Earl Honeycutt, marketing professor and director of the Chandler Family Center for Professional Sales, co-authored an article, “Identifying the Attributes of an Effective Restaurant Chain Endorser,” published Cornell Hospital Quarterly (Vol. 51, No. 2, 2010). Co-authors are Vincent P. Magnini, assistant professor of Hospitality at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, and Cristel Garcia of the Universita della Svizzera italiana.
Their study examined factors driving a consumer’s preference for a celebrity-endorsed chain restaurant. Based on the responses of 278 panelists, Honeycutt and his co-authors found that the leading driver for an effective restaurant-chain endorser was the congruence between the image and values of a celebrity and of the restaurant brand, followed by celebrity power and a respondent’s perceived ability to relate to the endorser. The study also found that parents were significantly more likely to consider the match of an endorser’s image and values, while women and younger persons relied more on physical attractiveness and older respondents and less frequent diners focused more on trustworthiness.
The CQ publishes research in all business disciplines that contribute to management practice in the hospitality and tourism industries.