the effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying behaviour 

- January 5th, 2010

The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years or so.
Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrity in influencing buyer's purchase decision. They have
firm believe that likeability or a favorable attitude towards a brand is created by the use of a celebrity. The
crore of rupees spent per year on celebrity endorsement contracts show that celebrities like Amitabh
Bachchan, Sharukh khan and Sachin Tendulkar play an important role for the advertising industry. It is an
established fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow unique features or special attributes upon a product
that it may have lacked otherwise. 
In India from late 1970's and early 80's the new trend in advertising started. Brands started being endorsed
by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse prominent brands.
Advertisements featuring stars like Late Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Tabassum (Prestige cookers), Sunil
Gavaskar for Dinesh Suiting, Ravi Shastri and Vivian Richards (Vimal), Persis Khambhata and Kapil Dev
(Palmolive Shaving cream) became common. 
Though marketers should remember that celebrities are mere living beings like us and if they can highlight
the benefits or advantages of a brand they can also have some uncanny negative impact. Theory and
practice suggests that the use of stars and their unleashing power in advertising generate a lot of publicity
and attention from the public but the underline questions are, do these stars really help a brand by
increasing its sales? On the other hand, can they really have an Impact on the person's consumption
pattern, thereby changing his brand preference? How an advertisement featuring a celebrity can influence
consumers buying decision and can create an association between a brand and a common man.
To answer these questions, the article will examine 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. 
We will apply a wide range of accepted principles of how consumers brand attitudes and preferences can be
influenced, how buyer's behavior can be influenced, how buyer's behavior can be molded. We will use the
principles of credibility of source and attractiveness, the match-up hypothesis, the consumer decision-
making model and the communication model to understand this phenomenon.
Brand- A layman perspective
Brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you can associate with a
company or the product. Few examples will bring home the meaning i.e. Amul - utterly butterly delicious;
Coke – thanda matlab coca-cola; Pepsi – Yeh dil mange more; Kurkure- Masti bole to kurkure and Daewoo
ka India. 
These examples convey one message that when people watch advertisement a connect is being created and
result is that people go for experience of buying. People feel by using the brand they will portray certain
traits or characteristics that otherwise they do not have. This generates a certain level of emotional
affiliation and a sense of fulfillment. It is this emotional relationship with brands that make them so
powerful.
Advertisements enforces what exactly the brand stands for and what to expect by its consumption and
above all what factors, features and attributes makes it better from competition. Advertisements along with
other marketing efforts generate expectations and feelings in a customer and force them to think when they
see or hear the brand name. This Thinking process and emotional bonding gets more mature and relevant
when a celebrity endorses the brand. The subjective intangible feelings of a customer become objective and
tangible in the form of celebrity and the level of expectations will rise. The customer will start to perceive
himself in the reference frame of the celebrity after the brand or the advertised product has been purchased
or consumed by him.
Celebrity and a Brand
Star power in India can be gauged by the successful endorsements done by Sharukh Khan (Pepsi, Hyundai
Santro, Sunfeast, and Navratan etc.), Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hrithik Roshan
and the others. The inevitable question is, if and how the lively interest of the public in the rich and famous
can be efficiently and effectively used by companies to promote their brands and consequently to increase
their sales revenues.
This fact can be brought out by using certain examples i.e. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan promoting Cadbury
chocolates after the fiasco of infestation when the image of Cadbury India went very low in the eyes of
people. Soon the company found a perfect fit and a reliable celebrity to transmit the correct message and
help regenerating the lost trust. The fit between the product and celebrity is evident as Mr. Bachchan and
Cadbury chocolates both have tested troubled times and still they stand tall and the love and trust they both
share with the people all across India. This is a live example of how a celebrity brought certain attributes to
a product like chocolate.
Actor Sharukh khan has also endorsed diversified products. His endorsement basket is ranging from Hyundai
Santro to Sunfeast biscuits on one hand and from Compaq computers to Videocon electronics on the other.
According to Advertising research companies both the actors are doing well and the ad spent on both by the
companies is increasing at a phenomenal rate, so does their basket of endorsements. These actors bring
reliability and trust in the brand and above all, they help in increasing the sales revenues.
Celebrity endorsements are powerful, has become evident from the above two examples but, why is it so?
This power is offered by the following elements, which also creates a 'Top of the Mind Position'.

* Instant Awareness, knowledge about the brand and easy recall.

* Values and image of the brand is defined, highlighted and refreshed by the celebrity.
* The celebrity adds new edge and dimension to the brand.
* Credibility, trust, association, aspiration and connectivity to brand.
* Belief in efficiency and new appearance that will result in at least trial usage.

Understanding Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It
blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts to
understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of
individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral variables in an attempt to
understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family,
friends, reference groups, and society in general. 
The study and knowledge of consumer behavior helps firms and organizations to improve their marketing
strategies and product offerings. Following are the important issues that have significant influence on
consumer's psyche and their ability to take decisions: 
• The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives (e.g.,
brands, products); 
• The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, family, signs,
media); 
• The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions; 
• Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing
outcome; 
• How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level of
importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and 
• How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to more
effectively reach the consumer. 
• Their Age, Religion, Culture, Income, informal group and Referent Group.
Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into consideration.

Traditional Factors affecting consumer decision making

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

Impact of a Brand on consumer purchase decision

Research studies have proven that known products and names are sold more than unknown ones.
Therefore, a known brand or an optimally exposed brand will find more recognition and buyers in the market
in comparison to completely unknown or unexposed brand. Recognition of brand and its significance along
with the traditional factors plays a very significant role in consumer decision-making process.
More or less every consumer has a brand preference and given the affordability and societal norms, each
buyer would like to buy and consume one of the highly acceptable, recognizable, and reputed brands.

The above given model explains the important role that a brand plays in three different stages of consumer's
purchase decision making. A consumer start collecting data or information about his favourite brand than he
keeps his favourite as one of the alternatives and he evaluate his selected brand against all available options
and on finding it suitable or best among all options based upon a qualitative and quantitative evaluation he
will ultimately purchase the selected or favourite brand.
The diagram above explains how various traditional factors along with brand preference interact during
purchase decision process and finally results into a consumer's final product choice or ultimate purchase.
Celebrity and a brand
Surveys suggest that compared to any other types of endorsers, famous people achieve a higher degree of
attention and recall. They increase awareness of a company's advertising as well as help in retention of
message in the psyche of the audience. They can also help the company in reducing their expenditure on
Media and other forms of publicity. An example will bring more clarity, When S Kumars, a known textile
brand entered into readymade garments business they used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advertising
icon for their launch advertising for TAMARIND, now one of the premium readymade brands. They reckoned
that they have spent 40-50 percent less on media due to sheer impact of using hottest star like Hrithik. The
Ad recall was as high as 70 percent and the campaign can be termed as a great success. 
Celebrities also create positive feelings towards brands, connect user to brand and are perceived by
consumers as more entertaining. 
Using a celebrity in advertising or for any, other type of communication for brand building is likely to
positively affect consumers' brand preference, brand attitude, brand association and purchase intentions. To
ensure positive results, however, it is critical for advertisers to have a clear understanding of consumer's
reactions and reinforcement of celebrity endorsement. The impact of celebrity endorsement on any brand as
well as on consumer's purchase decision is very critical.

Source Credibility
Central goal of advertising is the convincing of consumers and persuasion to purchase, the ultimate
objective, though not openly spoken, is to some how attract consumers to the market offering of the
company, generating positive attitude, reinforce positive association and ultimately to generate sales, may
be a trial purchase. At later stages, the sponsor may work towards creating a brand loyalty but generating
initial sales or increasing the existing sales is the primary objective. In this respect, the credibility of an
endorser along with advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target audience of the
attractiveness of the company's brand and generates sales. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy
enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and
objectiveness. 
To create effective messages, celebrity advertisers also have to consider the attractiveness of the
spokesperson. Source attractiveness refers to the endorser's Physical appearance, Personality, Likeability
and Similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived social value of the source. This behavior mainly goes
back to halo effect, whereby persons who perform well on one dimension example: physical attractiveness
or top professional performance, social status are assumed to excel on other levels as well i.e. happiness
and coolness. This is evident from the use of Fardeen Khan, modern, dynamic, outgoing and smart
personality for Provogue; he translates the modernism of the brand well. Titan uses Aamir Khan in his
different avatars for communicating to the public that their watches are as reliable and passionate as Aamir
is for films. Both Fardeen and Aamir carry the message well and enhance the credibility of the brand they
endorse.
Establishing a Perfect Match
Research proves that a spokesperson especially for a service product or organization (ICICI- First Amitabh
Bachchan, now Shahrukh Khan) interacts with the type of brand being advertised. These stars communicate
the value of the product and transform an ordinary service into a miracle solution for all problems of an
ordinary customer.
According to Friedman and Friedman (1979), a famous relative to a 'normal' spokesperson is more effective
for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, self-image, and
opinion of others. Several research studies have examined the congruency between celebrity endorsers and
brands to explain the effectiveness of using famous persons to promote brands.
In India, a brand called Reid & Taylor presented its perfect example when they first launched their
advertising campaign featuring James Bond fame of the time Mr. Pierce Brosnan along with the tagline
'BOND WITH THE BEST' but the James Bond idea did not worked and the company was not happy with the
results. 
After the debacle of the first campaign, company introduced a family ad where children are celebrating there
parents silver wedding anniversary and they are out with their father to purchase a suit for him. Even this
commercial did not work and it was taken off the air. As a last resort, company introduced Mr. Amitabh
Bachchan as Reid & Taylor man, a man propagating the brand for special occasion and for very special
people in life. The commercial from the initial days got good response and did extremely well as people were
able to connect with Mr. Bachchan and the values he was propagating.
For the masses, there was a perfect match of an ideal Indian family man, a star and a good quality but bit
highly priced brand reserved especially for special occasions and for very special people.
Second example that can be quoted is of Vishwanathan Anand, who endorsed NIIT. NIIT adopted a very
smart strategy by roping in Vishwanathan Anand an international chess wizard for their advertising
campaign. As chess is considered to be a game full of strategies and a game for smart people and when one
of the greats of the game is asking people to join NIIT it was suppose to have a positive influence on the
people and actually it had. There was complete congruency and compatibility between the celebrity
endorser, the product and the message.
Contrary to only favorable outcomes, there are several examples where the product, even the entire
campaign collapsed due to heavy weight celebrity as the agency or the ad failed to establish the relationship
between the endorser and the product. Keeping the focus only on success, where the product and the
celebrity were a perfect match, following are few examples:
Celebrity Endorser Company / Product
Amitabh Bachchan * Dabur
* Cadbury
* Reid and Taylor
* Parker 
Shahrukh Khan * Santro
* Videocon
* Sunfeast
* Pepsi 
Juhi Chawala * Kurkure 
Ustad Zakir Hussain * Taj mahal tea 
Aamir Khan * Titan
* Coke
* Toyota Innova 
Aishwarya Rai * Nakshatra
* Lux 
Rani Mukherjee * Fanta
* Nestle Munch 
Kajol and Ajay Devgan * Whirlpool
* Tata Indicom 

The campaigns are not only basking with the glory of success stories, but there is considerable number of
failures as well. Assuming that a person just have to be famous to represent a successful brand, however,
would be incorrect and may turn out to be a very dangerous preposition resulting into a big calamity for the
entire advertising campaign or the brand.
Very well accepted and attractive super stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan failed in
turning their endorsements into success i.e. Maruti Versa similarly Virendra Sehwag also failed to deliver
Reliance Telecommunication with the master stroke of his cricketing genius. 
Among the possible reasons identified by several authors, including overexposure and identification, the
'match-up hypothesis' specifically suggests that the effectiveness depends on the existence of a 'fit' between
the celebrity spokesperson and endorsed brand. 
Empirical work on the congruency of brand with the celebrity often has concentrated on the physical
attractiveness of the endorser. Results show that an attractive spokespersons are more effective in terms of
attitude change when prompting brands that enhance one's attractiveness i.e. cosmetics; health drinks or
fashion wear.
Primary data states, for celebrity spokespersons to be truly effective, they should be knowledgeable,
experienced, mature, and a bench mark in their respective field and qualified to talk about the product.
Transferring the Meaning
After watching an advertisement the consumers try to find the meaning of the advertisement and associate
the same with the endorser and eventually transfer to the brand. To understand this phenomenon Mc
Cracken (1989) suggested a comprehensive model known as Meaning Transfer Model. This three-stage
model suggests how the meaning associated with the famous person moves from the endorser to the
product or the brand. Thus, meanings attributed to the celebrity become associated with the brand in the
consumer's mind. Finally, in the consumption process, the customer acquires the brand's meaning. The third
stage of the model explicitly shows the importance of the consumer's role in the process of endorsing brands
with famous persons.
In contrast to anonymous endorsers, celebrities add value to the image transfer process by offering
meanings of extra depth and power, what is complemented by their life style and personalities. Therefore, to
transfer the correct meaning to the consumer the company should select a celebrity that will produce the
most favorable response for consumers and for the purpose the celebrity should have, the appropriate set of
characteristics and the public should be able to visualize and comprehend the same. The company should
consider the consumer's needs while developing their communication strategy and selecting an appropriate
celebrity to transmit the same, i.e. Kurkure used actress Juhi Chawala with the punch line 'Masti Bole To
Kurkure' and the actress on screen and off-screen personifies the masti and helps the brand in
communicating the same easily.
Compatibility of the celebrity's persona with the overall brand image is very important, as a celebrity
imparts credibility and inspirational value to a brand and his or her image should perfectly match the brand's
image. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the message are must
for a successful campaign.
Certain elements that generate a perfect match or compatibility between the celebrity and brand image are:

* Celebrity's fit with the brand image along with celebrity-target audience match.
* Celebrity associated values and celebrity-product match.
* Costs of acquiring the celebrity and his or her popularity along with controversy risks associated with the
celebrity.
* Credibility, availability and physical attractiveness of celebrity.
The above points can be put to perspective by using two examples, first Kapil Dev's 'Palmolive da jawaab
nahin' and second Nakshatra's brand recall due to its endorser, the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Both
brands have edged out and carved out their niche in consumer's mind due to image and credibility of their
endorsers. These were the cases of perfect match between the brand image and the image or persona of the
celebrity endorser. 

Conclusion
A brief assessment of the current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsement advertising strategy
can under the right circumstances indeed justify the high costs associated with this form of advertising. The
use of celebrity for endorsements create a very favorable impact on the consumer and it creates a connect
which forces a consumer to purchase a product. However, as several failures show, it is essential for
advertisers to be aware of the complex processes underlying celebrity endorsement.
It has been proved from the discussion that celebrity endorsements are a powerful and useful tool that
magnifies the effect of a campaign but the word of caution to be followed seriously; celebrities alone do not
guarantee success nor does a great advertising campaign or the best possible product. It is the combination
of several factors and elements that work together for the success of a brand and its acceptance in the
minds of consumers as well as for its market offering. 
Modern day consumers are well educated and smart, they know celebrities are being paid for these
endorsements and this knowledge makes consumers rather more cynical about the product and celebrity
endorsements. Majority of the consuming population also knows what is advertising and how it actually
works and this knowledge of consumer makes the task of celebrity endorsement all the more difficult and
challenging for the advertising companies and the sponsors. Indian companies both advertising and product
offering companies have top make an effort to overcome this ever-mounting challenge.
References

* Aaker, David A. (1996), Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press.
* Daneshvary, Rennae and R. Keith Schwer (2000), "The Association Endorsement and
* Consumers' Intention to Purchase," Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17 (3), 203-213.
* Friedman, Hershey H. and Linda Friedman (1979), "Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type," Journal of
Advertising Research, 19 (5), 63-71.
* McCracken, Grant (1989), "Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement
Process," Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3), 310-321.