Kent State’s College of Business Administration Assistant Professor Accepted for Publication

Oct. 28, 2015 - PRLog -- César Zamudio, Ph.D., assistant professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, will be featured in the International Journal of Research in Marketing for a solo-authored publication titled, “Matching with the stars: How brand personality determines celebrity endorsement contract formation.”

To influence consumer attitudes, enhance brand image and ultimately increase the value of the firm businesses will contract with celebrity endorsers. Zamudio’s publication describes the contract formation process as a series of strategic interactions between firms and celebrities, resulting in a market that matches one to another. A model that gauges firms' and celebrities' preferences for each other was developed to simplify the complexities of this process.

Zamudio analyzes 79 beauty industry endorsement contracts indicating that a brand’s personality drives such partnerships. Zamudio finds contracts featuring celebrities with personalities identical to the brand are not always ideal and the effects of the interaction are found to be highly asymmetric. Both the profession and buzz (popularity on the Internet) of the celebrity influence endorsement value, but celebrity buzz can have an adverse effect under certain conditions. The results of this article serve as tool to help businesses determine their chances of landing successful celebrity contracts.

Having previously taught at The University of Texas at Dallas and Washington University in St. Louis, César Zamudio became a Kent State faculty member in 2013. With teaching interests in business analytics and entrepreneurial marketing, he specializes in issues related to new product development and sensory marketing, social networks and consumer choice.

Zamudio’s research continues to earn recognition, being distinguished with an Honorable Mention award from the Marketing Science Institute’s (MSI) Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition in 2011 and a grant from the MSI’s Research Competition on Mobile Platforms in 2013 (with Paul Mills).. Previous to his doctoral studies, Zamudio co-founded Kamikaze, a promotional products company and worked in the IT industry.

For more information about the College of Business Administration and the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, visit http://business.kent.edu/departments/marketing-and-entrepreneurship.

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Kent State University’s College of Business Administration is one of only 180 colleges or schools of business worldwide to achieve dual accreditation in both business and accounting from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, the global accrediting body providing specialized accreditation at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. The College of Business Administration is home to 4,372 students. The college boasts a satellite office of Kent State University’s Career Services Center dedicated to business students, and operates the Global Management Center, the Center for Information Systems and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation all propelling scholarly research, establishing innovative industry partnerships and providing outreach to Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Media Contacts:

Michelle Manning, Director of Marketing Communications, mparris3@kent.edu, 330-672-2717

Molly Schatzel, Marketing Communications Specialist mschatze@kent.edu, 330-672-1279