RESEARCH PROPOSAL

On

Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on

Consumer Buying Behavior

Submitted By:

Pratik Prasad

PRN- 17021141126

SEC- A
 Abstract

Celebrity endorsement is one of the premier marketing methods used today. Research
into the impact of negative celebrity publicity on consumer attitude enables companies
to make informative decisions. It gives companies the insight needed to devise the
correct strategy of dealing with negative celebrity publicity and celebrity endorsement in
general, saving them both time, money and effort. In this thesis literature of some of the
most prominent theories concerning celebrity endorsement and the effect it has on
consumer attitude have been reviewed. The associative learning theory in combination
with attributing theories form the theoretical base used in this thesis. We have found
that the size of an association set, the level of consumer involvement, the respective
match between celebrity and product and the level of perceived credibility and
attractiveness, play a pivotal role in determining the effect of negative celebrity publicity.
Companies should be aware of the impact that negative celebrity publicity has in the
cases of a small association set, low level of consumer involvement and a bad match
between celebrity and product. Adding to that, negative celebrity publicity decreases the
perceived levels of credibility and attractiveness which results in a negative effect on
consumer attitude.
Introduction

Are companies overreacting to celebrity endorsers who have received negative

attention? Should Tiger Woods have been dropped by some of his partner companies
(endorsers) after his marital infidelities? In this day and age we are bombarded with the
effects of marketing every day of our lives. We no longer notice it to the full extent
because we have gotten used to it. This presents a particular challenge to today’s
marketers as they seek ways to draw our attention towards their product. A method
often used to achieve this effect is celebrity endorsements which entails successfully
linking a celebrity to a product in an effort to create a better brand/product image
(Forkan, 1980; Kamins, 1990). Celebrity endorsements have been around for decades
but have been revolutionized by the use of professional athletes and musicians as the
endorsers. Using celebrity endorsement has advantages of course; the simple fact that
the human brain works as a web of associations (Rosch, Mervis, Gray, Johnson &
Boyes-Braem, 1976) which would enable any product to be linked to anything a
celebrity does (stands for), thus creating more brand awareness, is evidence of such an
advantage. Also people tend to associate themselves with success even if they have
nothing to do with it (Cialdini, Borden, & Thorne, 1976) which would increase the
chance of consumers buying products linked to successful people (which celebrities
almost always are). However we cannot ignore the fact that the process of endorsement
is not that simple. Companies have to make sure that they create a good match
between the celebrity and the product being endorsed (Forkan 1980; Kamins 1989,
1990). Also celebrities are human beings which presents marketers with a challenge of
the ‘human-aspect’ which comes with a significant amount of risk. The use of celebrities
to endorse seems to be a fine method when the used celebrity has a positive image and
gets positive media attention. However, as hinted above, it can also turn very ugly very
quickly. Tiger Woods, a world-class golfer and Gilbert Arenas, a star basketball player,
who have both received a ton of negative media attention recently for marital
indiscretions and ‘a joke involving guns’ respectively, are prime examples of the ugly
side of celebrity endorsing. As a result Accenture, a global consulting company, has
ended their cooperation with Woods and Adidas, a successful sports brand, has ended
their cooperation with Arenas. The reason for this refusal by companies to tolerate
negative publicity concerning their celebrities can be Please Behave G.A.J. van Kanten
Tilburg University 2010 5 explained by the fear that consumers will dissociate from
anything negative, including the product, the now negative, celebrity represents. People
have the tendency to dissociate themselves from anything negative such as failures and
scandals, also known as ‘cutting off reflected failure’ (Cialdini & Richardson, 1980). The
question remains however if these companies should actually fear for a negative
influence on consumer attitude or that this is all blown way out of proportion rendering
the companies actions to simply nothing but a pre-emptive stance against potential
harm done to their brand image. In this paper, the basic variables needed to have an
effective endorsement will be covered. The advantages and potential risks of celebrity
endorsements will be explored. Also an insight into how these endorsements could
influence consumers (perception) will be given. Finally the main question will be
answered: What is the impact of negative publicity concerning celebrity endorsers on
consumer attitude?
Research Questions

The subject of this paper is the relation between Celebrity Endorsement and Consumer
Attitude moderated by Negative Endorser publicity. The Problem Statement derived
from this subject is: What is the impact of negative publicity concerning celebrity
endorsers on consumer attitude? To be able to answer this question, the following
auxiliary questions need to be addressed:

1. What is celebrity endorsing?

• Introduction of the term celebrity endorsement.

2. What are the processes behind celebrity endorsement?

How does celebrity endorsement achieve influence?

3. When is celebrity endorsement effective?

• What is needed for celebrity endorsement to be effective?

4. What are the negative effects/risks of using celebrity endorsement?

Definition of Celebrity Endorsement
A widely used definition of celebrity endorsement is “any individual who enjoys
public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good
by appearing with it in an advertisement” (McCracken, 1989, p310). The celebrity
endorser does not only promote the brand they are endorsing but they also give
a form of approval to the brand. Using the definition given above celebrity
endorsing can be viewed from the celebrity point of view as in being: The act of
promoting a product by effectively using one’s personal fame. But also celebrity
endorsing can be taken from the company’s point of view as in being: The use of
a celebrity to promote ones brand/product. So the concept of celebrity
endorsement can entail both the celebrity and the company’s point of view.
However, throughout this thesis the focus is only on the company’s point of view.
Consumer attitude is the dependent variable in this thesis, hence it is important
to provide the definition used. In this thesis consumer attitude is ‘Opinions,
feelings, emotions and action tendencies consumers have about and towards a
celebrity endorser, company, product or brand’.

History of Celebrity Endorsement

The use of celebrities to promote a product is not a new method. It is logical to try
and boost popularity of one’s product by linking it to someone that is already
popular and who will undoubtedly receive a lot of attention. At this point one can
easily state that anyone alive today, living in the western world, has encountered
some form of celebrity endorsing. Celebrity endorsing has reportedly been
around since the 1920’s, first using radio and later in the 1950’s using television
as media tool. Please Behave G.A.J. van Kanten Tilburg University 2010 10
Hollywood movie stars were often used for commercials promoting products
ranging from pies to cigarettes. Besides movie stars, sport stars were also used
in commercials. A prime example of this is the many endorsements by sport stars
for Wheaties, a breakfast cereal company famous for using sport stars to
promote their product. Wheaties used baseball legends such as Babe Ruth
starting as early as the 1930’s and have since then continuously used many
sports super stars including Michael Jordan in 1988. Companies like Wheaties
and Nike have had a lot to do with celebrity endorsing, especially concerning
sport celebrities. However it seems celebrity endorsing really took off during the
1990’s. The number of celebrities being used to endorse in daily commercials
has risen substantially. In the late 70’s the percentage of celebrity endorsers was
estimated as being around 16.7% of all commercials (Howard, 1979). While in
1997 this percentage went up to 25% of all US-based commercials (Shimp,
1997). Modern technology, including internet, has opened the door for many
advertising methods ranging from interactive websites to celebrity based puppets
on television. It also created a fierce battle between marketers to get the
customers’ attention. It takes a special marketing/advertising strategy, whether
using television or other media, to actually get the chance to reach consumers.
Using a celebrity can help this cause.

Effective Endorsements

In this chapter we will continue to build on the basic associative learning theory
given in the previous chapter to explain when celebrity endorsing is effective
answering the research question: When is celebrity endorsement effective? We
will show that the associative learning theory can be used as a base for
attributing theories: Size of association set, high/low involvement, Match-up,
source credibility and source attractiveness. Every one of these theories use the
associative links explained in the associative learning theory. However since
none of the above mentioned theories can fully explain the concept of effective
celebrity endorsement, a combination of these theories is the best way to
elaborate on effective celebrity endorsement.
Source Attractiveness
Source attractiveness is one of the most obvious traits of a celebrity endorser.
Attractiveness also seems to be one of the more important aspects of an
effective celebrity endorser. The source attractiveness theory (Erdogan, 1999)
explains this by stating that people in general tend to react more positively to
attractive endorsers opposed to less attractive endorsers. It has been proven that
attractive endorsers are more successful at influencing beliefs (Baker & Churchill,
1977; Chaiken, 1979; Debevec & Kernan, 1984). According to Cohen and
Golden (1972) consumers accept information coming from physically attractive
endorsers because consumers have a desire to identify with such endorsers.
However it should be stated that attractiveness does not only include physical
attractiveness but also entails various traits such as: personality, intellectual
skills, lifestyles or athletic ability (Erdogan, 1999). Petty et al. (1983) found that
attractiveness of endorsers was equally important in both high and low
involvement conditions. This again shows the importance of attractiveness in
celebrity endorsement and endorsements in general.
Negative Publicity

Negative celebrity publicity is one of the most common and most feared dangers
of this marketing method. Negative publicity lowers consumers’ attitude in
general. Companies tend to immediately distance themselves from the negatively
publicized celebrity and they might have good reason to. This has direct
implications in the case of negative celebrity publicity. If celebrity endorser and
product are combined into a relatively small association set, negative endorser
publicity will have a much stronger effect on the product resulting in a negatively
affected attitude. If the association set is large the negative endorser publicity
should have limited effect on consumer attitude. In paragraph 4.2., Petty et al.
(1983) have shown that the level of ‘involvement’ the consumers have
concerning the product decides the way in which consumers are influenced by
advertisements. If involvement is high, influence takes the central route, meaning
that only quality arguments can change consumer attitudes. On the contrary, if
involvement is low, influence takes the peripheral route, meaning that peripheral
cues such as source attractiveness have effect on consumer attitudes.
Conclusion

This literature review provides valuable information concerning the effects of

negative celebrity publicity in the case of celebrity endorsement. Using the
attributing theories of size of association set, high/low involvement, matchup,
source credibility and source attractiveness in combination with the theory of
associations, it has yielded valuable knowledge about when negative celebrity
publicity has impact on the consumer attitude and what this impact is. To answer
the main research question, we can conclude that negative celebrity publicity
does indeed have a noteworthy impact on consumer attitude. Firstly negative
publicity does much more damage to consumer attitude in the case of a small
association set. Low involvement products paired with celebrity endorsers are
particularly vulnerable to negative celebrity publicity. Furthermore negative
celebrity publicity is damaging if there is a high level of congruence between the
celebrity endorser and the endorsed product. Negative celebrity publicity also
decreases the perceived levels of both credibility and attractiveness resulting in a
negative effect on consumer attitude. In other cases e.g. a large association set,
a high involvement product or low congruence, the effect of negative publicity is
fairly weak and should not be considered a danger for companies using celebrity
endorsement. The impact of negative celebrity endorsement is therefore greatest
in the above described cases and relatively weak in other situations.