Influence Path Of Value Co-creation Of Star Endorsement Brand Communication

In today’s globalized and competitive market,the use of stars as brand spokespersons plays a crucial role in enhancing brand communication,building brand image,improving distribution channels,and gaining a competitive advantage.The spontaneous behavior of fans retweeting or sharing content related to star endorsements is an important factor affecting such campaigns’ success.Therefore,how to explore effective ways to stimulate fans’ willingness to spread the brand message during star endorsement has become a focus of attention for corporate managers and scholars.On social media platforms,fans play a significant role as intermediaries between stars and brands,driving the flow and expansion of value.However,existing studies have primarily focused on the binary relationship between stars,fans,and brands,with little emphasis on the value co-creation mechanism among the three and its impact on brand communication effects.Therefore,further exploration is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms of brand communication in the process of star endorsements.Drawing on the value co-creation theory and related literature,this study examines seven antecedent conditions that influence brand communication during star endorsements: the star level(popularity,social influence,and positive energy value),the fan level(involvement and group identity),and the brand level(the ability to access marketing resources and the ability to access cultural resources).Using case studies of star endorsement on Sina Weibo,this study determines the measurement indexes for each factor based on a comprehensive literature review and collects 90 valid sample cases.The necessary condition analysis is explored to investigate factors that constitute necessary conditions for achieving high brand communication during star endorsements and their respective degrees of necessity.Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis is used to explore the causal complexity of the value co-creation effect on brand communication,while multiple regression analysis is applied to verify the robustness of the influencing factors of brand communication in terms of configuration paths.Based on the analysis of the collected case data,the following research findings were obtained:(1)This study explores that popularity,social influence,and involvement are a medium level of necessary conditions for high brand communication,whereas group identity is a high level of necessary for high brand communication.Qualitative comparative analysis supports the necessity of popularity,social influence,involvement,and group identity for generating high brand communication.(2)This study identifies three paths that lead to high brand communication,fan engagement driven by social dominance logic,positive energy and brand resources driven by social dominance logic,and fan engagement driven by fame.These paths reveal that different combinations of antecedent conditions can achieve the same outcome through different means or pathways.(3)This study identifies two configuration paths that result in non-high brand communication: the fan-inhibited type under socially dominant logic and the positive energy-deficient and fan-inhibited type under socially dominant logic.It is found that the causes of high and nonhigh brand communication are not completely opposed due to the characteristic of causal asymmetry.The findings contribute to a broader understanding of the management perspective on star endorsements and the matching of value co-creation,and provide theoretical and practical enlightenment for companies to effectively improve brand communication performance.