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The Role of Self-Esteem and Self Image Congruity with the Ad Spokespersons
in Ad Attitude

Conference Paper · August 2015

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 The Role of Self-Esteem and Self Image Congruity with the Ad
Spokespersons in Ad Attitude
Vesile Çakır¹ and Vedat Çakır²
¹ Public Relation and Advertising, Uşak University, Turkey ([email protected])
² Radio Television and Cinema, Uşak University, Turkey ([email protected])

Corresponding Author’s e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Self-esteem and self-image congruity are the two inherent factors directing human behavior.
These factors are also important in advertising sector occurring in the field of psychology. In
fact, this study focuses on two main problems. First one is that whether self-esteem level of
people is determinant on the actual and ideal self image congruity with ad spokesperson or
not. Second one is that whether actual and ideal self image congruity with ad spokesperson is
determinant on ad and brand attitudes or not. According to the Independent Samples T-Test,
actual self-image congruity with ad spokesperson and ideal- self image congruity of people
with low self-esteem levels are high compared with people who have high self-esteem rates.
Multiple Linear Regression Analysis showed that only the ideal self-image congruity is an
important predictor on ad attitudes. The analysis showed that the actual self-image congruity
is not a meaningful predictor on ad attitudes. In addition to this; the self-image congruity with
the ad spokesperson is not a meaningful predictor on brand attitudes. Moreover; ad attitudes is
an important determinant on brand attitudes. To summarize, self-esteem has an indirect effect
on ad and brand attitudes. Self-esteem of person determines the congruity image cohesion of
his or her with spokesperson. The ideal self-image congruity determines brand attitudes and
ad attitudes also affect brand attitudes.

Keywords: Self-Esteem, Self-Image Congruity with the Ad Spokespersons, Actual Self

Image Congruity, Ideal Self-Image Congruity, Advertising Attitude, Brand Attitude.

INTRODUCTION

Advertising is an industry which has proven itself in a free competitive economy. Advertising
which producers regard as a way to create market in a fierce competition environment is a
source of information for the consumers. The effectiveness of advertisings which come in for
criticism is a topic of discussion and research for both implementers and academicians.

Advertising attitude and brand attitude are significant purposes of communication expected to
be achieved through advertisings. The researchers have been researching the factors playing
roles in conducting the purposes of communication for many years. One of the significant
psychological factors in the advertising effectiveness is the congruity of self-image. The self-
image congruity has been used recently in order to explain the relationships between
consumers and brand, product, outlet. However, there are limited number of studies related to
the relationships between the advertising effectiveness and self-image congruity. The existing

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ones focus on the relationships between the content of advertising, advertising appeals and
self-image congruity. On the other hand, Johar and Sirgy suggest working in a broad span of
advertising effectiveness including consumer’s self- concept (or self-congruitiy) ad attention,
ad interest, ad comprension, ad liking, ad recognition/recall, brand awareness, brand
recognition/recall, brand attitude, purchase intention, brand trial, and brand adoption. This
study focuses on the role the self-image congruence of the audience in the effectiveness of
advertisings in accordance with this suggestion. However, this study focuses on the
congruence between consumer’s self-image and the ad spokesperson image which is one of
the important elements of advertising not the congruity between a consumer’s self-image and
a product or brand image. The dependent variants are the advertising attitude (or ad liking)
and brand attitude not all advertising effectiveness criteria. Furthermore, this study focuses on
the determinant role of self-esteem on the congruity between the ad spokesperson image and
consumer’s self-image and thus indirectly focuses on its role in the advertising effectiveness.
This research defends that the congruity between the consumer’s self image and ad
spokespersons image differ according to the self-esteem levels of consumers. In addition to,
this research defends that the self-image congruence influences the advertising and brand
attitudes. In order to test those basic hypotheses, a quasi-experimental study was conducted.

Self-Image Congruity Theory

Self is a system of organized and interactive thoughts, emotions, personalities and motives
[1]. A popular approach in recent years in order to research the possible relationships between
the percptions of the consumers related to them and their attitudes as the consumers is the
self-concept [2]. “The self- concept, defined as the totality of the individual's thoughts
and feelings with reference to the self as an object” [3]. Zinkhan and Hong [2] also
define the term of self-concept as “the knowledge of oneself which includes the driving trust
of other behaviors” or “the images which individuals shape their subjective thought related to
them”.

Our self-concept consists of our attitudes towards ourselves and for that reason it is extremely
individual [4]. The individual regards himself as an object and owns attitudens which consists
behavioral (I can stop eating too much), cognitive (I believe that I am a great athlete and a
good student) and emotional (I love myself) constituents towards himself [5]. The self-
concept is the combination of multi-dimensional characteristic. For example, a single person
may be a father, a director, a part-time student, an Catholic, an extravert person, a liberal and
an intellectual and at the same time all of them [2].

The self-concept is the combination of multi-dimensional structure [6]. The traditional self-
concept theorists state that the self-concept has three basic components [7]: “Actual-self”,
“ideal-self” and “social self” (they are also called looking-glass self or presenting self). An
individual isn’t conscious of what he is but he is conscious of what he wants to be. Actual self
is based on own perceptual reality of the individual while ideal self-conception is shaped by
the ideal self-imagination [2]. Actual self is the perceptions related to features which the
individual believes to have. The ideal self is the perceptions related to the qualifications which
the individual desires individually to have [8]. Their ideal self was defined as the type of
person they ideally would like to be, the type of person they hoped, wished, or aspired
to be [9].

Mostly, the self-concept, self-congruity and even self-image are interchangingly used [10, 11,
12]. According to Mummel [4], the self-image is an important component of the self-concept

1023
as well as self-evaluation. Although the self-concept is a broader concept than the self-image,
the self-image is mostly measured for the measurement of the self-concept. According to
Sirgy et al. [10], self-image is the perception of the individual towards himself in all the
image dimensions related to the product user.

With reference to the theory of self-concept (or self–congruity), Sirgy developed “the Self-
Image Congruity Theory”. Four types of self-image are mentioned [7, 11]: “Actual self-
image”, “ideal self-image”, “social self-image” and “ideal social self-image”. Actual self-
image is the image which the individual desires to have. Social self-image includes the belief
of the individual related to how do other people see him and ideal social self-image is the
image which the individual desires to be in the eyes of other people. According to Sirgy et al.,
[12], “self-image congruence refers to the match between consumers' self-concept (actual self,
ideal self, etc.) and the user image of a given product, store, sponsorship event, etc.”). The
consumers seek for, buy or use the brands with images convenient to their own self-images
[7].

Sirgy et al., [10] explains the effects of the self-image congruence on the consumer behaviors
based on the self-congruity theory. This theory defends that the customer attitudes were
determined by the congruence emerging as a result of psychological comparisons between the
product users’ image* and self-conception of the users (e.g., actual self-image, ideal self-
image, social self-image). This psychological comparison may be catergorized as the
congruence between high or low sel-fconception. If the product user image perceived by the
consumer is congruent with his self-image, high self-congruity is observed or vice versa. The
congruence between the brand image and the actual self-image of the consumer may be
determined as “self-congruity” (actual self-image congruity) while the congruence between
the brand image and ideal self-image of the consumer may be determined as “ideal congruity
(ideal self-image congruity) [13, 14]. According to Sirgy et al. [12, 10], the self-image
congruence positively influence a range of consumer attitudes such as the brand attitude, the
choice of the brand, purchasing motivation etc. through the motives of self-consistency and
self-esteem.

Generally, the ideal self-concept is the reference point with which actual self is compared. If
there is a gap between them, the individual tries to achieve the ideal occasion or utopia. From
this point of view, the ideal self-resppect is a pushing motive that carries the individual up
high (self-esteem motive) [2].

The Relationships between the Self-Image/Ad Spokesperson Image Congruence, Self-

Esteem and the Advertising Effectiveness

The relationships between the self-concept and purchasing are explained through hierarchy:
The individuals have the self-concept as a result of interactions with important individuals
such as parents, spouses, and teachers. The self-concept of each individual has an individual
value and it is special. Self-respect is valuable and the individuals tend to increase their own
self-respect and make it more valuable. Some products are social symbols and those products
convey social meanings related to the individuals possessing them. Finally, the individuals
consume or buy the products, services and media in order to feed, protect and maintain the
self-conception they frequently desire [15, 4]. According to this approach, the individuals
consume not only media and products but also the products of media with the same purpose.
*
Products as used here are not restricted to tangibles, but apply as well to services, organizations, persons, and
so on [7].

1024
Similar to films and other programs, advertisings are products of media. It is possible that the
individual looks for his own self-conception or ideal self-respect represented by the ad
spokespersons who are representatives and voices of the each product/brand, they like the
advertisings acted by the spokespersons who actually or ideally resemble the audiences and
feels more sympathy for the brands represented by those advertisings.

The concept of self-image congruity provides the marketing and advertising administrators
strategic insight for locating and market classification [10]. For example, there are two
common approached employed in advertisings to develop an advertising campaign: The value
expressive appeal and functional appeal [11]. The pragmatist strategy focuses on presenting
functional and performance based characteristics while the image strategy requires creating
the image of the user of a definite product and creates a personality for the product [10]. The
image strategy, a value expressive advertising appeal, holds a creative objective to create an
image of the generalized user of the advertised product (or brand) [11]. Johar and Sirgy [11]
claims that there are two ways in the advertising for convincing: Self-congruity versus
functional congruity. The process of self congruence intermediates to value-expressive
advertising appeal while functional adaptation process accompanies to the utilitarian
advertising appeals. From the point of advertising strategy, self-congruence is defined as
product’s value - expressive attributes (product - user image) and the agreement with the self-
conception of the audience. The product user image is the stereotype which the target group
has about the typical user of the product. The more the agreement between the product image
and actual self-image of the audience increases, the more possibility of convincting him
increases. Because, self-consistency requirement is satisfied so long as the agreement
increases; thus, the positive attitudes towards the product also increases. The researchers of
self-conception regard self-consistency as actual self-image of the individual and a
motivational tendency securing the consistency between their related cognitions, attitudes
and/or behaviors. In their studies related to the effects of the relationships between the
advertising narrations and self-image congruity on advertisings effectiveness, Zinkhan and
Hong [2] claim that the advertising narrations consonant to the real and ideal self-image of the
individuals provided better being remembered and created more positive product attitudes and
higher intend to buy.

According to the self-image congruity theory, one of the moderator variants on the impacts of
the self-image/product image congruity on the buying motivation is self-esteem [7, 10].
Theoretically, self-esteem may be defined as the inconsistency (contradiction, differences)
between the self-image (actual self) and ideal self [16]. Self concept is a roof which covers
actual-self, ideal-self and self-esteem and the self-estem depends on the relationships between
actual-self and ideal-self of the individual [16].

Self - Concept

Actual - Self Ideal - Self

Self - Esteem

Figure 1. The relationship between Self-Concept, Actual – Self, Ideal – Self and
Self Esteem

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 Lawrence (2000). Building Self-Esteem with Adult Learners, California:Sage
Publications Inc. p.1.

It is possible that the inconsistencies between actual self-image of the human beings (what
they are) and their ideal self image (what thet desire to be) have degrees. This is normal and a
healthy individual has been motivated to decrease this inconsistency and approach to the
ideal-self [16]. Self-esteem is the motivation of the attitudes of the consumers so that they
establish and increase their ideal-self [14]. The consumers buy or use the products/brands in
order to protect and increase their self-esteem levels and avoid buying or using some
products/brands [17]. The consistency between the product user image and the ideal self-
image of the audience increases the possibility of the change in attitudes and persuasion.
Namely, the need for self-esteem is satisfied with the increased consistency. Thus, the
positive attitude of the audience towards the product increases. The need for self-esteem is
seen as the motive to generally develop or act cognitions and attitudes which will provide
achieving the desired self-image and increase the consistency between the cognitions,
attitudes and/or behaviors and the ideal self-image [11]. In conclusion, the consistency
between the product user image and actual self-image satisfy the need for self-consistency.
This satisfaction creates positive attitudes and persuasion. Similarly, the consistency between
the product user image and ideal self-image also satisfy the need for self-esteem. This
satisfaction creates positive attitudes and persuasion, too.

In the literature, a special advertising type or appeal called “self – esteem advertising” was
defined. The advertising of L'Oréal Paris New Excellence is an example of such advertisings
(“Because we worth it!”). According to Percy and Rossiter [18], self-esteem advertisings are
the advertisings which aim to change the behaviors and attitudes of the individuals through
provoking positive feelings towards them. Self-esteem advertising primarily influences the
attitudes of the individuals towards them positively, and then positively affects the attitudes
towards the brand. In this study, however, we claim that the influence of advertising on the
attitudes towards it or self-esteem not only depends on the words but also the characteristics
of spokesperson/source that present the text and represent the typical user of the product in the
advertising.

Advertisers frequently incorporate product endorser in their communications aimed at

influencing consumer perceptions and purchase intentions [19]. The “source” of a message in
communication parlance is the speaker, communicator, or endorser – a person whose words
are directed at the audience. Some characteristics of this person such as reliability, appeal and
power and some combinations of them are significant for advertising in providing
communication effect [20].

Self-congruence, a way to convince, is a process which the audience is focused on the hints
related to ad spokesperson and compared those hints to its own self-concept (actual, ideal,
social, and/or ideal social self-image). The possibility of convincing increases when the
conformity between the hints related to the source and self-conception increases [11]. The
three types of spokespersons employed in the advertisings are as follows: (1) the celebrity, (2)
the professional (or recognized) expert, (3) the typical consumer [21]. The viewer watching
the ad sees are reflection of him or her self in the ad's spokesperson and shares the self-
satisfactions and self-rewards with that spokesperson. [5]. According to Kamins [22], the use
of celebrity spokespeople is gaining popularity in advertisings in all sorts of media.
Especially, some famous spokespersons are inspiring figures with the desired meanings which
activate the ideal-self of the consumers [14]. In the advertisings which a popular advertising

1026
spokesperson is used, the advertisers try to transfer the positive feelings of the consumers into
the product from the advertising spokespersons [5].

Kamins [22] states that the image of the celebrity or fameless resource which transfers the
advertising message depends on the combination with the product image. In the advertising
literature, it is called “Match-up Hypothesis”. In this study, we claim that the effectiveness of
the advertising not only depends on the harmony between the advertising spokesperson and
the product image, but also depends on the harmonization of the self-image of the consumer.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Subjects

The special purposes of the study have required getting the subjects watch advertising and for
that reason, it was designed as a quasi-experimental study. The quasi-experimental study has
forced the researchers to form a sampling which consists of student subjects and the sampling
was formed through students of Uşak University at the associate degree and bachelor degree
employing a random sampling method. 410 subjects were applied a questionnaire technique
and 369 questionnaires were analyzed after the preliminary evaluation. A total of 183 male
and 186 female undergraduates volunteered to participate in the study. The ages of the
subjects vary between 18 and 44. Their average age is 20,54.

Measuring Instrument

Actual and Ideal Self-Image Congruence: In order to measure the self-image congruity, the
measurement approach which Sirgy et al., [10] called as traditional method. In the traditional
method, a list of personality adjectives which should be evaluated for both the subject and
product/brand/individual is primarily prepared. This list of adjectives is evaluated for
product/brand/individual within a two-stage prodecure. In the second stage, the same list of
adjectives is also prepared in order to measure both actual self image and ideal self image of
the subject. Actual or ideal self-image congruence is found through measuring the difference
rates for each adjective. Then, the difference scores obtained for each adjective is summed up.
This process was formulated by Sirgy et al [10] as follows:
𝑛

∑ | 𝑃𝑖 − 𝑆 𝑖 |
𝑖=1

In this formula:
Pi = rating of product-user image along image dimension i and
Si = rating of self-image along image dimension i.

Through following the method of Dolich [13] and Sirgy, three concepts (actual self image,
ideal self image, ad spokesperson image) were calculated in this study through the same
instrument and using semantic differential scale. The congruence between a self image and a
ad spokesperson image was obtained by computing the absolute arithmetic difference, scale
by scale, between two semantic differential instruments. Scale ratings for an individual’s
actual-self image and ad spokesperson image would be as follows:

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 I am actually a ........ person!
Cod
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
e
cheerful _____ _____ _____ _____ __X_: _____ _____ melancholi 5
: : : : : : c
innovativ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ __X_: _____ conservativ 6
e : : : : : : e

The spokesperson in the ….. advertising which I watch is a … person!

Cod
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
e
cheerful _____ __X_: _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ melancholi 2
: : : : : : c
innovativ _____ _____ _____ __X_: _____ _____ _____ conservativ 4
e : : : : : : e

In the literature, different mathematical formulas are used in the measurement of the
difference scores. In this study, absolute differences method was employed. Congruence
scores were calculated as shown:

Real-self image Ad spokesperson image Difference

5 2 3
6 4 2
Total 1

The ideal self-image congruence was calculated as if it was actual self-image congruence
through using the title of “the person I want to be is…”

Self-Esteem Measurement: Self-esteem is defined as the difference [23] or similarity [24, 25,
26] between self-image (actual self) and ideal self. In the literature, there are two basic models
employed to explain the nature of self-esteem: Affective Models of Self-Esteem and
Cognitive Models of Self-Esteem [27]. The cognitive models of self-esteem which present the
roots of self-esteem and a different perspective to its nature regard self-esteem as more or less
conscious determinations related to the human beings themselves s or about the other people.
One of the three cognitive models of the formation of self-esteem is “the self-ideal model”.
According to the self-ideal model, self-esteem is based on the differences between our beliefs
related to the individual actually we are and the ideal person we want to be. From the point of
the perspective this model suggests, the scores of ideal self-conception is subtracted from the
scores of actual self-conception in order to calculate self-esteem. Then, the difference scores
are summed up. According to this approach, the levels of self-esteem increases in parallel to
the decrease in the difference [27]. Procedure may be summarized as seen in Table 1.
Table 1. The Procedure for the Measurement of Self-Esteem
Self-Ideal Model
Attractive Intelligent Well-Liked Athletic Self-Esteem
Person A 5 - (7) 2 - (6) 5 - (7) 7 - (6) -7
Person B 3 - (3) 7 - (4) 4 - (7) 3 - (2) +1
Brown (2007). The Self. Psychology Press; 1 Edition, p.201.

The actual self extent ratings are subtracted from the ideal self extent ratings for each listed
characteristics of the participants in the calculation which Higgins, Shah and Friedman [9]

1028
called Self-Discrepany Measure and have a similar approach. Then, all the difference scores
for each listed characteristic are summed up.

In this study, actual self-image scores of the subjects for each adjective was subtracted from
their ideal self-image scores in order to calculate self-esteem and then the self-esteem score of
each subject was calculated through summing up the difference scores. The self-esteem
increases upon the decrease in the differences between two calculations and similarly the self-
esteem decreases when the differences get bigger. In this research, the average difference
scores for self-esteem vary between“0,04” and “3,85” in the data set obtained from 369
subjects. In order to classify the subjects as “with lower self-esteem” and “with higher self-
esteem” according to their self-esteem levels, the median scores of the difference averages of
369 observations were considered. The median is 1,185. The subjects having the average of
the difference of the scores obtained each of 27 items between actual self-image scale and
ideal self-image scale between 0 and 1,185 were classified in the group of “high self-
esttemed” while those between 1,186 and 3,851 were classified in the group of “low self-
esteemed”.

Advertising and Brand Attitude Scales: The attitudes of the subjects towards the advertisings
they watch and the brand which is advertised was calculated through “the advertising/brand
attitude scale” developed by Holbrook and Batra [28]. Both scales were employed in this
study as five point likert scale (1 “I definitely disagree”, 5 “I definitely agree”). In this study,
the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the four items of advertising attitude scale was found
.81. The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the four items of brand attitude scale was found
.87.

Advertising Sampling

16 different advertisings from the categories of cars, bank, cosmetics and food were chosen so
that the subjects may watch. Among those advertisings, 8 of them specifically employ male
actor(s) as the spokesperson of the brands while 8 of them employed female actress (es). The
female subjects watched the advertisings with male spokespersons while male subjects
watched the advertisings with female spokespersons. The distribution of the advertisings
included in the sampling according to the gender of the spokespersons and product categories
is given in Table 2.

Table 2. Advertising Sampling

Ad Product Category
Spokesperson Total
Bank Cosmetic Food Car
Gender
Elidor
Kellog’s Alfa Romeo
OdeaBank Canlandırıcı 4
Special K Giulietta
Female Şampuan
Elidor
Garanti Patos Cips Fiat 500L 4
Bakım Şampuanı
Arko Nem Traş
Finansbank Nescafe 3+1 Fiat Evo 4
Köpüğü
Male
Biscolata
TEB Clearman Şampuan Citroen Elysee 4
Barista
Total 4 4 4 4 16

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Procedure

Preparation of the Self-Image Scale Adjective List: Sirgy et al., [10] criticizes the usage of
adjective lists which were previously employed in order to calculate the perceived image of
the individual and the product/brand in terms of two perspectives: (1) The adjectives in the list
may not be compatible with the characteristics of the product, (2) some of the adjectives may
be not important for the consumer (subject). For that reason, in this study, specially designed
for this study was used a adjective list. In the pre-study conducted for this purpose, the
adjectives which most commonly employed in similar studies in the literature were
determined. However, in these studies mostly self-image congruence between consumers and
a product / brand (human / inanimate) have been tested so far. On the other hand, the self-
image congruence between consumer and ad spokesperson (human / human) is tested in this
study. So also add to this list by researchers and a new adjective list outline is formed. So
also, the researchers formed the drafts of the new lists of adjectives through appending this
list. While establishing the adjective list specific to this study, the characteristics of the
subject group and the actors starring in the advertisings to be shown to the subjects are
considered. Later on, the group of 60 people representing the sampling of the study was asked
to score the adjectives on a five point likert scale from the point of qualifying human beings,
add the adjectives complying with them to the end of the film and also scorethose new
adjectives similarly. In conclusion, it was decided to use 27 adjectives above the average
level. The remaining 27 adjectives were employed in the actual study with their antonym
(cheerful x melancholic etc.) as a seven point semantic differential scale.

Experimental Procedure: This study is a quasi-experimental study consisting of a few

sections. The semantic differential adjective list with 27 items was employed to calculate the
actual self-image (with the heading of “I am really a …..person”), ideal self-image (with the
heading of “I would like to be a …..person”) and the advertising spokesperson self-image
(with the heading of “the player in this advertising is a ….person”). The subjects who were
interviewed maximum in the groups of 20 were asked to initially evaluate the each adjective
of the actual self-image in the list and then do the same for the ideal self-image adjectives in
the list. Afterwards, the female and male subjects watched the advertising films chosen for
them and they were asked to gradate the congruence of the adjectives in the list to “the players
who were specifically spokespeople of the brand according to them”. They were also asked to
score the advertising attitude scale for the same advertising and the brand attitude scale for the
brand which is advertised.

The Research Questions

The study claims that the congruence between the consumer's self-image and the ad
spokesperson image depends on the levels of self-esteem. In addition, the congruence
between the consumer's self-image and the ad spokesperson also determines the advertising
and brand attitudes. This basic hypothesis was elaborated through following research
questions:

RQ1: Do the consumer-ad spokesperson actual self image congruence and ideal self-image/ad
spokesperson congruence differ significantly according to gender?
RQ2: Do the actual self-image/ad spokesperson congruence and ideal self-image/ad
spokesperson congruence differ according to their self-esteem levels?

1030
RQ3: Does the actual self-image/ad spokesperson congruence and ideal self-image/ad
spokesperson congruence predict the advertising attitudes?
RQ3: Does the actual self-image/ad spokesperson congruence and ideal self-image/ad
spokesperson congruence predict the brand attitudes?

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Self-Esteem and Ad Spokesperson Self-Image Congruence According to Gender

In order to reveal whether the congruence between consumer’s self image and ad
spokesperson Image and self-esteem significantly change according to the gender,
Independent Two sampling t-test was conducted.

Table 3. The Independent Two Sampling T-test of Self-Esteem and Ad Spokesperson Self-
Image Congruence According to Gender
Gender N  Sd df T P

Female 186 1,18 ,629 367 -1,523 ,129*

Self-Esteem
Male 183 1,28 ,631
Ad Spokesperson Actual Female 186 1,57 ,678 367 -2,813 ,005**
Self-Image Congruence Male 183 1,78 ,771
Ad Spokesperson Ideal Self- Female 186 1,47 ,735 367 -5,481 ,000***
Image Congruence Male 183 1,93 ,848
* (T= -1,523, df= 367, p> .05)
** (T= -2,813, df= 367, p< .05)
*** (T= -5,481, df= 367, p< .01)

According to Table 3, there is no significant difference in the self-esteem of individuals

according to gender[𝑡(367) = −1,523, 𝑝 > .05]. No significant difference was observed
between average self-esteem scores of the female (𝑋̅= 1,18) and male (𝑋̅= 1,28) subject. The
actual self-image congruence of ad spokespersons significantly differs according to
gender[𝑡(367) = −2,813, 𝑝 < .05]. The average scores of male subjects for the congruence
between the ad spokesperson and actual self-image (𝑋̅= 1,78) is higher than those of female
subjects (𝑋̅= 1,57) and the difference between the averages were found significant. The ad
spokesperson ideal self-image congruence also significantly differs according to gender
[𝑡(367) = −5,481, 𝑝 < .05]. The average of the congruence between the ad spokesperson
self-images and ideal self-images for the male subjects (𝑋̅= 1,93) is higher than that of female
subjects (𝑋̅= 1,47) and the difference between the averages were found significant. The
congruence between the ideal self-images of the males and the self-images of the brand
spokesperson in the advertisings they watch is also higher. In summary, males and females
differ from the point of self-image congruence although they are similar from the point of
self-esteem. The males show higher self-image congruence (actual and ideal) with ad
spokespersons. When compared to females, namely, males perceive bigger similarity and
closeness between the ad spokespersons they watch and themselves from the point of their
actual personality and ideal personality independent from their self-esteem levels.

1031
The Consumer’s-Ad Spokesperson’s Self-Image Congruence According to Self-Esteem
Levels

In order to answer the second research question, the Independent Two Sampling t-test was
conducted.

Table 4. The Independent Two Sampling T-Test for the Consumer’s-Ad Spokesperson’s Self-
Image Congruence According to their Self-Esteem Levels
Self-
Esteem
N  Sd df T P

Ad Spokesperson Actual Low 195 1,49 ,712

367 -5,33 ,000*
Self-Image Congruence High 174 1,88 ,700
Ad Spokesperson Ideal Self- Low 195 1,54 ,799
367 -4,10 ,000**
Image Congruence High 174 1,88 ,815
* (T= -5,33, df= 367, p< .01)
** (T= -4,10, df= 367, p< .01)

According to Table 4, the congruence between consumer’s actual self-image and ad

spokesperson image significantly differs according to their self-esteem[𝑡(367) = −5,33, 𝑝 <
.01]. The actual self-image congruence of the individuals with lower self-esteem levels (𝑋̅=
1,88) is higher than those with higher esteem levels (𝑋̅= 1,49). The more self-esteem level
decreases the more actual self-image congruence with the actors who are the spokespeople of
the advertising and actual self-images of the subjects increase.

According to the analysis results, the ad spokesperson ideal self-image congruences show
significant differences from the point of self-esteem levels of individuals[𝑡(367) = −4,10,
𝑝 < .01]. The ad spokesperson ideal self-image congruences (𝑋̅= 1,88) of the individuals
with lower self-esteem levels is higher than those with higher self-esteem levels (𝑋̅= 1,54).
When self-esteem levels decrease, the ideal self-image congruences of ad spokespersons and
subjects increase. In the lower self-esteem conditions, the self-perceptions of the individuals
related to themselves (actual and ideal) and their self-perception for the brand spokespeople in
the advertisings also increases. Under those conditions, the subjects perceive higher similarity
and closeness between the ad spokespersons and themselves.

The Predictiveness of the Ad Spokesperson Self-Image Congruence on the Advertising

Attitude

In order to answer the question of “Does the congruence between ad spokesperson image and
consumers self image (actual and ideal) predict the advertising attitude?”, Multiple Linear
Regression analysis was conducted.

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Table 5. The Results of Multiple Linear Regression Analysis Related to the Prediction of
Advertising Attitude
Correlations
Std. Error
Variable B β T Sig. Zero- Partial
B order
Constant 2,126 ,099 - 21,503 .000 - -
Actual Self Image ,049 ,077 ,046 ,637 ,524 ,033 ,032
Ideal Self Image ,262 ,068 ,278 3,840 .000 ,197 ,191
R= ,313 R2= ,098 F(2, 366)= 19,866 P= .000

According to the Anova table produced by the Multiple regression analysis, the regression
model related to the relationships between the independent variants of the actual self-image
congruence and ideal self-image congruence and dependent variant of advertising attitude is
significant (F(2, 366)= 19,866, P= .000). Although the actual self-image congruence and ideal
self-image congruence and the advertising attitude scores of the consumers are significant,
they give a low level relationship (R= 0,313, R2= 0,098, p<.01) (Table 5). Those two variants
explain approximately 10% of the variance in the advertising attitude.
According to the standardized regression coefficient (β), the relative order of importance of
the predictive variants on the advertising attitude is the congruence of ideal self-image
congruence and actual self-image congruence. The results of the t-test related to the
significance of regression coefficients show that only the variant of ideal self-image
congruences is the significant predictor on the advertising attitude. If the perception of the
individuals for the spokesperson in the advertising they watch complies with the self-
conception they desire to be (ideal self), the like the advertising more. However, they don’t
like the advertising if the image of the advertising spokesperson comply with the self-concept
they already have (actual self).

According to the regression analysis results the regression equity related to the prediction of
the advertising attitude is as follows: ADVERTİSİNG ATTITUDE= 2,126 +
0,049*ACTUAL + 0,262*IDEAL.

The Predictors of Brand Attitude

The Multiple Linear Regression analysis was conducted in order to determine the congruence
between the perception of the individuals related to themselves and the self-image of the ad
spokesperson (actual and ideal self-image congruity) and their attitudes towards the
advertisings on their brand attitudes.

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Table 6. The Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Related to the Prediction of the Brand
Attitude
Std. Error Correlations
Variable B β T p
B Zero- Partial
order
Constant 1,323 ,138 - 9,581 .000 - -
Actual Self Image ,102 ,071 ,096 1,426 ,155 ,074 ,066
Ideal Self Image -,002 ,065 -,002 -,025 .980 -,001 -,001
Advertising Attitude ,451 ,049 ,433 8,871 ,000 ,421 ,411
R= ,465 R2= ,217 F(3, 365)= 33,62 P= .000

According to the Anova table produced by the multiple regression analysis, the regression
analysis related to the relationships between the independent variants of actual self-image
congruence, ideal self-iame congruence and advertisings attitude and the brand attitude is
significant (F(3, 365)= 33,62, P= .000). Although the actual self-image congruence, ideal self-
image congruence and advertising attitude are significant with brand attitude scores of the
consumers; they give a low level relationship (R= 0,465, R2= 0,217, p<.01) (Table 6). In
accompany with those three variants, it explains approximately 22% of the variance in brand
attitude.

According to the standardized regression coefficient (β), the order of importance for the
predictive variants on the brand attitude is as follows; the advertising attitude, actual slef-
image and ideal self-image. When the results of t-test related to the significance of regression
coefficients are analyzed, only the variant of advertising attitude (the occasion whether the
advertising is liked or not) is seen to be a significant predictor in the brand attitude. The actual
self-image congruence and ideal self-image congruence don’t have a significant effect.

According to the regression analysis, the regression equity related to the pprediction of brand
attitude is as follows: BRAND ATTITUDE= 1,323 + 0,102*ACTUAL - 0,002*IDEAL +
0,451*ADVERTİSİNG ATTITUDE

CONCLUSION

In the literature of consumer attitudes, the products, brands, purchasing points and
sponsorship applications and self-image congruence have been researched for a liong time.
However, this theory is also practical for the advertising researches. This study basically
adopts this theory to the ad spokesperson and focuses on some advertising effects created by
the ad spokesperson and the consumer self-image congruence moreover, the role of self-
esteem in the congruemce between ad spokesperson and consumer self-image congruence.

The self-esteem level is an important intermediate variant in the congruence between the ad
spokesperson image and consumer’s self-image. When the self-esteem level decreases, both
actual and ideal self-image congruence increases. The self-esteem is the impulse of achieving
the dreamed “I” and extolling the self-respect. The previous researches also revealed that
human beings bought the products/brands complying with their self-iamges through this
impulse. The results of this research indicate that the self-esteem has a similar effect in

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seeking for the congruence between the ad spokesperson image and self-image. The lower
self-esteem levels of the consumers indicate that they need high levels of self-esteem. The
need for increased self-esteem is an important factor increasing the self-image congruence.
The rule which is valid for majority of the people in the inter-people relations in casual life
also functions when the matter is the advertising communication: Is the person we love a
friend of us or our romantic partner? Or, it it the “I” reflected by him/her? Human beings like
to be with the things, places and “individuals” that make them feel well, successful, beautiful
etc. The need for self-esteem emerges as a natural result of such a need. The advertisings rely
on this and they employ symbols and associations which increase the self-esteem, satisfy the
need of self-esteem and they succeed in doing this.

Ad spokespersons are important elements of advertising. This research indicates that the
conngruence between the ad spokesperson image and consumer’s ideal self-image is
determinant in the advertising attitude but actual self-image congruence didn’t do so. Namely,
advertising is a mirror for majority of the audiences and the ad spokespersons are their own
reflections in the mirror; loving the mirror (the advertising itself) depends on loving its
reflection there; mostly, the reflection which is desired to see in the mirror is the person
desired to be not the actual personality. The self-esteem level is an indirect determinant in
this. It is especially the same also for young women. On this basis, we can state that value
expressive appeals function better in the advertisings of the products for women rather than
functional advertising appeals.

The research indicates that the self-image congruence (actual and ideal) isn’t a direct
determinant on the brand attitudes; on the other hand, advertising attitude is a significant
determinant. However, another finding of this research summarized above (the ideal-self
image congruence is determinant in the advertising attitude) also should be considered. For
that reason, the ideal self-image congruence is indirectly determinant in the brand attitude
through the advertising attitudes. While the individuals are watching the advertisings, they
seek for their own ideal self-respect in the individuals who are representatives and
spokespeople of the products, they like the advertisings which the spokespersons representing
the “ideal I” and they feel sympathy for the brands presented in the advertisings they like.
This is a kind of contaimination effect.

This research was conducted on the student subjects due to its specific conditions. For that
reason findings are predominantly valid for young people and don’t generalize all the
populations. Therefore, the following study should be conducted in a heteregenous sampling
group. The research materials employed in this study consist of TV advertisings chosen in
four product categories. However, it should be tested that whether the results differ for
different product categories and different brands. Moreover, the concern of the subjects for
the product, brand and purchasing may be determinant on the aforementioned relationships. In
the future study, it may be studied that whether the aforementioned relationships differ in the
fame of the ad spokespersons.

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