. “That's not to say Oprah doesn't like the product or approve of it, but older consumers and Midwest consumers are more likely to believe she found those products herself instead of them being sent to her.”  

Are some products more likely to be affected by a celebrity representative’s negative publicity? While one would think children’s products, for example, may be more vulnerable to a fallout, Moore says that hasn’t been the case.   

“I was genuinely surprised watching Sesame Street with my three year-old and seeing Kobe Bryant,” he says. “Seeing him on Sesame Street just speaks to the whole idea that we have a short attention span. Nothing is more family-centric than Sesame Street, but obviously parents know [about the controversy], even if my three year-old doesn’t.”