A PROJECT REPORT

on The Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on the Indian Consumers Purchase Decision

Submitted by

MUDASIR RASOOL
In the partial fulfilment for the award of the degree Of

MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)

Submitted to the Department of Business Administration RIMT (Regional institute of management and technology)

PUNJAB TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, JALANDHAR PUNJAB

SESSION: 2012-2014

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that MUDASIR RASOOL is the bonafied students of the MBA programme of this Institute for the academic year 2012 - 2014 having M.B.A Roll No.1275033 has completed their Research Methodology Project title The Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on the Indian Consumers Purchase Decisionas
partial fulfillment of the Master of Business Administration Course.

Course coordinator

Director

Examined by: 1) ____________________ 2) _________________________

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that all the work presented in the project report entitled The Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on the Indian Consumers Purchase Decisionat, RIMT(Regional institute of management and technology) PUNJAB is an authentic record of my own Work carried out under the guidance of Prof. NatinThapar.

Date:

Signature of Student

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that MUDASIR RASOOL the bonafied students of the MBA programme of this Institute for the academic year 2012 - 2014 having M.B.A Roll No.1275033 has completed their Research Methodology Project titledThe Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on the Indian Consumers Purchase Decision as partial fulfillment of the Master of Business Administration Course.

Course coordinator

Director

Date:

Abstract

The focus of this dissertation is to understand the impact of celebrity endorsement on the consumers purchase decision. The research focuses on the Indian consumers who have shown a very different yet interesting way of recognizing celebrities and stars. In a place like India where stars and cricketers are idolized and looked up to, marketers can see this opportunity promote their products and create a wider consumer base. The study uses a qualitative research style to collect data, using interviews as the form of data collection method. This research helps providing how celebrity endorsement impacts on the Indian consumers purchase decision.

Acknowledgement

Working on this dissertation has been an incredible experience for me. For this, I would like to thank a lot of people without whose co-operation and support; this research would not have been possible. Firstly, I would like to thank my coordinator and mentor, Professor NitinThapar for his continuous guidance and support. He has been of remarkable help to me in assisting me throughout my dissertation and would like to appreciate from my side. Her valuable feedback and comments have greatly helped me to structure my dissertation and also to complete my dissertation on time. I am grateful to my parents for their never-ending support and faith in me. Without their presence and blessing, carrying out this research would have been rather difficult. I would also like to sincerely thank all the interviewees for their precious time and useful insights on the research topic and who have patiently expressed their views to help me carry on with my dissertation. In the end, I am thankful to my friends directly and indirectly, for their constant source of encouragement and being there for me always, even when I was de-motivated during the course of my dissertation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER1: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................10 1.1 Background Research............................................................................................10 1.2 Research Motivation and Research Question........................................................ ..10 1.3 Research Methodology...........................................................................................11 1.4 Outline of the Dissertation......................................................................................11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................12 2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................12 2.2 Celebrities as Spokespersons...................................................................................14 2.3 Positive and negative effects of celebrity endorsement..................................................15 2.4 Models on Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy.........................................17 2.4.1The source credibility model.................................................................................18 2.4.2 The Source Attractiveness Model..........................................................................19 2.4.3 Product Match-up Hypothesis..............................................................................20 2.4.4 Meaning Transfer Model.....................................................................................21 2.5 Multiple Celebrity Endorsements............................................................................22 2.6 Celebrity Endorsement An Indian Perspective.........................................................23 2.7 Research Objective...............................................................................................27 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY................................................................................28 3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................28 3.2 Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research.........................................................28 3.3 Method of Data Collection....................................................................................28 3.3.1 Primary research...............................................................................................29

3.3.2 Interviews........................................................................................................29 3.4 Selection of participants.......................................................................................29 3.5 Research Design..................................................................................................30 3.5.1 Interview Design...............................................................................................30 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.............................................................32 4.1 Introduction........................................................................................................32 4.2 Understanding of Celebrity Endorsement..................................................................32 4.2.1 Understanding of Celebrity Endorsement...............................................................32 4.2.2 Celebrity advertising attractive than non-celebrity advertising....................................34 4.3 Issues pertaining to celebrity endorsement................................................................36 4.3.1 Celebritys Attractiveness having a direct impact on the product................................36 4.3.2 Product Match Up - Connection between Celebrity and Product................................38 4.3.3 Multiply product endorsements............................................................................39 4.3.3.1 Negative publicity..........................................................................................40 4.3.4 Economic Assessment of Celebrity Endorsement....................................................41 4.4 Consumers Perspective.........................................................................................42 4.4.1 Celebrity Endorsements having an impact on their decisions.................................................................................................................42 4.4.2 Celebrities actually use the product.......................................................................43 4.4.3 Vampire Effect..................................................................................................44 4.4.4 Too much celebrity advertising on TV...................................................................44 4.5 Dats interpretation...46 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................51 5.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................51 5.2 Conclusion............................................................................................................51 purchase

CHAPTER 6: LIMITATIONS, MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH...............................................................................................................54 6.1 Limitations of the study.........................................................................................54 6.2 Managerial Implication..........................................................................................55 6.3 Future Research...................................................................................................55 REFERENCES..........................................................................................................56 APPENDICES...........................................................................................................57 Appendix- A..............................................................................................................57 Appendix- B..............................................................................................................58

FUTURE

Appendix- C.............. .59

CHAPTER1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Research:

Today Celebrity Endorsements is a billion dollar industry today with companies signing deals with celebrities aiming to stand out from the clutter and give them a distinctive and significant position in the mind of consumers (Temperley and Tangen, 2006). Across the world, celebrities have been used for a variety of brands. India has opened its markets only recently and its witnessing an era of competition that it never experienced before (Ramesh, 2001). In todays very volatile economy, an increasing number of markets are signified by overcrowding of markets with products and speedy entry and exit of products into the marketplace (Mustafa, 2005). As a result of such overcrowding, it is a challenge for firms releasing their products, to capture consumer attention where consumers are being flooded with information from firms about their brand popularity and product features (Mustafa, 2005). Friedman & Friedman (1979) suggest that a celebrity endorser is someone known to the public for their achievements in areas other than of the product class endorsed. Undoubtedly, the celebrity endorser could reinforce a companys marketing communications, positioning and represent its brand (Endogen, 1999). However, the main purpose of using celebrity endorser is to influence consumer behavior, especially purchase intention that is directly linked to revenue of the company. Firms have been juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers (e.g. athletes, actors) in the hope that celebrities may boost effectiveness of theirMarketing for at least a century. One of the early examples is Queen Victorias endorsement of Cadburys Cocoa (Sherman 1985). Regardless of these hindrances, celebrity endorsed advertising is an important marketing tool which when used at the correct time, may prove to be far more rewarding.

1.2 Research Motivation and Research Question

Since India consumers have always idolized celluloid stars (Katya, 2007) and looked up to them, hence it makes great logic to use celebrities as spokespersons and influence consumers purchase decision. As the market has now become very competitive and with so many celebrities endorsing various brands and some also involving in multiple product endorsements, it makes for a great research study to understand the Indian consumer behavior and purchase decision, through the influence of these celebrity endorsements. Keeping this in mind the purpose of this dissertation is to understand the impact of celebrity endorsement on the Indian consumers

purchase decision. Also focusing on how consumers perceive the difference between endorsements with celebrities and non-celebrities. It also aims at discussing the extent to which the masses are influenced by these popular celebrities appearing on screen to influence their purchase decisions. 1.3 Research Methodology My research will focus on investigation the impact of celebrity endorsement on the consumers purchase decision. In doing this I aim to follow a qualitative research method style. This would comprise of face to face interviews with the research participants and these interviews conversations would be recorded with the consent Of the research samples. The research subjects would comprise of students, employed personnels and trainees from the different within the age group. A qualitative approach would be used to answer the research question mentioned in the earlier section.

1.4Outline of the Dissertation This dissertation is divided into six chapters, where each chapter targeting at a different area with reference to the research objective. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the research topic and briefly discusses the objectives and the methodology used for the study. Chapter 2 which presents an overview of the advertising industry as well as presenting the literature review which consists of the various sectors such as celebrity as a spokesperson, celebrity and non-celebrity advertising, different models on effectiveness of celebrity endorsement strategy. Further it also talks about celebrities endorsing multiple products and finally concluding with an Indian perspective on the consumer. Chapter 3 discusses in detail the methodology and the data collection process for the purpose of conducting the research. Chapter 4 analyzes the outcomes of the interview process and provides a further discussion on the finding. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and the discussion presented in the earlier section. It also provides recommendation for it as well. Chapter 6 aims at sighting the limitations of the study, further providing managerial implications and also recommending issues to be tackled for future research.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter introduces the concept of celebrity endorsement, providing a definition. Sequentially it talks about celebrity as spokesperson of companies and also draws out the positives and negatives of celebrity endorsements. Furthermore it also discusses the different models on effectiveness of celebrity endorsement strategy along with talking about the impact of multiple celebrity endorsement. Lastly it provides an Indian perspective on celebrity endorsement in India.

2.1 Introduction
Definition McCracken (1989) provides a clear definition describing celebrity endorser as any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (p.310). He further explained celebrity endorsement as a ubiquitous feature of modern marketing.

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 (Meaghan and OMahony, 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 andRice (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. Arawak and Kamakura (1995) cited that approximately 20% of all television commercials in USA feature famous people. Shrimp (1997) further justifies Arawak 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 (Endogen, 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. Endogen (1999) cites that celebrities can be used to communicate and reinforce companies marketing communications and positioning effectively. Today, use of celebrities as part of marketing communications strategy is fairly common practice for major firms in supporting corporate and brand imagery (Endogen, 1999). Firms are drawing Parallels with their products and themselves to celebrities in expectation that they will enhance their communications and increase revenue.

2.1.1 Impact of Celebrities on Consumers Worldwide

Celebrity endorsement may not be as effective as many believe, and in some major westernmarkets, has no strong influence on a consumer to make a purchase, according to a pollconducted by GMI Inc., the worlds leading provider of global online market research serviced software (Couzens and Ablett, 2005). The effectiveness of Celebrity endorsement inpromoting brands varies across the globe, reveals the research. Western nations were mostInternational Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management ResearchVol.2, No. 1, January 2013, ISSN 22773622Online available at www.indianresearchjournals.com22indifferent to the use of Celebrities in advertising. In the US, 79% of respondents said thatCelebrity endorsement does not have any effect on how valuable they think a product is and only13% thought that it made a product more valuable. 79% of German and 71% of French andBritish also said Celebrity endorsement did not work for them. In China and Japan, however,there is a stark contrast. In Japan, 60% of respondents think that the use of Celebrities inadvertising makes a product more valuable and a similar number of respondents in China (52%)and in Russia (58%) agreed. The GMI poll also found that Celebrity endorsement was ratedbelow other techniques (like free samples, word-of-mouth, test-runs, etc.) to influence thepurchasing decision of consumers. The country which most valued Celebrity endorsement wasRussia with 12% of respondents claiming it influenced their buying decisions, making it the thirdmost popular form of promotion there after free samples (46%) and word-ofmouth promotion(30%).Global media can make global stars, but it does not mean they translate into universal marketingassets that can transform any brands value and market share in any country anywhere. Worldwide, people are becoming more sophisticated consumers who are less ready to acceptsimple, uniform marketing messages. Very strong indifference to the power of the Celebrity insome western markets may even point to how overt Celebrity endorsement may be working inthe reverse, turning consumers away from the very products being endorsed and so having anegative impact.The use of a Celebrity is one of the most successful ways of gaining the consumers attentionand getting him or her to infer the right message in a limited amount of space and time. Celebrities are used by marketers to build their brands. Branded products are successful becauseconsumers prefer them to ordinary unbranded products. In addition to the psychologicalfactors, brands give consumers the means whereby they can make choices and judgments. TheSecret to successful branding is to influence the decisions, i.e. the way consumers

perceive theproduct, and brands can affect the minds of the consumers by appealing to the informationacquired and analysed. And this is what a Celebrity does. He/she tries to manipulate the purchasebehavioural intention of a customer by promoting the endorsed brand. Friedman and Friedman(1979) suggested that the promotion of branded luxury goods by Celebrity endorsers would leadto a significantly more positive purchase intention thanadvertisements using an expert ortypical consumer endorser. Further, in a study concerning adolescents, Bush, et al. (2004)advocate that Celebrity sports athletes have a positive influence on adolescents favourableword-of-mouth and brand loyalty. Though studies are in disagreement that whether it is thephysical attractiveness of the Celebrities or perceived expertise that affect purchase intentions,they broadly converge in suggesting that use of Celebrities in brand endorsements resulted instronger purchase intention.The present paper highlights the trends in Celebrity Brand Endorsements on Indian Television.

2.2 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 Arawak and Kamakura (1995) celebrities make the advertisements believable and enhance the message in the minds of the consumers. Furthermore, celebrities increase awareness of a companys advertising, creating a positive feeling towards the brand. Thus using a celebrity in a companys advertising is likely to have a positive impact on the consumers brand perception and purchase decision. One of the main reasons behind the popularization of celebrity used in advertisements is the companys belief that the message when delivered by well-known personality will achieve a high degree of attention and recall (Hainan, 1991). This only happens when there is an appropriate connection between the celebrity and the product endorsed or when the celebritys represents of some aspect of product endorsed. Todays 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 celebritys profile (Meaghan and OMahony, 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 (Hainan 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 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 (Arawak and Kamakura 1995)

2.3 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 (Endogen, 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 (Arawak& 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). There are a number of advantages to using celebrities in advertising, whether you are running print, Internet, radio or television commercials. The key for small companies is making sure the local celebrity is relevant and has broad appeal. Popular celebrities often work best because they naturally generate lots of attention. However, despite their following, celebrities are most effective if they promote products or services they are most likely to use. In other words, they must be plausible consumers, such as a local newscaster wearing a business suit from an area men's store. Water Treatment System Influence Consumer Purchases

The affinity consumers have for certain celebrities can greatly influence their purchases. People may have the attitude, "If the product is good enough for her, it's good enough for me." This philosophy is often the impetus behind advertisements for makeup, skin creams, hair products and attire. Consumers want the wavy hair of a local celebrity, for example. Hence, they purchase

the brand that the celebrity uses to achieve her hair's fullness and bounce. Local consumers may also desire the same soft drink as their team's best baseball player. Essentially, the testimonial of the local celebrity adds instant credibility to a small company's product. Build Awareness

Celebrities in advertising build brand awareness, according to "Supermarket News," a publication covering the food distribution industry. And they build it much more quickly than traditional types of advertising. Brand awareness measures the percentage of people who are familiar with a particular brand. Small businesses spend lots of money and time for exposure to incrementally increase brand awareness among consumers. The use of a local celebrity can do much to enhance consumers' awareness and understanding of what a small business offers. Position a Brand

Some small companies use celebrities in advertising to position their brands. Product positioning is placing a company's products in the best possible light in the minds of a target group, according to Inc.com. For example, a small investment firm may use a well-respected and retired local disc jockey to market a retirement plan for people ages 50 and over. The fact that the disc jockey falls in the consumers' age group and has a good reputation in the community makes the company's product and message more believable. Attract New Users

One challenge small companies face is finding new users for their products. Local celebrities in advertising appeal to customers as well as those who have never tried the brand. The latter may be users of competitive brands. However, those who continually see the local celebrity in a commercial for a certain product may be convinced to try the product. Breathe Life into Failing Brand

The use of a celebrity in an advertisement may also help to breathe life into a failing brand. For example, a small soap manufacturer might think about dropping a brand or product, especially if production and overhead costs are leaving little or no profit. However, the use of a celebrity to tout the benefits of the brand could help create new interest and excitement in consumers. Although the potential benefits of utilizing a celebrity endorser are considerable, so are the costs and risk associated with it. Arawak 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 raising, 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 (Arawak and Kamakura, 1995). Celebrity endorsement is big business and any marketers who choose to utilize a celebrity have no control over his/her future

behavior and reactions (Till and Shrimp, 1998). Therefore any negative publicity about the 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 Nikes trust between them was at such a high level that Nike developed a new brand called Air Jordon. With Michael Jordans expertise and his trustworthiness with the larger audience, strengthened the brandcelebrity 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 (Shrimp 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 Baulker, 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 (Endogen, 1999). Tripp et al. (1994) and Redenbacher (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 (Arawak & Kamakura 1997).

2.4 Models on Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy

Tempered and Tangent (2006) in their research said that its 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 Holland et al (1953), which is the Source Credibility Model. Consequently, the Source Attractiveness Model (McGuire, 1985), the Product Match-Up Hypothesis (Forman, 1980; Kamans, 1989, 1990), and the Meaning Transfer mode (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 companys brand. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness (Till and Shrimp 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(Kerman, 1961). Shrimp (2003) found that credibility andattractiveness 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.

2.4.1The source credibility model

Source credibility suggests that the effectiveness of a message depends on the "expertness" and trustworthiness" of the source (Holland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953). In general, a message source with higher credibility tends to be more effective than one with less credibility (Stendhal et al., 1978). Since higher levels of source credibility tend to be associated with more positive attitudes toward the messageand lead to behavioral changes (Craig and McCann, 1978), advertisers will opt to use celebrities if they think that they have a high level of credibility. 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 (Holland 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 ones own values (Kerman, 1961). Hence, an endorsement of a product by a credible source may influence the purchase behavior (Danes vary and Schwarz, 2000). This psychological process is called internalization, which occurs when receivers accept a source influence in terms of their personal attitude and value structures (Endogen, 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 Shrimp 1998). According to Holland et al. (1953), source credibility mainly categorizes into expertise and trustworthiness. Expertise is defined by Holland 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 internalisation 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 endorsers credibility is high, when compared to be low. In Danes vary and Schwarz (2000) article, they

propose that Consumers are more prone to adopt behavior 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 behavior change, resulting in increased purchases from endorsements by the association (Danes vary and Schwarz 2000). Endogen (1999) suggests that the use of the word trustworthiness in the celebrity endorsement literature refers to the honesty, integrity and believability of an endorser. Deplaned and Stay man (1994) contributed to the study regarding the factors that influence the trustworthiness of celebrity endorser. They found that celebrity endorsers 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. Endogen (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. Stendhal 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.

2.4.2 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 judgment 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 Vordermans 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 Etal, 2003). Debevec et al (1986) suggested in their study, higher source attractiveness led to higher verbal and behavioral compliance, in order to examine the relationship between purchase intention and attractiveness. Kahlo& Homer (1985) mentioned in his study that, purchase intention participants are easily influenced by an attractive celebrity endorser than unattractive celebrity endorser. Finding from Debase and Kerman (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 (Shrimp, 2003). According to Shrimp (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 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.

2.4.3 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 companys 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 Tempered and Tangent (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 companys product and the celebritys 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. Kahlo 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 Kahlo 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. Their 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 Zidanes fans, who is their idol of football, will go buy the products he endorser, especially the one in he endorses for football products.

2.4.4 Meaning Transfer Model

McCrackens (1989) meaning transfer model is based on the effectiveness of the endorser depends on the meaning the celebrity is bringing into the endorsements process and the brand. Celebrities are full of different meaning reflecting such as demographic (age, gender) and lifestyle types, thus making it evident that celebrities convey not one but a variety of meaning. The cultural meanings that are connected with the celebrity will be transferred to the endorsed product/brand (Brierley, 1995). According to Endogen (1999) the strengths of this model are that it considers celebrity status, class, gender, age, lifestyle and personality. An example of this is James Garners endorsement of Mazda- Garners qualities of maturity, maleness; confidence and good humour were made the qualities of Mazda vehicle. When this clear association is consciously made, the meaning transfer acts as an amplifier to product signalling, this could overcome the information noise facing consumers and attract their attention (Mustafa, 2005). According to Martin(1996, p.29), celebrity spokespersons are useful in marketing because they providea set of characteristics that supports consumers in evaluating the presented brand. The meaning transfer model (McCracken, 1989) introduced is an appropriate tool to describe the endorsement process that comprises of three stages including culture, endorsement and consumption. This model involves the creation of celebrity image, transfer of meaning from the celebrity to the brand and the third stage is how the brand transfers image onto the consumer (Schlecht, 2003).Source: Meaning transfer in the endorsement process (McCracken 1989)

According to McCracken (1989), in the first stage the celebrity draws meaning from their public persona (i.e.) the meaning associated with the famous person moves from the endorser to the product or brand. In the endorsement stage, this meaning is transferred from the endorser to the product and the process of creating a product personality takes place, based on the symbolic properties conveyed by the endorser. At last, in the consumption process, the brands meaning is acquired by the consumer. In this stage the consumers role in the endorsement process. These

meanings are transferred to the consumer who identifies with those symbolic properties and the process of transfer of meanings from endorser to product/brand to consumer is complete (McCracken, 1989). Schlecht (2003) describes when determining the brands representative feature, consumers needs should be considered. Then the company decides how which celebrity to choose and who possesses the most appropriate similar characteristics in relation to the brand. Lastly there has to be equivalence or a brand fit between the celebrity and the brand/product.

2.5 Multiple Celebrity Endorsements

An advertising technique used by marketers is using either some celebrities to endorse several brands or a specific brand is endorsed by different spokespersons. These theories are known as multiple brand endorsement or multiple celebrity endorsement respectively. Tripp et al. (1994) states that advertising firms might share certain spokesperson, thus celebrities end up promoting for more than one brand (p.535). For example golf champion Tiger Woods has endorsed brands such American Express, Nike and Rolex. Another example is of actress Catherine Zeta-Jones who has been used by T-Mobile and Elizabeth Arden to endorse their brand. On the other hand, brands, more specifically sports brands such as Nike, Reebok and Adidas, often use more than one celebrity as their spokesperson. Celebrities are chosen to associate with a brand on the bases that they in a certain way represent the target audience. When more than one or two celebrities are chosen to endorse one particular brand, its beneficial for appealing to various audiences to which the products caters to (Hsu and McDonald, 2002). Endogen and Baker (1999) in their research indicated that at times it is beneficial for the brand to have multiple celebrities endorsing a particular brand, so it can reach out to its entire target audience. But what is important to notice is that all the celebrities should reflect the brands core values (Endogen and Baker, p.13). It can also be useful to endorse a product with multiple celebrities has they can represent a different mix of types such as age, gender and social class. According to (Hsu and McDonald, 2002), the Milk Mustache campaign in the USA, recruiting more than 100 celebrities to wear a milk mustache in ads since 1995, can be considered one of the most noticeable multiple celebrity endorsements. Another example is the Lux beauty soap commercials. They have successfully endorsed using most of the leading ladies from the Indian film industry. Marketers should think carefully while having multiple celebrities endorsing a single product. Today, consumers are becoming are becoming more knowledgeable and might think that these celebrities are just to doing it for the money and do not really care about the transfer of meaning to the product, which might the consumers purchase behavior (Belch and Belch, 2001). Research done by Redenbacher (2005) shows that endorsement of four different brands/products does in fact influence the celebritys trustworthiness, expertise and likeability. This is because the celebrity instead of focusing on one brand, it endorses multiple brands and eventually lacks distinctiveness (Redenbacher, 2005). It also so happens that because of the celebrity being associated with so many different brands, the people just remember the star while not recollecting the brand/product being advertised (Hsu and McDonald, 2002).

2.6 Celebrity Endorsement an Indian Perspective

Celebrities are involved in endorsing activities since late nineteenth century (Endogen, 1999). The latter part of the '80s saw the mushrooming of a new trend in India; brands started being endorsed by celebrities (Katyal, 2007). The advent of celebrity endorsements in advertising in India began when Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons began making inroads on a territory that was, until then, the exclusive domain of models (Kulkarni and Baulker, 2005). One of the first sports endorsements in India was when Farokh Engineer became the first Indian cricketer to model for Bryl cream (Kulkarni and Baulker, 2005). Probably Lux the soap brand has managed to realize and made it synonyms with celebrity endorsement in India till date (Katyal, 2007). Early instance of celebrity endorsing brands in stars featuring like Tabassum (Prestige Pressure Cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), KepiDev. (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings) (Roy, 2006). Figure 1 shows the increase in celebrity endorsement advertisements since 2003 and 2007. This clearly indicated the growth and acceptance of celebrity endorsements on the Indian television. In fact, celebrity endorsement is growing at six times in volume terms between 2003 and 2007.

Figure 1: Celebrity Endorsements www.thehindubusinessline.com

on

television

since

2003

Source:

In the Indian context, it would not be bold to state that celebrity endorsements can enhance the overall brand. For instance, Coke example illustrates this claim. The Coke advertisement featured India film star Aamir Khan endorsing the brand. The result was a universally appealing Aamir cheekily stating Thandamatlab Coca Cola (Katyal, 2007). The Parker pen brand, which by

itself commands equity, used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India. According to PoojaShahnawazn, Director, Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd (LWIL), post Bachchan, Parker's sales have increased by about 30 per cent (Katyal, 2007).The tastes and preference of the Indian consumer and how they treat their celebrity is different when compared to countries like United States of America and the United Kingdom. According to a saying by Confucius all people are the same. Its just the habits that are different. Hosted (1991) in his research classified all the countries into 5 basic cultural dimensions. In his analysis Hofstede ranked India in having high Collectivism, having a more collective behavior and individuals having close ties with each others. Along with this Hofstede also positioned Indias name in having high power Distance Index. This implies that the society emphasizes on the differences between citizen's power and wealth. Relating Hofstedes finding to why Indians look up to their stars and want to be like them, makes for a better understanding. Today, India is one of the fast growing economies, and celebrity endorsing has become big business. 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 (Katyal, 2007). Advertisers are offering stars like Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and many others huge pay packages to get them on board with a certain brand. In India there is an exponential likelihood for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant, thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product (Kulkarni and Baulker, 2005).

2.6.1 Celebrity Endorsement on TV by Profession (2003-12)

India is a land of three Cs Cinema, Cricket and Curry. The citizens just love their film andsports stars and would go to any extent to show their support for their favourite celebrity. India isamongst the biggest producers of films in the world and many superstars like AmitabhBachchan, Shahrukh Khan, KareenaKapoor, AishwaryaRai and many more are the heart-throbsof many a Indian. Film actors and actresses have always held the majority share of celebrityendorsements on TV as shown in Table-1. Sports persons are another big group of endorsers onIndian TV. This group mainly comprises of Indian cricket team members who have proved theirmettle on the global cricketing scene. The top cricket stars who have got a huge fan following areSachin Tendulkar, M. S. Dhoni, ViratKohli and others. Other games like tennis (SaniaMirza),badminton (SainaNehwal) and chess (ViswanathanAnand) also feature in some TVadvertisements promoting some or the other brand.Marketing firms, both MNC and Indian, are well aware of the kind of excitement and obsessiongenerated by these celebrities and are forever ready of sign them. These firms sincerely believethat celebrity stars would definitely propel their respective brands towards the top by attractinghordes of customers. TV actors and actresses are also sometimes roped in by firms but theirnumbers are negligible as shown by Table-1. Their fan following is mainly confined to theIndian housewives who are glued to daily family soaps whenever they find any free time fromtheir household chores. They consider the protagonist in any popular serial (like ShwetaTiwariin KasautiZindagi Kay) as one amongst them and are prepared to spend money on brandedproducts made popular by these TV stars.International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management ResearchVol.2, No. 1, January 2013, ISSN 2277- 3622

Profession 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009 Film Actress 21 70 80 78 31 34 43 Film Actor 44 50 47 37 41 37 42.4 Sports Person 27 24 17 16 14 16 15 TV Actor 1 6 4 6 3 1 2 TV Actress 7 2 2 2 1 2 1.6
aFigures bFigures

2010 44 12 1

2011b 2012c 39 40.8 19 2 11.7 1.6

for 2008 are for H1 from January-June, 2008 Source:- http://www.tamindia.com/tamindia/Adex_News_TV.htm for 2011 are from January-September, 2011 cFigures for 2012 are for Q1 from January-March, 2012

2.7 Research Objective

This research is undertaken to understand the influence celebrity endorsement has on the consumers purchase decision. All previous research conducted in this area has been done in countries other than India. There has not been any large scale research study undertaken with reference to the Indian consumers views and opinion. All this when India is the one of the fast growing economy in the world and having a great potential in the advertising and marketing industry. Through conducting this research it aims in finding out two main questions as mentioned earlier, firstly the influence celebrity endorsement has on the consumers purchase decision and secondly their preference over celebrity and non-celebrity advertisements? Along with this the study also aims at finding out do consumers believe there should be a connection between the product and celebrity? This study aims to justify the influence of celebrity endorsement advertising on the Indian consumer and also show the growth of this industry as well.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction
Burns (2000) describes research as a systematic investigation to find answers to a given problem. The following chapter will justify the choice of research undertaken to carry out the research study. Subsequently, it will draw comparisons between Qualitative and Quantitative research methods and will justify the appropriate method used in this study. Furthermore, data collection method and participants that were recruited for carrying out the research will be justified.

3.2 Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research

Qualitative and quantitative research methods have been represented as two fundamentally different paradigms (Barnnen, 2004) through which researchers conduct their study. Through, being essentially the two methods to collect data a clear understanding of these two concepts is needed. Each study has its limitation of scope and depth. The essence of qualitative research rests on its naturalistic approach that implies multidimensional study and interpretation of data (Denzin and Lincoln, 2002). According to Denzin and Lincoln (2002), qualitative research stresses on the process and meaning that are not rigorously examined or measured, contrary to quantitative research which emphasises the measurement and analysis of causal relationships between variables, not process. Qualitative research is, more frequently than not, designed as it is been done. It is anything but standard and nonresistant to change in nature. This is a result of its flexibility and emergent characteristics (Van Maanen, 1998, p.xi). Whereas quantitative research is based on a rigid structure, which includes methodology and research techniques, it provides little room for flexibility (Van Maanen, 1998). Also qualitative practice, which tends to be less structured, can therefore be more responsive to the needs of the respondents. Qualitative research is a multi-method research that applies an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its focused theme (Denzin& Lincoln, 2002). Doing a qualitative study has numerous advantages has cited by Rossman and Rallis (1998). To begin with (a) the research takes place in a neutral and natural setting thus helping both the participant and researcher to be more relaxed and less tensed. (b) The research style is more flexible than rigid and is less structured. (c) Data collection method which qualitative style adopts uncourageous more participation by the respondents.

3.3 Method of Data Collection

Data collection is the process of collecting data material from the respondents through various ways. In this dissertation primary research data is collected through a qualitative research style using interviews. Both primary research and interviews are explained below: -

3.3.1 Primary research

Primary research involves acquiring original first hand data directly from the concerned research subjects. The essence of primary research data lies in the fact that it does not already exist somewhere. Its new and original data collected from the respondents. The various methods used to collect primary research data are face-face interviews, online surveys, telephone interviews and surveys. The method used in this dissertation is the face-face interview style.

3.3.2 Interviews
Interviews are one of the most common methods to for collecting data in qualitative research (Byrne, 2001). He further adds, interviews allow participants to provide ample amount of time to voice their opinion and describe the events freely. The qualitative research interview refers an interchange of views between two conversing about a theme of mutual interest (Kvale, 1996). Interviews can be referred to as depth, exploratory, semi-structured or unstructured. The main goal in qualitative research interview is to comprehend the research topic from the perspective of the interviewee and to understand how and why they come to have this particular perspective (King, 2004, p.11). The key feature in qualitative research interview is the nature of relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. According to Alexis et al. (2006), another key feature of interviews is that Open-ended interviews facilitated description of the participants experience (p.132). Conducting interviews might be time consuming, resulting for finding the right respondent, availing time and actually making the respondent talk, yet the quality of data generate is rich and very valuable (Byrne, 2001). The interview style adopted in this dissertation is face-face interviews.

3.4 Selection of participants

The participants the very recruited for this dissertation consisted of people of Indian origin. This is because of the central focus of the dissertation is the Indian market place. The participants used as research subjects were adults ranging from the age of 22- 30 years in age. This age group of was selected as research samples as they are firstly avid watchers of television and are more or less the target audience of most commercials on television. Also according to O' Donohoe and Tynan (1998) study which stated adults aging from 21-28 are known to be skilled and can make sense of complex imagery and illusions to the world, beyond just advertising. This dissertation consists of 12 participants in total, of which the ratio between females and males is equal at 6 each. Since India is a diverse country, the participants have been chosen from across India. Data was collected within a span of 20 days, with ample time given to each participant. Concern about the quantity of participants may suggest and cause the research study to narrow down its object, but according to Kvale (1996) who suggested that smaller amount of interviews provides quality data when compared to quantity.

List of Participants
Name Younis wani showket lone Vidhi Sheth Nidhi Gupta Nina Frenandis Shahnawaz bush Junaid baba Shazia akthar Naitik Shah Tanvi Desai Raj Louis Shaira Sehgal Age 25 27 25 22 23 29 24 23 30 24 30 25 Occupation Employed Employed Trainees Students Student Employed Student Students Employed Trainees Employed Students

3.5 Research Design

3.5.1 Interview Design
As the research involved collection of primary data, interviews of 12 people from India were conducted. While conducting interviews the number of participants should be decided on the basics that how many people are required to say the same thing Kvale (1996). All the participants are people from the desired age group ranging from 22-30 years. The participants include from three main fields such as employed, students and trainees. All the questions were structured using the literature to gain maximum information from the interviewee. There were 11 questions in all asked to the participants ranging from their understanding of the term celebrity endorsement, what they prefer more a celebrity advertising or non-celebrity advertising, to do they think the celebrity and the product should be linked? Other questions related to consumers perspective on the different aspects of celebrity endorsement. All interviews were conducted in the traditional manner of face-face interviews. Questions formed were all open ended, inviting

the participants to talk and converse more. As the questions were open ended and semistructured, it helps in forming new sub questions in the due course of the interview. The interview questions were designed in a funnel structure, which means that the questions to begin with start broadly and then narrow down to more specific tropic as the interview progress (Burns, 2000). The interviews were recorded, as it would not have been possible to listen and write at the same time. In doing there are high chances of the interviewer missing on important points said by the interviewee. In the course of conducting an interview it is also very important not to drift away from the structure of the interview questions, as it may provide useless information while losing out on vital information (Bernard, 2002). While conducting these interviews the actual motive and sentiments of the respondents could be obtained. Most of the interviews conducted were indepth, providing rich and useful information. The questions were easily understood and comprehend by the respondents giving prompt answers to the questions. Hence through this process i received in-depth views and opinions on how celebrity endorsement affects these participants and people around, especially Indians. In conclusion, this chapter provides an insight to the methodology followed for the research topic. The research method adopted, the tools used for data collection and the research process have been established for the purpose of drawing up an analysis and discussion on this subject matter.

Research design is a framework or blue print for conducting a research project (Malhotra, 2006). In other words its a plan that guides the collection and analysis of the gather data. It services at guideline to support the investigation and the nature of sampling the data. It therefore is the main part of any research undertaken. A good research would lay strong emphasis on having a well established research design. As Im using a qualitative research style, interviews had to be conducted face-face. Firstly as my research pans across India, thus i would have to short list 12 people, consisting of 6 females and males within the age group, panning across India. As my data collection method adopted is face-face interviews and my sample size was not all the big in number, i decided to conduct them at neutral territory, making it easy for the participants to talk freely. With all the information collected, it now presented a clearer picture as to how celebrity endorsements affect consumers purchase decision. Hence forth the decision to examine and analysis the subjective interviews proved to be appropriate.

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction:
This chapter reports the analysis and explains the finding obtained from the qualitative interviews. Furthermore a discussion is also presented bring out the relevant findings with the literature mentioned above. The reported findings are discussed in 3 sections, namely the first section discusses the participants understanding of the celebrity endorsement and attractiveness of the advertisements, celebrity advertising opposed to non-celebrity advertising. The second section discusses issues of celebritys attractiveness, product match-up, celebritys credibility, endorsing multiple products and economic value of celebrity endorsement. Third section discusses consumers perceptive of celebrity endorsements. At last, concluding with a brief summary of the relevant findings.

4.2 Understanding of Celebrity Endorsement:

In this section, we discuss two questions that of what the participants understood by the term celebrity endorsement and what attracted them more, an advertising which had a celebrity endorser or advertisement which did not have any celebrity endorsers.

4.2.1 Understanding of Celebrity Endorsement:

Firstly, the participants were asked to explain their understanding of what the term celebrity endorsement means and what they thought of it. The responses received were quite descriptive and interesting in nature. Everyone expressed a similar opinion and understanding of celebrity endorsement. The majority of the participant felt that celebrity endorser as a known figure to the general public endorsing a particular product. Adding to this, the majority also referred to celebrity as someone who people look up to and idolize. This can be seen as expresses by the following participants. Shazia: Celebrity endorsement is something where a known figure is endorsing a product. For example, Amitabh Bachchan is an actor and the whole nation (India) knows him and if he is your idol as well, and hes endorsing a particular product, then you will obviously go buy that particular product. Shaira: Celebrity endorsements mean that there are advertisements and to promote it people use big names because thats what attracts the masses to advertisements. Its also another reason why people want to look at advertisements because there are celebrities in them which they look up to, their idols...

Junaid: Basically when a company uses a celebrity to promote their product, represent their product in a way. Celebrity is someone you know, who people look up to, who people want to be like. So basically when you relate them (celebrity) to the product, people think the product is like their celebrity. Some people like their celebrities choices and do what their celebrities do, so if they relate that to a product even they might switch to that product. Vidhi: According to me celebrity endorsements means some film stars or some famous people endorsing certain brands. Many of the participants agreed upon the definition of celebrity endorsements as someone who is known as a public figure and who people look up to and idolize. These descriptions are similar and matches with the definition provide by both Friedman and Friedman (1979), who describes celebrity endorsement, has an individual who is known to public for his achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed and McCracken (1989), who defines celebrity endorser as any individual who enjoys public recognition. Some participants mentioned celebrity endorsements as representing companies or product owners who hire them to appear in advertisement, directed to the consumers on their behalf. This can be seen by views expressed by Shahnawaz and Junaid, as follows: Shahnawaz: Celebrity Endorsements is where companies or product owners use celebrity as a representation of the product or company to enhance sales. Junaid: Basically when a company uses a celebrity to promote their product, represent their product in a way... This is in accordance with the definition provided by McCracken (1989), who states celebrity endorser as any individual who enjoys public recognition and uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer goods appearing with it in an advertisement. Tom et al. (1992) mentioned the most popular type of spokesperson is the celebrity endorsement. This point is further emphasized by answers of Shahnawaz and Junaid, who used phrases such as celebrities representing companies and celebrity as representation of the product or company Another important similarity between most of the responds of the participants is that a majority argued that celebrity endorsements were taking place in order to enhance company sales and to promote the products with the popularity of the celebrity. These views were expressed by the following participants: Tanvi: According to me celebrity endorsement is whenever to want to promote a product or something, in order to increase your sales, you generally have a celebrity endorsing the product, as in he presents your product. Shahnawaz: Celebrity Endorsements is where companies or product owners use celebrity as a representation of the product or company to enhance sales. Nidhi: I think celebrity endorsements means, is when a company hires a celebrity to represents their... to increase sales.

Shaira: ...So hence its beneficial for both the company whos hiring the celebrity, gets their products sold and for the consumer who is going to buy the product.. As mentioned by the participants above, who used phrases such as enhance sales, increase sales and beneficial to the company in generating more sales, but as appose to this there is no mention of this fact in the definition provide at all. None of the definitions given by the authors suggest that celebrity endorsement is to increase sales or enhance sales by the company hiring the celebrity. This is an interesting point as the whole purpose of bring a celebrity onboard and he/she acting as a company spokesperson is to generate more interest among the people so that they would buy that particular product, in turn increase companys sales. But there is no mention of this point in the definition of celebrity endorsement provided. Therefore there is a gap created in the definition of celebrity endorsement as described by the consumers and by the literature available. Another interesting view was given by one of the participant Nidhi, who cited that celebrities are got onboard to create positive feeling among the people and to increase visibility. This can be seen as mentioned below: Nidhi: I think celebrity endorsements means, is when a company hires a celebrity to represents their brand to create positive feeling among people to increase sales and visibility. Nidhi descriptively mentions celebrities representing companys brand to create positive feeling among people to increase sales and visibility. This statement further justifies with Arawak and Kamakura (1995) argument, who state that celebrities increase awareness of a companys advertising and create a positive feeling towards the brand. Adding further, they state that using a celebrity would assist in having a positive impact on the consumers and their purchase decision as well.

4.2.2 Celebrity advertising more attractive than non-celebrity advertising:

When asked whether advertisements having celebrity endorser attracts them more over advertisements that do not have celebrity endorser in them, a majority response of the participants were similar, while a few mentioned interesting details. Firstly a majority of the participants felt that celebrity endorsements attract them more over non-celebrity endorsements. Some of the participants responded even before i could finish the questions, showing their assertiveness in their answers. A few responses of the participants in this nature were as follows: Shazia: Obliviously a celebrity advertising, because the kind of advertisements it, if its a television advertisement its obliviously more attractive. It stays in your mind, if you know a known figure is doing it, you will obliviously look forward to seeing it. So ya a celebrity advertising is more attractive. Shaira: Hmmm... Definitely the curiosity is more when there is a celebrity endorser, because if there is a celebrity that personally admire and if they using him in an advertisement, then there

definitely more curiosity. I would want to go see, more than a normal ad i would want to go open that. So i would say a celebrity advertising attracts me more. Shahnawaz: Personally a celebrity advertising attracts me more than a non-celebrity advertising. Im instantly drawn towards a celebrity endorsed advertisement for the simple reason that i know that person, or he/she is a famous public figure. This also true in a place like India where they actually worship their celebrities. So yes a celebrity advertisement does attract me more than a non-celebrity ad. Nina: Surely a celebrity advertising with a celebrity would attract me more because i know that celebrity or he/she is a well-known person. The fact that a celebrity is endorsing in an ad, hence i would like to see the advertisement. There would be an interest to see the ad. Many of the participants feel that the celebrity advertising attracts them more as appose to a non-celebrity advertising for a basic reason that a well-known public figure is endorsing the product. It draws their attention immediately to the advertisement with the celebrity. There is a sense of curiosity generate with the viewers, in looking forward to viewing the advertisement. The curiosity to see to once favorite celebrity attracts them more a non-celebrity advertising. Some of the participants used phrases such as definitely and curiosity used by Shaira, obliviously used by Shazia, worship by Shahnawaz and surely used by Nina, shows the assertiveness of the participation being attracted by celebrity advertising over non-celebrity advertising. These are strong words which are used by these participants and have no mention of these in the current literature. This may also be because of the cultural difference between in India and USA and UK, where most of the previous research has being done. Therefore it appears to be an interesting new insight in understanding the consumers purchase decision. A couple of respondents such as Junaid and Youniswani cited that celebrity advertising did not attracts them more over a non-celebrity advertisement, because for them it depended on the product being advertised and not the celebrity whos advertising. The following are the responses of Junaid and Youniswani: Junaid: For me a non-celebrity advertising attracts more, because see when they have celebrity in an advertising they really dont really give much thought about the concept of the advertisement or the message they are trying to promote. All they do is that the celebrity does all the work for them. They just put the celebrity in the ad and all the work is done for them. They dont really have to pass the message or anything like that, but when you take non-celebrity advertising they have to pass the message. They actually tell the public what the product is which is delivered to them. So thats where the true identity of the product is shown, but in a celebrity advertisement, as long as the celebrity is there its cool. younis: For me personally i dont think any celebrity advertising makes any difference, because its a false claim that they are promoting. For me the product has to be of good use to me. If my favorite celebrity was to endorse a product which was not all that good then i would not go buy it

just because my favorite celebrity is endorsing it. Both Junaid and Youniswani share the view that the products usefulness and products feature should be high-light in the advertisement, which was attracts them both. Junaid cites that in celebrity advertising there is not much research and reasoning done before getting the celebrity onboard, and the entire burden is put on the celebrity to convey the message. This goes against the literature provided by Arawak and Kamakura (1995), researched that customers are more likely to choose goods and services endorsed by celebrities rather than without such endorsements. One participant (Showket) takes a more neutral stand wherein he states that a celebrity advertising attracts him more, but does not mean that he will go buy the product being advertised. He further adds that if a non-celebrity advertisement is selling the same product as the celebrity endorsed ad, and if the product is better in the former he will buy it from the former rather from the latter. This point is further strengthened by Youniswani who cited that If my favorite celebrity was to endorse a product which was not all that good then i would not go buy it just because my favorite celebrity is endorsing it. This is revealed in the response given below: Showket: A celebrity advertising attracts me more, but that doesnt mean that i will go buy the product that the celebrity is advertising. It creates more recall in the consumers mind, but for me the product has to be of good use. The celebrity is just there to draw the consumers attention. So basically yes celebrity advertising does attract be more but if the product in a non-celebrity ad is better i will go buy that. Showket mentions in his argument that celebrity advertising creates more recall in the minds of the consumers. This goes in accordance with Ohanians (1991) research which indicates that, message when delivered by a well-known personality will achieve a high degree of attention and recall.

4.3 Issues pertaining to celebrity endorsement

In this section we discuss issues that are pertaining to celebrity endorsement such as does celebritys attractiveness have an impact on the product? Should there be a connection between the celebrity and the product? And what impact does celebritys credibility have on the consumer purchase decision? Furthermore issues such as celebrities endorsing multiple products and economic assessment of celebrity endorsements will also be discussed.

4.3.1 Celebritys Attractiveness having a direct impact on the product:

The participants took time in answering this question and there was no definite answer as the question was open-ended. Almost all respondents did not at once agree or disagree to the question. Most of the participants felt that celebritys attractiveness had some impact on the product, but not every time. When probed further, most of them took the neutral stand that of it does affect the product, but not for all the time. A few responses reflecting this opinion were as follows:

Vidhi: Only certain times, when the advertisement is made in the correct way. Otherwise you only see the celebrity and not the product. Shaira: Hmmm... attractive, may be not every ad, but i think most of the ad you do tend to see why those people have chosen this celebrity for this ad. So ya, not all but surely for some or most ad yes. Nina: Yes, celebritys attractiveness does have a direct impact on the product he/she is endorsing. If it had not been for their attractive looks or appearance they would not have been chosen to endorse for the product. For example, if AishwaryaRai was not so attractive and so beautiful she would have never been chosen to endorse so many beauty products such as LOreal and Lux. So yes it does have an impact on the product, but i think its not for every ad. Raj: Yaa there is no questions whether or not celebrity attractiveness has an impact on the product, it clearly does. But i dont think its the same case for all ads and pro ducts. It may so happen that an ad for a machine tool does not require an attractive celebrity, so its depends. As seen above the respondents, agree to the fact that celebritys attractiveness does have an impact on the product, but its not the true for all the advertisements. These views are in general, similar to the views of Byrne (2003), who cited that there is no doubt that attractive celebrity endorsers enhance attitude towards advertising and brands. Also to certain extend the view of the participants matches with Singers (1983) view of, advertisers choose celebrity endorsers on the basis of their physical attractiveness to gain from the dual effect of celebrity status and physical appeal. Couple of participants felt that celebritys attractiveness did in fact have a direct effect on the product he/she is endorsing and felt that it was also an important parameter in selecting the celebrity. The views of these two participants were as follows: Shazia: Hmm... yes it does have an impact, because see if you have an attract person endorsing a beauty cream then, then it makes sense because then the product is for enhancing beauty so you will have an attractive celebrity endorsing the product. Also having an attractive celebrity helps in seeing the ad again and again, therefore helping the ad being in the minds of the people. Tanvi: Yes, i agree that celebritys attractiveness has a direct impact on the product he/she is endorsing. For example, if the product been advertised is a fairness cream and if yo u dont have an attractive looking celebrity endorsing it then people will not look or notice the ad. Also, if the products a fairness cream, so obviously you cant have an unattractive person endorsing it. These two views of Shazia and Tanvi reinforce and match up to the claims made by Kahlo and Homer (1985), who argued that purchase intention participants are easily influenced by an attractive celebrity endorser than unattractive celebrity endorser. Furthermore, Tanis claim that attractive looking celebritys get noticed in ads more or less matches with Joseph (1982) research which proves that attractive communicators are repeatedly liked more than unattractive ones and also have a positive impact on the brand which they are associated with. Shazia mentions that having attractive celebrity in ads helps viewing of the ad over and over again, therefore helping

the ad stay in the minds of the consumers. This argument by Shazia reinforces the Joseph (1982) research which states that attractive celebrity endorsers enhance attitude and recall towards advertising than unattractive celebrity endorsers.

4.3.2 Product Match Up - Connection between Celebrity and Product:

All most all participants agreed instantly to the fact that there should be a connection between the brand/product and the celebrity endorser. Most, if not all of the participants said that the celebrity and the product being advertised should be linked in a certain way, such as may be the product they are endorsing is from the field they belong to. Most of the participants did not hesitate in giving an example to back their argument, therefore showing the recall celebrity advertising generated. These assessments can be viewed from the response of the participants below: Raj: Definitely yes. Suppose when Shahrukh Khan advertised for the Lux (beauty soap) ad, it was so pathetic; I mean he had no connection. There was no beauty connected to Shahrukh Khan. He should have either advertised for mens deodorant or something else for men. He has nothing to do with the soap that to a ladys soap. So definitely celebrities should be linked to the product they are advertising. Shaira: Yaya... the celebrity should be linked to the product he/she advertising. If i were the firm and had to choose a celebrity, i would choose a celebrity that fits the product. I would pick a celebrity that is linked to what i want to say or tell. People will buy the product because the celebrity and the product are linked and its perfect fit. So yes i would choose a celebrity that fits the product. Shazia: Certainly, I think the celebrity should be linked to the product. If Sachin Tendulkar is advertising for some sports product then it makes sense, rather than he endorsing for something else which is not connected to his field. Junaid: Ya there should be a connection. Thats what these promoters want to establish that is a connection between the brand and the celebrity. So the people who are their fans will also buy the products endorsed by them. For example David Beckham endorse for Pepsi. Now Pepsi is a refreshing drink and David Beckham is a footballer. Now the promoters want to establish that after a tiring game of football David Beckham drinks Pepsi, which is a refreshing drink. So all his fans will do the same and buy Pepsi. Showket: Most certainly there should be a connection. For example when Amitabh Bachchan endorsed for Parker pen makes sense. Because he is well read, he comes from a background where his parents were both writers/authors. Therefore it was a fit for the product with the celebrity. These views of the respondents match with Mirsa (1990) analysis that the effectiveness of the message depends on the fit between the brand and the celebrity. This

assessment of Misra is also spoken by the participants namely Shaira, Showket and Junaid, who specifically mentioned the relation between the brand and the celebrity as a fit. Till and Busler (1998) research showed that expertise is more important than physical attractiveness in affecting attitude towards an endorsed brand, with the help an example of Cindy Crawford and Revlon, calling it a natural fit. Another similar example proving Till and Busler (1998) research was given by Showket, who mentions Amitabh Bachchan endorsing Parker pen. This example further highlights Till and Busler (1998) point of expertise more important than physical attraction with an Indian context, as Amitabh Bachchan is a 60 plus actor is and was chosen to as a celebrity endorser for Parker pen because of his background and expertise in literature and his reputation. Raj spoke about how a specific advertisement did not have any connection between the brand and the product, citing the example of Shahrukh Khan endorsing Lux beauty soap. He adds and calls the advertisement as pathetic. These views of Raj are similar to Temperey and Tangent (2006) finding which states that a marketer can always match a celebrity with the want image of a brand/product, but itwill not be successful if the receiver does not perceive the fit. Therefore, Rajs view as a consumer further proves Temperey and Tangent (2006) finding. Shahnawaz: Of course, because if someone who is in sports is going to endorse a product then it has to be related in sports to an extent, so that you can relate the celebrity to the pro duct. Its like Nike and Michael Jordon, it goes hand in hand...when it comes to India, its a different thing. Products in India sell by the face, so if you take Sachin, he can sell anything, because thats his value. An interesting analysis is obtained from the views of Shahnawaz. He mentions the fact that in India products are sold by the face. This interesting analysis has not been mentioned in previous literature and cites at an interesting new finding. Digging more into Shahnawaz s views reveals that in India celebrities are idolized and worshiped (Katyal, 2007), thus whatever they endorse their fans will accept them and buy that particular product.

4.3.3 Multiply product endorsements:

All the participants agreed unanimously on the single fact that celebrity endorse multiple products just for the money, without really being bothered about the product and does it even match up to them. Every single participant used words or phrases such as we know for what they are doing it for, its just for the money, they dont really care and its the money which makes them do it. A few of the views of the participants is as follows: Junaid: I dont know. See thats only to get money. I dont think it has anything to do with marketing or anything else; its just for the money thats all. Shazia: I think its fine. Why do celebrities endorse multiple products because they get money. They are not concern about how well the product is or how well the product will do in the market. I guess most of them would be just concerned about the money they are getting for it.

Showket: I think its just all for the money, see i dont think a Shahrukh Khan is really bothered about how well sun feast biscuit is doing in the market because of his association with it. I think its all for the money and nothing else. Shaira: There is nothing wrong with them endorsing multiple products, because we k now why they are doing it... They are doing it to keep their income streams going and to let the money keep flowing in. Nina: Theres no doubt why these celebrities are doing multiple endorsements, for the simple reason to earn that extra money. They dont care about how well the product is doing in the market or anything else. They just do it for the money. Youniswani: See these celebrities really dont care about the how well the product is or about the competition. They agree to do multiple endorsements just for the simple reason of money. They are more concern about their share rather than anything else. These views clearly suggest that consumers feel that celebrities endorse multiple products just for the money and are not really concern about the marketing strategies behind getting them on board. An more critical analysis reveals that currently on television there are probably three to four big stars endorsing more 10/12 different products each. Therefore a justification for a unanimous reasoning can be derived stating that there is so much multiple celebrity endorsement taking place on the Indian television and half of them are so ridiculously matched-up with certain celebrities that its creates more humour than anything else. This analysis goes in accordance with Redenbacher (2005) research which suggests that if a celebrity endorses for four and above brands/products then it the celebritys credibility and trustworthiness become a point of concern.

4.3.3.1 Negative publicity

When asked whether celebrities endorsing multiple products create negative publicity due to over-exposure, most replied in partially agreeing to this fact. Most of the participants agreed that it creates negative publicity due to over exposure of the celebrity, but also mentioned that if it works for the brand then they are not worried. As long as the celebrities get the dues for the endorsements, they not worried. A few responses of the participants voicing similar opinion are as follows: Youniswani: ... It does cause over-exposure for the celebrity, but if it works for the brand and if the celebrity is getting his dues then its not such a big issue for them. After all they (Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan) are such big stars that people will forget all this when their next movie realizes.

Nidhi: I do think it does create negative publicity and the celebritys credibility does get beating due to over-exposure. If the celebrity is constantly in front of the TV appearing in different ads, then it does create negative publicity in the eyes of the consumers. Raj: I dont think it creates negative publicity because of over-exposure. Like they say any publicity is good publicity, so it does not really create negative publicity, rather it creates discussion.

4.3.4 Economic Assessment of Celebrity Endorsement

When asked whether the participants thought celebrities charging such large amounts of money to endorse brands/products was justifiable. The response of a few participants was that they did not agree with the celebrities charging such high amounts, but also felt that if the company hiring them can benefit from them so enormously then why not. Some participants, after a little consideration, felt that it was justifiable on the part of the celebrity to charge so high as they (company hiring them) is using celebritys credibility to enhance their product/brand by associating with the celebrity. Some of the views of the participants reflecting these views are as follows: Tanvi: I dont think the celebrities should get so much money just to do a commercial. It does not seem right, in the sense that, yes they are using the celebritys name and status to sell the product, but i dont think they should get so much. Youniswani: Its not fare to say that the celebritys charge a little too extra, because when you compare the profits the company gets by using these celebrities, its mind blogging. So its the need of the company to associate themselves with a particular celebrity or celebrities to enhance sales. Nina: I dont know the amounts the celebrities get to endorse brands, but i do feel that they are selling brands/products on their credibility and if the product is not up to the standard then it may so happen that due to the flaws in the product the celebritys credibilit y may be tarnished to a certain extent. Most of the participants were confused when asked them this question of whether they would justify the large amounts paid to the celebrity to endorse product/brand. Most of the participants were not aware and did not have any idea of the amounts paid to the celebrity. They just knew that the celebritys charged a very larger amount to endorse a particular product/brand. It can be drawn from the response received that even though the people had no clue of the amounts paid, they more or less felt that since the celebritys name, status and credibility is been used, it was ok on the celebritys part to charge them money.

4.4 Consumers Perspective

In this section we discuss consumers perspective on some issues pertaining to celebrity endorsements. Issues such as to what level does celebrity endorsement have an impact on their purchase decision? Does their attention on the product get overshadowed by the celebrity in the advertisement? Do they think that the celebrity in reality actually use the product he/she is endorsing? Lastly, do they think there is too much of celebrity endorsement taking place in television today?

4.4.1 Celebrity Endorsements having an impact on their purchase decisions

All most 80% of the participants felt that celebrity endorsement does not affect their purchase decision. A few further stated that it depends at time on what the product being advertised. Most of the respondents claimed that just because there is a celebrity endorsing a particular product, they (respondents) will not buy it. The product has to be good and useful to the consumer and then only will they go and purchase the product being advertised. A few of the participants who reciprocated these views are as follows: Junaid: No for me celebrity endorsement does not have any impact on my purchase decision. It doesnt affect my decision at all. Showket: It doesnt really have an impact on my purchase decision at all. Rather it depends on the product being advertised. If the product being advertised is of my liking and suits my requirement, then i would go by irrespective of the celebrity endorsing for it. Shazia: Hmmm... actually celebrity endorsement doesnt have an impact on my purchase decision. I dont believe in just because someone or my favorite celebrity is endorsing a product, i should go and buy the product. Tanvi: It doesnt have an impact on my purchase decision, absolutely none so ever. Nidhi: It doesnt really matter if a celebrity is endorsing it or not. For me th e product has to be good then i would go buy the product, irrespective of the celebrity in the advertising. Nina: Celebrity endorsement does not really have influence my purchase decision, it only depends sometime at times for certain products and some celebrities. As seen for above, most of the participant do not change or get affected in the purchase decision because of the celebrity endorsing the product. Therefore it can be inferred that most consumers do not get affected by the celebrity in the advertisement. Rather the product has to be of good use to the consumer. The celebrity then just further reinforces these claims of the product. An interesting analysis can be drawn from the views of Shahnawaz, who gives an interesting perspective to this question. His views are as follows:

Shahnawaz: It depends on the product, who endorsing what product. I play sports and if there is a sports advertisement, then i would look at the celebrity whose endorsing the product. At time it gives us a grantee or a standard of quality and at time it does not matter whos endorsing the product. An interesting inference can be drawn from response of Shahnawaz, who mentions that at times the celebrity endorsing a particular brand/product gives some sought of assurance and grantee towards the product. Therefore the celebritys credibility reassures the consumer of the quality of the product. The celebritys trustworthiness is reinforced into the product (Danes vary and Schwarz, 2000; Holland et al., 1953). This is an interesting insight which many researchers have argued and cited in their studies.

4.4.2 Celebrities actually use the product?

All most all the participants completely agreed that the celebrities do not in reality use the products they endorse. Some added further stating that it may be the case that few of the products endorsed by the celebrity, he/she may actually use it. This clearly shows that the consumers are not fools and when they see a celebrity endorsing a particular product, they take it with a pinch of salt. A few of the participants whose views match these claims are as follows: Shazia: Of course not. Like some product they do, like when Shahrukh Khan advertises for Pepsi, i do believe that he drinks it, but when he endorsers for Lux beauty soap, Im sure he doesnt use that soap. So i would say most of the time they dont, but at time they do use the products they advertise. Junaid: No i dont think so. They might probably just do that because they are paid to do it, in front of public. But personally i dont think they use the product they endorse. Vidhi: Only a few products, if they are high-end products, then they might be using it. But i dont think, like very basic product, they would be using. Only the high-end products they would be using. Raj: Not at all. I dont think they are using any of the products they endorse. Its just to show the public that they are using these products, but in reality they do not use these products at all. Im sure they products far more superior to the ones they advertise for. Shahnawaz: Most definitely not. I dont think that celebritys actually use the products they endorse. Its just a trick to make people believe in that the celebrity is actually using the product. Nidhi: In my opinion it could be both, may be they dont may be they do. I think you tend to believe they do, but Im sure its not case always. Im sure they are not always using the products they advertise. So Im not really sure about that.An interesting analysis can be drawn from the views of Nidhi who states a very important point while expressing her view regarding whether celebrities actually use the product they endorse in reality. Most people while watching an ad

tend to believe that the celebrity endorsing a particular product tends to use the products, but they also know that it may not be the case always.

4.4.3 Vampire Effect

Most of the respondents agreed with Kulkarni and Baulker (2005) research which suggested that celebrities at time overshadow the brand/product in an advertisement, causing what is known as vampire effect. Vampire effect takes place in celebrity endorsement, when the celebrity in the advertisement overshadows or overpowers the brand/product. This results in viewers remembering the celebrity and not the brand or the product in concern. A few responses which voiced similar views are as follows: Tanvi: Many a times, definitely. The celebrity always overpowers the product. My attention does get overshadowed to the celebrity over the brand. Vidhi: ...Ya it does, in a way. It definitely it does overshadows the product or brand. Shazia: Yaya it does. At least for a girl, when there is an actress endorsing, i tend to look at her clothes and other things than what she is endorsing. Nina: Yaya definitely i do see my attention being drawn towards the celebrity more than the product. At times it so happens that I dont remember the brand, but recall the celebrity who advertised for it, in a certain way. So yes, but its not the case all the time. Raj: Ya sometimes, because they try to make the celebrity look more attractive so the people go and watch the advertisements. So hence in this relation you see more of the celebrity and less of the product, so the product is subsided in the advertisement. Youniswani: Ya at times it does. Actually at first everyone see the celebrity first and then notices the product. So yes it does attract more attention to the celebrity than the product in a certain way. Shaira: Of course it does. Thats the whole point of getting a celebrity to advertise in the first place. It increases the curiosity in the viewers and thats what makes the people go buy the product. So it does for me too. As seen above, it can be inferred that most viewers see the celebrity in the advertisement more than they notice the product. This can be harmful as Kulkarni and Baulker (2005) mentioned in their research. Today marketers must not only concentrate on associating with just a popular celebrity to get maximum viewer, but should take into consideration what Cooper (1984) mentioned in his research that the product, not the celebrity, must be the star. In doing above mentioned it would make sure that the product and the celebrity get equal prominence in the ad.

4.4.4 Too much celebrity advertising on TV?

When asked whether is there too much of celebrity advertising taking place on television today, most felt agreed in saying that there is too much of celebrity advertising place in Indian television today. The participants responded very quickly and with instant agreement to the statement posed to them, showing conviction in their views. The responses of few of the participants are as follows: Raj: I completely agree to the fact that there is too much of celebrity advertising on TV right now. I think there are more celebrity endorsement ads than non-celebrity advertising ads. So yes i agree. Nina: Completely true. I think there just celebrities endorsing ads on the television right now. Its absolutely ridiculous. Showket: I definitely think so. Now days the minute you switch on the television there are only celebrity advertising and nothing else. I think there is just too much celebrity advertising taking place today. Vidhi: Yaya right now its just too much happening on TV currently. Nidhi: There are a lot of ads on television currently on TV today and most of them are celebrity advertising. Its ok to a certain extent, but i think there has to be a limit to what this. It gets to irritating for the viewer to constantly watch celebrity ads. A couple of the respondents mentioned that it was in a way ok as it provided them entertainment while they were watching TV. Junaid: Its ok for me. Its provide time pass while watching TV. Its funny and i dont mind. Shahnawaz: Its fun for me and i dont mind watching it. The above views show a different side and make for an interesting analysis. From the response it shows proves that not only celebrity advertising is to capture the attention of the viewers, but also provides entertainment for some viewers.

In conclusion, celebrity advertising has evolved much over the years. From actually volunteering act in commercials for charity, to charging a large fee and to singing celebrities for yearly contracts. Today celebrity endorsements has become an immensely competitive industry and grown far ahead from its inception. With reference to Indian context, where stars are given demigod like status, its an interesting and powerful weapon, if used carefully

4.5

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

1. What attracts you more, a celebrity advertising or non-celebrity advertising?

Out of 100 respondents 71% agreed that they attract more by celebrity advertising as compared to non-celebrity advertising.

2. Do you feel celebritys attractiveness has a direct impact on the product/brand he/she endorses?

88% agreed that celebrity attractiveness has direct impact on the product and 12% disagree.

3. To what level does Celebrity Endorsement have an impact on your purchase decisions?

INTERPRETATION: All most 80% of the participants felt that celebrity endorsement does not affect their purchase decision 4. Do you think that there should be a connection between the celebrity and the product being advertised?

INTERPRETATION: All most all participants agreed instantly to the fact that there should be Connection between the brand/product and the celebrity endorser.

5. As a consumer does your attention to the product gets overshadowed by the popularity of the celebrity in the advertisement?

6. As a consumer do you think the Celebrity in reality uses the product/brand that he or she endorses?

INTERPRETATION: 71% Respondents disagree and 29% agree

7. What is our opinion on celebrities endorsing multiply products? Do you think it might create negative publicity for the celebrity because of overexposure?

8. As a consumer do you justify the larger amount paid to celebrities for endorsing a product/brand?

8. Do you think there is too much of Celebrity Endorsements taking place on TV now?

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction
This chapter will provide a summary of the findings presented in the earlier chapter. It takes a quick look at that key findings from the interviews conducted with the participants who have provide some very useful insights and generated some excellent results. These new results and findings have opened new windows for further research and studies in this field of study.

5.2 Conclusion
Today Celebrity Endorsement has become an integral part of the advertisement industry. Meenaghan and OMahony (1998) stated that celebrity endorsements are omnipresent feature of present day marketing, this whole true for the Indian perspective as well. Figure 2, shows the increase in celebrity endorsements on Indian television from 2003 to 2007. As seen below in the year 2003 only recorded 100 celebrity endorsements featuring on the Indian television. As appose to this there was a sharp increase in the celebrity endorsements in the year 2007 which recorded 745 celebrity endorsements on television. Adding to this a new article on one of the countrys leading business papers stated that celebrity endorsements in India has grown incredible and adds up to 49% increase in 2007 (thehindubusinessline.com).

Figure 2: Celebrity Endorsements www.thehindubusinessline.com

on

television

since

2003

Source:

Most of the respondents had a clear understanding of what celebrity endorsement meant. Their descriptions were well articulate and were very much in accordance with the definitions provided by McCracken (1989) and Friedman and Friedman (1979). Most respondents admitted to the fact that the celebrity endorsements generates higher level of appeal, but does not mean that it translates in purchase of that product. On the contrary, some participants stated that celebrity endorsement did not have any impact on their purchase decision and for them it was only the products features and attributes which generated more excitement. In preference of celebrity over non-celebrity endorsement, only a couple of respondents felt that a celebrity endorsement does not attract them more over non-celebrity endorsement. While the rest of the participants clearly admitted in getting more attracted to celebrity endorsement, which was more reflected in their response which consisted of phrases such as definitely, curiosity, worshiped and surely showing the cultural difference between India and other parts of the world. In terms of celebritys attractiveness, most participants felt that attractiveness did have an impact on the product. Quickly adding to this they also mentioned that it is not necessarily true all the time. Couple of participants also further added stating that celebritys attractiveness does have a direct impact on the product and also cited examples to further justify their point. Interestingly none of the participants went against question and all agreed with the question at a certain level. In relation to celebrity having a connection with the brand/product being endorsed, there was a clear majority of sought. Almost all the participants agreed upon celebrity having a relation with the brand/product being endorsed. Most of the participants also cited examples to support their statement. They all agreed upon having a percept fit between the celebrity and brand to enable maximum benefits. They also claimed that celebrities should be matched-up to the products and vice-versa. An interesting result obtained from one of the participant, Shahnawaz stated that products in India sell by the face. As stated by Katyal (2007), in India some celebrities are treated like demi-gods and when they are associated with a brand/product, their fans are bound to buy those products. This proved to be a very interesting and a new finding through this research, and a very important point factor for forming strategies in India, taking into consideration the cultural context. Probably with respect to celebrities endorsing multiple products it came as no surprise as all of the participants agreed upon the same fact that celebrities endorse multiple products just to earn more money. In terms of creating negative publicity for them because of overexposure, most again agreed that it does a cause celebrity negative publicity. Also some furthered added that the celebrities did not bother once their dues were cleared and their services were paid for. In relation to celebrities charging larger amount to endorse for products, many of the participants seemed confused and uncertain. But an interesting insight was drawn from the responses which showed that even the participants did not accurately know the amounts paid to the celebrities; some felt that it was in a way justifiable because the product/brand is sold by the celebrity on

his/her credibility and status. Most participants claimed that celebrity endorsements did not have any impact on their purchase decision. They claimed that merely a favorite celebrity or famous celebrity is endorsing a certain brand; the participants will not go buy it. One of the participants named Shahnawaz said that if an interested product is endorsed by a certain celebrity, it at times gives a sense of product quality and assurance to the viewers. This finding proved relevant when understanding why celebrities were needed to endorse products. In terms of celebritys actually using the product they endorse, unanimously all the participants agreed that none of the celebrities actually use them. A few suggested that it may depend on the product, but majority of the do not use the products they endorse. It was also interesting to note that sometimes the viewers tent to assume that the celebrities are using the products, but when actually they know they do not. In consideration to celebrities overshadowing the product in the advertisement, none so every disagreed with this statement. They all stated that their attention was drawn towards the celebrity more than the product. Some participants further stated that they did not recall the product while only remembering the celebrity. Most participants complained of too much celebrity endorsements on the television currently. Some respondents claimed calling it ridiculous and also some further stated that as it is there are so many ads and on top of that there are so many celebrity endorsements which irritated the viewers even more. A few participants even mentioned on a litter mode calling so many celebrities advertising as entertaining and funny. In spite of all the negatives and positives views from the participants if can be inferred that if celebrity endorsed advertising is conducted with much thought and proper execution then the chances of it going wrong are few and would in tend increase awareness and enhance sales of the product as well.

CHAPTER 6 LIMITATIONS, MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

6.1 Limitations of the study
Every research has certain drawbacks and therefore it is necessary to incorporate them in the thesis to achieve a true perspective of the research topic. The following are a few constrains which i faced during my research study. The research subject size used in this research is small in number and does not in any way represent the larger population of India. Hence the results of this study cannot be judged to say justify the larger population. The results may demonstrate difference. The research subject all come from similar age ground and economy class, therefore they do not represent the Indian nation, who has a people from diverse socio-economic strata. The results obtained from this research therefore could not be used to sample India as a whole nation. Another limitation of this research is the age group of the respondents is restricted to between the ages of 22 to 30 years. Therefore the views of these participants cannot sample against the voices of Larger Indian population. Also because of restricted age group in the research, there may be a certain type of point of view, which may not be the same when compared with other age groups point of views. If the people in the late 60s were to be interviewed then, then it would result in a different opinion and final result. Also the occupation of these participants is similar as most of them are either students or employed or trainees. Therefore it may not seem an adequate representation of the various different walks of life people come. It may also be the limitation of this research. Another important limitation of this research is the time constrain while doing this study. Due to the restriction of time more participants could not be interviewed, providing for a better research sample and having more data to analysis and then to some up with better findings. Since the study uses qualitative approach for ascertaining and analysing the data, which proves satisfactory, but it is also important to come with quantitative data to come up with accurate figures and statists. This helps in ascertaining a wider and comprehensive data sample. Another flaw in the research is that it uses interview style of data collection, which is appropriate. But at times its said that the respondents do not say what they want to say, rather they say what the interviewer wants to hear (Denzin and Linclon, 2002). Hence the respondents views may be influenced by others, resulting in inaccurate data findings.

6.2 Managerial Implication

The results obtained from this research can be of very good help towards the literature on celebrity endorsements. Celebrity endorsement has evolved a lot from its early inception. Today celebrity endorsement is used by managers very strategically to gain competitive advantage and also to enhance sales. First of all managers should draw their attention to the fact that the Indian consumers are different and the way they treat their celebrities is also different when compared to other countries such as The United Kingdom and United States of America to name a few. In India stars and celebrities are worshipped and given demi-god status. Therefore when a popular celebrity endorses for a brand in India, there bound to be hysteria about that particular product. Managers should also take notice of matching up of products to appropriate celebrities and not creating arbitrary association with celebrities, just to generate more awareness. Before finalising and airing the commercial, celebrities and products should be linked resulting in a perfect brand fit, thus generating maximum awareness and purchase. Managers should also take a closer look at negative information about of celebrities affecting the consumers. At times its seen that negative information about the celebrity in question results in negative information passed on to the product as well. Therefore harming the product as well and causing decrease in sales.

6.3 Future Research

The areas in which further research could be conduct are issues such there has not be a considerable research done on celebrity endorsement and its impact on the consumers with the Indian population. Since the Indian population is vast and diverse, different research targeting different groups of people according to their socio-economic class can be classified. Another important area of concern in the future is the dissatisfaction of some people referring to celebrity endorsement has making no sense and merely introduced to fool the consumers and make money. These statements are serious and harsh as well, therefore an in-depth understanding of consumer need to be conducted to analysis this problem. While matching up celebrities to product, an important point must be notice that of whether the meaning is getting transferred at all to the consumers and also to notice if it is transferred in the correct way. It is very important to get the right meaning transferred to the consumers to get maximum advantage of using the celebrity and achieving larger awareness. Consumers are governed by their cultural and values, hence a detailed study of the Indian consumers needs to be done before anything else, in trying to understand the consumers habits. If most of these recommendations are implemented, the Indian consumers perception towards celebrity endorsements would change and will result in higher degree of achievement by using a celebrity to endorse a brand/product.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES Daniel Couzens and Helen Ablett, Im a celebrity But do you really need me? Says Latest Global Consumer Research, GMIPoll, 24 January, 2005. Bush, A. J., Martin, C. A. and Bush, V. D., (2004), Sports Celebrity Influence on the Behavioural Intentions of Generation Y, Journal of Advertisement Research, 44.1, pp. 108-118. Friedman, H. H. and Friedman, L., (1979), Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type, Journal of Advertising Research, 19.5, pp. 63-71. Pringle, Hamish (2004), Celebrity Sells. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester.p. 66. Sharma, Amit, (Nov 26, 2009), India to be among top 10 ad market: Steve King quoted in The Economic Times, New Delhi. (http://www.economictimes.com) Suresh, K (2005), NEWS PAPERS
TIMES OF INDIA BUSINESS LINE THE ECONOMIC TIMES

APPENDICES
A sample of the interview questions used for the process of analysis is given below.

Appendix - A
Interview Questions 1. What do you understand by the term Celebrity Endorsement? 2. What attracts you more, a celebrity advertising or non-celebrity advertising? 3. Do you feel celebritys attractiveness has a direct impact on the product/brand he/she endorses? 4. To what level does Celebrity Endorsement have an impact on your purchase decisions? 5. Do you think that there should be a connection between the celebrity and the product being advertised?Do you think the celebrity should be linked to the product/brand in concern? 6. As a consumer does your attention to the product gets overshadowed by the popularity of the celebrity in the advertisement? 7. As a consumer do you think the Celebrity in reality uses the product/brand that he or she endorses? 8. Do you feel as a consumer, sometimes the celebritys credibility makes you purchase items endorsed by them, which you may not have required? 9. What is our opinion on celebrities endorsing multiply products? Do you think it might create negative publicity for the celebrity because of overexposure? 10. As a consumer do you justify the larger amount paid to celebrities for endorsing a product/brand? 11. Do you think there is too much of Celebrity Endorsements taking place on TV now?

Appendix B
Interview transcript ShaziaMagar 1. What do you understand by the term Celebrity Endorsement? Celebrity endorsement is something where a known figure is endorsing a product. For example, Amitabh Bachchan is an actor and the whole nation knows him and he is endorsing a product and you see the ad and if he is your idol, you will obviously go but that product. So thats what i think celebrity endorsement is. 2. Ok, what attracts you more, a celebrity advertising or non-celebrity advertising? Obviously a celebrity advertisement. The kind of advertising, see if its a television ad its obviously more attractive. It stays in your mind more. If you a famous figure in it, you will obviously look forward to seeing it. 3. Ok then, do you feel celebritys attractiveness has a direct impact on the product/brand he/she endorses? If youre a celebrity and well known in the whole nation and someone is your fan and really likes you, then that person will go buy what the celebrity is endorsing. The customers will believe that whatever the celebrity is endorsing. The customer will believe that whatever the celebrity is endorsing itd the best thing. So i think celebritys attractiveness do help the product sell faster. 4. So then, to what level does Celebrity Endorsement have an impact on your purchase decisions? Actually it doesnt really have that much of an impact on my purchase decision. I dont believe i just because someone is endorsing so i should go and buy that product. 5. Ok, do you think that there should be a connection between the celebrity and the product being advertised? Do you think the celebrity should be linked to the product/brand in concern? Certainly, I think the celebrity should be linked to the product. If Sachin Tendulkar is advertising for some sports product then it makes sense, rather than he endorsing for something else which is not connected to his field. 6. As a consumer does your attention to the product gets overshadowed by the popularity of the celebrity in the advertisement? Yaya it does. At least for a girl, when there is an actress endorsing, i tend to look at her clothes and other things than what she is endorsing.

7. As a consumer do you think the Celebrity in reality uses the product/brand that he or she endorses? Of course not. Like some product they do, like when Shahrukh Khan advertises for Pepsi, i do believe that he drinks it, but when he endorsers for Lux beauty soap, Im sure he doesnt use that soap. So i would say most of the time they dont, but at time they do use the products they advertise. 8. Do you feel as a consumer, sometimes the celebritys credibility makes you purchase items endorsed by them, which you may not have required? Not personally, but do know my friends and family members have bought just because their favorite celebrity in endorsing it. 9. What is our opinion on celebrities endorsing multiply products? I think its fine. Why do celebrities endorse multiple products because they get money. They are not concern about how well the product is or how well the product will do in the market. I guess most of them would be just concerned about the money they are getting for it. Do you think it might create negative publicity for the celebrity because of overexposure? I think it would create negative publicity. Constantly if he is in front of the TV, then the media will scrutinise him again and again. If the celebrity does more than two ads that the same time, then the consumer will get consumed for which product he is the brand ambassador for. 10. As a consumer do you justify the larger amount paid to celebrities for endorsing a product/brand? I dont think the celebrity should get that so much. Like Shahrukh Khan is doing a Pepsi ad and he gets 2/3 lakhs. I dont think its fare to charge so much. 11. Do you think there is too much of Celebrity Endorsements taking place on TV now? Ya, now when you on the TV, the only person you see is Amitabh Bachchan everywhere invarious ads for different product. It gets irritating after a certain time seeing him on TV. Thank you.

Appendix C
Interview transcript Junaid 1. What do you understand by the term Celebrity Endorsement? Basically when a company uses a celebrity to promote their product, represent their product in a way. Celebrity is someone you know, who people look up to, who people want

to be like. So basically when you relate them (celebrity) to the product, people think the product is like their celebrity. Some people like their celebrities choices and do what their celebrities do, so if they relate that to a product even they might switch to that product. 2. Ok, what attracts you more, a celebrity advertising or non-celebrity advertising? For me a non-celebrity advertising attracts more, because see when they have celebrity in an advertising they really dont really give much thought about the concept of the advertisement or the message they are trying to promote. All they do is that the celebrity does all the work for them. They just put the celebrity in the ad and all the work is done for them. They dont really have to pass the message or anything like that, but when you take non-celebrity advertising they have to pass the message. They actually tell the public what the product is which is delivered to them. So thats where the true identity of the product is shown, but in a celebrity advertisement, as long as the celebrity is there its cool. 3. Ok then, do you feel celebritys attractiveness has a direct impact on the product/brand he/she endorses? It does, it has to have a direct impact. Thats why they take only popular celebrities than any other celebrity. 3. So then, to what level does Celebrity Endorsement have an impact on your purchase decisions? No for me celebrity endorsement does not have any impact on my purchase decision. It doesnt affect my decision at all. 4. Ok, do you think that there should be a connection between the celebrity and the product being advertised? Do you think the celebrity should be linked to the product/brand in concern?

Ya there should be a connection. Thats what these promoters want to establish that is a connection between the brand and the celebrity. So the people who are their fans will also buy the products endorsed by them. For example David Beckham endorse for Pepsi. Now Pepsi is a refreshing drink and David Beckham is a footballer. Now the promoters want to establish that after a tiring game of football David Beckham drinks Pepsi, which is a refreshing drink. So all his fans will do the same and buy Pepsi. 5. As a consumer does your attention to the product gets overshadowed by the popularity of the celebrity in the advertisement? Ya in a certain way, but not much through.

7. As a consumer do you think the Celebrity in reality uses the product/brand that he or she endorses? No i dont think so. They might probably just do that because they are paid to do it, in front of public. But personally i dont think they use the product they endorse. 8. Do you feel as a consumer, sometimes the celebritys credibility makes you purchase items endorsed by them, which you may not have required? For me personally no. But i do know people who this has happened to them. 9. What is our opinion on celebrities endorsing multiply products? I dont know. See thats only to get money. I dont think it has anything to do with marketing or anything else; its just for the money thats all 10.Do you think it might create negative publicity for the celebrity because of overexposure? If a celebrity has fan flowing, i dont think they give a shit about the appearing in so many ads. So its ok if hes got a big fan flowing. 11. As a consumer do you justify the larger amount paid to celebrities for endorsing a product/brand? Well i really dont know the actual amount they get but i do know its high and a big sum. So may be charge a little less. 12. Do you think there is too much of Celebrity Endorsements taking place on TV now? Its ok for me. Its provide time pass while watching TV. Its funny and i dont mind. Thank you.