consumer behaviour

“CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AFFECTING CONSUMER’S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE

ADVERTISEMENT AND PURCHASE INTENTION”

DISSERTATION

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF

MARSTER IN

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED BY

BHANU PRATAP SINGH

(107/MBA/105054)

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

DR. Srabanti Mukherjee

DEPARTMENT OF MBA DAY

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management

"Management House”

CONTENTS

[Bhanu Pratap Singh - IISWBM]

Certificate

Acknowledgement

Preface

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Consumer Behavior

1.2 Buying Behavior

1.3 Decision Process

1.4 Advertising

1.5 Celebrity Endorsement

1.6 Successful Endorsements/ Endorsers

1.7 Forms of Celebrity Endorsements

1.8 Perspectives to Endorsement

1.9 Risks Involved in Celebrity Endorsement

1.10 Methods to Reduce Risk in Celebrity Endorsement

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Need of the study

3.2 Objectives of the study

3.3 Research Methodology

3.4 Managerial Implications

3.5 Limitations

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

Bibliography

Annexure


Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

A challenge faced by companies is how to influence the purchasing behavior of consumers

through celebrity endorsement. For more than fifty years the advertising industry

has been using celebrity endorsement, Marilyn Monroe and Marlène

Dietrich are famous examples (Iddiols, 2002). Research has shown that

the use of celebrities in advertisements can have a positive influence on

the credibility, message recall, memory and likeability of the

advertisements and finally on purchase intentions (Menon, 2001;

Pornpitakpan, 2003; Pringle and Binet, 2005; Roy, 2006). Today – no

doubt inspired by the declining effectiveness of the different marketing

communications (Blondé and Roozen, 2006) - the advertising industry is

willing to pay the increasing rewards the celebrities are asking (the costs

of the spot with Nicole Kidman for Channel V amount to 7.5 million Euro;

David Beckham for Adidas $160 million; Gilette $68 million and Pepsi

$25.5 million; Tiger Woods for Nike’s golf advertisements $18 million).

The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past

years. Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrities in influencing consumer-

purchasing decisions. It is a ubiquitously accepted fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow

special attributes upon a product that it may have lacked otherwise. But everything is not

hunky-dory; celebrities are after all mere mortals made of flesh and blood like us. If a

celebrity can aggrandize the merits of a brand, he or she can also exacerbate the image of a

brand.

“Any brand can get a celebrity. That is easy. But getting a celebrity matching with the right

brand, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way... that is

not easy.”

“The health of a brand can definitely be improved up to some extent by celebrity

endorsement. But one has to remember that endorsing a celebrity is a means to an end and not

an end in itself.”

1.1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR


It can be defined as the process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting,

purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of product and services so as to satisfy their

needs and desires. Company's success in influencing purchase behavior depends in large part

on how well they understand consumer behavior. Companies need to know the specific need

customers are attempting to satisfy and how they translate into purchase criteria. They need

to understand how customers make purchase decision.

1.2 BUYING BEHAVIOR

Consumer decision-making varies with the type of buying decision they make. Companies

need to understand how customers make purchase decisions. The decision to buy toothpaste,

a tennis racquet, a personal computer and a new car are al]-different. Complex and big-ticket

item products are likely to take more time as compared to impulse product. Consumer buying

behavior depends upon the degree of differences along the brands.

1. Complex Buying Behavior:

Consumers engage in complex buying behavior when they are highly involved in purchase

and are aware of significant differences among brands. This is usually the case when the

product is expensive, bought in frequently, risky and highly self-expressive. Typically the

consumer does not know much about the product category and has much to learn. For

example person buying a personal computer knows what attributes he is looking for.

Consumer buying behavior involves a three-step process. First, the buyer develops beliefs

about the product. Second, he/she develops attitudes about the product. Third, he/she makes a

thoughtful purchase choice.

2. Dissonance: Reducing Buyer Behavior:

Sometimes the consumer is highly involved in a purchase but sees little difference in the

brands. The high involvement is based on the facet that the purchase is expensive, infrequent

and risky. In this case the buyer will shop around to learn what is available but fail quickly,

perhaps responding primarily to good price or to purchase convenience. For example carpet

buying is a high-involvement decision because carpeting is expensive and self-expressive yet

the buyer may consider most carpet in a given price range to be the same. After the purchase,

the consumer might experience dissonance that stems from noticing certain dissatisfying


features of the carpet or hearing favorable thing about other carpets. The consumer will be

alert to information that justifies his/her decision.

3. Habitual Buying Behavior:

Many products are bought under conditions of low consumer involvement and in the absence

of significant brand differences. Consider salt, consumer has little involvement in this product

category. They go to the store and reach for the brand. If they keep reaching for the same

brand it is out of habit not out of strong brand loyalty. There is good evidence that consumers

have low involvement with most low cost, frequently purchased products. With low

involvement products, consumer behavior does not pass through the normal belief, attitude

and behavior sequence. Consumers do not search extensively about the brands.

4. Variety -Seeking Buying Behavior:

Some buying situations are characterized by low consumer involvement but significant brand

differences. The consumers often do a lot of brand switching. Think about cookies,

consumers have some beliefs about cookies; they choose a brand of cookies without much

evaluation, while the evaluation about the product is made during consumption. Next time the

consumer may reach for another brand out of boredom or for a different taste. Brand

switching occurs for the sake of variety rather than out of dissatisfaction.

1.3 DECISION PROCESS

Smart companies always research the buying decision involved in the product category. They

ask the consumers their consumers that how they make their brand choices and how satisfied

they are at purchase. The consumer passes through five stages as following:

• Problem Recognition.

• Information Search.

• Evaluation Alternative.

• Purchase Decision.

• Post Purchase Behavior.

Clearly the buying process starts long before the actual purchase and has consequences

afterwards. The model implies that consumer passes sequentially through five stages in

buying a product. But this is not the case, especially with low involvement purchase.

Consumer may skip or reverse some stages. Thus women buying her regular brand of


toothpaste go directly from the need for toothpaste to the purchase decision, skipping

information search and evaluation. But a consumer interested in buying laptop will pass

through all the stages stated above.

1.4 ADVERTISING

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half" -

John Wanamaker. father of modern advertising.

Advertising is an important social phenomenon which both stimulates consumption and

economic activity and models lifestyles and a- certain value orientation. Consumers are

confronted with substantial daily ‘doses of advertising’ in multimedia. Every one seems to

hold an opinion about various aspects of advertising ranging from amusement and admiration

to cynism and condemnation. On one hand advertising is appreciated enough to be the subject

of TV talk shows and comedy skits, to have reels of award winning commercial play in

theatres to have its art and slogans to worn proudly on clothing and to hear advertising

phrases become the idiom of everyday speech. On the other hand, consumers fear covert

manipulation and subliminal techniques and often complain about advertising clutter,

banality, sexism, predation of children and continuing proliferation into newer media and

venues.

Advertising is defined according to Kotler as:"any paid form of non-personal presentation

and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor". The paid aspect of the

definition means that space -or tome for an advertising message must be bought, while the

non-personal aspect means that advertising involves mass media such as TV, radio,

magazines, newspapers and billboards that can transmit a message to a large number of

individuals often at the same time. Advertising is the best-known form of promotion because

it can be a very cost-effective method of communicating with large audiences and it can be

used to create brand images, enabling the seller to repeat a message many times. Also it is

quite pervasive (Belch and Belch, 2001).

Advertising plays a critical role in capitalist economies in creating demand for industrial

output. Thus, advertising clients are predominantly profit-seeking corporations. In 1997, in

the U.S. alone, over $175 billion USD was spent on advertising. Non-profits are not typical

advertising clients, and rely upon free channels, such as public service announcements. While


advertising can be seen as necessary for economic growth, it is not without social costs.

Unsolicited Commercial Email and other forms of spam have become so prevalent as to have

become a major nuisance of users of these services, as well as being a financial burden on

internet service providers. Advertising is increasingly invading public spaces, such as

schools, which some critics argue is a form of child exploitation. One scholar has argued that

advertising is a toxic by-product of industrial society which may bring about the end of life

on earth.

Main features of advertising are:

• It can be very cost -effective method for communicating with large audience.

• Advertising can be used to create brand image and symbolic appeals for a company or

a brand, a very important capability for companies selling products and services that

are difficult to differentiate on functional attributes.

• Advertising is ability to strike a responsive chord with the consumer when

differentiation across other elements of marketing mix is difficult to achieve. The

nature and purpose of advertising differ from one industry to another and/or across

situations. The targets of organisations advertising efforts often vary, as do

advertising's role and function in the marketing program. One advertiser may seek to

generate immediate response or action from the customer; another may want to

develop awareness or a positive image for its product or services over a period of

time.

1.4.1 Advertising Objectives

Advertising objectives can be classified according to whether their aim is to inform, persuade

or remind. These advertising objectives are of three types:

l. Informative Advertising:

This type of advertising is basically in the pioneering stages of the product category. Its

objective is to build primary demand. For example, the yoghurt industry initially had to

confirm consumers of yoghurt's nutritional benefits. E.g. telling the market about a new

product or suggesting new uses for a product.

2. Persuasive Advertising:


This type of advertising is used in the competitive stage. Here the objective is to build

selective demand of a particular brand. For example, Chivas Regal attempts to persuade its

customers that it provides better taste and status than other brands of scotch whiskey. E.g.

telling the market about a new product or suggesting new uses for a product.

3. Reminder Advertising:

This type of advertising is important for mature products i.e. the products that have an

established market already. The objective of advertising here is to remind people to purchase

a particular brand. For example, expensive four colour ads of Coca Cola in magazines are

intended to remind people to purchase Coca Cola,

Another example: reminding customers of the product should it be needed in the near future.

Volkswagen often reminds consumers of the reliability of their product. Now the 5M's of

advertising are:

• Mission- What is the advertising objective?

• Money-How much amount could be spent?

• Message-What message would it convey?

• Media-What media should be used?

• Measurement-How are the results going to be evaluated?

1.4.2 Advertising and Consumer Behavior

Through researches various models have come up that describe the various facts of consumer

behavior. These models suggest how the consumers behave in response to a particular

marketing communication and why do they behave so. The market researchers tried to

understand the response process and the manner in which these communications work

(especially advertising). There are three critical intermediate effects between advertising and

the desired effect of advertising (purchases) these include cognition, the thinking dimensions

of a person's response: affect the feeling dimension; and experience which is a feedback

dimension based on the outcomes of product purchasing and usage. They conclude that

individual responses to advertising are mediated by factors such as motivation and ability to

process information, which can radically alter the individual's response to advertising. It is

suggested that the effects of advertising should be evaluated using these dimensions, with

some intermediate variables more important than other depending factors such as product


category, stage of the product life cycle, target audience, competition and the impact on other

marketing-mix components.

1.4.3 Application of the reference group concept

Some advertisers to communicate with their markets use Reference group appeals very

effectively. People or group situations with a target audience are used to promote goods and

services by subtly inducing the prospective consumer to identify with the pictured user of the

product or service. This identification may be based on admiration (an athlete), on aspiration

(a celebrity or way of life), on empathy (with a person or a situation), or on recognition (a

person real or stereotypical or of a situation). Five major types of reference group appeals are:

• Celebrity Appeals.

• Expert Appeals.

• Common Man Appeals.

• Executive Appeals.

• Trade or Spokes-character Appeals.

These appeals as well as less frequently employed appeals are often pperationalized in the

form of testimonials or endorsements. In the case of common man they may be presented as

slice-of-life commercials.

Celebrities particularly movie stars, TV personalities, popular entertainers, sports icons

provide a very common type of reference group appeal. Reference group appeals to the loyal

followers and too much of the general public, celebrities represent an idealization of life that

most people imagine they would love to live. Advertisers spend enormous sums of money to

have celebrities promote their products, with the expectation that the reading or viewing

audience will react positively to the celebrities association with the product.

Those advertisements featuring celebrities are rated more positively. This is especially true

among teenagers, who are more likely to project the celebrities' credibility to the advertising

message and the endorsed product.

1.5 CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Celebrity endorsements pull in hundreds of crores every year, and are widely preferred by

companies to promote their products. Using celebrities for endorsing brands has become a


trend for building the brands as well as the company's image. Who are these celebrities? And

what does celebrity endorsement mean? A celebrity is a person who is well recognized by the

public, and has a reputation for his/her expertise in his/her chosen silos. Sports persons and

film stars fit the bill perfectly. Promotion of a company's products through these celebrities is

termed as celebrity endorsement. The company makes use of the celebrity's characteristics

and qualities to establish an analogy with the products specialties with an aim to position

them in the minds of the target consumers. Celebrity endorsement, thus, is one of the

powerful tools adopted by companies/companies to consolidate their brand(s) in the crowded

marketplace. Consumers prefer to own a brand that has a good reputation, and when someone

like a famous film star or a sport star is associated with that particular brand, it is obvious that

the consumers will get attracted to it, because the consumer wants to maintain some status,

and feels that using a brand promoted by a star can satisfy that longing.

Celebrity Endorsement in India

Phase 1: The Pioneering Phase (1950-1980)

This phase was characterized by: -1. Limited channels of communication2. Demand exceeded supply3. Heavy regulation and governmental regulationssome 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.

1.5.1 Why Celebrities?


There is a myth that celebrity endorsement is used to give a brand advantage over its

competitors. However, choosing a celebrity for this purpose requires considerable amount of

calculations. There should be something common between the brand and the celebrity

promoting it. Let us come to the main question as to why companies use celebrities to

promote their brands. Is there a real need to associate a celebrity with the product? Yes seems

to be the resounding answer. This is because a company needs to create awareness and

interest in the consumers mind when it unveils a new brand or product. To be successful,

brands need to convince consumers that they carry a different image and value from other

competing products. In other words, brands have to show their true personality to the

potential consumer(s).

An effective way to do this is through celebrity endorsements. As MG Parmeswaran,

executive director of FCB Ulka says, "As advertising professionals, we recommend celebrity

endorsements when the case is justified. There are many cases where you need to use the

celebrity to break out of a category clutter. At times, celebrity endorsement is used to build

credibility to the brand offer." People always wish to see their favorite stars and companies,

and advertisers are quick to capitalize on such ideas. Endorsement of a product/service by a

celebrity gives out the message that it is as authentic and credible as the celebrity is. The urge

that people have of enjoying the same recognition and status like their favorite stars is often

the main reason for the increasing use of celebrities for products/services endorsement.

Celebrities increase brand awareness and define values and new dimensions of the brand.

Companies use this approach to capture mind and market spaces for their brands. The

underlying reason for any celebrity endorsement has to be more sales, with more consumers

using the brand. The more effective the process is in raking up more and more moolah, the

more successful the celebrity is that is the bottom line.

There is a flurry of ads on the television, the radio, and even in theatres these days, and most

of these ads feature either film stars or cricketers, or both. As a result, it is becoming

increasingly tough to ensure that one's share of voice is heard. Using a celebrity in an ad is,

therefore, doubly effective, in that it captures a definite mind share of the prospective

consumer, and if the features and attributes of the brand match with those of the celebrity, the

brand will surely hit gold. Rahul Dravid is considered the most dependable batsman in the

Indian team, and he transfers this characteristic of reliability and dependability to the brand(s)

he endorses. The reason why Castrol uses Dravid to promote its engine oil seems to be


logical, as the company wants to convey to the target customers that Castrol is dependable,

and gives the vehicle a long life.

1.5.2 History of Celebrity Endorsement

Since radio became commercial in the late 20s and from the first flickering of TV screens in

the late 40s, celebrities have done commercials.

The advent of celebrity endorsements in advertising in India began when Hindi film and TV

stars as well as sportspersons began encroaching on a territory that was, until then, the

exclusive domain of models. One of the first sports endorsements in India was when Farokh

Engineer became the first Indian cricketer to model for Bryl cream. The Indian cricket team

now earns roughly Rs. 100 cr. through endorsements. There was a spurt of advertising,

featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige Pressure Cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev

(Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings).

1.5.3 Is it smart to use Celebrity Endorsements?

Stars, who are known to shape destinies, cast an enormous influence. No, we're not talking

about astrology here. We're referring to the powerful effect of celebrities on destinies of

brands. One approving nod from a famous face can translate into millions in brand sales.

Perhaps that's why the world over, companies have been using stars to endorse everything,

from food to food chains, from soft and hard drinks to health drinks, from clothes and

accessories to cars (and the tyres on which they run). Even political parties are awestruck by

the charisma of stars.

Such is the magnetism of celebrities in this country that in the recent general elections, major

political parties fielded a record number of film stars and cricketers to contest from important

constituencies around the country.

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.


A celebrity's presence in the ad should be contextual. When cricket player 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. 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 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.

Celebrity Endorsements as a strategy signing up stars for endorsements is a time-tested

strategy and has been effectively used by some of the top brands in the world including Nike

and Pepsi, In India too, HLL has used Hindi film stars to endorse their beauty soap Lux since

the fifties. Vimal, Thrums Up, Gwalior and Dinesh are some of the other brands that used

star-appeal in the early days of mass advertising. And who can forget Kapil 'Palmolive' Dev?

Star endorsements have several benefits, key among them being building credibility,

fostering trust and drawing attention... any or all of which can translate into higher brand

sales. So how does one decide whether to put a celebrity in an ad? Ideally, this should be

dictated by the communication idea. Celebrity endorsements should be used when the case is

justified. There are many cases where you need to use the celebrity to break out of a category

clutter. At times celebrity endorsement is used to build credibility to the brand offer.

Most experts concur that, when used judiciously, celebrity endorsements can be an effective

strategy. And there are many examples of good and bad use of celebrities. Actor Amitabh

Bachchan, who has been used by some companies like Parker Pens and ICICI Home Loans

remarkably well while some others have been unable to exploit his Big B status too well.

Shah Rukh Khan's endorsement of Hyundai Santro too seems to have worked well.

In a test of the match up hypothesis, Kamins (1990) demonstrated that the positive impact of

a celebrity endorser depends in part on proper fit between the celebrity and the product. Some

evidence even suggests that Wall Street values the use of celebrity endorsers - Agrawal and

Kamakura's (1995) analysis of stock price movements showed that press releases announcing

celebrity endorsement contracts resulted, on average, in a .44% excess return (Journal of

Advertising, July 1997). Yet, there are some who don't have much conviction in star


endorsements. Some people think that to be really successful, a brand needs to have a strong

identity of its own. It should ideally not piggyback on the identity of a celebrity and hope to

achieve success. Celebrity endorsements are capable of manifesting both favorable and

adverse effects for the brands with which they associate.

1.5.4 Six uses of Celebrity Endorsements

• Establishes Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that

brand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products.

The role of a celebrity endorser in an advertising campaign is, without doubt, linked

to the reputation of the celebrity. If the reputation is damaged, more often than not for

reasons other than professional ,then the quality of his reputation does suffer

articulacy if it is to do with his (or her) public behavior.

Example: Dyna ad by Katrina Kaif

• Attracts Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the

clutter of advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.

Example: Shahrukh khan in pespi, Hrithik Roshan in Sony Erricson

• Associative Benefit: A celebrity's preference for a brand gives out a persuasive

message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also

benefit.

Example: Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Dabur Chwyanprash’.

• Psychographic Connect: Stars are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use

stars to capitalize on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand

Example: Dhoni in Aircell

• Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic

segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.).

Example: Amitabh Bachchan with child in Dadur Honey, Sunny Deol in Lux cozi ad.

• Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good

bet to generate interest among the masses.

Example: Sharukh khan And Amitabh Bachchan in Polio Promotion, Amir Khan in Atithi Devo

Bhawa.

1.5.5 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 food.

According to Source Credibility Theory, acceptance of the message depends on 'Bxpertness'

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.

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 identity 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 is one who is moldable 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.

Grant McCracken 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 1).

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.

Does celebrity endorsement really work? Theoretically yes, because the qualities associated

with the endorser are associated with the brand and the brand therefore remains at the top of

the consumer's mind. However one needs to realize that the impact of an endorser cannot be

sustainable in all product categories and in all the stages of brand life cycles. It really depends

upon the type of product. If it is a 'functional brand', then the product itself is the hero. Here

any celebrity association with the brand without corresponding performance of the product

will not be sustainable. While increase of' image brands', like the categories of soaps, soft

drinks, cigarettes etc., where it is difficult to distinguish between the products, celebrity

endorsements help to distinguish between the brands at an emotional level. A research

conducted by Synovate, a global market research firm, revealed that 47% people would be

more likely to buy a brand that was endorsed by their favorite celebrity.

Pepsi Co. has used a variety of celebrities including Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh

Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Rahul Khanna, Fardeen Khan, Sachin Tendulkar etc. Amongst

advertisements featuring celebrities, Pepsi tops the heap with the highest recall of 70%, while

archrival Coke is lower across all markets with 52% recall. This proves that Pepsi has really

exploited the use of celebrities in their advertisements and has worked.

Hindustan Lever's 'Lux' soap in India has been using popular film actresses to endorse the

soap since its launch four decades ago implying that they owe their stunning looks to the

brand. This consistent message hence reinforces the brand values and has been successfully

able to position the soap rightly as the 'beauty soap".

It would be difficult to judge the direct effect of celebrity endorsement on the sales or profits

of the company. On Amitabh Bachchan endorsing RIN, an HLL spokesperson says that it

was too early to gauge the success of 'Rin1 in terms of sales and that though Dabur healthcare


products' sales had improved, the increase could not be solely attributed to him. Similarly,

there are also cases wherein there was a dramatic change in the sales figure after the

endorsements. For example Rahul Malhotra, Associate Director Marketing, P&G India

quotes "Certainly, it has helped us promote our brand 'Head & Shoulders'. Last year, we were

ranked as No. 2 and this year we are market leaders in this segment with over 45% market

share".

D. Garg, Vice-President (Marketing), Dabur India Ltd quotes, "A celebrity does help in

increasing brand sales, but only if he/she is selected carefully and used effectively. The

personality of the brand and the celebrity have to complement each other and the selection of

the celebrity is, therefore, very important."

1.5.6 SCOPE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT:

The use of testimonials by advertisers dates back to the 19th century when medicines were

patented. Firms have been juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers

(e.g., athletes, actors) in the hope that celebrities may boost effectiveness of their marketing.

The increasing number of endorsements throws a valid question to the consumers. Is there a

science behind the choice of these endorsers or is it just by the popularity measurement?

What are the reasons which lead to impact of celebrity endorsement on brands? The success

of a brand through celebrity endorsement is a cumulative of the following 14 attributes.

Greater the score of the below parameters, greater are the chances of getting close to the

desired impact.


Figure: 1

1.5.7 Positive Impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the Brand

Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target audience.

This is especially true in case of new product. Celebrities ensure attention of the target group

by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the advertisement and the brand more

noticeable. A celebrity's preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message and hence,


because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit. There is a

demographic and psycho graphic connection between the stars and their fans. Demographic

connection establishes that different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments

i.e. age, gender, class, geography etc., while psycho graphic connection establishes that stars

are loved and adored by their fans. Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to

be a good bet to generate interest among the masses. Another invaluable benefit from

celebrity endorsements is the public relation opportunities.

Dwane Hal Dean studied the effects of three extrinsic advertisement cues viz. third party

endorsement, event sponsorship and brand popularity on brand / manufacturer evaluation. It

was observed that endorsement significantly affected only product variables (quality and

uniqueness) and one image variable (esteem). The third party endorsement hence may be

perceived as a signal of product quality.

Goldsmith et al. assessed the impact of endorser and corporate credibility on attitude-toward

the-ad, attiiude-toward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. 152 adult consumers were

surveyed who viewed a fictitious advertisement for Mobil Oil Company. They rated the

credibility of the ad's endorser, the credibility of the company, and attitude-toward-the-ad

(Aad), attitude-to ward-the-brand (AB), and purchase intentions. It was observed that

endorser credibility had its strongest impact on Aad while corporate credibility had its

strongest impact on AB. The findings suggest that corporate credibility plays an important

role in consumers' reactions to advertisements and brands, independent of the equally

important role of endorser credibility.

Looking at the effect of celebrity endorsement on the wealth of a company a classic example

of Michael Jordan can be used. At the time of rumors of Michael Jordan returning to NBA in

1995, he was endorsing products of General Mills (Wheaties), McDonalds (Quarter

Pounders, Value Meals). Nike (Air Jordan) and Quaker Oats (Gatorade). Study conducted by

Mathur et al. associated with Jordan's endorsements shows that the anticipation of Jordan's

return to NBA. And the related increased visibility for him resulted in increase in the market

adjusted values of his client firms of almost 2 percent, or more than $1 bn in stock market

value. From this study one can observe that the major celebrity endorser with rumors or

otherwise has a tremendous potential to influence the profitability of endorsed products.


Semi-partial endorsement indicates that when a company uses famous characters from any

TV soaps for brand endorsements, consumers tend to relate to the character that he or she

plays in the soap and hence can attract more credibility. For example, Smriti Irani who plays

Tulsi' in a famous soap has garnered a lot of support from the middle-class housewife today.

If she would endorse a brand, there would be more relativity and credibility. It can be said

about Priya Tendulkar who used to play the character of Rajani.

1.5.8 Negative impacts of Celebrity Endorsement on the brand

More often talked about is the extreme usage of a celebrity called 'lazy advertising', that is

inadequate content masked by usage of a celebrity. A good example is the use of Boris

Becker by Siyaram and Steve Waugh by ANP Sanmar. Also as said earlier, associating with a

star, in itself does not guarantee sales. There is also the fear of Brand-celebrity disconnect

which points out that if the celebrity used represents values that conflict with the brand

values, the advertising would create conflict in the minds of the target audience.

Clutter in brand endorsements is very prominent these days and such kind of over-exposure

can be bad for the brand as the recall value drops by a huge margin. A popular drawback of

celebrity endorsement is the 'Vampire Effect' or the celebrity overshadowing the brand. Some

viewers forget the brand that a celebrity is approving. Others are so spellbound by the

personality of the celebrity that they completely fail to notice the brand being advertised.

Two new drawbacks can be seen these days what companies call Celebrity Trap and

Celebrity Credibility. Celebrity trap is when the celebrity becomes an addiction for the

marketing team and the task to find substitutes becomes more and more difficult, leading to

surfeit of celebrities. Celebrity credibility refers to skepticism by the consumers regarding the

celebrities, especially when there is anything negative regarding the celebrity associated with

the brand in the news, then brand is bound to be affected. For example, Air Jordan's

generated revenue sales of $130 million in the first year. The sales dropped miserably in the

second year when Jordan missed 62 games due to a broken foot. Another main worry of the

advertisers is that their celebrity endorser would get caught in a scandal or an embarrassing

situation.

Multiple product endorsement also has a negative impact on customers' purchasing

intentions. Tripp et al. investigated the effects of multiple product endorsement by celebrities

on customers' attitudes and intentions. They found that the number of products a celebrity

endorses negatively influences consumer perception of the endorser and the advertising itself.


It was suggested that when as many as four products are endorsed, celebrity credibility and

likeability, as well as attitude towards the ad, may attenuate.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan endorses multiple brands like Pepsi, Mirinda, ICICI, BPL,

Parker pens, Nerolac, Dabur, Reid & Taylor, Maruti Versa, Hajmola, Tide, Cadbury and a

few social messages. It has worked in some cases, while in some cases it has not.

D. K. Jain, Chairman and President, Luxor Writing Instruments Pvt. Ltd, the company of the

Parker brand said. "Using Amitabh Bachchan as our brand ambassador has helped in

strengthening our brand image and recall within the target audience". Tarun Joshi,

Communications Custodian, Reid & Taylor said, "Amitabh Bachchan is an icon with

universal appeal and has helped us to reach out to the real 'Bharat.' In fact, agents and

retailers have told us that already customers have started asking about the 'Amitabh wali

suiting.1" Increase of Nerolac Paints, which was endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan, around 80%

of the respondents when asked to associate Bachchan with any paint, did so with Asian

Paints, which is the biggest competitor of Nerolac.

The budget or cost is an important factor for celebrity endorsement. Depending on the status

of the celebrity, remuneration could run into millions of rupees for several years or may also

include a profit sharing plan. For example when S. Kumar's used Hrithik Roshan for their

launch advertising for Tamarind, they reckoned they spent 40 - 50 per cent less on media due

to the sheer impact of using Hrithik. Sachin's endorsements got him $18 million over five

years. When Aamir first endorsed Pepsi in 1995, he received Rs 17 lakh for it; his Coke

commercials in 1999 got him Rs 2 crore. Hrithik Roshan in his highflying days reportedly

made over Rs. 20 crore in endorsements and events by 2001.

However, a number of brands have been built without celebrity endorsement. For some of

their brands, Hindustan Lever and Procter & Gamble do not believe in celebrity endorsement

because they think that consumers, especially housewives, are more likely to identify with a

layperson on screen than a celebrity. Procter & Gamble launched its 'Rejoice' brand in India

with testimonials from ordinary women in their TV advertising. Few more examples of this

will be Lifebuoy, Wheel, Dettol, Close Up, and Fevicol etc.

1.5.9 Choosing the Right Celebrity


Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sourav Ganguly

figure among a handful of celebrities who have been endorsing brands. Companies have gone

a step further to localize their endorsements, so as to have a stronger impact by roping in the

regional stars, who command a good following among the local consumers. It is,

nevertheless, high time companies rethink their strategies of using celebrities for endorsing

their brands, as this trend is fast becoming a cliché, what with every other promotion

featuring one or another, and the trick losing its charm. The question is whether the celebrity

can spread his/her values over such a wide portfolio of brands that are endorsed, and what

kind of impression would the consumer have for the endorsed brand? The other aspect which

sees companies fork out huge (sometimes astronomical) sums of money for getting their

products endorsed by celebrities has to be looked at from the return on investment point of

view, and also the marketing angle, which preaches uniqueness and differentiability of the

products.

Can celebrities make brands reach the heights the companies aspire for? It is difficult to

answer this question. Celebrities can build brands, and at the same time, companies may have

to fold up if the endorsement does not click with the target audience. Companies need to be

careful before choosing a celebrity for endorsing their brand, as they spend huge amounts on

their brands and also on the celebrity. The use of a celebrity should help in building the

brand's image. The pros and cons of using a particular celebrity have to be considered before

using them for endorsements; and credibility of the celebrity is often one of the basic factors

in determining his/her suitability for the endorsement. Companies have to check if there

exists a match between the brand and the celebrity, and whether the deal is worth the

investment.

There are some basic criteria for selecting the right kind of celebrity for a brand. They are:

The celebrity's image has to fit with the advertising idea and match the target audience and

the product; values, popularity, credibility and the availability of the celebrity; cost of

acquiring the celebrity; previous endorsement (if any), and the celebrity's profession. There

should be a synergy between the celebrity, the ad message and the product. This helps in the

customers developing an interest towards the brand.

According to Ramesh J Thomas, principal executive officer, Equitor Management

Consulting, "The greatest danger is that because celebrities already carry a strong brand

character, a mismatch could be counterproductive to the brand. It is very tempting to be

carried away by the short-term exposure and interest that an endorsement could generate". As


all brands cannot make it big in the consumers mind through celebrity endorsements of their

products, the use of the celebrities for endorsements has to be justified. The brand can only

fare well in the market if it can generate some bonding or relationship with the endorser. If

this fails, the consumer may get confused, and that could hamper the future prospects of the

brand. Experts opine that companies have to be careful in choosing the right celebrity for

promoting their brands, which could otherwise land them in trouble.

1.6 SUCCESSFUL ENDORSEMENTS/ ENDORSERS

Celebrity endorsements have found good acceptance among the customers as an effective

way of promoting brands. In a survey, it was found that in 20% of TV ads in the US feature

celebrities, most of them from the sports arena, and these are done to gain ground in the

consumers' minds with their interest for sports and sport stars. Nike has benefited from using

Michael Jordon, the famous basketball player by getting him endorse its shoes. Things have

worked Nike's way, as basketball is a highly popular sport in the US and when someone like

Michael Jordan says he uses Nike; it indeed creates a huge impact on the minds of the

consumers. Nike has, in a way, justified its use of Jordan through the profits it made. David

Beckham, the soccer player from the UK, is an icon both as a footballer and as an individual.

His gaming skills, stylish looks and lifestyle, have got him good recognition and a great fan

following all over the world.

When it comes to endorsements, analysts consider Beckham next only to Michael Jordan. He

has been associated with quite a few brands like Pepsi, Vodafone, Adidas, Gillette, Police,

Brylcream, etc. His lifetime deal with Adidas alone earns him $160 mn, with many of his

other endorsements being successful. Tiger Woods, the top golfer, has been associated with

Nike and Accenture3. The first 5-year deal he signed with Nike was worth $40 mn, and the

company later extended that. According to an estimate by Forbes magazine, Tiger Woods had

made as much as $78 mn between June 2002 and June 2003, of which a meager $7 mn (9%

of total) was from his tournaments.

In the Indian context also, there have been quite a few examples of brands, which have been

successful after being endorsed by famous personalities. The trend kicked off with movie and


television stars being used for the endorsements. HLL has been using film actresses to

endorse its beauty soap Lux. Amitabh Bachchan has been endorsing many brands for quite

some time now. Companies have been in a mad rush to include Bachchan in their promotions

to attract customers, because of the following and respect the senior and talented star carries.

It is a sort of belief for every company and company that he can endorse any brand or any

product and that the association will win customer attention. This kind of reputation has often

led companies to spend huge amounts on signing film stars. Shahrukh khan also has been in

the endorsing business, and his endorsements include Pepsi, Hyundai Santro and Videocon to

name a few.

In India, cricket is followed like a religion and has, thus, turned to be a breeding ground for

stars that can be used by companies. Companies have been very quick in identifying this, and

started using cricket stars to endorse their brands/products. Kapil Dev, the great Indian

cricketer and "Wisdom Indian Cricketer of the Century", used to endorse Palmolive and

Boost during his tenure in the Indian cricket team. Now, the list of cricketers endorsing

brands will be a long one. The best and most widely regarded of them has to be Sachin

Tendulkar, also referred to as the little master, who carries a nation's hope on his shoulders in

every game that he plays. Tendulkar has been associated with nearly a dozen brands, and

companies have been paying him some hundreds of crores of rupees to vouch for their

brands. The little master has given his charismatic touch to brands like MRP, Pepsi, Boost,

TVS, Airtel, etc.

1.7 Forms of Celebrity Endorsements

A celebrity can endorse brands in different ways based on the purpose, the advertisement

media and the appeal to be generated. The product could be commercial ones or non-

commercial ones (social advertising). Following types of endorsement forms have been

identified to be heavily in use at present:

• As spokesperson, e.g. Amitabh Bachchan in KBC.

• In print and electronic advertisements, e.g. Shah Rukh Khan in Omega and Pepsi.

• In outdoor media like hoarding, e.g. Aishwarya Rai in Lux advertisement in some

parts of North India.

• As brand ambassadors: e.g. Fardeen Khan in Provogue

• The use of Brands by celebrities in movies: e.g. Hero Cycles, Pass Pass and Coke in

Yaadein.


1.7.1 Factors to choose endorser

Companies must consider many factors when choosing a celebrity to serve as an advertising

spokesperson for the company or a particular brand. Studies have shown that advertising and

marketing managers take these various factors into account when choosing a particular

celebrity endorser.

Figure: 2

These most important factors are:

• Celebrities match with the target audience and the product or brand.

• The overall image of the celebrity.

• Cost of acquiring the celebrity.

• Trustworthiness.

• Risk of controversy.

• Celebrity's familiarity and likeability among the target audience.

Advertisers often draw attention to the ads featuring a physically attractive person who serves

as a passive or decorative model rather than as an active communicator. This is most common

with the cosmetic industries. Research suggests that physically attractive communicators

generally have a positive impact and generate a more favorable evaluation of both ads and

products than the less attractive models. For example, Revlon use super-model Cindy

Crawford in advertising for various cosmetic products. Advertisers must ensure that the

consumer's attention should go beyond the model to the product and advertising message.

Companies must also consider whether this might negatively impact advertising impact.


1.8 PERSPECTIVES TO ENDORSEMENT

Perspective to celebrity endorsement can be studied under the following heads:

1.8.1 Company's Perspective to Endorsement

• A celebrity helps short hand a brand; in other words makes a brand stand out.

• Celebrities facilitate instant awareness and immediate attention.

• Celebrity values define and refresh the brand image and a celebrity adds dimension

to it.

• A celebrity adds new dimension to the brand image.

• A celebrity lends instant credibility or aspiration to the brand. Celebrities save time in

creating the credibility a company has to build into the brands.

• PR coverage is another reason for using a celebrity. Managers perceive celebrities as

topical, which creates high PR coverage. Indeed, celebrity-company marriages are

covered by most media, from television to newspapers.

Gestalt Perception means using a celebrity as a remedy. When a person is famous people

forget about what he looks like. As everyone knows the face, it is hard to judge whether the

person is pretty or ugly. The celebrity is a remedy to managers who run out of ideas.

1.8.2 Celebrity's perspective to endorsement:

The first reason that most celebrities would endorse a product for is the huge compensation

involved with it. Second reason why celebrities wish to endorse is to get an enhanced level

of acknowledgement based on the success of the product they are associated with. KBC and

Movers and shakers helped stabilize the fast declining career of their hosts by providing

strong audience recognition. Finally, endorsement breeds endorsement. Not only does the

subject end up getting better offers but the avenues in related and unrelated fields also open

up. Most of the cricketers for example have already been made to walk the ramp and a lot of

models have already made their way into movies.


Many American celebrities make huge sums of money endorsing products. Some big stars

won't appear in ads because they want fans to .think they have sold out. But many celebrities

who don't endorse in their native country endorse for the Japanese advertisers. Mega stars

like Meg Ryan, Brad Pitt, Demi Moore and Harrison Ford are paid in between Shnn to $3mn

for a few hours' work to make 15 to 30 sec commercials. While many celebrities are cashing

on these Japanese deals, they still try to protect their image at home, for which they have non-

disclosure contracts. The reasons why Japanese companies are willing to shell out huge sums

of money for these stars are as follows:

• The American culture and its celebrities fascinate many Japanese.

• Japanese advertising emphasizes style and mood rather than substance.

• Consumers expect to be entertained.

• It boosts the endorsers' visibility and helps the marketing of their firms in Japan and

other Asian countries.

1.8.3 Consumer's perspective to endorsement

• Messages delivered by well-known celebrities achieve a high degree of attention

and recall for consumers.

• Celebrity Expertise perceived relevant image. Expertise is the knowledge that the

communicator seems to possess to support the claims made in the advertisements. A

well-known face would obviously speak for more expertise than an ordinary one. For

example, Sachin Tendulkar would always better advertise Reebok.

• Celebrities are perceived Trustworthy. Trustworthiness refers to the consumer's

confidence in the source for providing information in an objective and

• honest manner. People are more likely to trust the quality of a trustworthy celebrity

endorsed brand over a non-endorsed one.

• Ambitious psyche. People ape the celebrities in their day-to-day activities and many

even dreams to become like a celebrity some day. Some know they wouldn't become

as good as the celebrities but sharing common belongings makes them feel better.

• Physical Attraction. Consumers tend to perform positive stereotypes about such

people. Physically attractive people are more successful in changing beliefs than non-

attractive people.

But the personalities that the companies use for endorsing its product may not always be

"good guys". Sometimes some companies try to go off the traditional path and use the "bad


boys" for endorsement. This is mostly prevalent with the athletic-shoe companies who are

hiring the personalities engaged in misdeeds off the court or field. The earliest used "bad

boys" was former basketball star Charles Barkley to appear in the ad of Nike in the mid-90s.

Another basketball player Dennis Rodman was also used to endorse Nike. These were also

known for their rebellious nature. But what are the reasons behind these off the route

endorsements? There may be one explanation for this. These companies are targeting young

trend setting males who often identify themselves with the scandalous and rebellious image

of these "bad boys". Through this the companies try to reach the actual mindset of these types

of audiences, thus being close to reality. In the current athletic shoe market, it appears that the

"bad boys" are boosting up the consumers more than the "good guys".

1.9 Risks involved in celebrity endorsement

There are not only benefits when it comes to celebrity endorsement; there are several risks

involved for companies that use celebrity endorsers. There are a number of risks that a

company takes into account when deciding to use a celebrity to endorse a brand. These are as

follow:

• The overshadowing of product: According to Belch and Belch (2001)

overshadowing is a risk that companies must be aware of when using celebrity

endorser in marketing campaigns. According to Till (1998) this often occur when

companies try to establish a link between a celebrity and company when the endorser

are already sponsoring several other brands. The overshadowing effect will result in

that the consumer just sees the celebrity instead of the product. Since the endorsers

that Skånemejerier is using as said before don’t do any other major sponsorship they

don’t see this as a threat. The consumers might focus their attention to the celebrity

only and do not notice the product. So the company must use the celebrity who

enhances the brand image and also conveys the message to the target audience.

• Overexposure: According to Tripp et al (1994) overexposure and overuse is an

important risk to consider when using celebrity endorsers. There is a risk that

consumers do not see the connection between the brand and endorser if he or she is

endorsing too many products. Ronny Månsson says that when it comes to

Skånemejeriers use of celebrity endorsers for Proviva Active they do not see any risks

concerning overexposure and overuse. Since the celebrities they are using are not

endorsing other brands that could interfere with the image they are trying to establish

between themselves and Proviva Active. And when the endorser is not endorsing any

other products there is neither any risk for overuse of the celebrity. Consumers are


sometimes skeptical of the celebrities because they think they are paid for endorsing.

This problem is prevalent when a celebrity endorses too many brands. So the

company must take care that the endorser is not overexposed. For instance Amitabh

Bachchan is endorsing too many brands. This may prove to be the risk of

overexposure.

• Negative celebrity information: According to Till and Shimp (1998) there is a risk

that the celebrity endorser can receive negative information and publicity which can

be transferred to the brand through the endorser. Skånemejerier fits into theory and

agrees that this is a risk they are aware of. The main risk is that one of their endorser

would use some illegal drugs to enhance their performance. They do not see any other

risk when it comes to negative information because they feel that their endorsers live

a healthy life and won’t do anything to risk that.

• Investment risk: Walker et al (1992) says that celebrity endorsement is huge

financial risk for companies due to the fact that companies don’t have control over the

behavioural of the endorsers and therefore companies may invest money in something

that can be a huge set down for their company. Till (1998) agrees with Walker et al

(1992) and says that it is important to see how many products the celebrities are

endorsing. Skånemejerier has in their marketing budget a specific post for their

investments in celebrity endorsement and they now that if they invest a given amount

of money to hire a celebrity endorser they now that it will cost them up to the double

amount to actually launch a marketing campaign with the endorser. Ronny Månsson

says that there is larger risk to use a famous athlete but they are still willing to take

this risk because they want to transfer the image of their celebrities to their brand.

Therefore Skånemejerier fits into theory regarding investment risks.

• Extinction: According to Ziegel (1983) there are many celebrities that disappear from

the media flashlight during their contract with a company. This is something that

companies should be aware of and think about when using celebrity endorsers. When

dealing with extinction we can see that Skånemejerier fits into theory. This is a risk

that Skånemejerier is aware of and says that there are chances that their endorser may

do weak performances when they are competing and therefore they will not be in the

media flashlight. Ronny Månsson also say that the season for athletes is fairly short so


they are not interesting for the media all year round which is a negative side of the

endorsement. There are also chances that the endorser might injure himself, which

makes him disappear from the media circus for a long time, because if they don’t

compete they won’t be shown in the media.

A celebrity behavior may also pose a risk to the company if the celebrity gets involved in

controversies e.g. when Salman Khan got involved into a hit and run case his endorsement

contract with Thumbs Up was cancelled.

To avoid these problems, companies, prior to using a celebrity, researches his or her personal

life and background. Many endorsement contracts include a morals clause where the

company indicates the termination of the contract if the celebrity gets involved in any

controversy, which may harm the company's image.

1.10 Methods to reduce risk in celebrity endorsement

This section deals with theories concerning how using models to match celebrities to

products and services can prevent risks within celebrity endorsement.

• Reducing risk

According to Tellis (1998) there are several ways in which companies can ensure

against some surprises that can occur when using celebrity endorsers. Companies

should start with a properly screening of candidates to ensure that they are buying the

right image, and that the risk with the celebrity contract is worth the potential risk for

damage. Companies can also set up contracts that have a moral clause. A moral clause

is a legal statement that gives companies the option to terminate a contract with a

partial fee or no fee at all. These clauses often state that if the celebrity becomes

involved in any situation or occurrence, which in the company’s reasonable opinion,

subjects Talent or Company to ridicule, contempt or scandal (ibid.).


• Managing celebrity endorsers

According to Till (1998) companies must establish a link between the endorser and

the brand or product. When an associative link is built between the celebrity and the

brand each is then part of the other association set, a group of concepts, which are

meaningfully related to a target brand. One good example of this is consumers

thinking of Michael Jordan when thinking about Nike and consumer thinking about

Nike when thinking of Michael Jordan. Repeated pairing of the two stimuli is a key to

associative learning process, because repeated repetition of the pairing of two stimuli

increases confidence that the presence of one stimulus predicts the presence of the

other stimulus. Within a celebrity endorser context, repeated pairings of the endorser,

increases consumer’s recognition that the brand is a good predictor of the presence of

the celebrity, strengthening the link between the brand and the celebrity

(Ibid.).According to Till (1998) companies often use a celebrity endorser sporadically

or opportunistically either at the whim of the client or the agency. Payback on the

investment in celebrity endorsement comes from using the celebrity regularly over

time. Such repetition both strengthens the associative link for those consumers already

aware of the of the celebrity endorsement as well increase the pool of consumers who

begin to become aware of the link between the brand and the celebrity. If companies

don’t use the chosen celebrity consistently it will weaken the benefit from using the

endorser (ibid.).

• The source attractiveness model

The source attractiveness is a model that has been explained by several authors

through the years. The source attractiveness model posits that the acceptance of a

message depends on the attractiveness of the source, which in turn depends on three

central attributes: familiarity, likeability, and similarity. Familiarity is the audience’s

knowledge of the source because of prior exposure to it. Likeability is the audience’s

positive regard for the source because of its physical appearance and behaviour and

similarity is the resemblance between the source and the receiver. The higher a source

rates on each of these attributes, the more acceptable and attractive it will be. There

are two explanations to how attractiveness affects the message acceptance:


Identification and conditioning. Identification means that the receiver off the message

begins to see himself or herself as similar to the source because of the latter’s

attractiveness. Because of that the receiver becomes willing to accept the opinions,

beliefs, attitudes or behaviour of the source. Conditioning means that the endorser is

an unconditioned stimulus, and the brand or product would be the conditioned

stimulus. When the endorser is repeatedly associated with the brand, the attractiveness

of the endorser is supposed to pass to the brand (Tellis, 1998; Kamins et al, 2001;

Kahle and Homer, 1985).

• Match up

According to Till (1998) to create an effective endorsement between a celebrity and a

brand it is important that there is brand–celebrity congruency when it comes to

facilitate the development of an associative link. When there is a perceived fit

between the brand and celebrity, there is a greater probability of building an

associative link. Because a poor fit between celebrity and brand is suggested the

primary cause of failed celebrity endorsement. The greater the perceived fit between

the celebrity and the brand the more quickly the associated link between the two can

be expected to develop. The choice of celebrity should fit with the association the

brand either currently has or plausible could have. When the choice of celebrity fits

current associations, then the celebrity serves to reinforce existing associations. If the

associations/image of the celebrity fit the desired associations that the brand could

plausibly have, then the celebrity serves to create association for the brand. However

there is not only important that the celebrity has a fit towards the brand and image,

companies must also consider that the celebrity has a fit towards the target audience.

It is important that the associations the company believes the celebrity has are

associations that the brand’s target audience actually has of the celebrity. Different

groups of people may have different associations for any given celebrity. It is

therefore necessary, to test the possible use of any celebrity with the brand’s target

group to ensure that the image/associations the celebrity has in the minds of the target

audience are meaningful, positive and consistent with the company’s expectations

(Till, 1998).

• Overshadowing


According to Till (1998) the way to decrease the chances of overshadowing the

advertising executions should be single-minded in communicating the brand-celebrity

pairing. The brand and the celebrity should be the two strongest elements in the ad.

Ad executions which are cluttered with superfluous executional devices, distract from

the brand celebrity pairing is weakening the potency of the celebrity endorser. The

like hood of forming an associative link between the celebrity and the brand increases

when there are few other competing elements in the advertisement (ibid.).

• Overexposure

According to Till (1998), when celebrities are endorsing several products blocking

can occur which refers to the reluctance of a favourable stimulus (celebrity endorser)

to form a strong link with another stimulus when the favourable stimulus (celebrity

endorser) already has a strong association with a previous stimulus. When a celebrity

already is strongly associated with a brand they will not form associative links with

other brands. Therefore companies should avoid using celebrities that are already

endorsing several other brands to which they have a strong connection (ibid.).

• Extinction

To reduce the risk of extinction companies should expand their use of celebrity

endorsement. Because it is unrealistic to expect that every time a consumer

encounters a brand the celebrity endorser image also will be present. Therefore

companies should work to get endorsers more integrated into the marketing mix.

Although most commonly used in advertising, celebrity endorsers can be effective in

promotion activities, such as giving away related items or trips, which tie into the

celebrity. The celebrity could also be used at large trade shows, national sales

meetings and other significant publicity events (Till, 1998 Ziegel 1983).

• Financial risk


Companies must decide how cost effective their choice of celebrity is. The celebrity

with the highest potential is often also the most expensive one. Companies should

therefore look for a lesser-known person that fits into the message of the brand and

appeals to the target audience (Tellis, 1998).

• Q-ratings

According to Miciak and Shanklin (1994) it is important that consumers sees the

celebrity as person with credibility and attractiveness and that the celebrity is an

effective media person. For celebrity to be credible, consumers must perceive them to

be trustworthy and have the expertise to speak about a product or service. The

reasoning is that the more credible and attractive a celebrity is the more persuasive he

or she will be as endorser. Therefore companies are starting to use the Q- value to

estimate how good their brand is together with a specific celebrity endorser.

According to Shimp (1997) to find out how effective an endorser might be

questionnaires are sent out to individuals that are asked to answer two simple

questions: Have you heard of this person? The second question is: If you have, do you

rate him or her; poor, fair, good, very good or one of your favourites? The Q rating is

then calculated by dividing the percentage of the total sample rating the celebrity ‘as

one of your favourites’ by the percentage of sample who knows the celebrity (Shimp,

1997). A celebrity may not be widely recognised but he or she can still attain a high Q

rating as individuals who do recognise the celebrity also likes the celebrity. On the

other hand a celebrity may be widely recognised but still have low Q rating since the

respondents may not like them. The Q rating answers the question of popularity

among those familiar with him or her (ibid.). According to Rossiter and Percy (1987)

Q ratings are a good way for companies to avoid hiring big celebrities that aren’t

popular among their target audience. This also makes Q ratings a good method to

filter celebrities for a company (ibid.).

The possible discrepancies in the present system of endorsement could be as follows:

• Owing to unavailability of dates, long-term contracts have to be signed whereas the

life of the celebrity may not always be long term.

• The celebrities start becoming bigger than the brand.


• The celebrity is at best company chosen but never customer chosen.

• The celebrity may begin to lose value due to inappropriate choice of endorsed product

or failure of product.


Chapter two

Review of Literature

2.1 Celebrity Endorser

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).

According to McCracken's (1989) definition, a celebrity endorser is an

individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on

behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement

(marketing communication).

Celebrities, live and in person, get most folks' pulses pounding, their palms sweating, their

minds racing to calculate whether it would be cool or gauche to approach them, to mention

the obvious fact that we recognize them, that we know far more about them than they know

about us, and that this makes them seem infinitely superior to us (Ferris 2004).

2.2 Impact of Celebrity Endorsement

Several studies have examined consumers’ response to celebrity

endorsements in advertising. Findings show that celebrities make

advertisements believable and enhance message recall (Friedman and

Friedman, 1979). Ultimately celebrity endorsers are believed to generate

a greater likelihood of customers choosing the endorsed brands (Kahle

and Homer, 1985). Thus, the use of celebrity endorsements is an

advertising strategy that should enhance the marginal value of

advertisement expenditures and create brand equity by means of the

“secondary association” of a celebrity with a brand (Keller, 1993).

Celebrity endorsers have been found to be more effective in promoting

products with high psychological and/or social risk than products with high

financial and performance risks (Mehulkumar, 2005). In most celebrity


endorsement research, the products which were investigated were

classified in different product categories 1998, 2000), or unknown brands

(Atkin and Block 1983; Kamins et al. 1989). In (Kamins, 1990; Ohanian,

1990, Walker et al. 1992), fictitious brands practice, celebrity

endorsement is used for existing brands, which means that it can

influence the brand image. A celebrity endorser used in an advertisement

can be interpreted as a reference group. Shiffman and Kanuk (2006)

define reference group as any person or group of persons that serves as a

point of comparison for an individual by communicating values, attitudes

and providing a specific guide for behavior. An aspiration group is a

derivative of the reference group: in this case, the consumer does not

belong to the group but is willing to be associated with it. To become

'associated' with this group, consumers are willing to behave like

members of the aspiration group. This means that consumers are trying to

behave in the same manner, e.g. try to use the same symbolic meanings –

of the aspiration group. This means that a celebrity endorser can be

interpreted as the 'personality' of the reference group. The reference

group 'rich and famous', which often correspond with the way the

‘celebrities’ live, is frequently indicated as an aspiration group of which

consumers like to be part (De Pelsmacker et al., 2004).

Erdogen (1999) says when global campaigns are organized celebrities

who are appropriate for a global target audience are used. General

celebrity endorsement influences the feelings of the consumers and can

also influence the attitude consumers have towards the advertisement

and attitude towards the brands, which can increase the purchase

intentions and, consequently, increase sales. Potential advantages of

utilizing celebrity endorsers are that it can increase attention, polish the

image of the brand, especially when a brand will be introduced in the

market or are positioning of a brand will take place (De Pelsmacker,

2004).

Companies invest large sums of money to align their brands and

themselves with celebrity endorsers. Research has shown that because of


the fame of celebrities, they do not only create and maintain attention of

the consumers but they also achieve high message recall (Ohanian, 1991;

O'Mahony and Meenaghan, 1997). However, companies have limited

control over the celebrity's persona which can also result in high risk and

“no gain” situations (e.g. the “scandals” surrounding celebrities like

Michael Jackson, Kate Moss, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton). As a result,

companies build characters (using people who are not celebrities) which

are congruent with their brands and target-audiences, and ensure hat

these characters is endorsing only one particular product. Tom et al.

(1992) found that created endorsers were more effective in creating a link

to the product than celebrity endorsers. Agrawal and Kamakura (1995)

assess the impact of celebrity endorsement contracts on the expected

profitability of a firm by using event study methodology. Their approach

assumes that the announcement of a celebrity endorsement contract,

usually widely publicized in the business press, is used as information by

market analysts to evaluate potential profitability of endorsement

expenditures, thereby affecting the firm’s expected return. The result of

analysis of 110 announcements of celebrity endorsement contracts

showed on average the impact of these announcements on return is

positive and suggest that celebrity endorsement contracts are generally

viewed as a worthwhile investment in advertising.

The primary interpersonal privilege of celebrity is attention. Celebrities matter to the rest of

us, even if we would have no interest in them were they not celebrities. The most mundane

experiences of celebrities' lives attract attention, not just by fans but also by anyone who

happens to recognize their fame. Players on a successful college basketball team, for instance,

develop a "glorified self" through the attention that they receive on and off campus. Without

this attention, they would just be everyday college students, only taller (Adler and Adler

1989). A study of students' relationships with celebrities found that ordinary people "seek out

further information about celebrities' lives for vicarious pleasure" (Leets et al. 1995). All this

attention and information turns celebrities into "intimate strangers" (Schickel 1985), persons

with whom we have unilateral "parasocial" relationships (Giles, 2000; Horton and Wohl,

1956). A neurological study found that celebrities both their image and their printed name

trigger dedicated fast-access memory cells in the brain, at least among a sample of eight


epileptics in Los Angeles who had sensors implanted in their brains to track seizures (Quian

Quiroga et al. 2005).

In ‘The Relative Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement for Beauty, High- and Low

Involvement Product Print Advertisements’, Irene Roozen (YEAR) professor in University of

Antwerp, Brussels states two research projects. In the first research project, the matches

between the products concerned and a number of celebrities were analyzed. In the second

research project advertisements with the best and worst product-celebrity matches,

respectively, are compared with advertisements with a picture of an anonymous person and

advertisements without a celebrity or picture. The research results do not indicate that

celebrity endorsement is effective. This result was also found for the advertisements with the

endorsement of celebrities who were found to match best with the products at hand. These

results, therefore, suggest that the considerable amounts invested in celebrity endorsement

could better be allocated to other advertisement ends.

By analyzing the influence of celebrity endorsement on the brands and or

products shown in the advertisements, it is important to make a

classification between high and low involvement of the advertisement.

The Elaboration Likelihood theory (Petty et al. 1981) shows that attitudes

change through different routes. Under conditions of high involvement,

where elaboration is likely, the attitude change travels trough a 'central

route' in which a person exercises 'diligent' consideration of information

that (s)he feels is central to the true merits of a particular attitudinal

position. For low involvement, low elaboration likelihood, the attitude

change travels through a 'peripheral route' in which various simple cues

associated with the issue, object, or context exert optimal influence. This

means that under conditions of high involvement, arguments but not

celebrities influence attitudes, whereas under conditions of low

involvement, celebrities but not arguments influence attitudes. However,

Kahle and Homer (1985) have shown that the involvement effect is

sensitive to variation and that the physical attractiveness of a celebrity

affects the attitude change process. A psychically of physically attractive

model exudes sensuality, can increase arousal which can affect

information processing. For example, in the case of a stunningly attractive


person who claims to use a beauty product the product in question may

be assumed to be an element of the person’s beauty formula. Information

concerning attractiveness is conveyed more quickly than other

information, even if it is not highly probative .The categorization of

products into low and high involvement is based on the risk perceptions

consumers have when purchasing products (which is significantly higher

for high involvement products). Risk perceptions can be classified into

four categories (Friedman and Friedman, 1979): (1) Psychological risk: the

fit between product image and self image, (2) Financial risk: associated

with the price of the brands/products, (3) Social risk: fear of not belonging

or not taking part to/in a reference group as a result of purchasing the

'wrong' product/brand, (4) Operational risk: risk of buying a product that

does not operate the way it should do. Another study by Dean (1999)

tested the effects of three advertising cues- third- party product

endorsements, brand popularity and event sponsorship to affect the

consumer perceptions with regards to product quality, uniqueness,

manufacturer esteem and corporate citizenship. Mehta (1994) has found

that there were no significant differences for the concepts ‘attitudes

towards the advertisement’, ‘attitude towards the brand’ and ‘intentions

to purchase endorsed brands’ between celebrity and non-celebrity

endorsement advertisements. When confronted with non celebrity

endorsers, consumers were significantly more focused on the brand and

its features, whereas with celebrity endorsers the subjects were

significantly more concentrated on the celebrity in the advertisement.

However, Atkin and Block (1983) and Petty et al. (1983) have found the

opposite results of Mehta (1994).

2.3 Models to analyze Celebrity Endorsement

Two general models are often used to analyze celebrity endorsement: the

source credibility model and the source attractiveness model.

Furthermore, a description of the endorsed brands and the match

between the celebrity and the product is presented.

2.3.1 Source Credibility Model

Source credibility is used to imply a communicator's positive

characteristics to affect the receiver's acceptance of a message. The


source credibility model of Hovland et al. (1953) analyses the factors

leading to the perceived credibility of the communicator. Hovland et al.

(1953) concluded that the two factors trustworthiness and expertise

underscore the concept of source credibility. Trustworthiness is defined as

the degree of confidence in the communicator's intent to communicate

the assertions he considers most valid. Research shows that when a

communicator is perceived to be highly trustworthy, an opinionated

message is more effective than a non-opinionated communication in

producing attitude change (Ohanion, 1990). Expertise is defined as the

extent to which a communicator is perceived to be a source of valid

assertions (Hovland, et al. 1953). Already in the early eighties, research

results haveindicated that in a selling context, an expert salesperson

induced a significantly higher number of customers to purchase than did a

non-expert salesperson (Woodside and Davenport, 1974).

2.3.2 Source Attractiveness Model

The source attractiveness model is a component of the 'source valence'

model presented by McGuire (1985). The attractiveness model contends

that the effectiveness of a message depends on source's 'familiarity',

'likeability', 'similarity' and 'attractiveness' to the respondent.

Attractiveness has become an important factor through the increasing use

of celebrities as endorsers for products, services and/ or social causes

(Patzer, 1983; Ohanion, 1990). Most television and print ads use

physically attractive people. Already in the eighties, research has shown

that psychically attractive communicators are more successful in

changing beliefs than unattractive communicators (Chaiken, 1979).

2.4 Match between celebrity and brand / product

Research has shown that not only the classification of the product, source

credibility and source attractiveness can influence the effectiveness of the

celebrity endorser but also the match between the brand and or product

with the celebrity. There should be congruence between the celebrity and

the product in terms of characteristics such as image, expertise (Till and

Busler, 1998; 2000) or attractiveness (Baker and Churchill, 1977; Kahle


and Homer, 1985). The celebrity-product match model states that

attractive endorsers are more effective when promoting products used to

enhance one's attractiveness (Kamins, 1990) and that the impact will be

not significant in the case of a product that is unrelated to

“attractiveness”. Kahle and Homer (1985) found that in the case of

attractiveness related products the use of physically attractive celebrities

increased message recall; product attributes, and purchase intention. In

1998, Till and Busler have examined attractiveness versus expertise as a

match-up factor and found a general attractiveness effect on brand

attitude and purchase intention but no match-up effect was found based

on attractiveness. They proposed that expertise is more appropriate for

matching products with celebrity endorsers than attractiveness. Walker et

al. (1992) concluded that meanings and images are transferred from the

celebrity endorsers to the product.

McCracken (1989) has addressed the endorsement process from a cultural

perspective. According to ‘meaning transfer model’, the symbolic

properties of the celebrity endorser serve the endorsement process by

taking on the meanings that then carry from ad to ad. The source models

(attractive and credibility) do not explain why a celebrity fails as an

endorser for one brand while being successful for another brand.

McCracken (1986) explains cultural meanings as something inherent and

resident in the culturally constituted, psychical, and social world and then

move through a conventional path to individual consumers where it is

transferred through the efforts of the consumer. This model conveys the

celebrity is a persuasive communicator with a set of fictional roles and

when consumers respond to celebrity specific characteristics they are

responding to the particular set of meanings of the celebrity. The

effectiveness of the celebrity depends upon the meanings the celebrity

brings to the endorsement process. He also suggests that the role of the

celebrity is not only being attractive or credible but also the celebrity has

to make up certain meanings the consumer finds compelling and useful.

Figure 1: The Meaning Transfer Model


Source: McCracken, 1989.

In the initial stage of this model, the meanings generated through political

campaigns, athletic achievements and performances and/or distant movie

performances, reside in celebrities themselves. In the second stage,

meanings are transferred to the product through advertisement and the

endorsement process. In the last stage, the meanings are transferred

from the product to the consumer where the properties of the product

become the properties of the consumer.

Sandhir Sharma, professor at Punjab College of Technical Education,

Ludhania carried out a survey in Ludhiana, taking sample size of 100

viewers. The study contained the sample size of 100, all the people of the

age of 18 years and above. The demographic profile of the respondent

included 23 Businessmen, 35 service class people, 30 students, 6

professionals, 4 housewives and 2 retired persons. Out of 100

respondents, 56 were males and 44 were females. The results showed

that 54% of the respondents feel that celebrities cast an impact through


the advertisements while 46% do not feel any impact of celebrities. Out of

54 respondents, 42 feel that celebrities attract attention towards an ad,

15 of them feel that they arouse interest in the product. 12 respondents

are of the view that celebrities build a desire to have the product and only

6 respondents only feel that celebrities initiate an action to buy that

product. The study also revealed that majority of the respondents i.e. 63%

get attracted more towards Film Stars than any other celebrity. Majority of

the respondents felt they would continue buying same goods from the

market irrespective of the act of advertising the same product through

any specific celebrity. The study found that very few respondents (37%)

have bought product(s) under the influence of any celebrity which means

that a consumer wants something more in an advertisement than a

celebrity to be influenced enough to buy the product.

Celebrity endorsement is always a two-edged sword and it has a number

of positives— if properly matched it can do wonders for the company, and

if not it may produce a bad image of the company and its brand.

Mukherjee (2009) has evaluated associated factors that contribute to the

success or failure of the endorsement. Celebrity endorsement has been

established as one of the most popular tools of advertising in recent time.

It has become a trend and perceived as a winning formula for product

marketing and brand building. It is easy to choose a celebrity but it is

tough to establish a strong association between the product and the

endorser. While the magnitude of the impact of celebrity endorsement

remains under the purview of gray spectacles, this paper is an effort to

analyze the Impact of celebrity endorsements on brands. The study aimed

at examining the relationship between celebrity endorsements and

brands, and the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer's buying

behaviour as well as how consumer makes brand preferences. The author

proposes a 20 point model which can be used as blue-print criteria and

can be used by brand managers for selecting celebrities and capitalizing

the celebrity resource through 360 degree brand communication which,

which he considers the foundation of the impact of celebrity endorsement.

The major factors that are having maximum impacts of successful

endorsement are a) Consistency and long-term commitment, b)


Prerequisites to selecting celebrities, c) Celebrity–brand match, d)

Constant monitoring, e) Selecting unique endorsers, f) Timing, g) Myopic

endorsement strategy, h) Brand over endorser i) Celebrity endorsement is

just a channel, j) Over dependency on celebrity, k) The celebrity trap, l)

Trademark and legal contracts, m) Overall Management, n) Investment, o)

The Brand endorsement team, p) Feel Cultural Sensitivity and q) Celebrity

ROI.


Chapter Three

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Need for Study

The organizations are using the celebrity endorsers for promoting their products. They choose

a person a face who may best- fit with the image of their product and brand as well. At the

same time, there is need to know the perceptions of the viewers and consumers. This helps in

estimating the impact of particular celebrity endorser on the consumer buying behavior and

final purchase decision. The importance of appropriate celebrity endorser for the brand or

product resulted in the need for the study.

3.2 Objectives of the study

This study had the following objectives-

1. To study the significance of celebrity endorsement.

2. To analyze the use and effectiveness of celebrity endorsers.

3. To measure the effectiveness, attractiveness and credibility of certain celebrities.

4. To study the various dimensions of celebrity endorsers.

5. To establish a relationship between consumer behaviour and celebrity endorsement.

6. To view the companies and endorsers perspectives towards celebrity.

3.3 Research Methodology

3.3.1 Data Collection

Two kinds of data which has been gathered and used for carrying out this research are

1. Secondary Data

2. Primary Data

Secondary Data has been gathered to gain better understanding of the topic. It has been

collected from journals, magazines, text books and online resources. Primary Data has been

collected through a questionnaire.


3.3.2 Research Design

The research is descriptive in nature. It is based on survey technique.

3.3.3 Sampling Technique

Respondents were selected randomly. They have been categorized in three categories: 18- 24,

25- 34 and 35 or above. Data has been collected from various age groups so that view of

general public could be obtained.

3.3.4 Sampling Unit

The sampling unit consists of graduate students of different departments of Aligarh Muslim

University, Aligarh. The Faculty of Management Studies and Research, Zakir Hussain

College of Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of commerce were visited collecting

data.

3.3.5 Sample Size

The questionnaires were distributed to 150 people. But since few of the targeted respondents

did not respond, total responses received were 127.

3.3.5 Research Instrument

A questionnaire has been used to see the effect of celebrity on consumer purchasing

decisions. It also helps in generating the view of respondents regarding the few celebrities

which are used for certain products. To assess the ratings for particular celebrities, categorical

scale has been used. The responses of the respondents were recorded as per following scale-

Excellent, Good, Average, Poor and Unsure.


Steps in Data Collection

3.4 Managerial Implications

The study will have certain managerial implications such as:

1. The study will be useful to scholars, executives and managers interested in the area of

celebrity endorsement and advertising.

2. It highlights the perception of the targeted respondents towards the celebrities used for

various products.

3. It may provide an insight to the studied brands regarding the perception of viewers.

4. The study may prove helpful to the organizations who are planning to choose a

celebrity for their brands or products.

3.5 Limitations

1. The response could not be obtained from all the respondents targeted.

2. Some respondents were not forthcoming and were reluctant in giving responses.

3. Paucity of time to conduct the study is another limitation.

4. The study has been conducted in one city. So the findings cannot be generalized.


Literature Review/ Secondary Data Analysis

Sampling and Questionnaire Adaptation

Collection of questionnaires

Distribution of questionnaires

Compilation and Computation of responses

Chapter Four

DATA ANALYSIS

This chapter deals with the analysis of the responses collected by means of questionnaire. The

analysis been done on the basis of age and gender. Mean values of the respondents are calculated.

1. What are the most motivating factors when you plan to buy mobiles or cars?

Table 1

Discounts and

offers Fewer prices

Latest models and

trends TotalAge 18-24 28 11 74 113

25-34 4 2 7 13Total 32 13 81 126

Table 1 show 28 respondents belonging to age group 18- 24 consider discounts and offers as

motivating factors where as latest models and trends motivates an average of 74 respondents from the

same age group. 7 respondents of age group 25- 34 agree with latest models and trends as a

motivating factor to purchase mobiles or cars.

If we have a look at the results gender wise, 47 males are motivated by latest models and trends to

buy the product and only 11 males are motivated by fewer prices. 2 females are motivated by fewer

prices whereas majority, that 34 females are motivated by latest trends and models.

Table 2

Discount and

offers Fewer prices

Latest models and

trends TotalGender Male 17 11 47 75

Female 15 2 34 51Total 32 13 81 126

Table 3 shows that 10.2 percent of respondents are motivated by fewer prices whereas 63.8 percent of

respondents are motivated by latest models and trends. Discount and offers are able to motivate

around 25 percent of the respondents.

Table 3


Motivating Factors Frequency PercentDiscount and offers 32 25.40

Fewer prices 13 10.32Latest models and trends 81 64.28

Total 126 100.0

2. Do you believe products specifically advertised by the celebrities are of good quality?

Table 4

Yes No 50% Not sure TotalAge 18-24 11 38 55 9 113

25-34 3 6 2 2 13Total 14 44 57 11 126

Table 4 shows 11 males in age group 18- 24 believe that products advertised by the celebrities are of

good quality, whereas 38 in same age group do not believe the same.

Table 5

Yes No 50% Not sure TotalGender Male 9 27 31 8 75

Female 5 17 26 3 51Total 14 44 57 11 126

17 females say the products promoted by celebrities do not have good quality, whereas, 26 females

believe that the product is only 50% consists of good quality. 27 males believe that the products

promoted by celebrities are of not good quality and only 9 males believe reverse.

Table 6 shows a larger view of the responses. It shows that 11 percent of total respondents believe

that the products endorsed by the celebrities are of good quality, whereas 34.92% of respondents

consider such products below quality. 45.24% of respondents say 50% they have good quality and

rest of the respondents that is 8.73 % are not sure.

Table 6

Responses Frequency PercentYes 14 11.11No 44 34.92

50% 57 45.24Not sure 11 8.73

Total 126 100Chart 1


3. What is the most persuading factor to purchase the following products?

a) Motor VehicleTable 7

brand name Celebrity Luxury Self esteem TotalAge 18-24 59 8 25 21 113

25-34 8 2 0 3 13Total 67 10 25 24 126

59 respondents of age group 18- 24 consider brand name as the most persuading factor to purchase

the motor vehicle. 25 and 21 respondents believe it is the luxury and self- esteem respectively which

act as most persuading factor to buy motor vehicle. 8 respondents in age group 25- 34 believe it’s the

brand name which persuades them, whereas only 2 consider celebrity as the persuading factor to

purchase motor vehicle.

Table 8

brand name Celebrity Luxury Self esteem TotalGender Male 38 6 14 17 75

Female 29 4 11 7 51Total 67 10 25 24 126

Table 8 shows 38 male respondents believe brand name acts a persuading factor to purchase motor

vehicle, whereas only 6 male consider it’s the celebrity who is endorsing the product.

Table 9

Dimensions Frequency PercentBrand Name 67 52.8

Celebrity 10 7.9


Luxury 25 19.7Self Esteem 24 18.9

Total 126 99.2

Table 9 shows only 19.7% and 5.8% of the respondents consider luxury and brand name respectively,

as the most persuading factor to purchase a motor vehicle.

Chart 2

b) Clothing

Table 10

brand name Celebrity status cost TotalAge 18-24 59 8 25 21 113

25-34 8 3 0 2 13Total 67 11 25 23 126

According to 59 respondents in the age group 18- 24 consider brand name is the most persuading

factor while purchasing the clothing. Table 10 shows none of the respondents in age group 25- 34

none agree to that status is the persuading factor to purchase clothing.

Table 11

brand name celebrity status cost TotalGender Male 46 6 13 10 75

Female 21 5 12 13 51Total 67 11 25 23 126

Table 11 exhibits that only 10 males think that cost is a persuading factor to purchase clothing,

whereas 46 males think it the brand name which persuades them to purchase clothing.

Table 12 shows around 52% of the total respondents believe brand name is the most persuading factor

to buy clothing, whereas, only 8.7 % of total respondents consider celebrity as the most persuading

factor to purchase clothing.


Table 12

Dimensions Frequency Percentbrand name 67 52.8

celebrity 11 8.7status 25 19.7cost 23 18.1

Total 126 99.2

Chart 3

c) Food Products

Table 13

celebrity

attractive

package quality brand name TotalAge 18-24 10 7 87 9 113

25-34 1 1 10 1 13Total 11 8 97 10 126

The above results show that 87 respondents of age group 18-24 believes quality is the most

persuading factor to purchase the food products, whereas only 7 respondents consider attractive

packaging as the most persuading factor.

Table 14

celebrity

attractive

package quality brand name TotalGender Male 8 4 57 6 75

Female 3 4 40 4 51Total 11 8 97 10 126


Table 14 shows 57 male respondents consider quality as the most persuading factor to buy food

products. 40 females consider quality as the most persuading factor to purchase food products

whereas; only 3 females consider that celebrity persuades them to purchase food products.

Table 15 shows around 76% of total respondents consider quality as the most persuading factor to

purchase food products. Only 6% of the respondents believe attractive packaging is the reason.

Table 15

Dimensions Frequency PercentCelebrity 11 8.7

Attractive Package 8 6.3Quality 97 76.4

Brand name 10 7.9Total 126 99.2

Chart 4

4. Companies are investing large amounts of money for using celebrities; do you think its

helping them to increase their total revenue?

Table 16

Yes No Don't know TotalAge 18-24 78 21 14 113

25-34 10 1 2 13Total 88 22 16 126

According to 78 respondents of age group 18-24, companies investing large amount of money for

celebrity endorsement are benefitted by increase in total revenue. 10 respondents of age group 25-34

believes that celebrity endorsement do help in increase in total revenue of the organization, whereas 1

respondent don’t believe that. Table 17 shows 54 males say yes when asked if they believe that


celebrity endorsement help in increasing revenue of organization, whereas 15 say no. 34 females say

yes to the same question whereas, 7 females say no.

Table 17

Yes No Don't know TotalGender Male 54 15 6 75

Female 34 7 10 51Total 88 22 16 126

Table 18

Dimensions Frequency PercentYes 88 69.3No 22 17.3

Don't know 16 12.6Total 126 99.2

In table 18, around 69% of the total respondents do believe that organizations are benefitted by

celebrity endorsement, whereas, around 17% say no the same thing.

Chart 5


5. Does the presence of mega star like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai

in an advertisement encourage you to purchase the product or service?

Table 19

Yes No Not sure TotalAge 18-24 36 57 20 113

25-34 3 8 2 13Total 39 65 22 126

Table 19 shows that 36 respondents falling in age group 18- 24 believe that mega stars like Shah

Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai in an advertisement encourage them to purchase

the product or service, whereas 57 do not believe this. The age group 25- 34 has only 3 respondents

considering these mega stars in an advertisement encouraging to purchase the product or service,

while 2 are not sure.

Table 20

Yes No Not sure TotalGender Male 26 36 13 75

Female 13 29 9 51Total 39 65 22 126

26 male respondents believe mega stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai

in an advertisement encourage them to purchase the product or service, while 36 males say no to it. 13

females are also encouraged by the same.

Table 21 shows around 30% of total respondents say they are encouraged by presence of mega stars

in advertisement to purchase a product or service, while 51.6% of total respondents say they are not

encouraged by presence of mega stars in advertisements.

Table 21


Not sure 22 17.3Total 126 99.2

Chart 6


6. Do you believe the celebrities also use those products which they themselves endorse?

Table 22

Yes No Not sure TotalAge 18-24 19 69 24 112

25-34 0 10 2 13Total 19 79 26 125

19 respondents falling in age group 18- 24 believe that celebrities also use those products which they

themselves endorse, while 69 respondents from same age group do not believe this. In age group 25-

34, there are no respondents who would believe that celebrities also use those products which they

themselves endorse, but have 10 respondents who believe celebrities also use those products which

they themselves endorse.

Table 23


Female 7 32 12 51

12 male respondents and 7 female respondents believe celebrities also use those products which they

themselves endorse whereas 47 male and 32 female respondents do not believe the same.

Table 24




Table 24 shows only 15% of the total respondents believe that celebrities also use those products

which they themselves endorse, while around 62% of the total respondents do not agree with them.

Chart 7

7. What type of celebrity endorsement persuades you personally to purchase products?

Table 25

Age group Film star

Famous

personalities Cricketer Politician18-24 39 54 14 4

25-34 4 7 1 0

Total 43 61 15 4Table 25 shows 39 respondents in age group 18- 24 are persuaded by films stars to purchase a

products, while 54 says famous personalities persuade them only 14 say they are persuaded by

cricketers. In other age group, only 1 respondent is persuaded by cricketer, 7 are persuaded by famous

personalities whereas none is persuaded by politician.

Table 26 shows 21 males and 22 female respondents are persuaded by film stars to buy products,

whereas 36 males and 25 females are persuaded by personalities. Cricketers are able to persuade 12

males and only 3 females, whereas politicians persuade only 3 males and 1 female respondent.

Table 26

Film star

Famous

personalities Cricketer Politician TotalGender Male 21 36 12 3 73

Female 22 25 3 1 51Total 43 61 15 4 124

Table 27


Table 27 shows 33.9% of total respondents are persuaded by film stars to purchase products, whereas,

only 3.1% of total respondents are persuaded by politicians.

8. Please rate the following celebrities as a brand endorser:

a) Aishwarya Rai for L’Oreal

Table 28

Dimensions Frequency PercentExcellent 7 5.5

Good 24 18.9Average 59 46.5

Poor 35 27.6Total 126 99.2

Table 28 shows only 5.5% of the total respondents rate Aishwarya Rai an excellent brand endorser,

46.7% consider her an average brand endorser, while 27.6% rate her as a poor brand endorser.

b) Hrithik Roshan for Coca Cola and Hero Honda Karizma

Table 29



Poor 38 29.9Total 126 99.2

Table 29 shows only 5.5% of the total respondents consider Hrithik Roshan for Coca Cola and Hero

Honda Karizma as an excellent brand endorser. 15.7% consider him as a good brand endorser,

whereas 45.7% consider him an average brand endorser.


Dimensions Frequency PercentFilm star 43 33.9

Famous personalities 61 48.0

Cricketer 15 11.8Politician 4 3.1

Total 124 97.6

c) Sushmita Sen for Olay Creams

Table 30

There are 21.3% of total respondents who rate Sushmita Sen for Olay Creams as good brand endorser.

38.6% rate her as an average brand endorser whereas only 3.9% rate her as excellent brand endorser.

d) Juhi Chawla for Kukure

Table 31



Poor 32 25.2Total 126 99.2

Table 31 shows that Juhi Chawla is considered as an average brand endorser for Kurkure by 48% of

total respondents whereas only 9.4% of the total respondents consider as an excellent brand endorser

for Kurkure. 13.4% and 25.2% of the total respondents believe she is good and poor brand endorser

respectively.

e) Amitabh Bachchan for Cadbury choclates

Table 32



Poor 38 29.9Total 125 98.4

Table 32 shows 29.9% of the total respondents consider Amitabh Bachchan as poor brand endorser

for Cadbury choclates whereas only 7.1% consider him as an excellent brand endorser for the same.

f) Shah Rukh Khan for Airtel and Pepsi

Table 33





Poor 42 33.1Total 125 98.4

The above table indicates that equal percent of respondents consider Shah Rukh Khan as an average

and poor brand endorser for Airtel and Pepsi. Only 1.6% of the total respondents consider him as

excellent brand endorser, whereas 7.9% of total respondents consider him as good for the same.

g) Saif Ali Khan for Lays and Chevrolet

Table 34



Poor 44 34.6Total 126 99.2

In table 34, Saif Ali Khan comes out to be average brand endorser for Lays and Chevrolet as said by

33.9% of total respondents, whereas only 3.9% of total respondents consider him to be an excellent

brand endorser for the same.

h) Amir Khan for Tata Sky and Samsung

Table 35



Poor 61 48.0Total 126 99.2

11.8% of the total respondents believe that Amir Khan is a good brand endorser for Tata Sky and

Samsung, whereas 37% of the total respondents consider him as an average brand endorser for the

same brands.

i) Katrina Kaif for Slice

Table 36



Poor 51 40.2Total 125 98.4

The above table shows that 30.7% of the respondents consider Katrina Kaif as an average brand

endorser for Slice, whereas 11.8% of the respondents say she is an excellent brand endorser. 12.6% of

total respondents believe she is a good brand endorser for Slice.

j) John Abraham for Garnier and Castrol

Table 37




Poor 30 23.6Total 126 99.2

43.3% of the total respondents say that John Abraham is an average brand endorser for Garnier and

Castrol, whereas 21.3% of total respondents consider him good. 7.9% of the total respondents believe

that he is an excellent brand endorser for these two brands.

Table 38 and chart 8 below shows the mean scores of the respondents while rating the celebrities for

various brand.

Table 38

Celebrities N MeanAishwarya_L'Oreal 126 2.95

Hrithik_Coke_Karizma 126 2.96Sushmita_Olay 125 2.99Juhi_Kurkure 126 2.86

Amitabh_Cadbury 125 2.84Shahrukh_Airtel_Pepsi 126 3.31Saif_Lays_Chevrolet 126 2.97

Amir_TataSky_Samsung 126 3.31Katrina_Slice 125 2.94

John_Garnier_Castrol 126 2.77

Chart 8


9. What do you value the most when you purchase a product?

Table 39

Price of the

product

Celebrity

Endorsement

Quality of the

product

Value for

moneyGender Male 10 1 49 15 75

Female 5 2 36 8 51Total 15 3 85 23 126

Table 39 indicates that 10 males say they value the price of the product the most when they purchase a

product, while only one male say its celebrity endorsement which they value. 36 females consider

price of the product which they value the most, whereas only 2 females think they value celebrity

endorsement. Table 40

Dimensions Frequency Percent

Price of the product 15 11.8

Celebrity Endorsement 3 2.4

Quality of the product 85 66.9

Value for money 23 18.1

Total 126 99.2Table 40 shows 11.8% of respondents value price of the product whereas only 2.4% of the

respondents value celebrities when they purchase a product. The quality of product is valued by

66.9% of the respondents.

Chart 9

10. Does celebrity endorsement help in brand promotion?


Table 41

Yes No Not sureGender Male 63 7 4 74

Female 37 11 3 51Total 100 18 7 125

Table 41 shows 63 males say celebrity endorsement help in brand promotion while 7 males say it

does not help. 37 females say celebrity endorsement help in brand promotion.

Table 42



According to table 2, 78.7% of total respondents consider that celebrity endorsement assist in brand

promotion, whereas 14.2% of the total respondents feel its not so.

Chart 10

11. Does it affect company if celebrity’s image defer?

The table below shows 49 males and 34 females say that if celebrity’s image defer, the company gets

affected, whereas 18 males say that company is not affected if celebrity’s image defers.

Table 43



Female 34 4 13 51Total 83 22 21 126

Table 44



In table 44, 65.4% of the total respondents believe that company gets affected if celebrity’s image

defers whereas 17.3% of the total respondents believe the company is not affected if celebrity’s image

defers. 16.5% of the total respondents are not sure of their responses.

Chart 11

12. What means of advertisements persuades you the most to purchase a product?

Table 45


Television Radio Newspaper Magazines InternetGender Male 51 3 5 5 10 74

Female 39 0 2 2 8 51Total 90 3 7 7 18 125

Table 45 shows 51 male and 39 female respondents television is the means of advertisements which

persuades them the most. Only 3 male respondents believe its radio which persuade them the most.

Table 46

Dimensions Frequency PercentTelevision 90 70.9

Radio 3 2.4Newspaper 7 5.5Magazines 7 5.5

Internet 18 14.2Total 125 98.4

Table 46 shows 70.9% of total respondents believe television is the means of advertisements which

persuades them the most. 14.2% of the total respondents are most persuaded by internet, whereas only

5.5% of the total respondents by newspapers and magazines.

Chart 12

13. What do you think is the reason for the companies to choose celebrity endorsement for

promoting their products?

The table below shows 33 males and 16 females believe that the reason for the companies to choose

celebrity endorsement for promoting their products is easy recognition; whereas, 4 males and 4

females think it is so because the companies cannot think of any new idea.

Table 47


Easy

recognition of

product

Can't generate

new ideas

To be able to

increase sales

and profit

To compete

stronglyGender Male 33 4 29 9 75

Female 16 4 14 17 51Total 49 8 43 26 126

Table 48

Dimensions Frequency PercentEasy recognition of product 49 38.6

Can't generate new ideas 8 6.3To be able to increase sales and profit 43 33.9

To compete strongly 26 20.5Total 126 99.2

The above table shows 38.6% of total respondents believe that companies choose celebrity

endorsement because they feel the customers will easy recognize the product, whereas 33.9% of total

population says it is so, so that companies may able to increase their sales and profits.

Chart 13

Chapter Five

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of analysis, the conclusions have been drawn in this chapter. The conclusions

are discussed below on the basis of age, on the basis of gender and also on the basis of the


ratings given to the celebrity endorser as given by the respondents. This is brief discussion of

directions for future study as well in latter part of this chapter.

5.1 The conclusions are as follows:

5.1.1 On the basis of Age


1. 28 respondents belonging to age group 18- 24 consider discounts and offers as

motivating factors where as latest models and trends motivates an average of 74

respondents from the same age group. 7 respondents of age group 25- 34 agree with

latest models and trends as a motivating factor to purchase mobiles or cars.

2. 11 respondents in age group 18- 24 believe that products advertised by the celebrities

are of good quality, whereas 38 in same age group do not believe the same.

3. 59 respondents of age group 18- 24 consider brand name as the most persuading

factor to purchase the motor vehicle. 25 and 21 respondents believe it is the luxury

and self- esteem respectively which act as most persuading factor to buy motor

vehicle. 8 respondents in age group 25- 34 believe it’s the brand name which

persuades them, whereas only 2 consider celebrity as the persuading factor to

purchase motor vehicle.

4. According to 59 respondents in the age group 18- 24 consider brand name is the most

persuading factor while purchasing the clothing. Table 10 shows none of the

respondents in age group 25- 34 none agree to that status is the persuading factor to

purchase clothing.

5. 87 respondents of age group 18-24 believes quality is the most persuading factor to

purchase the food products, whereas only 7 respondents consider attractive packaging

as the most persuading factor.

6. 78 respondents of age group 18-24, companies investing large amount of money for

celebrity endorsement are benefitted by increase in total revenue. 10 respondents of

age group 25-34 believes that celebrity endorsement do help in increase in total

revenue of the organization, whereas 1 respondent don’t believe that

7. 36 respondents falling in age group 18- 24 believe that mega stars like Shah Rukh

Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai in an advertisement encourage them to

purchase the product or service, whereas 57 do not believe this. The age group 25- 34

has only 3 respondents considering these mega stars in an advertisement encouraging

to purchase the product or service, while 2 are not sure.

8. 19 respondents falling in age group 18- 24 believe that celebrities also use those

products which they themselves endorse, while 69 respondents from same age group

do not believe this. In age group 25- 34, there are no respondents who would believe


that celebrities also use those products which they themselves endorse, but have 10

respondents who believe celebrities also use those products which they themselves

endorse.

39 respondents in age group 18- 24 are persuaded by films stars to purchase a

products, while 54 says famous personalities persuade them only 14 say they are

persuaded by cricketers. In other age group, only 1 respondent is persuaded by

cricketer, 7 are persuaded by famous personalities whereas none is persuaded by

politician.

5.1.2 On the basis of Gender

1. 47 males are motivated by latest models and trends to buy the product and only 11

males are motivated by fewer prices. 2 females are motivated by fewer prices whereas

majority, that 34 females are motivated by latest trends and models.

2. 17 females say the products promoted by celebrities do not have good quality,

whereas, 26 females believe that the product is only 50% consists of good quality. 27

males believe that the products promoted by celebrities are of not good quality and

only 9 males believe reverse.

3. 38 male respondents believe brand name acts a persuading factor to purchase motor

vehicle, whereas only 6 male consider it’s the celebrity who is endorsing the product.

4. 10 males think that cost is a persuading factor to purchase clothing, whereas 46 males

think it the brand name which persuades them to purchase clothing.

5. 57 male respondents consider quality as the most persuading factor to buy food

products. 40 females consider quality as the most persuading factor to purchase food

products whereas, only 3 females consider that celebrity persuades them to purchase

food products.

6. 54 males say yes when asked if they believe that celebrity endorsement help in

increasing revenue of organization, whereas 15 say no. 34 females say yes to the same

question whereas, 7 females say no.

7. 26 male respondents believe mega stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan or

Aishwarya Rai in an advertisement encourage them to purchase the product or

service, while 36 males say no to it. 13 females are also encouraged by the same.


8. 12 male respondents and 7 female respondents believe celebrities also use those

products which they themselves endorse whereas 47 male and 32 female respondents

do not believe the same

9. 21 males and 22 female respondents are persuaded by film stars to buy products,

whereas 36 males and 25 females are persuaded by personalities. Cricketers are able

to persuade 12 males and only 3 females, whereas politicians persuade only 3 males

and 1 female respondent.

10. 10 males say they value the price of the product the most when they purchase a

product, while only one male say its celebrity endorsement which they value. 36

females consider price of the product which they value the most, whereas only 2

females think they value celebrity endorsement.

11. 63 males say celebrity endorsement help in brand promotion while 7 males say it does

not help. 37 females say celebrity endorsement help in brand promotion.

12. 49 males and 34 females say that if celebrity’s image defer, the company gets

affected, whereas 18 males say that company is not affected if celebrity’s image

defers.

13. 51 male and 39 female respondents television is the means of advertisements which

persuades them the most. Only 3 male respondents believe its radio which persuade

them the most.

14. 33 males and 16 females believe that the reason for the companies to choose celebrity

endorsement for promoting their products is easy recognition, whereas, 4 males and 4

females think it is so because the companies cannot think of any new idea.

5.1.3 On the basis of Ratings given to Celebrity Endorsers

1. 5.5% of the total respondents rate Aishwarya Rai an excellent brand endorser, 46.7%

consider her an average brand endorser, while 27.6% rate her as a poor brand

endorser.

2. 5.5% of the total respondents consider Hrithik Roshan for Coca Cola and Hero Honda

Karizma as an excellent brand endorser. 15.7% consider him as a good brand

endorser, whereas 45.7% consider him an average brand endorser.


3. 21.3% of total respondents who rate Sushmita Sen for Olay Creams as good brand

endorser. 38.6% rate her as an average brand endorser whereas only 3.9% rate her as

excellent brand endorser.

4. Juhi Chawla is considered as an average brand endorser for Kurkure by 48% of total

respondents whereas only 9.4% of the total respondents consider as an excellent brand

endorser for Kurkure. 13.4% and 25.2% of the total respondents believe she is good

and poor brand endorser respetively.

5. 29.9% of the total respondents consider Amitabh Bachchan as poor brand endorser for

Cadbury choclates whereas only 7.1% consider him as an excellent brand endorser for

the same.

6. equal percent of respondents consider Shah Rukh Khan as an average and poor brand

endorser for Airtel and Pepsi. Only 1.6% of the total respondents consider him as

excellent brand endorser, whereas 7.9% of total respondents consider him as good for

the same.

7. Saif Ali Khan comes out to be average brand endorser for Lays and Chevrolet as said

by 33.9% of total respondents, whereas only 3.9% of total respondents consider him

to be an excellent brand endorser for the same.

8. 11.8% of the total respondents believe that Amir Khan is a good brand endorser for

Tata Sky and Samsung, whereas 37% of the total respondents consider him as an

average brand endorser for the same brands.

9. 30.7% of the respondents consider Katrina Kaif as an average brand endorser for

Slice, whereas 11.8% of the respondents say she is an excellent brand endorser.

12.6% of total respondents believe she is a good brand endorser for Slice.

10. 43.3% of the total respondents say that John Abraham is an average brand endorser

for Garnier and Castrol, whereas 21.3% of total respondents consider him good. 7.9%

of the total respondents believe that he is an excellent brand endorser for these two

brands.


5.2 DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDY

There can be many ways in which this study can be expanded in future. Some of the ways

could be listed as follows:

1. The study could also be extended to a comparison of perception regarding celebrity

endorsement at Kolkata and other cities.

2. More respondents could be targeted in future which will help in increasing the sample

size.

3. Future studies can be carried out to compare the celebrities endorsing in India and in

foreign countries.


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QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear respondents,This questionnaire carries data on which study will take place on the topic “Celebrity endorsement affecting consumer’s attitude toward the advertisement and purchase intension for a product”. Your view will be of immense value and through this I can find the change in attitude by seeing advertisement.

Name:_____________________________________________________________________

Gender:___________________ Age______________ Occupation______________________

1. What are the motivating factors when you plan to buy mobiles or cars?(a) Discounts and offers [ ] (b) Fewer prices [ ](c) Latest models and trends [ ] (d) Celebrity endorsing the product [ ]

2. Do you believe products specifically advertised by the celebrities are of good quality?Yes [ ] No [ ] 50% [ ] Not sure [ ]

3. What is the most persuading factor to purchase the following products?

(a) Motor vehicle?Brand Name [ ] Celebrity [ ] Luxury [ ] Self Esteem [ ]

(b) Clothing Brand Name [ ] Celebrity [ ] Status [ ] Cost [ ]

(c) Food ProductsCelebrity [ ] Attractive Package [ ]Quality [ ] Brand Name [ ]

4. Companies are investing large amounts of money for using celebrities; do you think its helping them to increase their total revenue?Yes [ ] No [ ] Don’t know [ ]

5. Does the presence of mega star like Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bacchan or Aishwariya Rai in an advertisement encourage you to purchase the product or service?

Yes [ ] No [ ] Not sure [ ]

6. Do you believe the celebrities also use those products which they themselves endorse?Yes [ ] No [ ] Not sure [ ]

7. What type of celebrity endorsement persuades you personally to purchase products? Film star [ ] Famous personalities [ ]Cricketer [ ] Politician [ ]

8. Please rate the following celebrities as a brand endorser:-(a) Aishwariya Rai for L’OrealExcellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t [ ]


(b) Hritik Roshan for coca cola and hero honda karizma Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ](c) Sushmita Sen for Olay creams Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(d) Juhi Chawla for Kurkure-Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(e) Amitabh Bachan for Cadbury chocolates-Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(f) Shah Rukh Khan for Airtel and PepsiExcellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(g) Saif Ali Khan for Lays and Chevrolet Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(h) Aamir Khan for Tata Sky and SamsungExcellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(i) Katrina Kaif for slice Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

(j) John Abraham for Garnier and Castrol Excellent [ ] Good [ ] Average [ ]Poor [ ] Can’t rate [ ]

9. What do you value the most when purchasing a product?Price of the product [ ] Celebrity endorsement [ ]Quality of the product [ ] Value for money [ ]

10. Does celebrity endorsement help in brand promotion?Yes [ ] No [ ] Not sure [ ]

11. Does it affect company if celebrity’s image defer?Yes [ ] No [ ] Not sure [ ]

12. What means of advertisements persuades you the most to purchase a product?Television [ ] Radio [ ] Newspaper [ ]


Magazines [ ] Internet [ ]

13. What do you think is the reason for the companies to choose celebrity endorsement for promoting their products?Easy recognition of product [ ] Can’t generate new ideas [ ]to be able to increase sales and profit [ ] to compete strongly [ ]


consumer behaviour

Documents

bhanu pratap singh

shah rukh khan

saif ali khan

investing large amounts

hero honda karizma

palmolive shaving cream

celebritys image defer

celebritys image defers