A Framework for Effectiveness of Philanthropy Event's Celebrity Endorsement in Social Networks (Study of Earthquake in Iran’s West Provinces)

The purpose of this study was to study the effectiveness of the establishment and endorsement of Philanthropy campaigns by sport celebrities in social networks. The method of this descriptive-correlation study was applied field experiment. The statistical population of the study consists of individuals present in the social networks of Telegram and Instagram. Using a snowball sampling method, 332 questionnaires were collected whose validity was confirmed by marketing professors and experts familiar with social networks, and its reliability was calculated using the Cronbach's alpha was (0.842). Descriptive data analysis was performed through SPSS 24 software and inferential data through statistical method of structural equation modeling using Amos 24 software. Analysis of the results of structural equation modeling shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between the celebrity’s credibility and the attitude of the audience, as well as between the celebrity’s congruence and the attitude of the audience towards Philanthropy events. There is also a positive and meaningful relationship between the attitude of the audience and the behavioral consequences (adoption of information, dissemination of information, and participation in Philanthropy events). The findings also show that the audience's attitude toward Philanthropy events is more influenced by the the celebrity’s credibility. Audience's attitude also has the greatest impact on the adoption of information by the audience.