term paper on celebrity endorsement

I- INTRODUCTION

Celebrity endorsement is a special type of advertisement which includes a famous

person from film fraternity, athletes, and sports, modelling world etc. it helps in promoting

the product brand and also increasing the sales of the product. Celebrity endorsement not

only has developed in recent years, it is being used from the past for promoting the product.

This type of marketing strategy is used to promote the product and has proved in itself a boon

in advertising world. It is mainly used to influence the consumer who comes across these

advertisements as it is accessed in the consumers mind for many days even after the

advertisement. Celebrity endorsement has not always helped in promoting the product but it

has been developed considerably over the years. It is very expensive to endorse a celebrity for

a product but in the long run it has helped in increasing the sales of the product. Celebrities

are also interested in endorsing themselves in the product as they get compensation for it and

their image is been developed considerably. Businesses have long sought to distract the

attention of the potentials customers that live in a world of ever increasing commercial

bombardment. Everyday consumers are exposed to thousands of voices and images in

magazines, news paper, and on billboards, websites, radio and television .Every brand

attempts to steal a fraction of an unsuspecting person‘s time to inform him or her of the

amazing and different attributes of the product at hand. Because of the constant media

saturation that most people experience daily, they eventually become numb to the standard

marketing techniques.

The challenge of the marketer is to find a hook the subject‘s attention. Also from

the marketing communications perspective, It is vital that firms design strategies that help to

underpin competitive differential advantage for the firm‘s product or services.

The term celebrity refers to an individual who is known to the public (actor figure,

entertainer, etc.) for his or her achievements the areas other than that of the product class

endorsed (Friedman and Friedman, 1979). Celebrities appear in public in different ways.

First, they appear in public when fulfilling their profession, e.g., Viswanathan Anand, who

plays chess in front of the audience. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending

special celebrity events, e.g., award ceremonies, Inauguration or world premieres of movies.

In addition, they present in news, fashion, magazines, and tabloids‘, which provide second

information on events and the private life of celebrities through mass media channel (e.g.,

Smiriti Irani being regulated featured in various publications). Last but not the least,

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celebrities act as spokes-people in advertising to promote products and services, which is

referred to celebrity endorsement.

(http://pakistanmba.jimdo.com )

Celebrity is a person who has excelled in his / her field of action or activity. In

our day to day activity, we perform many acts, may at home, at work place, on field in sports,

in social life. But these acts may be daily routine or just "acts" per say giving no extra-

ordinary results, not noticed by anybody surrounding, and not taken into notice by Media.

E.g. A bandit queen of chambal valley was very famous, but was terror before her surrender

to police. But she never becomes celebrity. But an actress Ms Seema Biswas who acted in

film on "Bandit Queen" on life of that bandit, became very famous and a Celebrity. They pull

crowds with their presence only. If it is understood that BIG B is coming for shooting a film,

to a particular location on a particular day , then there is big commotion in that area. Police

worry about law and order situation, even young generation throng there in big nose to have

glimpses of BIG B and even wait since early morning leaving aside their. Celebrities are

people who enjoy public recognition by a large share of a certain group of people. Whereas

attributes like attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle or special skills are just examples and

specific common characteristics cannot be observed, it can be said that within a

corresponding social group, celebrities generally differ from the social norm and enjoy a high

degree of public awareness.

(McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who is the Celebrity Endorser?" Journal of Consumer

Research, 16 (December), 310-321)

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A product endorsement is a form of testimonial from someone which

indicates that they like or approve of a product. Commonly, product endorsements are

solicited from people who are socially prominent, allowing companies to advertise their

products with statements like as used by such-and-such an actress, or the official product of

company/event X. It's hard to miss a product endorsement on product packaging and in

advertisements; most companies keep their endorsements front and centred so that they are

always in the public eye. The concept of the product endorsement is quite ancient. In

England, for example, several companies have been advertising themselves as by

appointment to the Queen for hundreds of years, indicating that they enjoy the patronage of

the British royal family. Consumers are often seduced by the idea of purchasing a product

which is endorsed by someone wealthy or famous, as though by buying the product, the

consumer also becomes affiliated with the person who endorses it. Modern product

endorsements can come with contracts worth substantial amounts of money. For example,

many sports stars agree to participate in product endorsement campaigns with the

understanding that the company will compensate them for the trouble; some stars donate the

proceeds to charities they support, using the product endorsement as a public relations

campaign. In exchange for an endorsement contract, someone may agree to use the product

publicly whenever possible, and they may be restricted from using products made by a

competitor. A product endorsement doesn't necessarily mean that a product is good. It just

means that the company has managed to work its public relations connections to get a big

name associated with it. While most people and organizations will try out a product before

they agree to endorse it, this isn't always the case, and you shouldn't rely on endorsements to

speak to the quality of the product, especially if you are concerned about issues like illegal

labour or adulterated products. Some endorsements take the form of written testimonials,

where people write about how the product changed their lives. Historically, such testimonials

were often printed on the product packaging directly; modern testimonials are more

commonly included in advertising campaigns, with excerpts only on the packaging. Many

companies also use photographs of famous people on their products to create a visual

connection between the endorser and the product, which is why sports stars appear on your

cereal box. The modern mass media has increased the exposure and power of celebrity.

Often, celebrity carries with it immense social capitals that is highly sought after by some

individuals. High paying jobs and other social perks unavailable to most people are readily

available to celebrities, even for wok not connected to the talents or accomplishment that

made them famous. For example - A retired athletes might receive high speaking fees or

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compensation for public appearances, despite his talent having been sports, not oratory, while

some envy celebrities, and many aspire to celebrity, some who have attained it are ambivalent

about their status . Often, celebrities cannot escape the public eye, and risk being followed by

fans. As well, child celebrities are notorious for having poor emotional health in adulthood,

and often turn to drug and alcohols abuse when their celebrity (as it usually does) fades.

(Erdogan (1999), "Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review", Journal of Marketing

Research, 15, 291-314)

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II- UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND

DECISION MAKING PROCESS

Consumer behaviour is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why

they buy. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and

economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually

and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics,

psychographics, and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also

tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference

groups, and society in general.

The study and knowledge of consumer behavior helps firms and organizations to improve

their marketing strategies and product offerings. Following are the important issues that have

significant influence on consumer's psyche and their ability to take decisions:

The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different

alternatives (e.g., brands, products);

The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g.,

culture, family, signs, media);

The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;

Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence

decisions and marketing outcome;

How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ

in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and

How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing

strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.

Their Age, Religion, Culture, Income, informal group and Referent Group.

Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into

consideration.

(Daneshvary, Rennae and R. Keith Schwer (2000), "The Association Endorsement and

Consumers' Intention to Purchase," Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17 (3), 203-213)

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Consumer Decision-making process:-

The given process is very complicated though on first sight it does not look so. Process starts

with problem recognition or with an unsatisfied need. Something that a consumer would like

to have or purchase in order to attain satisfaction. This need can be Psychological, attitudinal

or Physiological but yes it should have the capacity to be fulfilled by consuming a particular

product or service.

To satisfy the given need what all are the components that should be taken into consideration

and how we can maximize the satisfaction is the next stage. In this stage, we will cover

ability to purchase, level of involvement, people whose opinion will count and other relevant

details that will help us in optimizing satisfaction.

Based upon information search we will generate various alternatives i.e. which brand or

product is affordable for me, where will it be available comfortably and above all in

comparison to other brands or products how better or economical it is.

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Evaluation stage will look like cost benefit analysis and based upon maximum value or utility

per rupee spend, we will decide or shortlist the product or brand. This is the decision and

confirmation stage where the consumers prepares himself for the purchase of a particular

brand and give preference to one and only one over and above the others.

Next comes the purchase when the consumer will finally go to the market and look for the

brand or the product, physically verifies it and purchases it.

Last is the post purchase Evaluation in which the customer wants to justify his consumption

or purchase decision. He tries to find out whether his purchase decision was right or not.

Companies make lot of effort to tackle this situation successfully and they want the customer

to be satisfied with their product.

This stage may result into three situations, first is satisfaction where customer is satisfied

and he got expected results but this does not necessitates the repeat purchase by the

consumer. Second is dissonance where the consumer is not satisfied as he got less utility or

less than expected result from the consumption or product performance. Third is Delight,

here the consumer gets more than expected satisfaction and utility and this will assure the

repeat purchase and creation of brand loyalty.

(Friedman, Hershey H. and Linda Friedman (1979), "Endorser Effectiveness by Product

Type," Journal of Advertising Research, 19 (5), 63-71)

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(McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process," Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3), 310-321)

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Traditional Factors affecting consumer decision making

There are several factors that affect consumer's decision to purchase a brand and a product. These factors though at time are not very much visible but they make an impact and affects sales of a product or brand up to a great extent. The table below shows some of these factors.

Table1. Factors affecting consumer purchasing decision

(Aaker, David A. (1996), Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press)

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III- CONCEPT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Meaning of celebrity endorsement

In India today, the use of celebrity advertising for companies has become a trend and a

perceive winning formula of corporate image building and product marketing. Associating a

brand with a top-notch celebrity can do more than perk up brand recall. It can create linkages

with the stars appeal, thereby adding refreshing and new dimensions to the brand image.

In a world filled with faces, how many do you remember? Admittedly the ones that evoke

some kind of feel in you, whether it’s humours, acceptance, appreciation or recognition.

These are the faces you’d turn to look at, the ones that would stop you in your tracks. And

that’s when you have more than just a face. You have personality.

“Personality that’s reflective of your brand and promises to take it that extra mile”.

The argument supports a position by citing the endorsement of someone who is well known famous. The person need not necessarily be an authority implies that the endorser’s game alone is sufficient to establish the truth of the position.

As existing media get increasingly cluttered, the need to stand out has become paramount-

and celebrities have proved to be the ideal way to ensure brand prominence. Synergizing

personality with product and message can create an instant breakthrough. Result? Brand

buzz. People begin to notice, opportunities come about. People want to be part of the brand.

“Touch it. Feel it. Experience it.”

‘Celebrities as brands’ is a concept-selling challenge, as the current notion of celebrity

management is far from ideal – it’s perceived as a business that merely attaches celebrity to

the brand to get that added advantage. However, the actual job is not mere brokerage --- it’s

about selecting a celebrity whose characteristics’ are congruent with the brand image.

Before we proceed to identify the right celebrity or personality and test the correspondence

bias lets first have a look at the literature survey done, address a few issues involved in

celebrity advertising and understand the methodology of the study. Using celebrities in

advertising dates back to the late nineteenth century and this common advertising practice

has drawn a considerable amount of academic and practical attention. Most academic

investigations of celebrity endorsement have been contextualized in the realm of source

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credibility and attractiveness models, and suggest that celebrities exert their influence on

consumer through perceived attributes such as expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness,

familiarty, and likeability. Another stream of research on celebrity endorsement which

labeled the “match-up hypothesis: has examined the lift or “match” between a celebrity and

product being endorsed, and maintains that celebrity endorsement is more effective when

the in similar vein, McCracken suggest that a: celebrity who best represent the appropriate

symbolic properties “of the product should be selected, thus highlighting the importance of

the cultural meanings of celebrities in the endorsement process.

( Erdogan (1999), "Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review", Journal of Marketing

Research, 15, 291-314)

Celebrites embody a collection of culturally relevnt images, symbols, and values. As

the images of the celebrity become associated with the products through endorsement, the

meanings they attach to the product are transffered to consumer through and consumption.

Therefore, the practice for celebrity endorsement should be closely related to the cultural

context in which the images of celebrities are formed and individual celebrites are selected to

be linked with particular products.

For advertising practitioners, employing an appropriate celebrity endorser to promote

a product is important and difficult tasks. For instance , as suggested in the theoretical

literature , professional at advertising agencies and their companies in the united states and

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united kingdom cited celebrity attributes such as image , trustworthiness Familiarity, as well

as the fit between celebrity and the product, as important factors for choosing the appropriate

endorsers.

Other highly ranked decision factors include celebrity/ target- audience congruence,

costs of securing the celebrity, the celebrity’s risk of controversy, and the celebrity’s prior

endorsement. As suggested by Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg (2001), the perceived importance

and the actual use of endorser selection criteria may vary from culture to culture. Differences

in the entertainment industry and the agency business, and more broadly, in the cultural

environments are likely to influence the execution of the celebrity endorsement strategy

across countries.

Arguing for standardized advertising across countries, some contend that consumer

demands and tastes have become similar on a global scale (and that using celebrities with

worldwide recognition in advertising is an effective means of overcoming cultural

difficulties. Others claim that despite some observed convergence among consumer around

world, fundamental values still remain divergent across cultures. Therefore, international

advertisers cannot assume that the same advertising technique should be uniformly applied or

that it will be equally effective in different countries. Yet research on similatries and

differences.

Celebrity endorsements are very expensive. Therefore their use in an ad should be

justified. In other words, the message strategy for a brand should strongly warrant the use a

known face in an idea. Sadly, very often the celebrity is hired first and an idea is then weaved

around his or her presence.

Khan stresses, “The important thing to remember is that putting a celebrity in an ad is

not an idea in itself. Unfortunately, this is how most celebrities are being used in Indian

advertising, where they just become a prop. Ideally, there should be an idea that makes the

celebrity relevant to the product and the consumer.”

A celebrity’s presence in the ad should be contextual. When Sachin Tendulkar

declares, “Boost is the secret of my energy,” it doesn’t seem out of context. Internationally,

Nike’s association with Michael Jordan is legendary and also logical.

Mendonza adds, “I think celebrity endorsements work best when the celebrity

is not introducing the brand. When the product already has a strong identity and a USP that is

well established, then a celebrity can come in and give the brand an added fillip and generate

some more interest value. However, what is of paramount importance is to find a complete fit

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between the values of the brand and the values of the celebrity. One needs to create a unique

situation or story that links the celebrity to the product.”

(Dean (1999), "Brand Endorsement, popularity, and Event Sponsorship as advertising cues

affecting consumer Pre purchase attitude", Journal of Advertising, Volume XXVIII, Number

3, 1-12)

Celebrity Endorsement in India

Phase 1: The Pioneering Phase (1950-1980)

this phase was characterized by: -

1. Limited channels of communication

2. Demand exceeded supply

3. Heavy regulation and governmental regulations

some bigger companies from their global experience introduced the concept of celebrity

endorsement. HLL has used Hindi film stars to endorse their beauty soap Lux since the

fifties.

Phase 2: The Growth Phase (1980-1990)

the introduction of television added a variable effective medium of communication. Indian

stars going global with events like Asiads and World Cup victory. Vimal, Thums-Up,

Gwalior and Dinesh are some of the other brands that used star-appeal in the early days of

mass advertising. There was a spurt of advertising, featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige

Pressure-cooker), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag Pan-masaala), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving

Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings).

Phase 3: Globalisation

In highly competitive markets, the following realities about brand management exist: -

1. Product differentiating factors are duplicable and imitable.

2. All long existing and successful brands imbue their products with a meaning.

(www.rediff.com – article by Country head, O&M India)

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IV- MECHANISM AND THEORIES OF CELEBRITY

ENDORSEMENT

Celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamour and the hope that a famous face will

provide added appeal and name recognition in a crowded market. In the battle for the mind,

you get the customer excited by showing him a known face, and an effective demand is

created. In short it helps increase the recall value of the brand. A piece of research states that

the target audience age group of 15-30 gets influenced first by cricketers, then Bollywood

stars and only then music, festivals and food4.

The following are the theories of understanding celebrity endorsement:-

Source Credibility Theory

According to Source Credibility Theory5, acceptance of the message depends on 'Expertness'

and Trustworthiness' of the source. Expertness is defined as the perceived ability of the

source to make valid assertions. Trustworthiness is defined as the perceived willingness of

the source to make valid assertions. Audience acceptance increases with the expertness of the

source and the ability of the audience to evaluate the product.

Source Attractiveness Theory

According to Source Attractiveness Theory, which is based on social psychological research,

the acceptance of the message depends on familiarity, likeability and similarity. Familiarity is

the audience's knowledge of the source through exposure; likeability is the affection for the

source's physical appearance and behavior while similarity is the resemblance between source

and receiver. This theory explains the message acceptance in two ways: Identification and

Conditioning. Identification is when the receiver or the target audience of the communication

begins to identify with the source's attractiveness, and hence tends to accept his opinions,

beliefs, habits, attitudes etc. On identification, a quote from Bijou Kurien, COO, Titan, "We

decided on Aamir because we wanted someone who is a bit iconic, who is style-conscious

himself, and somebody who cuts across both sex and age group, between urban and rural

India. A celebrity who is mouldable and who is not over-exposed". Conditioning is when the

attractiveness of the source is supposed to pass on to the brand after regular association of the

source with the brand.

Meaning Transfer Theory

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Grant McCracken6 has criticized the previous two theories and proposed the Meaning

Transfer Theory. The theory explains that a celebrity encodes a unique set of meanings which

if well used can be transferred to the endorsed product. Such a transfer takes place in three

stages - encoding meanings, meaning transfer, meaning capture.(figure 3)

I. Encoding Meanings: Each celebrity has a unique set of meanings, which can be

listed by age, gender, race, wealth, personality or lifestyle. In this way, the

celebrities encode a set of meanings in their image. For example Preity Zinta can

be seen as a lively, charming, bubbly, witty and enthusiastic.

II. Meaning Transfer: This stage transfers those meanings to the product. When

skillfully portrayed, celebrities can communicate this image more powerfully than

lay endorsers.

III. Meaning Capture: This assumes that consumers purchase products not merely for

their functional value but also for their cultural and symbolic value. The theory

says that consumers buy the endorsed product with the intention of capturing

some of the desirable meanings with which celebrities have passed on to the

product. This is more eminent in lifestyle products like clothes, perfumes, cell

phones etc.

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(Tom, Gail, Rebecca Clark, Laura Elmer, Edward Greech, Joseph Maselli, Jr. and Harmona

Sandhar (1992), “The use of created versus celebrity spokesperson in advertisements”,

Journal of consumer Marketing, 9(4), 45-51)

(Misra,S and S,. Beatty, “Celebrity spokesperson and Brand Congruence”. Journal of

Business Research, 21 (1990) pp159-173)

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V- HOW CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT INFLUENCE THE

CONSUMER

The basis for the effectiveness of celebrity-endorsed advertising can be linked to Kelman's

processes of social influence as discussed by Friedman and Friedman. According to Kelman,

there are three processes of social influence, which result in an individual adopting the

attitude advocated by the communicator:

Compliance, Identification & Internalization:- These latter two processes are particularly

applicable to celebrity-endorsed advertising.

Compliance infers that another individual or group of individuals influences an

individual cause he or she hopes to achieve a favourable reaction from this other group. This

process of social influence is not directly applicable to celebrity advertising because there is

little, if any, interaction between the celebrity and the consumer.

Identification applies to the situation wherein the individuals emulate the attitudes or

behaviour of another person or group, simply because they aspire to be like that person or

group. This process is the basis for referent power. It was found that celebrities are more

commonly liked than a typical consumer spokesperson.

Internalization as a process of social influence is said to occur when individuals adopt

the attitude or behaviour of another person because that behaviour is viewed as honest and

sincere and is congruent with their value system. The effectiveness of celebrity advertising

traditionally has not been strongly linked to this process, as a celebrity's reason for promoting

a product can just as easily be attributed by the consumer to an external motive (i.e., payment

of fee) as to an internal motive (i.e., the celebrity's true belief in the value and benefit of the

product). An important issue of concern relates to the development of a strategy for use in

Celebrity Advertising, which benefits from the dramatic impact of dual support of both the

identification and internalization processes of social influence. Celebrities are well-liked, but

the techniques that can be used to enhance their credibility as spokespeople, and therefore,

tie-in more closely with the internalization process needs to be looked into.

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Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsers

A study conducted by Charles Atkin and Martin Block focussed on alcohol advertising and

young audience to examine the impact of celebrity advertising in terms of social effects of

advertising. The sponsoring Company is the underlying source of any advertising message,

but the individual models depicted in the advertising serve as the more visible communicator

in many cases. The most thoroughly studied source quality is credibility research conducted

by social psychologists over the past 30 years demonstrates that a source perceived as highly

credible is more persuasive than a low credibility sender

(Hovland and Weiss, 1951; McGuire, 1969; Hass, 1981).

The sources that companies use to present their advertising message typically attempt

to project a credible image in terms of competence trustworthiness or dynamism. Celebrity

endorsers are considered to be highly dynamic, with attractive and engaging personal

qualities. Audience may also trust the advice given by some famous person, and in certain

cases, celebrities may even be perceived as competent to discuss the product. Friedman,

Termini and Washington cite a 1975 study showing that celebrities are featured in 155 of

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prime-time TV commercials. A later survey reported that this proportion was up to 20%

(Advertising Age, 1978). The most widely used celebrities are sports figures, actors or other

types of entertainers. There are several reasons why a famous endorser may be influential: -

They attract attention to the advertisement in the cluttered stream of messages

They are perceived as being more entertaining

They are seen as trustworthy because of apparent lack of self-interest.

The final element is due to the wide-spread attribution that major stars do not really

work for the endorsement fee, but are motivated by genuine affection for the product (Kamen

et al, 1975).

(Friedman, Termini and Washington, 1977)

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VI- ENDORSEMENT: RISKS VS. RETURNS

The basic assumption underlying celebrity endorsement is that the value associated with the

celebrity is transferred to the brand and therefore help create an image that can be easily

referred by consumers. Consequently by association the brand can very quickly establish the

creditability get immediate recognition and improve sales. However, there are many risks

associated with such endorsers. The brand could slide down just as quickly as it moved up the

consumers mind. There are many cases of brands failing in the market place despite famous

celebrities endorsing them.

RISKS

Celebrity overshadows the brand: In certain cases where the celebrity values category

benefit and brand values are not closely linked. There are chances that the celebrity is

remembered more than a brand. Cyber media research study reveals that 80% of the

respondents approached for research remembered the celebrity but could not recall the

brand being endorsed.

Necessary Evil: Marketing have felt that once the brand rides the back of celebrity it

becomes difficult to promote it without the star as it becomes difficult to separate the

role of message and the role of the celebrity in selling the brand. The celebrity activity

becomes an addiction and the task to find substitute becomes more and more difficult.

Celebrity creditability a question mark for the competent customer: Today’s marketing

endorsement has to deal with a competitive and knowledgeable customer who has begun

to voice his opinion about their perception about endorsing a brand. Celebrity is said to

befool the public as he is paid to sell and communicate good things about the brand.

Hence the question of creditability of the celebrity being chosen to protect the brand is

becoming pertinent.

Conflicting Image: A mix match between the image of the credibility and the product

can damage both. Unless there is a synergy between celebrities owns image and that of

product category the strategy of endorsement is rendered futile.

Multiple Endorsement: The poly endorsement have lead to a celebrity clutter. Celebrity

endorsing multiple products and multi brands in a category has left the customer

confused and has lead to dilution in the celebrities’ value.

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Influence of Celebrity scandals and moral violation on brands : a number of entertainers

and athletes have been involved in activities that could embarrass the companies whose

products the endorsed. When the endorser’s image is finished. It actually leads to a

greater fall in image for the brand. For instance Azharuddin was charge with betting and

match fixing, which created negative feeling and repulsive thoughts among people for

the products he was endorsing.

RETURNS

Build Awareness: A new brand can benefit greatly if a celebrity endorses it. It can attract

the customers attention and inquisitiveness to see what product is being endorsed.

Research has shown consumers have a higher level of message recall for products that are

endorsed by celebrities.

Connects Emotionally: some celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachan command

great adoration among people. Such celebrities can positively influence their fans etc. a

great extents and hence tend to even connect with the brand emotionally because of their

star enduring it.

Quick Connect: The communication process tends to hasten up due to the more presence

of a celebrity. This is because the star carrying the message tends to click with the

customer more. Because of likeability, recall attractiveness and creditability thereby

helping the company to clearly and quickly pass on the message to the target customers.

Means of Brand different ion: using a celebrity is a source of brand differentiation. In a

category where a brands is suing a celebrity the first that picks one up could use it

differently itself in the market the same was done by Boost in the malted beverage

category.

Source of Imitation and hence inducing increased product usage: celebrities actually tend

to become models or idols for the target audience who tend to start using the product just

because the celebrity name is attached with it. For instance, Lux has been used by many

as it is a beauty soap recommended by the beauty queen, Aishwarya Rai.

Better Brand Image: the use of celebrities could also bring in positive image among the

masses for brand. The credibility and authenticity attached with Amitabh Bachan has

inculcated trust for ICICI, Nerolac Paints and many others.

( Clark, Robert C. and Horstman, Ignatius J. (2003) Celebrity Endorsents )

(www.bu.edu/e.con/seminar/micro/pdffav) celebendorse.bu.pdf)

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Primary data

Primary data are those which will be collected afresh and for the first time, and thus

happen to be original in character. A structured questioner will be used for the

collection of primary data.

Area of study

The study will be conducted on the peoples of Jodhpur.

Sampling size

Sample size: 100 persons of the city will be interviewed for this research.

Sampling technique

Random sampling technique will be used in this project

Secondary data

These sources contain data, which have been collected and compiled for detailed study of the

topic. The secondary data will be collected from various books, reports, articles, websites and

other sources.

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RESULT AND ANALYSIS

The following are the findings regarding the consumer survey conducted by me. The

following graphs show the consumer’s perception about different things, as shown below,

their questions:-

1. Occupation of the respondent:-

Occupation No. of respondent Result in

%

Business class 8 16

Service class 10 20

Student 25 50

Others 7 14

Total 50 100

16%

20%

50%

14%

Business classservice classstudentothers

On the basis of research, 50% of the respondents are students, 20% from service class,

16% from business and 14% from others.

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2. Age of respondent:-

Age No. of respondent Result in %

18-25 25 50

26-32 12 24

32-40 10 20

More than 40 3 6

Total 50 100

50%

24%

20%

6%

18-2526-3232-40more than 40

On the basis of survey, more than 60% are between the age group of 18-32.

3. Gender of the respondent:-

Gender No. of respondent Result in %

Male 38 76

female 12 24

Total 50 100

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56%

44%malefemale

Among the respondents, 76% are male and 24% are female.

4. Branded product ownership, among the surveyed people :-

Branded Product ownership No. of people Result in %

Yes 45 90%

No 5 10%

Total 50 100%

90%

10%

YesNo

90% of the total respondents use branded product.

5. Do you think companies investing huge money, for using celebrities help them in

increasing their total revenue?

25

No. of people Result in %

Yes 27 54

No 12 24

Can't say 12 24

Total 50 100

53%

24%

24%

YesNoCan't say

More than half the surveyed population believes that a celebrity helps an organization in

increasing its total revenue.

6. Does the celebrity helps in increasing the market share of the company’s brand?


Usually true 18 36%

Usually not 9 18%

Can't say 23 46%

Total 50 100%

26

36%

18%

46%Usually trueUsually notCan't say

36% of people believe that celebrity doesn’t help in increase market share, but 46% of

them believe that celebrity mostly helps in increase market share of a brand.

7. Do you think, a presence of celebrity like Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan in an advertisement encourages you to buy a product?


Yes 30 60

No 15 30

Can't say 5 10

Total 50 100

60%

30%

10%

YesNoCan't say

More than 50% people believe that presence of celebrity like Shahrukh Khan and

Hrithik Roshan in an advertisement encourages them to buy a product.

8. What do you think, do the celebrity themselves uses the product they themselves endorse?

27


Yes 8 16

No 29 58

Can't say 13 26

Total 50 100

26%

58%

16%

YesNoCan't say

On the basis of survey, more than 50% of respondents don’t believe that celebrity

themselves uses the product they themselves endorse.

9. On a personal note what kind of celebrity does you like the most?


Cricketer 16 32

Politician 1 2

Film star 28 56

Famous personalities 5 10

Total 50 100%

28

32%

2%56%

10%

CricketerPoliticianFilm starFamous personalities

More than 50% among the respondents agree that they like film stars as the product

endorser that they use.

10. Importance for the consumer:-


Price of the product 6 12

Quality of the product 7 14

Value for the money 32 64

Celebrity endorsement 5 10

Total 50 100

29

13%

15%

69%

3%

PriceQualityValueCelebrity endorsement

More than 60% people believe that value for the money is more important for them than

the celebrity endorsement.

11. Do you think celebrity endorsement is an important thing in brand promotion?

22%

14%64%

YesNoCan't say

More than 60% of the respondents are neither agree nor disagree that celebrity

endorsement is an important thing in brand promotion.

30


Yes 11 22

No 7 14

Can't say 32 64

Total 50 100

12. Do you think celebrity endorsement is really effective in reaching its goal?


Yes 17 34%

No 9 18%

Can't say 24 48%

Total 50 100%

34%

18%

48%YesNoCan't say

34% people believe that celebrity endorsement is effective, 18% are not agree and 48%

can’t about this.

CONCLUSION

31

Through analysis and research, this term paper brings forth the following insights: -

Celebrity endorsements do work in the Indian scenario. The level and the magnitude

of the effect vary with the celebrity and the product category but most endorsements have a

favourable impact.

The consumer looks for a variety of aspects from the endorsement like the credibility

and likeability of the endorser. Credibility also means the fit between the brand and the

celebrity.

Multiple endorsements do clutter the minds of the consumer.

When one endorser endorses many brands, then the recall of the endorsement depends

entirely on the power of the brand. There are definitely some brands that go unnoticed and

the recall for those stands is at a bare minimum. The company in that case can heighten the

advertising content because that grabs a special place in the mind space of the consumer.

It is not just the financial gains from the endorsements that matter to the celebrity.

They also look for the fit with the brand and what the endorsement might do to their image.

Professional performance of the endorser is important in deciding the success of the

endorsement. However, the bad performance should be stretched so as to make sense to the

audience.

More than the bad performance in the professional field, it is the association of the

celebrity with a controversy or ill-behaviour that causes negative impact to the endorsements.

During the match fixing scandal in India, the commercials featuring Ajay Jadeja and

Mohammed Azharuddin were all taken off air so that they did not have a negative effect on

the brand.

The celebrities’ accessibility, regional appeal factors, popularity, attractiveness, belief

system are some other important platforms, which are raised when we study the impact of

celebrity endorsement on brands.

Studies indicate that celebrity endorsement has worked well in some consumer

segments while failing in others. Few celebrities have been more successful than those with

almost parallel fame. So the role of celebrity endorsement in the advertising space is

equivocal and cannot be seen as a assured strategic tool to win profits, market share,

revenues, etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

32

www.thedayaftertomorrow.com

www.synovate.com – 2003

www.indiantelevision.com

www.magindia.com

www.blonnet.com

www.rediff.com – article by Country head, O&M India

indiainfoline.com – article 'Celebrity Endorsements in brands.

www.coolavenues.com

http://pakistanmba.jimdo.com

www.rediff.com – article by Country head, O&M India

www.bu.edu/e.con/seminar/micro/pdffavcelebendorse.bu.pdf

REFERENCES

McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who is the Celebrity Endorser?" Journal of Consumer

Research, 16 (December), 310-321

Erdogan (1999), "Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review", Journal of Marketing

Research, 15, 291-314

Daneshvary, Rennae and R. Keith Schwer (2000), "The Association Endorsement and

Consumers' Intention to Purchase," Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17 (3), 203-213

Friedman, Hershey H. and Linda Friedman (1979), "Endorser Effectiveness by

Product Type," Journal of Advertising Research, 19 (5), 63-71

McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of

the Endorsement Process," Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3), 310-321

Aaker, David A. (1996), Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press

Erdogan (1999), "Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review", Journal of Marketing

Research, 15, 291-314

Dean (1999), "Brand Endorsement, popularity, and Event Sponsorship as advertising

cues affecting consumer Pre purchase attitude", Journal of Advertising, Volume

XXVIII, Number 3, 1-12

Tom, Gail, Rebecca Clark, Laura Elmer, Edward Greech, Joseph Maselli, Jr. and

Harmona Sandhar (1992), “The use of created versus celebrity spokesperson in

advertisements”, Journal of consumer Marketing, 9(4), 45-51

Misra,S and S,. Beatty, “Celebrity spokesperson and Brand Congruence”. Journal of

33

Business Research, 21 (1990) pp159-173

Hovland and Weiss, 1951; McGuire, 1969; Hass, 1981

Friedman, Termini and Washington, 1977

Clark, Robert C. and Horstman, Ignatius J. (2003) Celebrity Endorsents

Goldsmith, Lafferty and Newell (2000), "The Impact of Corporate Credibility and

Celebrity Credibility on Consumer Reaction to Advertisements and Brands", Journal

of Advertising, Volume XXIX, number 3, 43-54

L. K. Marhur, I. Mathur and N. Rangan (1997) June, "The Wealth Effects Associated

with a Celebrity Endorser: The Michael Jordan Phenomena", Journal of Advertising

Research,

B. Zafer Erdogan, Michael J. Baker and Stephen Tag (2001) June, "Selecting Celebrity

Endorsers: The Practitioner's Perspective", Journal of Advertising Research, 39-48

Tripp, Jensen and Carlson (1994) March, "The Effect of Multiple Product

Endorsements by Celebrities on Consumers' Attitude and Intentions", Journal of

Advertisement Research, Vol 20, 535-547

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Respondents,

I, Bharat Bhushan, student of MBA Ist Semester, Department of management

studies, Jainarayan Vyas University, JODHPUR, am conducting a survey on

34

“Impact of celebrity endorsement on buying behaviour of customers”. For this

purpose I need your cooperation in fulfilling this questionnaire. It will take few

minutes of your precious time. It is make sure that information obtained is for

general purpose only.

1) Name of the respondent……………………................

2) What is your occupation? Business Class Service Class Student Others

3) What is your age? 18-25 26-32 32-39 More than 40

4) What is your gender? Male Female

5) Do you own a branded product? Yes No

6) If you wish to change your product then what will be the motivating factor for that?

Fewer prices Various discounts and offers Latest trends Celebrity endorsing the product.

7) Do you think companies investing huge money, for using celebrities help them in increasing their total revenue?

Yes No Can’t say

35

8) Does the celebrity helps in increasing the market share of the company’s brand?

Usually true Usually not Can’t say

9) Do you think, a presence of celebrity like Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan in an advertisement encourages you to buy a product?

Yes No Can’t say

10) What do you think, do the celebrity themselves uses the product they themselves endorse?

Yes No Can’t say

11) On a personal note what kind of celebrity does you like the most? Cricketer Politician Film star Famous personalities

12) What is the most important for you? Price of the product. Quality of the product. Value for money Celebrity endorsement

13) Do you think celebrity endorsement is an important thing in brand promotion?

Yes No Can’t say

14) Do you think celebrity endorsement is really effective in reaching its goal?

Yes

36

No Can’t say

“Thanks for your valuable Contribution”

37

term paper on celebrity endorsement

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