How endorsers’ faces shape perceptions of brand warmth and competence

Abstract Marketers often use endorsers to transfer desirable attributes from the endorser to the brand (e.g., showing a brand with an athlete to convey an “athletic” image). The present research tests whether such attribute transfer extends to characteristics conveyed by the endorser's facial appearance. In three preregistered experiments, altering an endorser’s facial appearance to appear high in communion or agency shaped perceptions of the endorsed brand’s warmth or competence. Consistent with contemporary theories on attribute conditioning, these effects occurred only when participants remembered the brand-endorser pairing. Furthermore, endorsers’ facial features also influenced product choices, such that brands paired with high-communion (or high-agency) endorsers were preferred for products associated with high warmth (or competence). Overall, the present findings show that subtle variations in an endorser’s face influence the endorsed brand’s image.