Brand Management -Celebrity Endorsement and Consumer Behaviour - Literature review Example

HOW DOES СЕLЕBRITY ЕNDОRSЕMЕNT АFFЕСT СОNSUMЕR BЕHАVIОUR IN THЕ HIGH FАSHIОN INDUSTRY Student’s Name Course Professor’s Name University City (State) Date How Does Celebrity Endorsement affect Consumer Behaviour in the High Fashion Industry? Introduction The contemporary business landscape continues to face an upsurge of stiff competition from the existing and the incoming players. The fiercely intense competition is even higher in business segments whose survival depend on product differentiation and innovativeness like the high fashion segment of the garment industry. On that note, in this segment, merely having a good product is inadequate to sustain the competition and keep the clients returning. Advertisement has taken centre stage with most brands and companies showing great innovativeness in their modes of advertisement. It is on such backdrop that celebrity endorsement has become a major advertisement technique. For the current generation, people between the age of 18 to 25 years, television and pop stars, business tycoons, and even athletes have become chief arbiters of public opinion, morality, and fashion sense, hence making them influential characters on the buying behaviour. Besides, people admire and easily attach to celebrities as icons. Celebrities range from universal icons to local reality TV stars who, in some cases, climb the ladder of success overnight through appearing on shows with, for instance, a unique dress or indomitable fashion sense. Companies, given their unhinged quest for differentiation and competitive advantage, have embarked on exploiting the celebrity concept and their power to in their advertisement. The layman’s explanation for this trend is that famous people are conspicuous, thus, apart from attracting consumer interest, will increase brand awareness tenfold. Other experts and professionals have postulated that a combination of an intricate and effective advertising strategy and celebrity endorsement drastically increase the brand value, thus stimulating purchase by the consumers especially those allied to the celebrity either as fans, relatives, or mere admirers. The popularity of this concept and the supposed benefits have seen the crescendo of celebrities endorsing products or brands gradually but steadily surge over the years. Marketers and advertisers overtly recognize and harness the influential power of celebrities to manipulate the decisions of their buyers. The move anchors on a hypothesis advancing the belief that favourable attitude towards a brand or product comes from its association with an influential personality. Across the globe, celebrities have been believed to have special powers for bestowing the special attributes upon a brand even if the brand initially lacked the attributes. Even as the craze is not expected to change in the foreseeable future, the advertisers have ignored the potential dangers associated with this mode of advertising. The wave of endorsements and the subsequent profits have barred the advertisers from seeing the obvious threats like loss of credibility that are synonymous with celebrity marketing. While that is not the focus of this discussion, it is worth a consideration. Meanwhile, the lingering questions remain whether celebrity endorsement really have a psychological impact on the consumers’ psychology and has the ability to change their brand preferences. Also, it remains to be seen how celebrity endorsement influences the buying decision of consumers, and mediate between the brand and the common buyer. The questions notwithstanding, the following discussion is set in the backdrop of absolute certainty that celebrity endorsement greatly influences the consumer behaviour in the high fashion industry. Theoretical Underpinning of Celebrity Endorsements Celebrity endorsement refers to a campaign or advertisement technique that brands use, and involves famous people, otherwise known as celebrities. The celebrities leverage their fame and high social regards to promote a product or a brand (Domiguez, Herrero and Salmones 2013). Advertisers apply this concept purely on hypothetical grounds hoping that the positive regards and the high social status of the celebrities will trickle down to the brand, thus, increase its value and awareness. The practice has currently become synonymous with the high fashion industry turns celebrities into fundraisers of sorts. To this end, it is noteworthy that celebrity endorsement is not a preserve of the modern era. The practice dates back to the early 19th century. Clothing or garment, perfumes and cosmetics manufacturers and distributors heavily rely on well-known people to market their products and create a sustainable competitive advantage. Celebrity endorsement vis-à-vis brand awareness is largely associated with the concept of celebrity reach. Belch and Belch (2012) define celebrity reach as the population of consumers that have heard or seen the message from the brand at least once as a result of the use of a celebrity. The authors project that the use of a celebrity by a fashion company is an indication that they are attempting to reach the largest assortment of prospective buyers or consumers of their product. In the age of social media, fans, and admirers of the celebrities connect through the social media networks. Thus, the magnitude of celebrity reach can be gauged through the number of people who follow them on Twitter or the number of likes they have accrued on their Facebook fan pages. The reach has been linked with the celebrities’ ability to turn their network into potential consumers of the specific product they represent. High-fashion brands higher celebrities to endorse their products or the brand on two grounds: celebrities are reference groups and style icons. Solomon (2009) defines aspirational reference groups as comprising people unknown to others in reality but are still admired and considered successful by the public for the past or current actions, for instance, actors. The reference group phenomenon has contributed in making brands hire famous people to endorse or vouch for their products in advertising campaigns with a view to increasing the visibility of the brands and products. From the standpoint of high-fashion industry, celebrities are adorable emblems of style and fashion (Solomon 2009). The author defines style as a unique yet risky statement that an individual makes and extends to other individuals, for instance, through wearing a particular piece of cloth or perfume. They originate from the consumers’ adaptation to the inventions or creative products that the designers generate which meet the needs of the consumers. Celebrity endorsement of a style makes it traverse the globe both virtually and in reality, as most people imitate the sense of style of the particular celebrity either in the short or long-term. Influential people play a pivotal role in shaping the styles that will succeed in the high-fashion industry. Celebrity endorsement can either be explicit or implicit. Dahlen, Lange and Smith (2010) clarifies that celebrity endorsement is considered explicit when the celebrity makes an overt endorsement statement, and implicit when, for instance, a celebrity appears alongside a product or brand without overtly speaking about its qualities. An exemplification of explicit endorsement is Beyoncé’s 2012 sponsorship arrangement with PepsiCo. The deal would see Beyoncé to appear in the PepsiCo’s TV commercials as well as the standard Pepsi print (Casserly 2012). On the other hand, Ortiz (2014) explains implicit endorsement through the appearance of numerous ‘Beats by Dre’ headphones and earphones in popular hip-hop and pop music videos like those of Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, and even Britney Spears. The aforementioned celebrities do not make it overtly known to the public that they are aware of the qualities of the portable speakers, but they convey a covert message and make a statement on the quality of the portable speakers. The mere association of the portable speakers with the celebrities is a statement that their quality is worthy of the attention of people from the upper social classes. While the entire celebrity endorsement concept seems to be working right for the high fashion industry, it is the process of celebrity selection that matters. It is important to note, at this point, that an endorsement is not a guarantee that the product will see massive sales and influx of consumers desperate to have a taste of the brand and its products. The advertiser has to carefully and sagaciously select the right celebrity for the image of the brand or the products. Given the spontaneous behaviours and actions of most celebrities especially in the music industry, a simple contravening act affecting the image of the celebrity has similar effects on the endorsed brand. It is on such grounds that Marshall (2015) advices advertisers to judiciously consider only celebrity personalities whose appeal to the public are not short term and will help the brand grow for as long as the contract lasts. Many theories have been developed to this effect. All of them attempt to predict elements that advertisers should consider while selecting celebrities for their brand endorsement. One prominent theory is the match-up hypothesis which states that the success of endorsement directly depends on the fit between the celebrity and the brand or product (Ilicic and Webster 2011). An appropriate fit and match between the celebrity and the product create the notion of persuasiveness and credibility within the network of the celebrity. On the same note, the source attractiveness model predicts that the extent of effectiveness of a message or statement either explicit or implicit is a direct function of the attractiveness, similarity, and familiarity of the endorser (Muda, Musa, Mohamed and Borhan 2014). Attractive communicators, for instance, produce relatively high purchase intentions among the consumers and positively contribute to the likeability of the product. Ilicic and Webster (2011) introduces the meaning transfer postulation which presupposes that consumers draw various meanings from the relationships that celebrities establish with particular brands. The statement is only effective if the celebrity has unparalleled ability to deliver the meaning through a matching relationship between them and the brand. Source credibility model is the last of this kind. It holds that the effectiveness and efficiency of a statement or message from an advertisement is a function of the consumer’s perception of the trustworthiness and expertise of the celebrity endorser. Understanding Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour refers to the study of what people buy, how, when and why they do it. It is a combination of elements from such disciplines as sociopsychology, psychology, and economics among others (Fill 2013). The aim of consumer behaviour is to gain a profound comprehension of the decision-making process of buyers both at a group and individual levels. As such, consumer behaviour focuses on the exact features of individual consumers like psychographics, and particular behavioural variables with a view to comprehending their wants vis-à-vis the products in the market. In other instances, it attempts to predict how such groups as family, reference groups, and the society influences the consumers (Fill 2013). Vast knowledge of consumer behaviour assists industries and firms in enhancing not only their product varieties but also marketing strategies. There are numerous issues that significantly influence the psyche of consumers and manipulate their decision-making ability with respect to particular products in the market or industry. The major factor is the psychology that deals with how consumers feel, think, and pick from the available alternatives like brands and products, and the psychology concerning how the consumer’s environment, for instance, culture, media, and family influences them (Mclnnis, Pieters and Hoyer 2014). Other factors or issues include the shopping behaviour of consumers or their marketing choices, limitations in their knowledge base or information process abilities and how these determine the marketing outcome. In the same vein, it is worth noting that consumer decision strategies and motivation differ from one product to the other with respect to the importance of the product or the interest of the consumers regarding that particular product. These issues can help marketers improve their marketing campaigns and advertisements in a manner that they directly target the consumers and draw them towards the product or the brand. While studying consumer behaviour, the decision-making process has always been one of the major points of concern. While in most cases the decision-making process looks simple, it is actually intricate especially when reference is made to the fashion industry which features a variety of innovative products that flood the market frequently. It begins with the consumer identifying their need for a product or their quest to solve a problem. The need can be attitudinal or psychological but needs to be fulfilled through consumption of a particular product or receiving a service. The next stage comprises information search when the consumer sets out to find out how they can satiate the existing need or solve the problem. Issues like the purchase ability, opinions of friends, and level of involvement chip in at this stage while the consumer is seeking to optimize their satisfaction. It is also noteworthy that the influence of celebrity endorsement begins at this stage. The information search yields a wide spectrum of alternatives, for instance, different brands or products that are affordable or expensive, their availability, and their level of satiation of the consumer’s needs as compared to other product alternatives that are available. Evaluation of the alternatives comes next. It resembles a cost-benefit analysis, but above all, the consumer shortlists the products or brands based on how much they satisfy the consumer’s needs or solves their problems. After the shortlisting, the consumer finally resolves to purchase a particular product over the other available alternatives based on their parameters like cost-effectiveness or its level of resolving the buyer’s problem. The next stage involves the consumer setting out to the market, verifies, and purchases the product. Lastly, the consumer embarks on a post-purchase evaluation which undoubtedly determines their level of likeability and ability to purchase the product next time and stick to the brand as a loyal customer or look for other alternatives. To this end, while celebrity endorsement may attract first-time buyers to the brand, it does not guarantee client retention- that depends on the usefulness and uniqueness of the products (Fill 2013). The figures below represent the decision-making process and the post-purchase evaluation process and outcomes. Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Behaviour Case Study: David Beckham and Dolce & Gabbana A prerequisite case study will serve to present a prior mental picture of the situation as well as act as a window to the subsequent discussions. The qualitative case study is intended to present insight of consumer perception of a brand and a given celebrity. The following case study is critical in enabling an insightful comprehension of purchase motivations of consumers with regards to high fashion brands and products, as well as the concept of celebrity endorsement. Consumers often associate a number of descriptive words with high fashion brands and products for instance, expensive, no long sizes, made to measure, smart, iconic, runway model, and made to measure among several others. As such, they tend to look for a fulfilment of any of their descriptions in a manner in which their favourite celebrity clads. Aside from these descriptions, high fashion products buyers also tend to consider good quality, trendiness, exclusiveness, stylishness, and distinctiveness of the products they look to purchase. However, Sharma (2014) notes that the primary reasons for buying are often psychological and symbolic. The Dolce & Gabbana is one of the known high fashion brands that consumers hold with high regards. Consumers perceive Dolce & Gabanna brand on three aspects namely personality, style and fashion, and price perception. A Dolce & Gabanna consumer is generally regarded as young and rich with an age range between 18-28 years. Other possible attributes of consumers of the brand include well-groomed extroverts. While Dolce & Gabanna is undoubtedly distinctive and upper class, its position in the market is unclear especially among serious competitors like Gucci and Cavalli. As such, increased brand awareness and stable market position would require such marketing strategies as celebrity endorsement through icons like David Beckham whose athletic fame has won many admirers and fanatics. The start has built his image over the years both in and out of the field, coupled with recommendable mannerisms and behaviour. His success makes sense mostly to the younger population between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. To this end, it is noteworthy that the celebrity’s endorsement would mostly influence the younger population to whom he is well known and admired. It, thus, suffices to say that the older consumers (mostly 35 years and above) may be left out given that they are less privy to David Beckham and his celebrity status. Celebrity Endorsement and Consumer Behaviour: Effects Given that celebrities are flashy figures, most people often misconstrue the marketing strategy as one that is only replete with benefits. However, marketers tend to ignore the negative effects for the short-term profits through increased volumes of sales. On that note, celebrity endorsement may have both positive and negative effects on consumer behaviour. The following section will draw from the preceding case study of Dolce & Gabbana and David Beckham. Popescu (2014) unequivocally states that celebrity endorsement tops the list of factors that affect consumer behaviour. Analysis of consumer behaviour vis-à-vis celebrity brand endorsement bases on three main determinants namely perception, attention, and motivation. Attention describes any aspects that the consumer is able to concentrate on in the short-run. Celebrity endorsement, for one, has a huge impact on consumer attention. It is one of the major factors that attract the attention of consumers towards a particular brand and product either on a long or short-term depending on how long the advertiser is able to retain the celebrity and run the project (Choi and Rifon 2012). Alluding to the above case of David Beckham, the celebrity’s admirers will be curious to know the exact reason that has got him associated with the brand. As such, their fashion focus is highly likely to shift from other brands to Dolce & Gabanna. However, attention is relatively short-term, and once the fanatics have independently satiated determined the reason, even if it is illegitimate, they may revert to their usual brands. However, the ‘benefit of doubt’ period may have the company double, triple or quadruple its sales. Perception is another element that links celebrity endorsement to consumer behaviour, and subsequently, a brand. Popescu (2014) and Choi and Rifon (2012) observe that the perception of the consumers directly depends on the attributes and lifestyle of the celebrity. Perception of the consumers towards a brand will rely on how the consumers perceive the celebrity; either negatively or positively. However, perception entirely depends on people; thus, it is highly unpredictable. That is, for instance, in the case above, despite being a renowned athlete, some people may choose to see the negative side of David Beckham and shy away from Dolce & Gabanna merely on such grounds while others may be attracted to the brand despite his human flaws. Nonetheless, such a perception stems from association between the brand and the celebrity. A negative perception corresponds to the negative perception of the celebrity that is associated with the brand, and vice versa. The lifestyle choices of the celebrities largely determine the perception, and this is where the match-up hypothesis applies. If a marketer chooses an immoral celebrity, for instance, or an arrogant one, the negative image that people have attached to them may even make loyal consumers of the brand want to dissociate themselves from the products. Celebrity endorsement can either induce or suppress consumer motivation towards a brand or product. Motivation is the primary factor that drives a person towards a service, brand, or product. Motivation can be induced. That is, extrinsic factors or external forces can induce the drive to like or be associated with a particular brand or product. Fashion items fall in the first level (psychological needs) of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Therefore, apart from the internal drive to fulfil these needs, such factors as cost-benefit may prevent consumers from looking to a particular brand. In such a case, an external source of motivation is required to provide a reassurance and induce motivation towards that particular brand or product. Celebrity endorsement is one such external force. The iconic nature of celebrities makes most people want to associate with them, all other factors notwithstanding (Ambroise, Pantin-Soghler, Valette-Florence and Albert 2014). The attempt to associate with the celebrities cover their whole aspect of existence including some of their admirable behaviour and fashion sense. For example, the simple act of David Beckham wearing a Dolce & Gabanna jeans may spur a motivation in some of his admirers who will then resolve to purchase and don such types of clads. In such a scenario, the price or perception does not matter. It is the inner drive to look like David Beckham that will motivate the person to buy the product. They will disregard any other factors like the class associated with the brand versus their social class and the reliability of the products just to look like their favourite celebrity. Still on motivation, celebrity endorsement can spur impulse buying from any kind of consumer both prospective and loyal. Their deep admiration for the celebrity, and the fact that the celebrity identifies with a product may motivate those who love the celebrities to embark on an impulse buying spree with a view to improving their self-esteem from the fact that they have the same fashion sense as that of their favourite celebrities. Besides attention, perception, and motivation, celebrity endorsement generally reorients consumer behaviour. That is, buyers are highly likely to change their attitude towards a product or brand if their celebrity is associated with it (Lazarevic 2012). Celebrities attract people towards the advertisement. Besides, the fact that most celebrities are from upper-class, thus, presumably have a knack for, and can afford quality products, people will automatically perceive the product as of high quality. The perceived quality, as a result of the celebrity endorsement, is enough to re-orient consumer behaviour, for instance, by having even the most loyal consumers of other brands change their minds and prefer the brand that the celebrity associates with. (Lazarevic 2012). This kind of easily re-oriented behaviour is specifically common among the younger people who would rather look trendy and ‘uptown.’ Celebrity endorsement could also affect consumer behaviour negatively with reference to the brand or product in question. Spry, Pappu and Cromwell (2011) assert that celebrity endorsement, for instance, may reduce brand credibility, thus, scare consumers and detach the loyal clientele from brand or product. The limelight and the fame may spontaneously change the behaviours of celebrities. As such, a morally upright celebrity, for instance, may often contravene the acceptable societal moral prescriptions. When that happens while the celebrity has an ongoing deal with a brand or product, consumers may begin to doubt the credibility of the brand since they will be seen as condoning degeneracy. As such, loyal consumers of a certain brand may shift their focus and preference to alternative brands that they consider more credible and reliable. Similarly, despite how flashy and appealing a celebrity may be, they can never be a darling of everyone. On that note, those who do not admire the celebrity often refrain from associating themselves with the celebrities through certain brands or products. Given that the high fashion industry has stiff competition and a wide range of products, consumers have a large pool of alternatives which makes it easier to get the same product from another brand. Following the same line of thought, overindulgence also may create suspicion among the consumers. It is often expected that quality and above-par products will attract the consumers just by a simple advertisement (Muda, Musa, Mohamed and Borhan 2014). However, in case that a brand has to involve a celebrity in marketing a product touted to be one of its kind, witty consumers may suspect foul play- the product may not be what is thought to be, and the celebrity is meant to convince the consumers otherwise. Consumers who fear trying out products will then wait for others to buy the product so they can confirm the authenticity of the products from their colleagues who already bought it. Conclusively, the above discussion has determined that celebrity endorsement has greater impacts on consumer behaviour. The impacts are both positive and negative, thus, high fashion dealers should apply the theoretical section of this discussion in selecting the right celebrities for their brand endorsement as this will likely eliminate the negative effects on consumer behaviour. Celebrities, as icons, induce motivation, influence perception, and draw the attention of consumers towards a brand with which they are associated. On the overall, this re-orients consumer behaviour by making the celebrity endorsed brand favourable among their fanatics. However, care should be taken as there is no guarantee that celebrity endorsed brands will sell more than their non-endorsed counterparts. References Ambroise, L., Pantin-Sohier, G., Valette-Florence, P. and Albert, N., 2014. From endorsement to celebrity co-branding: Personality transfer. Journal of Brand Management, 21(4), pp.273-285. Belch, G.E. and Belch, M.A., 2003. Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. The McGraw− Hill, New York. Casserly, M., 2012. Beyoncé’s $50 million Pepsi deal takes creative cues from Jay Z. Forbes. Choi, S.M. and Rifon, N.J., 2012. 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