Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Purchase Behaviour - Research Proposal Example

Effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer purchase behaviour Contents Research question 3 Research methodology8 Ethical considerations 8 Timeline 9 References 11 Appendix 12 Research question Celebrity endorsement is a conventional marketing instrument used by marketers to communicate brand images and information to consumers. Celebrity endorsements have been the most popular advertising strategy in most of the industries. It is a very common phenomenon when consumers refer to internet and fashion magazines in order to see lifestyle, dressing sense, hairstyle and other features followed by their favourite celebrities. Apart from fashion, celebrities also influence consumer buying behaviour in case of high value products such as, vehicles, high value jewelleries and home appliances. Consumers also associate themselves with the brand on numerous occasions, where celebrities have particular influence. As a result of increasing influence of celebrities on daily lives of regular consumers, celebrity endorsement has become one of the most popular and accepted branding and promotion strategies among advertisers. One of the most important aspects that advertisements should take into consideration is the choice of celebrities. It is crucial that overall image and personality of the celebrity matches with the brand endorsed by him or her. It is also important to evaluate popularity as well as acceptability of the celebrity among target consumers. Researchers have identified and established various theories and models according to which personality and image of celebrities can be categorised into variables; where each variable determine a distinguished personality trait of the celebrity (Amos, Holmes & Strutton, 2008). These variables have been applied in the questionnaire prepared for the current study. The main research questions for the current study are as follows: 1. How efficient is use of celebrity endorsement in advertisements for driving purchase behaviour? 2. How does the choice of celebrity endorsers impact the short-term and long-term purchase behaviour of consumers? 3. If celebrity endorsements have no influence, what factors do consumers take into consideration while making their purchase decisions? Reasons for choosing the questions in the questionnaire: What is the most motivating factor when you plan to buy a new product? The purpose of this question is to understand whether or not celebrities trigger external motivation among intended consumers. Furthermore, in order to understand strength of celebrity endorsement, this has been compared with major external revenue motivators. The various options provided for the above question were offers and discounts, low prices, latest trends or up gradation of services or features and celebrity brand endorsement. Motivation can be described as the inner drive reflecting definite stimulations among customers towards certain product or service. Motivation has been one of the major purchase drivers. This motivation can be generated though external as well as internal simulators. Internal stimulators are generally not controlled by advertisers such as, jealousy. However, external motivation can be controlled and are extensively used for positive response among consumers. These external motivators include discounts and promotions and additional offers. With the help of the above question, the researcher will be able to identify the major motivating force behind purchase intentions. Would you consider those products advertised by celebrities to be of high quality compared to its competitors? The purpose of the above question is to understand how much value or expertise of the celebrity is transferred to the brand or product in the form of quality. When celebrities endorse a product, they transfer value of their own image, expertise and personality to the service, product or the brand represented by them. As a result, a related image is transferred between them and the brand. So, expertise of the source or endorser is crucial for success of the celebrity advertisement as expertise as a personality trait is transferred. Expertise of a celebrity can be described as “the extent to which an endorser is perceived to be a source of valid assertions” (Erdogan, 1999, p. 298). According to Ohanian (1990), actual expertise of celebrity in the endorsed field is not as crucial as the positive perception and belief of consumers towards the celebrity’s expertise. Consumers show more interest and enthusiasm towards brands, which are advertised by an expert celebrity compared to advertisements without any celebrity. This can be attributed to the fact that celebrity endorsers are in general considered to be experts compared to normal customers and their opinion is influential for overall purchase intention of consumers. Do you think believability and honesty of the celebrity influences the purchase behaviour of consumers? The objective of the above question is to understand trustworthiness of the celebrity among intended receivers and consumers. Trustworthiness can be described as the level of confidence that a celebrity endorses or communicates while promoting a product or brand. It also means the level of trust that consumers have on authenticity of information provided by the celebrities. For example, if a celebrity has maintained a clean and transparent image and does not engage in any conspiracies or issues, then they are considered as honest and believable. As a result, those celebrities endorsing a product or brand are perceived to be using those products or services as well. So, it can be said that trustworthiness of the endorser is extremely important for successful communication of the intended message. Honesty and persuasiveness of a celebrity are important drivers of positive change in the attitude of customers towards the brand. For example, Motorola recently signed Hugh Jackman as its celebrity endorser. Hugh Jackman is considered as an honest, hardworking and trustworthy actor. The brand has experienced a significant rise in brand recognition and purchase intensions among consumers. Do you perceive sense of similarity between product and the celebrity endorser as influential while making a purchase decision? Through the above question, the researcher tries to identify the level of congruence between the product and the celebrity along with his or her image. Determining congruence between product/brand and the celebrity is an important method to identify effectiveness of the brand. According to various researches, endorsements have been found to be more effective and persuasive when images or messages communicated are similar to products or brands endorsed (Misra, 1990). This is also known as match-up theory; according to this, consumers try to recognize similarities or connections between the product or brand and their own life. This connectivity can be established either though a unique service or product attribute, theme of advertisement or by introducing a celebrity largely accepted and favoured among target audience. Similarly, if a brand is endorsed by a celebrity who does not reflect any connection with the brand or product, it can hamper the brand image (Kamins, 1990). For instance, if a high profile female celebrity endorses a luxury jewellery brand, then consumers might think that the celebrity is using the brand. However, if the same celebrity is endorsing a mediocre soap intended for middle class customers, then there will be cognitive dissonance. Similarly, a celebrity who is frequently associated with environmental works as well as NGOs can successfully endorse an organic food product. Hence, the above question will help the researcher in analysing purchase intention of consumers influenced by their favourite celebrity (Till & Shimp, 1998). Would you buy a negatively perceived product if it is endorsed by your favourite celebrity? With the help of the above question, the researcher will try to figure out probability of consumers selecting a negatively perceived brand over others because of direct influence of the celebrity endorsing it. This negative brand perception can occur due to several facts. Conrad (1995) had described celebrities in a very tactful manner. According to him, celebrities are also humans. When an agency signs up a celebrity, the brand or product is exposed to all aspects of the celebrity, including their good, bad as well as ugly side. However, various surveys in the area of negative celebrity advertisements have revealed certain interesting facts. When consumers come across negative information regarding a celebrity, it affects only first time users or consumers intending to buy the product or brand. Nonetheless, in case of consumers who are already using the product, the effect is extremely low. At the same time, surveys have revealed that negative perception about a brand can be mitigated by using a celebrity who is positively and highly perceived among target respondents. Would you purchase a product if your favourite celebrity claims that he or she is using the product? With the help of the above question, the researcher will evaluate importance of credibility of a celebrity and its influence on consumer purchase behaviour. If respondents believe that products or services promoted by celebrities are actually used by them, then intention towards purchase will be higher. Source credibility can be described as the extent to which a customer believes that the celebrity possesses expertise and knowledge of the brand endorsed by him/her (Ohanian, 1990). Few variables are used to define credibility of an endorser and expertise is one of them. Credibility can also be described as “the extent to which the recipient sees the source as having relevant knowledge, skills, or experience and trusts the source to give unbiased, objective information” (G. Belch & M. Belch, 1994, p.189). Credibility of the celebrity is particularly important when the brand or product is largely unidentified by target masses. For instance, when a product or service has been recently launched, ideal method to connect with the target audience is using a celebrity who is hugely popular as well as praised among the audience. This question will analyze the level of rise in purchase intentions of target consumers with respect to credibility of the celebrity. Do you believe attractiveness of a celebrity endorser can trigger your purchase intentions towards the products or services endorsed by them? The purpose of the above question is to evaluate attractiveness of a celebrity and its association with the purchase behaviour of target consumers. The idea of attractiveness of a celebrity does not necessarily imply outer beauty or physical attractive. It can also include attributes such as, personality, intellectual skills, lifestyle, skills as well as athletic performance (Erdogan, Baker & Tagg, 2001). Attractiveness of the celebrity can also be established on the basis of their skills in related fields such as, sports, singing, dance and cooking. For example, David Beckham endorsing Armani brand is a perfect fit. Beckham is a high profile sports celebrity, known for his soccer skills as well as fashion sense. As a result, men want to act and look like him and women are attracted by his looks and appearance. This results in a positive perception towards the brand or product, leading to higher purchase intention. Hence, the question efficiently relates with effectiveness of celebrity endorsements and is apt for the study. When regional and international celebrities are compared, which one has a greater influence on your purchase behaviour? The objective of the above question is to understand importance of using local or international/national celebrities while advertising a product or service. The question will also help in understanding difference between the level of credibility transferred by a local and that of an international endorser. This in turn will help in making the right choice of endorsers so as to generate powerful purchase intentions among target consumers. Business market is highly proliferated with local, international and regional brands. As a result, celebrity endorsing can offer a distinct image for the brand. Even so, messages transferred can be ineffective if the endorser in unknown among target consumers. For instance; brands such as, Nike and Adidas, employ regional sports celebrities for endorsing products in different countries and regions. This is one of the crucial strategies that advertisers need to plan while implementing celebrity endorsements for a particular product or brand. In case of wide cultural differences such as, in Japan and United Kingdom, if a celebrity from Japan endorses a certain brand in United Kingdom, then the message might not be adequately transferred as he/she will be a normal or unknown person for UK consumers. Therefore, this question will help the researcher in recognising the impact of using local or international celebrities for driving consumer purchase intentions. Research methodology According to Saunders, Lewis & Thornhil (2007), there are three major types of methodologies used for conducting research; quantitative, qualitative and mixed approach. The research will pursue interpretism as the research philosophy in this study because results from the questionnaire will be interpreted in order to derive meaningful results. The data collection instrument will be a questionnaire since it will be easier to gather data as well as interpret results with minimum error. The questionnaire will be semi-structured containing both objective and subjective type questions. In addition, the researcher will use qualitative research methods for assessing primary data. The samples will be selected through convenience sampling or non-probabilistic sampling methods. The sample population chosen will be men and women of the age group 25-35 years. Since celebrity endorsements have highest influence on young and energetic consumers, the above sample will be selected accordingly. The relationship between the variables will be analysed in a numeric manner. For this, quantitative tools such as, SPSS, will be used in the study, thereby addressing the research problems. Secondary data collection will be conducted from various online articles, books, print materials, white papers, academic reviewed journals, government databases as well as advertisement and branding magazines. Ethical considerations Since last few decades, importance of ethics in a research study has highly increased. The reason behind increased importance of ethical guideline is that a number of cases related to violation of ethical guidelines have surfaced. So, this study will consider certain ethical factors as well. Some of the major ones are presented below: - 1. The current research study will be formed in such manner that no physical or psychological harm can occur to the participants. 2. The study participants are free to leave the interview process at any time. 3. No participant will need to bear any form of financial expense during the study. 4. The researcher will also make sure that participants come on a voluntary basis or self-approval. 5. The researcher should be honest and straightforward while conducting the interview process. 6. No data regarding the participants should be misused or illegally implemented. 7. The researcher should be sincere towards the reason and theme of data collection. Timeline The research study will be conducted over three month’s period and each month will be divided on a weekly basis. Months Month 1 Month 2 Month 3  Week Numbers  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Activities     Identification of the research problem and rationalizing the research objectives     Development of the research proposal and submission. Correction and revision     literature review development on the basis of secondary data     Finishing qualitative data analysis, refinement of the research hypothesis based on literature review. Questionnaire development based on literature review and qualitative analysis Conducting the process of interview taking target sample population through the developed semi-structured questionnaires     primary data analysis and final report writing Revision and submission of the final report References Amos, C., Holmes, G. & Strutton, D. (2008). Exploring the relationship between celebrity endorser effects and advertising effectiveness. International Journal of Advertising, 27(2), 209-234. Belch, G. & Belch, M. (1994). Introduction to advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. Homewood: Irwin. Conrad, E. (1995). Caution: Falling idols. Ad firms growing wary of tainted sports heroes. Pittsburghs: Post-Gazette. Erdogan, B.Z. (1999). Celebrity endorsements: A Literature Review. Journal of Marketing Management, 15(4), 291-315. Erdogan, B.Z., Baker, M.J. & Tagg, S. (2001). Selecting celebrity endorsers: The practitioner’s perspective. Journal of Advertising Research, 41(3), 39-48. 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, 4–13. Misra, S. (1990). Celebrity spokesperson and brand congruence: An assessment of recall and affect. Journal of Business Research, 21, 159-173. Ohanian, R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19(3), 39–52. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhil, A. (2007). Research methods for business students (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education. Till, B.D. & Shimp, T.A. (1998). Endorsers in advertising: The case of negative celebrity information. Journal of Advertising, 27(1), 67-82. Appendix Question Reason for Asking Link to Research Questions / Hypotheses Link to Literature What is the most motivating factor when you plan to buy a new product? Understand whether celebrities trigger external motivation among intended consumers or not If celebrity endorsements have no influence, what factors do consumers take into consideration when making their purchase decisions? Motivation Would you consider those products advertised by celebrities to be of high quality compared to its competitors? The purpose of the question is to understand how much value or expertise of the celebrity is transferred to the brand or product in the form of quality How efficient is the use of celebrity endorsement in advertisements for driving purchase behaviour? Source Credibility theory Do you think believability and honesty of the celebrity influences the purchase behaviour of consumers? The objective of the question is to understand the trustworthiness of the celebrity among intended receivers and consumers How the choice of celebrity endorsers impacts the short term and long term purchase behaviour of consumers? Source Credibility theory Do you think the sense of similarity between product and the celebrity endorser as influential when making a purchase decision? Through the question, the researcher tries to identify the level of congruence between the product and the celebrity and his or her image. How the choice of celebrity endorsers impacts the short term and long term purchase behaviour of consumers? Congruence Theory Would you buy a negatively perceived product if it is endorsed by your favourite celebrity? With the help of the question, the researchers will try to figure out the probability of consumers selecting a negatively perceived brand over others because of the direct influence of the celebrity endorsing it. How efficient is the use of celebrity endorsement in advertisements for driving purchase behaviour? Source Credibility theory Would you purchase a product if your favourite celebrity claims that he or she is using the product? With the help of the question, the researcher will evaluate the importance of credibility of a celebrity and its influence on consumer purchase behaviour How efficient is the use of celebrity endorsement in advertisements for driving purchase behaviour? Source credibility theory of celebrity endorsements Do you believe attractiveness of a celebrity endorser can trigger your purchase intentions towards the products or services endorsed by them? The purpose of the question is to evaluate the attractiveness of a celebrity and its association with the purchase behaviour among target consumers. How efficient is the use of celebrity endorsement in advertisements for driving purchase behaviour? Source attractiveness theory of celebrity endorsements When regional and international celebrities are compared, which one does have a greater influence on your purchase behaviour? The objective of the above question is to understand importance of using local or international/national celebrities while advertising a product or service How the choice of celebrity endorsers impacts the short term and long term purchase behaviour of consumers? Local and international celebrity endorsements Read More