Briana Anderson - Cornell University

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Goldsmith et al. (2000) conducted a study to test the impact of both endorser
and corporate credibility influences on consumer attitudes and purchase intention, in
which corporate credibility was defined as the reputation of a company in terms of its
honesty and expertise. Goldsmith et al. (2000) developed a partially fictitious
advertisement for participants to evaluate. Specifically, the researchers used a real
brand (Mobil Oil) with an actual advertisement that was old enough not to be
remembered (taken from a several-month-old edition of the Wall Street Journal). The
researchers added in an artificial celebrity endorsement from Tom Brokaw, which
included a picture and testimonial. The purpose of the original ad was to persuade
readers that Mobil was committed to pro-environmental packaging (an attempt to
enhance the company image). A questionnaire was developed regarding the
advertisement, which included items to assess endorser credibility, corporate
credibility, attitudes toward the advertisement, attitude toward the brand, and
purchasing intentions. Students in two marketing classes were asked to distribute
questionnaires to non-student adults. One hundred and fifty-two adult participants
viewed the fictitious advertisement and answered questions regarding the credibility of
the ad’s endorser (in this case Tom Brokaw), the credibility of the company, as well as
attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intentions.
Findings in the Goldsmith et al. (2000) study provide support for the following
conclusions: 1) corporate credibility influences a viewer’s attitude toward the brand
and advertisement as well as purchase intentions 2) endorser credibility works only
through its impact on attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the brand. Basically,
these findings suggest that merely having a highly credible endorser is not enough to
generate positive feelings toward the brand and purchase intentions. The use of such
endorsers should be used strategically to enhance long-term corporate credibility.