Endorsement is a channel of communication where celebrities act as spokesperson of the

brand and by extending their popularity and personality they certifies the brand’s claim and

position. The term Celebrity refers to an individual who is known to the public (actor, sports

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

endorsed (Friedman and Friedman, 1979).

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

celebrity is transferred to the brand and therefore it helps in creating an image that can be easily

referred by consumers. As a result by association, the brand can very quickly establish the

creditability, it can get immediate identification and thus can improve sales.

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. And that’s why marketers make use of celebrities to influence

consumers and sell products. They openly acknowledge the power of celebrity in

influencing buyer's purchase decision. Marketers pay millions of dollars to celebrity

endorsee hoping that the stars will bring their magic to brand they endorse and make

them more appealing and successful. 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.

Celebrity endorsement is more likely to be observed for those products having a high price-

production cost margin and on a large customer base. In short, celebrity endorsements are

more typical for nationally marketed products then for local or niche market products and for

products such as running shoes, soft drinks and the like for which the price cost margins are

apparently large.

Previous studies had revealed that consumers positively value the use of celebrity endorsers in

the advertisements. The ads which use celebrities are easy to recall by the viewers and helps to

retain brands but today's dynamic market conditions may not always give a positive return on

this expectation and thus making investments on celebrities is not always a good idea.

Literature Review

How celebrity endorsements affect consumer purchase decision is studied extensively by

marketing and social psychology researches. Various hypothesis have been put forward

including celebrity endorsement have recall of the product, celebrities have credibility on

expertise that makes the product more desirable or enhances perceptions of quality, the

celebrity endorser’s image is transferred to the product so that those who use the product are

associated with the image. Experiments suggest that in certain situations, celebrity

endorsement can enhance recall and consume assessment of the products. (Clark &

Horstman, 2003).

McCracken (1989); Silvera and Austad (2004), defined Celebrities are people who enjoy

public recognition and who often have distinctive attributes such as attractiveness and

trustworthiness.

Ohanian(1991) finds that in a market where advertising plays a vital role in coordinating

consumer purchases, it becomes pertinent for companies to induct all possible measures to

influence motivate and inculcate desire to purchase, in the customer through an effective

advertising campaign. Theory and practice proves that the use of superstars in advertising

generates lot of publicity and attention.

Khatri (2006) studied that celebrity endorser is a panacea for all marketing woes. It is today a

frequently used approach in marketing for all brands building exercises. The star appeal

however needs to be perfectly blended intelligently and strategically to reap the benefits and

make brands .It serves as an aid to expedite recall and influence purchase. But can also be a

nightmare unless accompanied by a powerful idea, effective and impeccable positioning.

A study by Sharma (2007) finds that nowadays consumer is not easily swayed by a celebrity in

an ad but he needs full fledge information about the product also, followed by brand name,

overall appeal, and music/jingle. Advertisements being endorsed by celebrities are found to be

less attractive and that the use of celebrities may not change the buying behavior of consumers

significantly.

Linda Orlando (2005) accordingly many companies are beginning to shy away from big names

and get rid of celebrity endorsements altogether, not only because endorsement fees continue

to skyrocket, but more importantly because high-powered marketing execs say their brands are

being overshadowed by the high-profile celebrities who promote them. Sometimes the

celebrities get more mileage from the endorsement than the product does.

Gary Harwood (2004), Research conducted by Bates in India that tracked consumer opinion on

the 'relevance and effectiveness of celebrity advertising in building brands', urged brands to 'de-

celebritise' and focus on ideas. Concluding that ideas, and not celebrities, build brands, the

study identified the optimum celebrity 'fits' and the cases where celebrities overshadowed

brand-building performance.

Mishra and Beauty (1990) Petty et al (1983) and Menon et al (2001) indicate that celebrity

endorsements enhance brain recall. The use of celebrity for endorsements creates a very

favorable impact on the consumer and it forces a consumer to purchase a product.

Joshi & Ahluwalia (2008) finds that 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.

Dasgupta (2008), according to a research conducted by IMRB, an international research

agency, across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, Indore and Lucknow, Ajmer, Madurai,

Ranchi and Cuttack, reveals that the most prominent ad are those with celebrities in it and it

doesn’t influence consumer’s purchase pattern at any point of time, it rather creates confusion

for the consumer on the recall.

According to Agrawal & Kamakura (1995), the use of celebrities in advertising has proven to

be profitable in the past since the announcement of a celebrity endorsement contract has been

shown to actually increase the value of a company’s stock portfolio.

Kamins (1990) found that attitudes toward ads and products became favorable as celebrity

endorser’s attractiveness increased.

Till and Busler (1998), Till and Shimp (1998) found that although a number of celebrity

endorsements turned out to be very successful, other attractive celebrities did not.

Becker and Murphy (1993), according to them, intended influence of any advertisement

(especially those using endorsers) on the purchase or the increase in the purchases of the

product should be treated as a change in demand rather than a change in consumer tastes or

preferences. This is because a change in tastes and preferences tend to take time, while the

impact of advertisements is of a short term nature

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction

2. Literature Review

3. Research Objectives

4. Research Hypotheses

5. Result and Discussion

Preferred Celebrities for Retail Brands

Comparison of Actors with Sportspersons

Preferred Product Category for Celebrities for Retail brands

6. Research Methodology

7. Limitation and Scope for Future Research

8. References

Celebrity Endorsement in Television Advertising: A Study On Viewer’s

Perception

Introduction:- Celebrity endorsement in advertisements started its journey with

the endorsement of pears soap, in 1893, by a British actress, Lillie Langtry

(Bergstrong and Skarfstad, 2004).

In India, the FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL), then known as

Hindustan Lever Limited, applied this strategy in the early 1950s, for their beauty

soap, Lux. In recent years, the use of celebrity-endorsed advertisement has become

a common tool among the advertisers. It is often seen as an integral part of the

integrated marketing communication. It is perceived as a winning formula for

building corporate and brand image. To make product visible, to develop a

prepurchase, positive attitude towards the brand, and to generate new demand,

almost every company, now-a-days, runs after popular celebrities. Cinema and

television have particularly extended the scope of endorsement as an advertising

technique.

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.

Celebritie’s word-of-mouth helps in positioning and repositioning a brand by

extending their personality, popularity, social status, and/or expertise in the field of

the brand.

Research has shown that, in general celebrity endorsement influences the consumer

percetion and attitude towards the advertisement and the brand, which heightens

the purchase intention and consequently, increase the sale. Scholars have also

argued that celebrity-endorsers are more effective than non-celebrity-endorsers in

terms of arousing the intension to purchase and creating the actual sales (Erdogan,

1999).

Literature Review :

A study by Balakrishnan and Kumar (2011) focused on identifying the influence of

celebrity endorsements on the purchase attitude of the consumers. The study finds

that ………………………….

A study by Pughazhendi ( 2011) aimed at investigating celebrity based

advertisements on the purchase attitude of consumers towards durable products in

reference to the city of Coimbatore. The study finds that ……………………

Y. Madhuri Srinivas(2011) studied the extent of changes in brand preferences of

people due to one exposure to a television advertisement. Finding of the study

showed that some of the selected advertisement could bring about a significant

changes in the brand preferences of people through just one exposure to the

advertisements which all the more emphasizes the importance of the design of an

advertisement and the cost-effective selection of media.

Majumder(2010) Studied celebrity endorsement has become popular among

advertisers all over the world. They try to use the fame of celebrities in the field of

film, sports and televion to promote their products and services. The celebrity used

in various ads are mostly film stars and sports persons. The present study seeks to

examine the demografic aspects of popular celebrities and the effectiveness of the

celebrity-endorsed TV ads.

The study has revealed that the advertisers should develop celebrity-endorsement

strategies for TV ads, with a clear demografic perspective of the target audience. It

surely brings the brand increased media exposure, if designed with a clear

understanding of the target audience.

Jain and Sudha(2009) The retail sector is one of the fastest moving sectors in

India. Its target audience is mainly youth who constitute 50% of the Indian

population. Retail brands need to be positioned for this segment, and one of the

strategies used is celebrity endorsement. Television Audience Measurement

(TAM) Media Research found a 49% growth in celebrity advertising in 2007.

There are many studies that have been conducted on celebrity endorsements, but

there is no study which has been done exclusively to understand the perception of

consumers about celebrity advertising for retail brands. The present study aims to

mitigate this gap in the existing literature. For the present study, the survey

method, using a structured questionnaire, was employed on a sample of 186

respondents.

Aarzoo Daswani(2008), The findings of the study revealed that customers prefer

female celebrities over male celebrities. The preference for celebrities was more

for sensory products than cerebral products. Customers want celebrities to entertain

them as well as give information pertaining to the products in the advertisements.

The factors that customers perceived to be important in selecting the celebrities for

retail brands were proficiency, reliability, pleasantness, elegance, distinctiveness,

approachability and non-controversial.

sanyukta A.Kulkarni Sahir U.Gaulkar PGDBM12005-07 Welingkar Institute of

Management Development & Research

L. Napoo Road, Matunga (CR), Mumbai–400 019 Studied, Today 'Celebrity

Endorsement' has attracted immense debate on whether it really contributes to the

brand building process or whether it is just another lazy tool to make the brand

more visible in the minds of the consumers. Although it has been observed that the

presence of a well-known personality helps in solving the problem of over

communication that is becoming more prominent these days, there are few

undesirable impacts of this practice on the brand. The theories like 'Source

Credibility Theory, Source Attractiveness Theory and Meaning Transfer Theory'

provide a basis on which the methodology of celebrity endorsement works and also

explains how the process of the celebrity endorsement influences the minds of the

consumers. Firms invest huge amounts as advertising expenditure for hiring the

right celebrity. However there lies uncertainty with respect to the returns that the

company might be able to garner for the brand. The issue of matching the values of

the celebrity with the brand values is also very important, i.e. getting the right

celebrity to endorse the right brand. Consumers perceive the brand as having

superior quality because it has been endorsed by a credible source. This makes

endorsement as one of the indictors of quality for any brand. Corporate credibility

along with endorser credibility plays a significant role in the attitude of the

consumer towards the brand and the advertisement respectively. On the other hand,

the over popularity of the celebrity sometimes overshadows the brand. If the

celebrity is involved in multiple endorsements, it tends to create confusion among

consumers and hence negatively affects the perception of the advertisement and the

brand. Hence, to say clearly whether the practice of celebrity endorsement impacts

positively or negatively to the brand still remains a debate.

Research Objectives :

The objective of this study are to reveal the impact of

celebrity endorsement in TV advertisement on brand image and to find out the

most prominient factors that play a key role in the success of a celebrity

endorsement. This study explores the link between brand and the consumer psyche

and finally comes up with a model which can help any brand to identify the key

areas to concentrate on while going for any celebrity endorsement. The newly

evolved model should lead any brand towards the success of strategic branding

from an endorsement aspect.

The Study has on the following key issues:

1. The attitude of consumers towards celebrity endorsed ads;

2. The demographic factores behind the attitude development;

3. The role of celebrity-endorsed add in the consumer’s decision-making

process; and

4. The major characteristics of celebrity endorser

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The project titled “ A Study of Relation of Emotional Intelligence to Job

Satisfaction among Corporate Executives” shall be the result of exploratory

research

UNIVERSE, SAMPLING FRAME: All the corporate executive of service

sector of Indore city.

SAMPLING METHOD: The present research is to be conducted on a sample

of 100 respondents from service sector . The respondents will be selected by

purposive sampling and convenience sampling method

SAMPLE SIZE: Sample size of 100 employees is taken in study.

DATA COLECTITON:

The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and

research design chalked out. There are two types of data primary as well as

secondary data, as follows:

Sources of primary data-

1) Observation

2) Self Design questionnaire which would be designed with the help of

mentor shall be administrated on foresaid employees. The scale would

be developed on liker scale having employees option on summated

scale between the score of 1 to 5.

Sources of secondary data-

1) Magazines

2) websites

3) Books

4) Journals

DATA ANALYSIS: The data will be analyzed using appropriate

statistics. Hypotheses shall be tested by using t test, and Chi-Square test and

correlation.

Limitation and Scope for Future Research: One of the limitations of the study is

that it is carried out in only one city of India. Similar studies can be conducted in

other cities, towns and villages of India to find out if there is any change in the

perception of the customers. This study has used only one media for the research

work, i.e., television. Print media can also be used for conducting a similar study.

References : (Should be in alphabetical order and in proper format)

Y. Madhuri Srinivas*,Indrani Majumdar* and Debiprasad Mukhrjee*

Varsha Jain*, Mari Sudha** and Aarzoo Daswani***

http://www.wbiaus.org/8.%20Shalini.pdf

http://www.indianmba.com/occasional_papers/op88/op88.html

Lalitha Balakrishnan* and C.Shalini Kumar**( World Review of Business

Research Vol. 1. No. 2. May 2011 Pp. 98 - 112)

The IUP Journal of Brand Management, Vol. VI, Nos. 3 & 4, 2009

Agrawal and Kamakura, Wagner A., (1995), "The economic worth of celebrity endorsers: An

event study analysis," Journal of Marketing, Chicago, Vol. 59, Iss. 3; pg. 56-63.

Becker, Gary S. and Murphy, Kevin M. (1993), "A simple theory of advertising as a good or

bad," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 108, Iss. 4, pg. 941-965.

Clark, C.R. & Horstmann, I.J. (2003). Celebrity endorsements. Unpublished manuscript

[http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/ihorstmann/JEMS.2005-07-07.clark.pdf].

Dasgupta (2008), “Celebrities aid brand recall, but may not influence buying: A Study”, from

The Financial Express.htm

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

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

Gary Harwood(2004), “Do celebrity endorsements build brands”, Article from

Bizcommunity.com/branding

Joshi & Ahaluwalia (2008), “The Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on

Consumer Brand Preferences”, from www.indianmba.com/FacultyColumn

Kamins, M. A. (1990), “An Investigation into the "Match-Up" Hypothesis in Celebrity Advertising:

When Beauty May be Only Skin Deep”, Journal of Advertising, 19, (1) 4-13.

Khatri (2006), “Celebrity Endorsement: A Strategic Promotion Perspective”, Indian Media

Studies Journal • Vol.1 • No.1. July-Dec. 2006

McCracken, G., (1989), “Who is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the

Endorsement Process”, Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 16 December, pp. 310 - 321

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

Business Research, 21 (1990) pp159-173.

Ohanian, Roobina (1991), “The Impact of Celebrity spokespersons” Perceived Image on

Consumers’ Intention to purchase, “Journal of advertising Research, 31(1), 46-53.

Orlando Linda (2005) “Celebrity Endorsements Selling Companies Short”, Article from

Buzzle.com

Petty, R.E., J. T. Cacioppo, and D. Schumann. 1983. Central and peripheral routes to

advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement. Journal of Consumer Research

10(2): 135-146.

Sharma Sandhir (2007), “Celebrities don't affect consumer decision making, says study”, from

www.indianmba.com/Faculty Column

Silvera, D. H. and Austad, B. (2004), “Factors predicting the effectiveness of celebrity

endorsement advertisements”, European Journal of Marketing 38 (11/12): 1509–1526.

Till, B. D., and M. Busler (1998), “Matching Products with Endorsers: Attractiveness versus Expertise”,

Journal of Consumer Marketing 15 (6), 576-86.

Till, Brian D and Terence A.Shimp (1998) “Endorsers in the case of Negative Celebrity

Information,” Journal of Advertising.