DESSERTATION REPORT

ON
“EFFECT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON
CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR”
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE
DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
OF

HNB GARHWAL UNIVERSITY, SRINAGAR

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
MS. SHIVANGI PATRA KANHAIYA KUMAR
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR BBA VI Sem.
Roll No.

GRD IMT COLLEGE, DEHRADUN

BATCH 2018-2020
CANDIDATES DECLARATION
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 I hereby declare that the presented project report entitled, “EFFECT OF CELEBRITY
ENDORSEMENT ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR” for the fulfillment of the
requirements for the curriculum of BBA, programme of GRD IMT College, Dehradun. I am
proud to complete my study under the guidance of my faculty guide
It is exclusively prepared and conceptualized by me and is not given to any other
institution or published in any other report.

Dated……… KANHIYA KUMAR

BBA (VIth Sem)

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

It is obvious that the development of anything or working on something

needs the support of many people. At this point, I would like to move away from
talking about the project and acknowledge some of the people who have made a major
contribution to its development. During the entire process of preparing this project I have
received in addition to the compliments a lots of suggestions from developers, professors,
publishers, authors, peers, parents and friends.

I owe my reverential gratitude to my guide MS. SHIVANGI PATRA, for her valuable
guidance and suggestions rendered at each stage of the project.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards all those people who
have helped me in the successful completion of this Project, directly or indirectly.

KANHIYA KUMAR

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 CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS
CONCLUSION
SUGGESTIONS

QUESTIONNAIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 INTRODUCTION
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a
product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, socialanthropology 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 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.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing
the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for
customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of
marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater
importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management,
personalisation, customisation and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized
into social choice and welfare functions.

Each method for vote counting is assumed as social function but if Arrow’s possibility theorem
is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of the
social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonicity, unanimity, homogeneity
and weak and strong Pareto optimality. No social choice function meets these requirements in an
ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social function is
identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relation with the
ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind, the
productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of the
cycle, the consumer

Sources of influence on the consumer.  The consumer faces numerous sources of influence

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 Often,
we take
cultural

influences for granted, but they are significant.  An American will usually not bargain with a
store owner.  This, however, is a common practice in much of the World.  Physical factors also
influence our behavior.  We are more likely to buy a soft drink when we are thirsty, for example,
and food manufacturers have found that it is more effective to advertise their products on the
radio in the late afternoon when people are getting hungry.  A person’s self-image will also tend
to influence what he or she will buy—an upwardly mobile manager may buy a flashy car to
project an image of success.  Social factors also influence what the consumers buy—often,
consumers seek to imitate others whom they admire, and may buy the same brands.   The social
environment can include both the mainstream culture (e.g., Americans are more likely to have
corn flakes or ham and eggs for breakfast than to have rice, which is preferred in many Asian
countries) and a subculture (e.g., rap music often appeals to a segment within the population that
seeks to distinguish itself from the mainstream population).   Thus, sneaker manufacturers are
eager to have their products worn by admired athletes.  Finally, consumer behavior is influenced
by learning—you try a hamburger and learn that it satisfies your hunger and tastes good, and the
next time you are hungry, you may consider another hamburger.

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Consumer Choice and Decision Making

Problem Recognition. 

One model of consumer decision making involves several steps. The first one is problem
recognition—you realize that something is not as it should be.  Perhaps, for example, your car is
getting more difficult to start and is not accelerating well.    The second step is information
search—what are some alternative ways of solving the problem?  You might buy a new car, buy
a used car, take your car in for repair, ride the bus, ride a taxi, or ride a skateboard to work.  The
third step involves evaluation of alternatives.  A skateboard is inexpensive, but may be ill-suited
for long distances and for rainy days.   Finally, we have the purchase stage, and sometimes a
post-purchase stage (e.g., you return a product to the store because you did not find it
satisfactory).  In reality, people may go back and forth between the stages.  For example, a
person may resume alternative identification during while evaluating already known alternatives.

Consumer involvement will tend to vary dramatically depending on the type of product.  In
general, consumer involvement will be higher for products that are very expensive (e.g., a home,
a car) or are highly significant in the consumer’s life in some other way (e.g., a word processing
program or acne medication).

It is important to consider the consumer’s motivation for buying products.  To achieve this goal,
we can use the Means-End chain, wherein we consider a logical progression of consequences of
product use that eventually lead to desired end benefit.  Thus, for example, a consumer may see
that a car has a large engine, leading to fast acceleration, leading to a feeling of performance,
leading to a feeling of power, which ultimately improves the consumer’s self-esteem.  A
handgun may aim bullets with precision, which enables the user to kill an intruder, which means
that the intruder will not be able to harm the consumer’s family, which achieves the desired end-
state of security.  In advertising, it is important to portray the desired end-states.  Focusing on the
large motor will do less good than portraying a successful person driving the car.

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Information search and decision making

Consumers engage in both internal and external information search.  Internal search involves the
consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory.  For certain low involvement
products, it is very important that marketing programs achieve “top of mind” awareness.  For
example, few people will search the Yellow Pages for fast food restaurants; thus, the consumer
must be able to retrieve one’s restaurant from memory before it will be considered.  For high
involvement products, consumers are more likely to use an external search.  Before buying a car,
for example, the consumer may ask friends’ opinions, read reviews in Consumer Reports, consult
several web sites, and visit several dealerships.  Thus, firms that make products that are selected
predominantly through external search must invest in having information available to the
consumer in need—e.g., through brochures, web sites, or news coverage.

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A compensatory decision involves the consumer “trading off” good and bad attributes of a
product.  For example, a car may have a low price and good gas mileage but slow acceleration. 
If the price is sufficiently inexpensive and gas efficient, the consumer may then select it over a
car with better acceleration that costs more and uses more gas.  Occasionally, a decision will
involve a non-compensatorystrategy.  For example, a parent may reject all soft drinks that
contain artificial sweeteners.   Here, other good features such as taste and low calories
cannotovercome this one “non-negotiable” attribute.

The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of factors such as the
market (how many competitors are there, and how great are differences between brands
expected to be?), product characteristics(how important is this product?  How complex is the
product?  How obvious are indications of quality?), consumer characteristics (how interested is
a consumer, generally, in analyzing product characteristics and making the best possible deal?),
and situationalcharacteristics (as previously discussed).

Two interesting issues in decisions are:

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  Variety seeking (where consumers seek to try new brands not because these brands are
expected to be “better” in any way, but rather because the consumer wants a “change of
pace,” and
 “Impulse” purchases—unplanned buys. This represents a somewhat “fuzzy” group.  For
example, a shopper may plan to buy vegetables but only decide in the store to actually
buy broccoli and corn.  Alternatively, a person may buy an item which is currently on
sale, or one that he or she remembers that is needed only once inside the store.

A number of factors involve consumer choices.  In some cases, consumers will be more
motivated.  For example, one may be more careful choosing a gift for an in-law than when
buying the same thing for one self.  Some consumers are also more motivated to comparison
shop for the best prices, while others are more convenience oriented.  Personality impacts
decisions.  Some like variety more than others, and some are more receptive to stimulation and
excitement in trying new stores.  Perception influences decisions.  Some people, for example,
can taste the difference between generic and name brand foods while many cannot.  Selective
perception occurs when a person is paying attention only to information of interest.  For
example, when looking for a new car, the consumer may pay more attention to car ads than when
this is not in the horizon.  Some consumers are put off by perceived risk.  Thus, many marketers
offer a money back guarantee.  Consumers will tend to change their behavior through learning—
e.g., they will avoid restaurants they have found to be crowded and will settle on brands that best
meet their tastes.  Consumers differ in the values they hold (e.g., some people are more
committed to recycling than others who will not want to go through the hassle).  We will
consider the issue of lifestyle under segmentation

The Family Life Cycle

Individuals and families tend to go through a "life cycle:" The simple life cycle goes from

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For purposes of this discussion, a "couple" may either be married or merely involve living
together. The breakup of a non-marital relationship involving cohabitation is similarly
considered equivalent to a divorce.

Consumer Research Methods

Market research

Is often needed to ensure that we produce what customers really want and not what we think they
want.

Primary vs. secondary research methods. 

There are two main approaches to marketing.  Secondary research involves using information
that others have already put together.  For example, if you are thinking about starting a business
making clothes for tall people, you don’t need to question people about how tall they are to find
out how many tall people exist—that information has already been published by the U.S.
Government.  Primary research, in contrast, is research that you design and conduct yourself. 
For example, you may need to find out whether consumers would prefer that your soft drinks be
sweater or tarter.

Research will often help us reduce risks associated with a new product, but it cannot take the
risk away entirely.  It is also important to ascertain whether the research has been complete.  For
example, Coca Cola did a great deal of research prior to releasing the New Coke, and consumers
11
seemed to prefer the taste.  However, consumers were not prepared to have this drink replace
traditional Coke.

Marketing Strategy and Consumer Behaviour

(i) Marketing Analysis
(a) Consumer
(b) Company
(c) Competition
(d) Condition

(ii) Marketing Segmentation

(e) Identify product related needs
(f) Group customers with similar need sets
(g) Describe each group
(h) Select target market

(iii) Marketing Strategy

(i) Product
(j) Price
(k) Distribution
(l) Communication
(m) Service

(iv) Consumer Decision Process

(n) Problem recognition
(o) Information search—internal, external
(p) Alternative evaluation
(q) Purchase
(r) Use
(s) Evaluation
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(v) Outcomes
(t) Customer satisfaction
(u) sales
MARKET ANALYSIS
Market analysis requires an understanding of the 4-Cs which are consumer, Conditions,
competitor and the company. A study is undertaken to provide superior Customer value, which is
the main objective of the company. For providing better Customer value we should learn the
needs of the consumer, the offering of the Company, vis-a-vis its competitors and the
environment which is economic, physical, Technological, etc.

A consumer is anyone who engages himself in physical activities, of evaluating, acquiring, using
or disposing of goods and services. A customer is one who actually purchases a product or
service from a particular organization or a shop. A customer is always defined in terms of a
specific product or Company.

However, the term consumer is a broader term which emphasizes not only the actual buyer or
customer, but also its users, i.e. consumers. Sometimes a product is purchased by the head of the
family and used by the whole family, i.e. a refrigerator or a car. There are some consumer
behavior roles which are played by different members of the family.

Role Description
Initiator The person who determines that some need or want is to be met (e.g.
a daughter indicating the need for a color TV).

Influencer The person or persons who intentionally or unintentionally influence

the decision to buy or endorse the view of the initiator.

Buyer The person who actually makes a purchase.

User The person or persons who actually use or consume the product
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.
All the consumer behaviour roles are to be kept in mind but, the emphasis is on
the buyer whose role is overt and visible.
(a) The Consumer
To understand the consumer; researches are made. Sometimes motivational research becomes
handy to bring out hidden attitudes, uncover emotions and feelings. Many firms send
questionnaires to customers to ask about their satisfaction, future needs and ideas for a new
product. On the basis of the answers received, changes in the marketing mix are made and
advertising is also streamlined.

(b) The External Analysis (Company)

The external analysis may be done by the feedbacks from the industry analyst and by marketing
researches. The internal analysis is made by the firm’s financial conditions, the quantum of the
sales, force and other factors within the company. The study of these factors leads to a better
understanding of the consumer and his needs.

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1. Geography
2. Population
3. Urban-Rural
4. Sex
5. Age factor
6. Literacy level INDIAN
7. Incentive level
8. Linguistic diversity CONSUMER
9. Religion
10. Dress, food
11. Habits and fashion
(c) The Competition
In the analysis of the market, a study of the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors, their
strategies, their anticipated moves and their reaction to the companies. Moves and plans is to be
made. The company after getting this information reacts accordingly and changes its marketing
mix and the offering is made in a manner which can out do the competitor. This is a very
difficult process and it is easier said than done. To have correct information about the
competitors and to anticipate their further moves is the job of the researcher.
(d) The Conditions
The conditions under which the firms are operating has also to be seriously considered. The
factors to be studied are the economy, the physical environment, the government regulations, the
technological developments, etc. These effect the consumer needs, i.e. the deterioration of the
environment and its pollution may lead to the use and innovation of safer products. People are
health conscious and are concerned with their safety. Hence, in this case, safer products have a
better chance with the consumer. In case of recession, the flow of money is restricted greatly.
This leads to the formulation of different marketing strategies.
(e) Market Segmentation
The market is divided into segments which are a portion of a larger market whose needs are
similar and, they are homogeneous in themselves. Such segments are identified with similar
needs.
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(f) Need Set
By need set, it is meant that there are products which satisfy more than one need. An automobile
can fill the transportation needs, status need, fun needs or time saving needs. So the company
tries to identify the need sets which its product can fulfil. Then we try to identify the groups who
have similar needs, i.e. some people need economical cars, others may go for luxury cars.
(g) Demographic and Psychographic Characteristics
These groups are identified and they are described in terms of their demographic and
psychographic characteristics. The company finds out how and when the product is purchased
and consumed.
(h) Target Segment
After all the above preliminary work is done, the target customer group known as the target
segment is chosen, keeping in mind how the company can provide superior customer value at a
profit. The
Segment which can best be served with the company’s capabilities at a profit is chosen. It has to
be kept in mind that different target segments require different marketing strategies and, with the
change in the environmental conditions the market mix has to be adjusted accordingly

Marketing Strategy
Strategies are formulated to provide superior customer value. In formulating market strategies,
the 4-ps are directed at the target market.

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 Product, price, promotion, place market target

(i) Product
Product is anything that is offered to the consumer which is tangible and can satisfy
a need and has some value.

(j) Price
Price is the amount of money one must pay to obtain the right to use the product.

(k) Distribution (Place)

The goods can be distributed by many channels. These could be retailers, wholesalers, agents or
by direct selling. Distribution outlets play an important role in reaching the goods to the
consumer. They provide, time, place and possession utilities. Some goods need to be marketed
through the channels or the middleman. Others can be marketed directly by the company to the
actual consumer.
Promotion is the means of changing the attitudes of the consumer, so that it becomes favorable
towards

(l) Promotion
The company’s products. Various means of promotion are advertising, personal selling, sales
promotion and publicity.

(m) Service
Service refers to auxiliary service that enhances the value of the product or the service. For
instance, while buying a car. Free services are provided over a certain period of time. Check-ups
are free and maintenance is also covered on the charge of an adequate amount along with the
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product purchased. These auxiliary services are provided at a cost with money. These provide
value to the product or the customer. These services give an advantage to the customer and he is
free from the botheration of occasional checkups or risk. The risk is considerably reduced and,
the customer derives satisfaction with his decision to purchase.

(n) Consumer Decision Process

The decision-making process consists of a series of steps which the consumer undergoes. First of
all, the decision is made to solve a problem of any kind. This may be the problem of creating a
cool atmosphere in your home. For this, information search is carried out, to find how the cool
atmosphere can be provided, e.g. by an air-conditioner or, by a water-cooler. This leads to the
evaluation of alternatives and a cost benefit-analysis is made to decide which product and brand
image will be suitable, and can take care of the problem suitably and
adequately. Thereafter the purchase is made and the product is used by the consumer. The
constant use of the product leads to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the consumer, which
leads to repeat purchases, or to the rejection of the product. The marketing strategy is successful
if consumers can see a need which a company’s product can solve and, offers the best solution to
the problem. For a successful strategy, the marketer must lay emphasis on the product/brand
image in the consumer’s mind. Position the product according to the customers. likes and
dislikes. The brand which matches the desired image of a target market sells well. Sales are
important and sales are likely to occur if the initial consumer analysis was
correct and matches the consumer decision process. Satisfaction of the consumer, after the sales
have been effected, is important for repeat purchase. It is more profitable to retain existing
customers, rather than looking for new ones.

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The figure below gives an idea of the above discussion.

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INTRODUCTION
In a market where advertising plays a vital role in coordinatingconsumer purchases, it becomes
pertinent for companies to induct allpossible measures to influence motivate and inculcate desire
to purchase,in the customer through an effective advertising campaign. Theory andpractice
proves that the use of superstars in advertising generates lot ofpublicity and attention.
The motif behind total branding may be decocted as an attempt to amalgamate diverse activities
to win customer preference. Apropos to this context, the topic “Effect of celebrity endorsement
on consumer buying behaviour”, is a significant one. 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.

If I may take the liberty of rephrasing Aristotle’s quote on anger, “Any brand can get a
celebrity. Thatis easy. But getting a celebrity consistent 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.”Celebrity
endorsements are impelled by virtueof the following motives:

1. Instant Brand Awareness and Recall.

2. Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image.

3. Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image.

4. Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage.

5. Lack of ideas.

6. Convincing clients.

Simply stating, a brand is a differentiated product and helps in identifying your product and
making it stand out due to its name, design, style, symbol, color combination, or usually a mix of
all these.

Before we can scrutinize the effects of celebrity endorsement on the overall brand, we have to
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ferret the implicit nuances that act as sources of strong brand images or values:

Experience of use:

This encapsulates familiarity and proven reliability.

User associations:

Brands acquire images from the type of people who are seen using them. Images of prestige or
success are imbibed when brands are associated with glamorous personalities.

Belief in efficiency:

Ranking from consumer associations, newspaper editorials etc.

Brand appearance:

Design of brand offers clues to quality and affects preferences.

Manufacturer’s name & reputation:

A prominent brand name (Sony, Kellogg’s, Bajaj, Tata) transfers positive associations

The realm of the celebrity’s impact is confined to bestow a distinctive identity and provide AV to
the brand; the celebrity does not have the power to improve or debilitate the efficiency and
features of the core product. Thus, we are gradually approaching an evident proposition
claiming,
“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.”

An appropriately used celebrity can prove to be a massively powerful tool that magnifies the
effects of a campaign. But the aura of cautiousness should always be there. The fact to be
emphasized is that celebrities alone do not guarantee success, as consumers nowadays
understand advertising. They know what advertising is and how it works. People realize that
celebrities are being paid a lot of money for endorsements and this knowledge makes them
cynical about celebrity endorsements.

Who is a celebrity ?

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Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition by a large shareof a certain group of people
whereas attributes like attractiveness,extraordinary lifestyle are just examples and specific
commoncharacteristics cannot be observed though it can be said that within acorresponding
social group celebrities generally differ from the social normand enjoy a high degree of public
awareness . This is true for classic forms of celebritieslike actors (ex Sharukh khan, Amitabh
Bachhan), models ( John Abraham,Malaika Arora, Diya Mirza) Sports athletes (ex. Sachin
Tendulkar, SaniaMirza) entertainers (Barkha Dutt, Shekhar Suman) And Pop Stars (Mika,
Dailer Mehndi) but also for less obvious groups like businessmen (exDirubhai Ambani) or
politicians (Laloo Prasad Yadav) Besides these thereare fictional celebrities like Ronald
McDonald, Fido dido, gattu, AmulGirl, Pillsbury doughboy. Celebrities appear in public
indifferent ways. First, they appear in public when fulfilling their professionex Sachin Tendulkar
is loved by millions for his wonderful performancein the cricket fields. Further more, celebrities
appear in public by attending special celebrity events ex. Filmfare star awards, Videocon
screen awardsetc. In addition they are present in News, Fashion magazines and tabloids,which
provide second source of information on events and private life ofcelebrities through mass media
channels. Last but not the least celebritiesact as spokes people in advertising to promote
products.

Successful celebrity endorsements for a brand- An Indian perspective

The latter part of the '80s saw the burgeoning of a new trend in India– 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 Tabassum (Prestige pressure
cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar
(Dinesh Suitings) became common. Probably, the first ad to cash in on star power in a strategic,
long-term, mission statement kind of way was Lux soap. This brand has, perhaps as a result of
this, been among the top three in the country for much of its lifetime.

In recent times, we had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign with the objective of mitigating the
impediment that an unknown Korean brand faced in the Indian market. The objective was to
garner faster brand recognition, association and emotional unity with the target group. Star power
in India can be gauged by the successful endorsement done by Sharukh for three honchos- Pepsi,
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Clinic All Clear and Santro. Similarly, when S Kumars used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest
advertising icon 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. Ad recall was as high as 70 per cent,
and even the normally conservative trade got interested.

In the Indian context, it would not be presumptuous to state that celebrity endorsements can
aggrandize the overall brand. We have numerous examples exemplifying this claim. A standard
example here is Coke, which, till recently, didn't use stars at all internationally. In fact, India was
a first for them. The result was a ubiquitously appealing Aamir cheekily stating Thanda matlab
Coca Cola. The recall value for Nakshatra advertising is only due to the sensuous Aishwarya.
The Parker pen brand, which by itself commands equity, used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize
the brand in India. According to Pooja Jain, Director, Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd (LWIL),
post Bachchan, Parker's sales have increased by about 30 per cent.India is one country, which has
always idolized the stars of the celluloid world. Therefore it makes tremendous sense for a brand
to procure a celebrity for its endorsement. In India there is an exponential potential for a
celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant, thereby motivating consumers to go
in for the product. This would especially prove true if the endorser and the category are a natural
lifestyle fit like sportspersons and footwear, Kapil-Sachin and Boost or film stars and beauty
products.

Advantages of a celebrity endorsing a Brand

Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in
products or services, more and more brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As
soon as a new face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to have it splashed all
over. Witness the spectacular rise of Sania Mirza and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of
a few months. The accruement of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the following
advantages that are bestowed on the overall brand:

Establishment of 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. We had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign. At
launch, Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Santro and this ensured that brand awareness was created in a
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market, which did not even know the brand.

Ensured Attention:

Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and
making the ad and the brand more noticeable.

PR coverage:

Is another reason for using celebrities. Managers perceive celebrities as topical, which create
high PR coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity campaigns is one of the World’s
leading pop groups,the Spice Girls, who have not only appeared in advertisements for Pepsi, but
also in product launching and PR events. Indeed, celebrity-company marriages are covered by
most media from television to newspapers (e.g. The Spice Girls and Pepsi)

Higher degree of recall:

People tend to commensurate the personalities of the celebrity with the brand thereby increasing
the recall value. Golf champion Tiger Woods has endorsed American Express, Rolex, and Nike.
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is used by T-Mobile and Elizabeth Arden. 007 Pierce Brosnan
promotes Omega, BMW, and Noreico

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.

Mitigating a tarnished image:

Cadbury India wanted to restore the consumer's confidence in its chocolate brands following the
high-pitch worm’s controversy; so the company appointed Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last
year, when the even more controversial pesticide issue shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and
resulted in much negative press, both soft drink majors put out high-profile damage control ad
films featuring their best and most expensive celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fight
back as an ingenious and fastidious Bengali who finally gets convinced of the product's `purity,'
PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a television
commercial which drew references to the `safety' of the product indirectly.

Psychographic Connect:

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Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalize on these
feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.

Demographic Connect:

Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments (age, gender, class,
geography etc.).

Mass Appeal:

Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest
among the masses.

Rejuvenating a stagnant brand:

With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant chyawanprash category and staving off
competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore

Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas.

Disadvantages of a celebrity endorsing a brand:

The celebrity approach has a few serious risks:
The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after he/she has endorsed the product:

Pepsi Cola's suffered with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael
Jackson. Since the behaviour of the celebrities reflects on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at
times become liabilities to the brands they endorse.

The vampire effect:

This terminology pertains to the issue of a celebrity overshadowing the brand. If there is no
congruency between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will remember the celebrity
and not the brand. Examples are the campaigns of Dawn French—Cable Association and
Leonard Rossiter—Cinzano. Both of these campaigns were aborted due to celebrities getting in
the way of effective communication. Another example could be the Castrol commercial featuring
Rahul Dravid

Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity:

The celebrity may lose his or her popularity due to some lapse in professional performances. For
25
example, when Tendulkar went through a prolonged lean patch recently, the inevitable question
that cropped up in corporate circles - is he actually worth it? The 2003 Cricket World Cup also
threw up the Shane Warne incident, which caught Pepsi off guard. With the Australian cricketer
testing positive for consuming banned substances and his subsequent withdrawal from the event,
bang in the middle of the event, PepsiCo - the presenting sponsor of the World Cup 2003 - found
itself on an uneasy wicket

Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to overexposure:

The novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he does too many advertisements. This
may be termed as commoditisation of celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big
bucks. Example, MRF was among the early sponsors of Tendulkar with its logo emblazoned on
his bat. But now Tendulkar endorses a myriad brands and the novelty of the Tendulkar-MRF
campaign has scaled down.

Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the brand:

Celebrities manifest a certain persona for the audience. It is of paramount importance that there
is an egalitarian congruency between the persona of the celebrity and the image of the brand.
Each celebrity portrays a broad range of meanings, involving a specific personality and lifestyle.
Madonna, for example, is perceived as a tough, intense and modern women associated with the
lower middle class. The personality of Pierce Brosnan is best characterized as the perfect
gentlemen, whereas Jennifer Aniston has the image of the ‘good girl from next door’.

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
26
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), and 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.

Celebrity

Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition and mostly they are the experts of their
respective fields having wider influence in public life and societal domain. Attributes like
attractiveness, extraordinary life style or special skills, larger than life imageand demigod status
can be associated with them.It is safe to deduce that within a corresponding social group
celebrities generally differ from the social norm and enjoy high degree of public awareness.

Celebrities appear in public in different ways. To start, they appear in public when fulfilling their
professional commitments example: Mahindra Singh Dhoni, who played cricket in front of an
audience in Twenty-Twenty World Cup. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending
special celebrity events, example: the movie award nights; special screening; world premiers of
movies or for social causes. These celebrities have universal presence and appeal, they are
present everywhere, in news, fashion shows and magazines, tabloids and above all
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advertisements.

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, psychology, 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, feels, reason, and selects between different alternatives
brands. The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment
(e.g.,culture,family, signs and 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; andHow 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.

Why Endorsements?
Celebrity Endorsements act as a credible means of “money burning”.This is because this is a
world of products for which the value a consumerobtains from purchasing any given variety.
This could be for reasons ofsocial standing-People want to wear the “right” clothes, drink the

28
“right”beverages and use the “right” fragrances. Specifically a consumer that observes messages
for two different firm’s products, one product’s messagecontaining a celebrity endorsed and the
other not, believes the containing celebrityendorsed product will have more purchases and so be
of highervalue. Celebrity endorsement is more likely to be observed for those productshaving a
high price-production cost margin and on a large customer base.In short, celebrity endorsements
are more typical for nationally marketedproducts then for local or niche market products and for
products such asshoes, soft drinks, bikes and the like for which the price cost marginsare
apparently large.Promoter of certain products require co-ordination over multiplecustomer
groups - different income, education, age, groups or groups indifferent location. Example, Credit
Card. With a product of this sort acommon set of advertising messages communicated to all
custom is a moreeffective and coordinates mechanism than messages targeted at
separatecustomer groups with common messages. A customer in one groupreceiving a message
knows that customer in other groups are also receivingthe message. The challenge with common
message is of significant audiencereach in the various customer groups at low cost. Because the
celebrity isrecognizable globally, it is a low cost way to achieve cross group coordination

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

29
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. was complete congruency and
compatibility between the celebrity endorser, the product and the message.

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 LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Extensive research has been undertaken into the use of celebrities to endorse a particular
ompany and its products or services. This research indicates that the effectiveness of celebrity
endorsers is moderated by a number of factors, including product-celebrity alignment and target
receiver characteristics. Celebrity endorsement can be effective in distinguishing a company's
products or services from those of its competitors, but research has produced mixed results
regarding the choice of celebrity.

2. Some properties such as likeability, expertise, trustworthiness and similarity cause a celebrity
endorser to become a source of persuasive information and this creates a sense of certainty which
has been revealed in many studies (Suranaa, 2008). Also physical attractiveness of the endorser
is considerable in effectiveness of a message (Khatri, 2006). Acceptance of a message by a
receiver could be influenced by celebrity endorsers as believable sources of information about a
product or a firm (Amos et al, 2008). Using of celebrity endorsers to support products is
explained by balance theory principles too. According to this theory, successful companies
establish an emotional relation between the observer and endorser and a relation between
endorser and brand too (Mowen, 2000). Before proceeding conceptual model, we describe the
main constructs of this study.

On the concept and application of celebrityendorsement Agarwal and Kamakura (1995) cite
industry sources whoestimate that approximately 20% of all television commercials
featurefamous people. Certain sets of products feature celebrity endorsementsmore often.
(Agarwal & Kamakura, Study) .They studied all endorsementcontracts over the period 1980-
1992. In their sample 60% of theendorsement deals involve soft drink companies and athletic
shoesmanufacturers. They also provide an event study that examines abnormalstock returns on
the day that a company announces the signing of acelebrity for product and endorsement
purpose.

How celebrity endorsements affect consumer purchase decision isstudied extensively by

31
marketing and social psychology researches. Varioushypothesis have been put forward including
celebrity endorsement haverecall of the product, (ii) celebrities have credibility on expertise that
makesthe product more desirable or enhances perceptions of quality (iii) thecelebrity endorsers
image is transferred to the product so that those whouse the product are associated with the
image. Experiments suggest thatin certain situations, celebrity endorsement can enhance recall
andconsume assessment of the products. (Clark & Horstman, 2003)

Friedman and Friedman (1979) describe celebrity endorser as an individual who is known to
public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of product class endorsed.
Celebrity endorsements are an omnipresent feature of present day marketing (Meenaghan and
O’Mahony, 1998). The billions of dollars spent on celebrity endorsement contracts illustrates the
importance celebrities play in the advertising industry (Kambitsis et al., 2002). According to
research conducted by Stephens and Rice (1998) in USA showed that celebrity endorsed
advertising increased from 15% to 25% between 1979 and1997 for all advertising.
The use of celebrities in advertisements is not a recent phenomenon (Kaikati, 1987). Celebrities
have been endorsing products since the mid nineteenth century. For instance one of the early
examples involves Queen Victoria associating with Cadbury Cocoa (Sherman, 1985). With the
emergence of cinema and later television more and more celebrities from different background
were used commercially in television commercials and print advertisements. Agrawal and
Kamakura (1995) cited that approximately 20% of all television commercials in USA feature
famous people. Shimp (1997) further justifies Agrawal and Kamakura point, through his research
findings that around 25% of all US-based commercials used celebrities. On the contrary from a
UK perspective, a report in Marketing indicated that advertising which used celebrities was a key
to gaining national headlines (Erdogan, 1999).
Friedman and Friedman (1979) describe celebrity endorser as an individual who is known to
public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of product class endorsed. These
celebrities act as roles models for a large group of people in terms of their qualities such as
trustworthiness, attractiveness and likeability. Marketers exploit these qualities in a celebrity to
influence the consumers purchase decision, thus making the advertisement believable to the
consumers. Erdogan (1999) cites that celebrities can be used to communicate and reinforce
companies marketing communications and positioning effectively. Today, use of celebrities as
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part of marketing communications strategy is fairly common practice for major firms in
supporting corporate and brand imagery (Erdogan, 1999). Firms are drawing parallels with their
products and themselves to celebrities in expectation that they will enhance their
communications and increase revenue.

Celebrities as Spokespersons
Companies frequently use spokespersons to deliver their advertising message and convince
consumers of their brands. A widely used and very popular type of spokesperson is the celebrity
endorser (Tom et al., 1992). According to Agrawal and Kamakura (1995) celebrities make the
advertisements believable and enhance the message in the minds of the consumers. Furthermore,
celebrities increase awareness of a company’s advertising, creating a positive feeling towards the
brand. Thus using a celebrity in a company’s advertising is likely to have a positive impact on
the consumers‟ brand perception and purchase decision. One of the main reason behind the
popularization of celebrity used in advertisements is the company’s belief that the message when
delivered by well-know personality will achieve a high degree of attention and recall (Ohanian,
1991). This only happens when there is an appropriate connection between the celebrity and the
product endorsed or when the celebrity’s represents of some aspect of product endorsed.
Today’s modern corporation invests insignificant amounts of money to draw parallels between
its products and a celebrity in the belief that it would help attract attention to the
products/services endorsed and help transfer the image values of the products/services through
the celebrity’s profile (Meenaghan and O’Mahony, 1998). For instance Venus Williams, tennis
player had a signed a five year $40 million contract with sportswear manufactures Reebok
International Inc. in 2003. Theory and practice prove that the use of super stars in advertising
generates a lot of publicity and attention from the public (Ohanian 1991). The essential question
to be asked here is, if and how the interest of the consumers in these well-known celebrities can
be effectively be used by companies to promote their brands and consequently increase revenues.
Firms often build fancy pay package for celebrities attracting them to endorse for the firms
products, for examples Michael Jordan, a retired basketball player, endorsed a range of products
which include sports and non-sports products, earning more than $45 million by just endorsing
for different brands, but one of his prime endorsements was for Nike, which earned him $20
million annually in 1992. But when Michael Jordan retired later in his career, Nike sales dipped
33
by 4 percent (Walsh, 1999). This example clearly illustrates the power of celebrity endorsements
and also explains why companies are ready to pay such huge amounts to get celebrities to
endorse their products. Overall the use of celebrities as spokesperson in advertisements
comprises of a significant investment in intangible assets by the sponsoring firm. An investment
which the firm hopes to compensate with greater future sales revenue and profits in return
(Agrawal and Kamakura 1995).

Positive and negative effects of celebrity endorsement

Early researches have shown that about 20 percent of all television commercial use celebrity as
their endorsers and increasing competition for seeking consumers‟ attention has encouraged
marketers to use attention- creating media stars to assist in product marketing (Erdogan, 1999).
Marketers believe that using popular celebrity can effect consumers feeling and their purchase
intention and also believe celebrity to influence consumers‟ persuasion of the product according
to the image of it (Belch & Belch, 2001). Use of celebrity as endorsers may have a significant
positive impact, increasing profits, on the contrary when associated with a celebrity whose
credibility has been tarnished may hurt the company and its product.
There are several benefits to having celebrities endorse products, one of the most common
effects of using a celebrity endorser is it helps to maintain consumer attention. Research has
indicated that customers are more likely to choose goods and services endorsed by celebrities
than those without such endorsements (Agrawal & Kamakura, 1995) and celebrities help
advertisements stand out from the surrounding clutter, thus improving better communicative
ability in conveying the message to the consumers‟ (Sherman, 1995).
Although the potential benefits of utilising a celebrity endorser are considerable, so are the costs
and risk associated with it. Agrawal and Kamakura (1995) in their research suggest that there are
decreasing returns associated with celebrity advertisements. The cost incurred to get a celebrity
onboard and associate him/her with the product and company are rising, the negative publicity
generated by some celebrities, adds a possible risk of negative publicity generated towards the
brand and company. Proving this point, researches shows that only a portion of consumers react
positively after a negative publicity (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995). Celebrity endorsement is
big business and any marketers who choose to utilise a celebrity have no control over his/her
future behaviour and reactions (Till and Shimp,1998). Therefore any negative publicity about the
34
celebrity can reduce the appeal of the brand which the celebrity endorses. Marketers must find
the celebrity who can best fit and represent the image of the product and its meaning (Belch &
Belch, 2001). Celebrity, who is linked to positive information, has a greater possibility to reach
to its target consumers. While on the other hand celebrity with negative information, reduces the
trustworthiness of the celebrity and its relationship with the brand. Michael Jordan and Nike is a
very good example of a perfect brand- celebrity fit. Michael Jordon and Nike’s trust between
them was at such a high level that Nike developed a new brand called Air Jordon. With Michael
Jordan's expertise and his trustworthiness with the larger audience, strengthened the brand
celebrity fit (Belch & Belch, 2001).
Celebrity endorsement contract are for a long term relationship, therefore because of this long
term relationship the celebrity and the brand can affect the audience and have an impact on the
consumers. For example Kate Moss and brand H&M, after Kate Moss was pictured taking drugs
in Daily Mirror newspaper, a lot of brands she endorsed such as Chanel, H&M cancelled their
campaigns and contracts with her (Shimp 2003). In order not to generate negative publicity
towards the brand, from the behavior of the celebrity, companies pull back from the celebrity
contracts and engage in reestablishing themselves.
Another very prominent drawback of celebrity endorsements is the “Vampire Effect” or the
celebrity overshadowing the brand (Kulkarni and Gaulkar, 2005). This happens when the
audience forgets the brand advertised and concentrates more on the celebrity endorsing the
brand. As Cooper (1984) states in his study, “the product, not the celebrity, must be the star”
(pp.64-65). Similarly another problem is celebrity greed and overexposure, when a celebrity
becomes an endorser for many diverse products (Erdogan, 1999). Tripp et al. (1994) and
Redenbach (2005) both investigated and suggested that when as many as four products are
endorsed, celebrity credibility and likeability, as well as attitude towards the ad, may be taken
carelessly.
In conclusion the good match with product and celebrity can make the advertising more
believable, can improve the brand recognition, create a positive attitude towards the brand name
and create a distinct personality for the brand (Agrawal & Kamakura 1997).

Models on Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy

35
Temperley and Tangen (2006) in their research said that it’s a critically important decision for
the marketers in the choice of celebrity they decide upon. As selecting celebrity endorsers is a
difficult job, many scholars have made an effort to construct models to assist in the selection of
celebrity endorsers. One of the earliest models was contributed by Hovland et al (1953), which is
the Source Credibility Model. Consequently, the Source Attractiveness Model (McGuire, 1985),
the Product Match- Up Hypothesis (Forkan, 1980; Kamins, 1989, 1990), and the Meaning
Transfer model (McCracken, 1989) was put forward through observed researches in turn.

Source credibility Model and Source Attractiveness Model

A central goal of advertising is the persuasion of customers, i.e., the active attempt to change or
modify consumers‟ attitude towards brands (Solomon 2002). In this respect, the credibility of an
advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target audience of the attractiveness of
the company’s brand. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a
credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness (Till and
Shimp 1998).
Source credibility and source attractiveness reflect the study of source effect theory/source
influence theory, which argues that various characteristics of a perceived communication source
may have a positive impact on message receptivity (Kelman, 1961). Shimp (2003) found that
credibility and attractiveness are the general features of celebrity endorsers‟ effectiveness.
Therefore to examine critically the impact of celebrity endorsers on the consumers‟ purchase
decision it is necessary that we discuss the source credibility model and the source attractiveness
model.

The source credibility model

Source credibility suggests that the effectiveness of a message depends on the "expertness" and
“trustworthiness" of the source (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953). In general, a message source
with higher credibility tends to be more effective than one with less credibility (Sternthal et al.,
1978). Since higher levels of source credibility tend to be associated with more positive attitudes
toward the message and lead to behavioural changes (Craig and McCann, 1978), advertisers will
opt to use celebrities if they think that they have a high level of credibility.

36
The basis of the model is that the effectiveness of the message depends on the consumers
perceived level of expertise and trustworthiness of the celebrity endorser (Hovland et al., 1953).
If a source is perceived to be credible, a consumer will probably accept the influence
(information) as truthful and use it. It is accepted because it is “demanded” by one’s own values
(Kelman, 1961). Hence, an endorsement of a product by a credible source may influence the
purchase behaviour (Daneshvary and Schwer, 2000). This psychological process is called
internalisation, which occurs when receivers accept a source influence in terms of their personal
attitude and value structures (Erdogen, 1999). Companies have considered pursuing strategies of
celebrity endorsement as advertisers seek to project a credible image in terms of expertise,
persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness (Till and Shimp 1998). According to Hovland
et al. (1953), source credibility mainly categorises into expertise and trustworthiness.
Expertise is defined by Hovland et al (1953) as the “extent to which a communicator is perceived
to be a source of valid assertions and refers to the knowledge, experience or skills possessed by
an endorser”. What is interesting here is that it does not matter whether the endorser is an expert
or not, what really matters is the viewers perceive them to be. Furthermore, expertise of a
celebrity endorser should relate to the product he/she endorses (Till & Busler, 1998). Greater the
success the celebrity gains, the more expert or credible he/she is perceived to become in his field.
Friedman and Friedman (1979), using the internalization process said that consumers were more
likely to purchase complex and expensive products which were endorsed by experts rather than
by typical consumers. Meaning the public was more likely to buy products when the endorser’s
credibility is high, when compared to be low.
In Daneshvary and Schwer (2000) article, they propose that Consumers are more prone to adopt
behaviour by an association (group) if they identify with the group (identification). Besides, if
they perceive the source (association) as credible and as an expert in the products which it
endorses, consumers are likely to purchase the product (internationalization). Therefore,
identification and internalisation processes of social influence will affect behaviour change,
resulting in increased purchases from endorsements by the association (Daneshvary and Schwer
2000).
Erdogen (1999) suggests that the use of the word „trustworthiness‟ in the celebrity endorsement
literature refers to the honesty, integrity and believability of an endorser. Desphande and
Stayman (1994) contributed to the study regarding the factors that influence the trustworthiness
37
of celebrity endorser. They found that celebrity endorser’s ethnic status would affect the
trustworthiness, because people trust individuals who are seen as comparable to them. This study
suggested that while selecting a celebrity endorser the ethnic background has to be considered,
when the company targets a particular ethnic group.
Erdogen (1999) findings in the source credibility state that factors which construct source
credibility and other important factors in certain situation are still ambivalent. Conversely, the
fact that high credible source do not always have more effect when compared low credible
source, should me noticed. Sternthal et al. (1978) stated that the low credibility source may have
stronger persuasibility than the higher one, when the audience is already inclined to a message.

38
The Source Attractiveness Model
The source attractiveness model is a psychological research resulted from McGuire (1985) study.
Source attractiveness model is more related to the physical attributes, such as similarity,
familiarity and likeability. These are important initial judgement of another person at first
instance (Ohanian, 1991). Advertisers have chosen celebrity endorsers on the basis of their
physical attractiveness to gain from the dual effects of celebrity status and physical appeal
(Singer, 1983), e.g. Carol Vorderman’s dual role as expert and attractive presenter of the benefits
of Benecol. There is no doubt that attractive celebrity endorsers enhance attitudes towards
advertising and brands, but whether they are able to create repeat purchase intentions is less
obvious (Byrne et al, 2003). Debevec et al (1986) suggested in their study, higher source
attractiveness led to higher verbal and behavioural compliance, in order to examine the
relationship between purchase intention and attractiveness.
Kahle & Homer (1985) mentioned in his study that, purchase intention participants are easily
influenced by an attractive celebrity endorser than unattractive celebrity endorser. Finding from
Debevec and Kernan (1984) study showed that male consumers are more easily influenced by
attractive female endorser than attractive male endorsers. Furthermore Baker and Churchill
(1977) study found that unexpected interaction among female models, product type and
intentions to purchase products among male subjects. For example when the product endorsed is
a perfume; males reacted optimistically to an attractive female model.
Research done by Joseph (1982) proves that attractive communicators are repeatedly liked more
than unattractive ones and also have a positive impact on products with which they are
associated. In short, it is evident that attractive celebrity endorsers enhance attitudes and recall
towards advertising and brands than unattractive celebrity endorsers. Under the influence of
“halo effect” that occurs when rank high on one dimension are assumed to be excellent on other
dimensions, people tend to assume that good-looking people are smarter and more persuasive
(Solomon, 2002).
One of the best examples of source attractiveness model is tennis player Anna Kournikova
(Shimp, 2003). According to Shimp (2003), who has never won any tennis tournament in her
career, Kournikova was chosen to endorse various different brands only because of her
attractiveness merely, and none so ever of her credibility in tennis. On the more contrary angle,
Cooper et al., (1974) in their study found out that a deviant-appearing person, in an income tax
39
commercial proved to be more effective than an attractive person. Furthermore Maddux and
Rogers (1980) found that explanation of arguments and expertise, influenced consumer attitude
rating towards sleep while physical attractiveness did not.

Product Match-up Hypothesis

Byrne et al. (2003) suggests that the problems many marketers facing is choosing the right type
of celebrity to associated their product with. Marketers must match the product or company‟s
image, to the features of the target market, and the personality of the celebrity, in order to
establish effective messages and the determinant of the match between celebrity and brand
depends on the degree of perceived „fit‟ between brand (brand name, attributes) and celebrity
image (Misra, 1990). If at all there is no connection between a celebrity endorser and product; a
celebrity and consumer, then it will only result in audiences remembering the celebrity, but not
the product (Evans, 1998). As mention by Temperley and Tangen (2006) marketer can always
match a celebrity with the desired image of a brand/product, but it will not be successful if the
viewer does not perceive the fit correctly. Further added by Bertrand and Todd (1992), who
stated if there is an appropriate tie-in between the company’s product and the celebrity’s
persona‟, reputation or the line of work that the celebrity is in, then the brand can get both the
recognition and the tie-in working with them.
Kahle and Homer (1985) in their analysis found that physical attractiveness of celebrity
endorsers has a positive influence on consumers' brand attitudes, purchase decision, brand recall,
and recall of advertisement arguments. Contrast to this claim by Kahle and Homers, another
analysis conducted by Till and Busler (1998) suggested that an endorsements featuring Kate
Jackson for Lincoln Mercury proved to be ineffective, despite Kate Jackson having attractive
looks. Till and Busler (1998) cited another instance where celebrity and the product are a perfect
fit citing at Cindy Crawford endorsing for Revlon commercial. There research proved that not
physical attractiveness, rather expertise is more important in affecting consumers. Citing an
example of Zidane (a retired footballer player) endorsing football products, Shimps (2003)
suggests that endorsers are most effective when strong and positive relation between endorsers
and the target audience is achieved. Hence Zidane’s fans, who is their idol of football, will go
buy the products he endorser, especially the one in he endorses for football products.

40
41
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objective of the Study

1. To know importance of celebrity endorsement in buying decision for both gender.
2. To know the perception of customers regarding attractiveness and credibility of the
celebrities.
3. To know the effect of celebrity endorsement on brand loyalty.
4. To know the customer’s perception about the effect of celebrity endorsement on price.

3.1. Research Type

The type of research conducted is a descriptive kind of a research where I tried and described the
different factors affecting customer decision making.
Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about
the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who,
what, where, when and how.

Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe
what caused a situation. Thus, Descriptive research cannot be used to create a casual
relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said
to have a low requirement for internal validity.

The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations. Often the best
approach, prior to writing descriptive research, is to conduct a survey investigation. Quality
research often has the aim of description and researchers may follow-up with examinations of
why the observations exist and what the implications of the findings are.

3.2. Sample Design

3.2.1. Sampling Unit:

My sampling units were mainly the customers of apparel (retail) sector. I collected data from of

42
the customers to complete my survey and find the effect of celebrity endorsement on customer
buying behaviour in their case and also found out various factors contributing to decision making
of customer.

3.2.2. Sample Size:

The sample size I considered and selected was 50 which was from customers of various retail
outlets since my target sample was mainly customers so what I did I just considered customers of
retail outlets and asked for few their few minutes to conduct my study for effect of celebrity
endorsement on customer decision making for retail sector.

3.2.3. Method of sampling:

My method of sampling was basically convenience sampling where I had chosen customers for
our data collection on basis of our convenience as this study had to be completed in a short
period of time and also due to busy schedule of customers of retail outlets.
Convenience sampling (sometimes known as grab or opportunity sampling) is a type of non-
probability sampling, which involves the sample being drawn from that part of the population,
which is close to hand. That is, a sample population selected because it is readily available and
convenient. The researcher using such a sample cannot scientifically make generalizations about
the total population from this sample because it would not be representative enough. For
example, if the interviewer was to conduct such a survey at a shopping center early in the
morning on a given day, the people that he/she could interview would be limited to those given
there at that given time, which would not represent the views of other members of society in such
an area, if the survey was to be conducted at different times of day and several times per week.
So, finally taking all factors of time and other constraints into consideration I finally ended with
this method of sampling method for my survey that is convenience sampling.

3.2.4. Sampling Area

Sampling area for the study was retail outlet available in Dehradun of various Retail players.

3.3. DATA COLLECTION

43
3.3.1. Data Source:
My data source is basically primary in nature where I went to retail outlets to collect my data for
my research that is effect of celebrity endorsement on customer decision making for retail sector.
My unit of analysis was basically the customers of different customer of retail outlets. I could
collect only data from fifty samples only due to time and other constraints.

3.3.2. Research Instrument:

My research instrument was questionnaires, which consisted of questions related to effect of
celebrity endorsement on customer buying behaviour for retail sector survey. For this we had
chosen the method of questionnaire because there are many advantages to a written survey. They
are relatively inexpensive to administer and you can send the exact same survey to a wide
number of people. They allow the respondent to fill it out at their own convenience. They can be
completely anonymous and confidential, removing the fear of responding honestly. However,
the disadvantages are that response rates from written Surveys are often very low and they are
not the best vehicles for asking for detailed written responses. In addition, respondents can
misinterpret poorly designed questions and incorrectly designed surveys may produce invalid
and misleading results. So, at last we had chosen this method of questionnaire after making a
highly standardized set of questions for our research and hence collected data that helped us in
our research.

3.3.3. Research tool:

The research tool which I have adopted or which we are adopting in this study is Testing of
Hypothesis where we are trying and find out which factor is most contributing to the decision
making of customer buying behaviour in retail sector. This will help and also let us know which
factor or group is actually benefited by which factor and helps the readers to identify the various
factors and their rate contributing to various factors affecting customer decision making for retail
sector.

LIMITATIONS:-

1- As our sample size is small so to clearly estimate the position of the decision making is not

44
correctly possible.
2- Due to these shortage of time of customers they can not help properly so the primary data
collected could be biased.
3- Sometimes respondents do not reveal the true data.
4- Data is taken only in Dehradun region and on the basis of that data we predict the conclusion.

45
 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. Gender:
a. Male b. Female

Fig.1
35

30

25

20
Number of respondent (gender)

Column B
15

10

0
MALE FEMALE

This fig shows that there are 30 male and 20 female out of total 50sample

46
2,Age Group

Age 18-25 26-35 36-45 Above45

Percentage 35 25 25 15

Above 45
15%

18-25
35%

36-45
25%

26-35
25%

Fig.2

This pie chart shows that 35% of respondent belongs to age between 18-25 and 25% belongs to
26-35 and 25% belongs to 36-45 and 15% belongs to above 45.

47
3.Do you watch advertisements of brands on Television?
a. Yes b. No

Chart Title

90%

80%

70%

60%
Axis Title

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Yes No

Fig.3

This graph indicate that majority of the respondent said that they watch advertisements of
brands on Television.

48
4. Do you like celebrities in the advertisement of brands?
a. Yes b. No c. Can’t say.

Chart Title

80%

70%

60%

50%
Axis Title

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Yes No Can't say

Fig.4

In this graph shows that the 80% are like celebrities in the advertisement of brands, 15% says no
and 5% can’t say.

49
5. Which type of celebrity do you prefer in advertisement of brands?
a. Bollywood b. Sports c. Others

Chart Title

70%

60%

50%
Axis Title

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Bollywood Sports Others

Fig.5

This graph shows that 70% prefer bollywood celebrity in advertisement of brands and 25%
prefer sports celebrity and 5% prefer others.

50
6. Does the gender of a celebrity matter to you in the advertisement of brands.
a. Prefer male b. Prefer female c. Doesn't matter.

Chart Title

40%

35%

30%

25%
Axis Title

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
male female doesn't matter

Fig.6

This graph shows that 30% prefer male celebrity in advertisement of brands and 40% prefer
female celebrity and 25% doesn’t matter .

51
7. Advertisement featuring celebrity could be watched for.
a. Fun b. Information c. Getting attention d. Increasing sales.

Chart Title

40%

35%

30%

25%
Axis Title

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Fun Information getting attention Increasing sales

Fig.7

This graph shows that 40% for getting information,20% getting attention with increasing sales
and 10% for fun.

52
8. What in your opinion is the reason for celebrities to endorse brands?
a. Creating awareness of product in market b. Building image
c. Educating customers. d. Making money.

Chart Title

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%
Axis Title

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Creating awareness Building image Educating Making money
of product in customers
market

Fig.8

This graph shows that 10% Creating awareness of product in market,50% Building image,
10% Educating customers and 30% Making money .

53
9. Which of the brand endorser you like most and by watching these celebrities what will be
your purchasing power.
a. Reid n Taylor Amitabh Bacchan.
b. Belmonte Shahrukh Khan.
c. John Players Ranbir Kapoor.
d. Reebok Mahendra singh Dhoni.

Chart Title

40%

35%

30%

25%
Axis Title

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Fig.9

This graph shows that 40% like to watch Amitabh Bacchan abrand endorser,30% like to
watchShahrukh Khan,20% like to watch Mahendra singh Dhoni and 10% like to watch Ranbir
Kapoor.

54
 FINDINGS

The factor analysis results indicate that factor 1 (Table 7) which consists of Information provided
by customers – If we talk about in factor 1 the expertise of celebrity and way of presentation of
celebrity is good according to the consumers and that is the reason why the consumers are
buying that brand or the product.

Factor 2 indicates that integrity of the celebrity is fine according to them and they go for that
product only. Credibility of the celebrity is good and that’s why customers get attracted towards
that and buy there product. Trustworthiness of celebrities is also a key for the consumers that are
why they go for those celebrities and for those products e g. many consumers opt for Reebok
only for Dhoni.

Factor 3 Celebrities are more expertise, likable and exclusive and consumers only want these
things after trying they become regular users to there brand due to these qualities of the celebrity.

Factor 4 Popularity, physical appearance and style also matters to these consumers that are why
they are in habit to buy those products or brand at regular intervals.

Factors 5 some consumers think that only image of celebrity is more important in there decision
making like Shahrukh khan and Amitabh bacchann.

Factor 6 Attitude and performance are also important for consumers of the product and of the
celebrities.

55
 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The company should try more and more endorsers so that it becomes easy for the consumers
to buy more and more products or brands.

2. Company should try those celebrities who are trustworthy to the consumer’s
eg.AmitabhBacchan and Shahrukh Khan.

3. Image of the celebrity is totally depend upon the consumers if he has a good image in front of
the consumers than consumers will be attracted towards them and there purchasing power will
increase.

4. Style is also the main concern for today’s consumers because the consumers are totally depend
upon there style and way of presentation.

5. The decision making of consumers are totally based upon the style ,way of presentation of the
celebrity that is the main reason for the consumers and the company should try more and more
celebrities to endorse their products.

56
 CONCLUSION
At last Factor 7 Some consumers once again focuses on the performance of the celebrities how
they are doing in the market and some think that controversy are important for the celebrities to
get the name and fame.

Overall, various internal and external factors affects the decision making of the consumer which
is explained by the above findings
Although the study was conducted on a small population to find decision making of the
consumer retail sector, the finding of the studies can be generalized to the whole population. It
can be very comfortably inferred that, based on the decision making model that has been formed
shows

1. Brand image of the product

2. Product placement in the store

3. Income of the customer

4. Effective pricing and discount strategy

57
 BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES
Books
 Willian.D.perreault, Jr. “Basic Marketing” E.J.erom.e.mccarthy.
 Philip Kotler, ‘marketing management’ prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. New Dehli.
 C. R. Kothari ‘Research methodology’, vishwa publication, New Delhi.
 SaxenaRajan ‘marketing management’ Tata Mcgraw-hillpublicating Co. Ltd. New Delhi.
 H. V. Verma ‘marketing of services’ Global business press, New Delhi.
 Das ,Bhagaban & Das ,Debadutta (2006) .Consumer Buying Behaviour In India: New
Delhi: Tata Mc Graw-Hill Ltd
 Solomon,R,Michael(2010). Consumer Behaviour - Buying, Having, And Being, Prentice
Hall PTR
 Ali ,S.S,. Thakur,A.K,.Madhavan,K,.Palat(2009)-Models in Consumer Buying
Behaviour. Deep & Deep Publication

Website
 www.appashions.com
 www.bu.edu/e.con/seminar/micro/pdffav
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer_decision_processes

58
 QUESTIONNAIRES

1. Name:

2. Gender:
a. Male b. Female

3. Age:
a. 18-25 b. 26-35 c. 36-45 d. Above 45.

4. Income:
a. 1 lakh-3 lakh b. 3 lakh-6 lakh c. 6 lakh-9 lakh d. Above 10 lakh.

5. Do you watch advertisements of brands on Television?

a. Yes b. No

6. Do you like celebrities in the advertisement of brands.

a. Yes b. No c. Can’t say.

7. Which type of celebrity do you prefer in advertisement of brands?

a. Bollywood b. Sports c. Others

8.Does the gender of a celebrity matter to you in the advertisement of brands.

a. Prefer male b. Prefer female c. Doesn't matter.

9. Advertisement featuring celebrity could be watched for.

a. Fun b. Information c. getting attention d. Increasing sales.

59
10. Which parameters in your opinion is very important for celebrity endorsements of
brands and decision making of consumers.

S no Parameter. Most Impt. Neutral. Less Least

impt. Impt. Impt.
1 Image of celebrity.
2 Popularity.
3 Integrity.
4 Physical appearance.
5 Style.
6 Attitude.
7 Performance.
8 Credibility.
9 Trustworthiness.
10 Expertise.
11 Recognizable.
12 Likable.
13 Exclusive.
14 Controversy.
15 Presentation of celebrity.

60
11. What in your opinion is the reason for celebrities to endorse brands?
a. Creating awareness of product in market b. Building image
c. Educating customers. d. Making money.

12. Which of the brand endorser you like most and by watching these celebrities what will
be your purchasing power.
a. Reid n Taylor Amitabh Bacchan.
b. Belmonte Shahrukh Khan.
c. John Players Ranbir Kapoor.
d. Levis Chitrangda Singh.
e. Reebok Mahendra singh Dhoni.

61