THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

NEW DELHI

THESIS ON

DETAILED STUDY ON CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS

SUBMITTED BY:
MEGHA JAIN
ALUMNI ID NUMBER: TS12-M-167
BATCH: ISBE-B, Spring Summer 10-12 /SM1

SUBMITTED TO:
PROF. ANGSHUMAN PAUL

ABSTRACT
The thesis focuses on celebrity endorsement and its use by
marketers. It also explains the problems that marketers face when
they do not choose the right celebrity for their brands.

Celebrity endorsements pull in hundreds of crores every year, and

are widely preferred by marketers to promote their products. Today

FMCG sector is

4th largest

sector in the economy.

Using celebrities for endorsing brands has become a trend for
building the brands as well as the company's image. Who are these
celebrities? And what does celebrity endorsement mean? A celebrity
is a person who is well recognized by the public, and has a
reputation for his/her expertise in his/her chosen silos. Sports
persons and film stars fit the bill perfectly. Promotion of a company's
products through these celebrities is termed as celebrity
endorsement. The company makes use of the celebrity's
characteristics and qualities to establish an analogy with the
products specialties with an aim to position them in the minds of the
target consumers. Celebrity endorsement, thus, is one of the
powerful tools adopted by companies/marketers to consolidate their
brand(s) in the crowded marketplace.
Consumers prefer to own a brand that has a good reputation, and
when someone like a famous film star or a sport star is associated
with that particular brand, it is obvious that the consumers will get
attracted to it, because the consumer wants to maintain some
status, and feels that using a brand promoted by a star can satisfy
that longing.
2

There is a myth that celebrity endorsement is used to give a brand

advantage over its competitors. However, choosing a celebrity for
this purpose requires considerable amount of calculations. There
should be something common between the brand and the celebrity
promoting it. Let us come to the main question as to why marketers
use celebrities to promote their brands. Is there a real need to
associate a celebrity with the product? Yes seems to be the
resounding answer. This is because a company needs to create
awareness and interest in the consumers mind when it unveils a
new brand or product. To be successful, brands need to convince
consumers that they carry a different image and value from other
competing products. In other words, brands have to show their true
personality to the potential consumer(s).

TOPIC APPROVAL LETTER

ISBE B

(SS 10-12 )

PROJECT THESIS TOPIC APPROVAL

Dear MEGHA JAIIN,
This is to inform you that the approved topic for project thesis is DETAILED STUDY ON CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS.
This email is an official confirmation that you would be doing your project
thesis work genuinely and shall try to achieve the said objectives
mentioned in the synopsis.
You must always use the thesis title as approved and registered with us.
Your project thesis id Number is TS12-M-167.

You are required to correspond with your Internal Guide MR.ANGSHUMAN

PAUL (angshuman.paul@iipm.edu) at regular intervals before sending the
thesis final draft to him.

Regards,

Dipti Sharma
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management
dipti.sharma@iipm.edu
Phone: 011 42789995

THESIS SYNOPSIS
Name

Megha Jain

Batch

ISBE-B, SS 10-12

Section

SM1

Contact no.

9891665262

Email_id

ku.meghajain@gmail.com

Thesis Topic: Detailed Study On Celebrity Endorsements.

Specialization: Marketing

Introduction:
Three of humankind's greatest inventions (cinema, radio &
television) have extended the scope of endorsement as an
4

advertising technique. Today use of celebrities as a part of

marketing communications strategy is fairly common practice for
major firms in supporting corporate or brand imagery.
Research Objectives:
a. To know the impact of celebrity endorsements on brands.
b. To know whether celebrity endorsements increase the sales of
the company.
c. To know & understand whether celebrity endorsement work in
India.
d. Does celebrity endorsement always have a positive effect on
the brand?

Research methodology:
Secondary data Books, Newspaper, Magazines, journals, market
reports & internet
Primary data- Tool used, Sampling method, sample size,
Target Audience
Questionnaires, Simple random Sampling used, Sample size-100
respondent, Target Area- New Delhi & Gurgaon [Malls, retails
outlets etc.]

Justification of choosing the topic:

As know day celebrity endorsement is used as effective tool for
effective market penetration and this effect the consumer behavior,
So as a Market student I like to understand the effect of this topic on
consumer.

Summer training details:

5

Topic: Employment morals in FCI Head Quarters.

Company name: FCI, Delhi
Area of specialization: HR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satiation and euphonies that accompany the success

completion of a task would be incomplete without a mention of
people who made it possible. So, with immense gratitude, I
acknowledge all those, whose guidance and encouragement served
as a beacon light and crowned my effort with success.
It is entrenched fact that behind every achievement lays an
unfathomable sea of gratitude to those who have extended their
support and without whom the project would ever have come into
existence.
I express my gratitude to IIPM, New Delhi for providing me an
opportunity to work on this thesis as a part of the curriculum.
I would like to thank Prof. Angshuman Paul for his guidance and
supervision to completion of my thesis project.

TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT..........................................................................................ii
TOPIC APPROVAL LETTER..................................................................iii
SYNOPSIS..........................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT..........................................................................vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................vii

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................1
REVIEW OF LITERATURE...................................................................24
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.....30
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..............................................................31
COCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK................................................................32
DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS.. 35
FINDINGS.........................................................................................44
SUMMARY.........................................................................................45
CONCLUSION........46
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................. ...47
ANNEXURE.......................................................................................48

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1

35

TABLE 2

36

TABLE 3

37

TABLE 4

38

TABLE 5

39

TABLE 6

40

TABLE 7

41

TABLE 8

42

TABLE 9

43

LIST OF FIGURES
FIG 1

35

FIG 2

36

FIG 3

37

FIG 4

38

FIG 5

39

FIG 5

40

FIG 6

41

FIG 8

42

FIG 9

43

INTRODUCTION
The present is era of mass production and mass distribution. Similar
products are taken to market. This involves stiff competition
amongst the producers. Many firms adopt the vigorous means to
maintain their existence in the market, as there are many
substitutes in the market. This tendency is a struggle for the
producers for their survival in the modern business world. All
businessmen aim to make profit by increasing the sales at a
remunerative price policy. Public must know when we manufacture
good quality products or offer expert services, these. For this mass
communication is needed as the population is great or the market
area is wide. We can adopt sales promotion and advertising as tools
to mobilize the marketing machinery. In the present business world,
suitable publicity is done through advertising, which is adopted by
commercial and industrial undertakings and almost all types of
concerns. Therefore advertisement is a method of publicity.
Advertisement has the prominent place among the techniques of
mass education and persuasion on the public. It is not a modern
origin. It has been used for immemorial period. In earlier periods,
advertisement was displayed in the form of sign boards, writing on
historical buildings or inscriptions on stones, stone pillars, stone
walls etc. The development of printing has greatly boosted the ideas
of advertising through newspapers, magazines, handbooks etc. In
earlier period it was used only in a limited manner. The evolution of
printing technology and the changing of the marketing policies have
been greatly utilized and many are benefited from advertising. Now,
manufacturers, businessmen, employers, institutions, new shop
owners, marketers etc. are benefited greatly by displaying the
advertisement. Increasing literacy, modern techniques of printing,
stiff competition etc. add to the necessity of advertisement.

Advertising is a non-personal form of promotion that is delivered

through selected media outlets that, under most circumstances,
require the marketer to pay for message placement. Advertising
has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion in that a
single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass
promotion approach presents problems since many exposed to an
advertising message may not be within the marketers target
market, and thus, may be an inefficient use of promotional funds.
However, this is changing as new advertising technologies and the
emergence of new media outlets offer more options for targeted
advertising.
Advertising also has a history of being considered a one-way form of
marketing communication where the message receiver (i.e., target
market) is not in position to immediately respond to the message
(e.g., seek more information). This too is changing. For example, in
the next few years technologies will be readily available to enable a
television viewer to click a button to request more details on a
product seen on their favorite TV program. In fact, it is expected
that over the next 10-20 years advertising will move away from a
one-way communication model and become one that is highly
interactive.
Another characteristic that may change as advertising evolves is the
view that advertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the
product advertised. That is, customers cannot quickly purchase a
product they see advertised. But as more media outlets allow
customers to interact with the messages being delivered the ability
of advertising to quickly stimulate demand will improve.
The field of advertising is extremely broad and diverse. In general
terms, of course, an advertisement is simply a public notice meant
to convey information and invite patronage or some other response.
As that suggests, advertising has two basic purposes: to inform and
2

to persuade and while these purposes are distinguishable both

very often are simultaneously present. Advertising can be very
simple a local, even? Neighborhood, phenomenon or it can be
very complex, involving sophisticated research and multimedia
campaign that span the globe. It differs according to its indented
audience, so that, for ex, advertising aimed at children raises some
technical and moral issues significantly different from those raised
by advertising aimed at competent adults. Advertising is
everywhere in todays world, so that, as Pope Paul VI remarked, No
one now can escape the influence of advertising. We do not agree.
There is truth to the criticisms, and we shall make criticisms of our
own. But advertising also has significant potential for good, and
sometimes it is realized.

Advertising
The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business,
as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic
media. Also defined as "the non personal communication of
information through various media, paid for by the advertiser and is
usually convincing in nature about the need to buy products and
services" - the advertisers of course. Advertising your companys
products and services to your targeted audience is essential to
maintain a long lasting and prosperous relationship. If youre not
continually winning your customers over than the competition will.
Advertising is defined in Webster's dictionary "as the action of
calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid
announcements, to call public attention by emphasizing desirable
qualities so as to arouse a desire to buy or patronize: promote."
Advertising is a mass-mediated communication. For communication
to be classified as advertising it must be:
1) Paid for,
2) Delivered to an audience via mass media, and
3) Be attempting to persuade.
Advertising, when properly understood, is a powerful tool for
marketing. It can be most effective with products that can be
differentiated from similar products based on consumer accepted
quality differences. However, regardless of the quality of a products
advertising, it is important to remember that a product has to
compete on its own. For example, brand preference cannot be
established if the product fails to meet consumer expectations. The
characteristic features of advertising are:

It must be non-personal communication as differentiated from

personal selling.

It should persuade target audience with relevant information.

It may be presented in any form in any medium or in a

combination of forms suiting the media where it is carried.

It should be paid for.

It is controlled in the sense that the advertiser can control the

content, time and direction of the message.

The source and purpose of the message should be identifiable.

ROLE OF ADVERTISING:
Advertising plays a vital role in the society and on economy of
the society as:

Advertising is a strong communication tool for providing

information to both consumers and industrial
purchasers regarding product quality, price and new
technology.

It helps raising standards of life by bringing in

information about new products, services and concepts.

Advertising helps in generating employment and

improvement in GNP.

Advertising sponsors competitive market and indirectly

provides check and balance against market leaders and
monopolists.
5

Advertising subsidies media expenditure and helps

media to maintain independence to a great extent.

The role of advertising are many, there are three primary roles:

Give information

Generate needs

Promise to fulfill needs

FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING:
Advertising is an important part of many marketers promotional
mix. As it can be cost- effective method for communicating with
large audiences.
General aim or focus of advertising is to provide a possible help to
sales. The most companys objective is to:

Create awareness

Educate or convey information

Remind or reassume

Project a new brand image

Project a corporate image

CELEBRITY ADVERTISING:
The latest craze in advertisements to be to adopt the formula of
Celebrity Advertising. In their attempts to improve the
effectiveness of their advertising, a number of marketers utilize
6

celebrities to present their product and message. A well-chosen

celebrity can draw attention to product or brand. The primary
advantage of using celebrities is that they improve product
recognition in a promotional environment filled with hundreds of
competing commercials. As competition is increasing at greater
pace among marketers the need arises for them to attract
consumers and they are adopting this technique of using celebrities
in ads. The use of celebrities makes the viewers more comfortable in
adopting the product. It brings faster awareness in the first stage.
This is because of high recognition the celebrity has. In the second
stage the interest among consumers is created very quickly as it is
being endorsed by the celebrity. A celebrity ad makes evaluation
easy for consumers so that the trial is automatic if the product is
well designed. The adoption may be for a longer period of time. The
use of celebrity reinforces the confidence of consumers.
The choice of celebrity is critical. The celebrity should have high
recognition, high positive effect and high appropriateness to the
product. Any celebrity who posses these factors will significantly
influence the consumer. These factors will help the marketer a lot in
establishing a brand in the minds of consumers. In todays world,
where competing ads try to gain attention of viewers/readers, the
formula of celebrity advertising will click and these ads will have a
definite edge over other ads.
Because of high recognition of celebrity among masses, ads
carrying celebrity will make easy for the market to make a roadway
into the consumers choice set. Due to high recognition, celebrity
ads will create easy awareness and high recall of brand. Another
factor of high positive effect plays an important role. Because of the
high positive image celebrities have, consumers will feel the
genuineness of the product functionality. The celebrity should have
some sort of relationship with the product being endorsed.

Certain parameters that postulate compatibility between the

celebrity and brand image are:

Celebritys fit with the brand image.

CelebrityTarget audience match

Celebrity associated values.

Costs of acquiring the celebrity.

CelebrityProduct match.

Celebrity controversy risk.

Celebrity popularity.

Celebrity availability.

Celebrity physical attractiveness.

Celebrity credibility.

Celebrity prior endorsements.

Whether celebrity is a brand user.

Celebrity profession.

Celebrity advertising is ineffective when there is no reasonable

relationship between the celebrity and the advertised product or
service. It is to be seen how far the celebrity resembles the product.
For a food item being endorsed by an expert like Sanjeev Kapoor will
have a significant effect, as he is considered being an expert in his

field. This way of relationship will definitely bring substantial

benefits to the advertiser.
Further if the celebrity is involved in a scandal it will crate a
negative image of the product. The trustworthiness of the product
will be at stake if such an incidents happen. As seen in the recent
past, some cricketers were found to be involved in a match fixing
scandal. And one of such cricketers ads was withdrawn immediately
after such incident. Similarly in a cigarette advertising in which an
actor, who expired because of throat cancer was also withdrawn.
With the advent of satellite TV channels, it can be said that there is
substantial increase in the number of ads. This made more scope for
consumers to watch the same ad and on different channels at
different points. Television is popular and essential media for ads. As
now a celebrity endorses various different kinds of products,
confusion will develop in the minds of consumers as to which
product the celebrity is associated. This will ultimately make
consumers forget the product and solely remember the celebrity
only. The real goal of celebrity advertising will be missed.
Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following
motives:

Instant Brand Awareness and Recall.

Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image.

Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image.

Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage.

Lack of ideas.

Convincing clients.

The realm of the celebritys impact is confined to bestow a

distinctive identity and provide AV to the brand; the celebrity does
not have the power to improve or debilitate the efficiency and
features of the core product. Thus, we are gradually approaching an
evident proposition claiming,
The health of a brand can definitely be improved up to some
extent by celebrity endorsement. But one has to remember that
endorsing a celebrity is a means to an end and not an end in itself.
An appropriately used celebrity can prove to be a massively
powerful tool that magnifies the effects of a campaign. But the aura
of cautiousness should always be there. The fact to be emphasized
is that celebrities alone do not guarantee success, as consumers
nowadays understand advertising. They know what advertising is
and how it works. People realize that celebrities are being paid a lot
of money for endorsements and this knowledge makes them cynical
about celebrity endorsements.

SUCCESSFUL CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS FOR A BRAND

INDIAN PERSEPECTIVE
The society that we live in can not only be called secular or
democratic, it should be more appropriately termed as overcommunicated these days. A typical super-market in USA displays
more than 12000 brands, an American family has at least one
television set and a consumer is exposed to around 1000 ads per
day1. Likewise, there are around 130 television channels in India
broadcasting over 3 million television commercials each year in
India. The media-explosion can thus be easily demonstrated.
Moreover, people forget 80% of the information in just 24 hours! Just
imagine the plight of the marketer to make his brand shout over the

10

deafening clutter of all the brands! Somewhere in the 80's, Indian

marketers found the solution, 'Celebrity Endorsement' for the brand!
Firms endorse celebrity for a variety of reasons. It might be the life
experience of the celebrity that fits the advertising message or the
endorser's high appeal with the firm's consumer target group.
Studies associated with the market effect of celebrity endorsement
suggest that consumers positively value the use of celebrity
endorsers in the advertisements. Firms invest significant money in
putting together brands and organizations with endorser qualities
such as attractiveness, likeability, and trustworthiness. But today's
dynamic market conditions make these investments unviable. In this
paper we are attempting to discuss the positive and negative effects
of celebrity endorsement with few examples.
Indian advertising started with the hawkers who used to call out
their wares right from the days when cities and markets first began.
Since then, Indian advertising has metamorphosed into a strategic
tool that enhances sales, siphons more profits and helps in the
process of brand-building and product promotion. With this evolved
a strategy that tried to benefit from the emotional attachment of the
admirers or the fans of the celebrities; in the form of celebrity
endorsement.
The latter part of the '80s saw the burgeoning of a new trend in
India brands started being endorsed by celebrities. Hindi film and
TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse
prominent brands. Advertisements, featuring stars like Tabassum
(Prestige pressure cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev
(Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings)
became common. Probably, the first ad to cash in on star power in a
strategic, long-term, mission statement kind of way was Lux soap.
This brand has, perhaps as a result of this, been among the top
three in the country for much of its lifetime.
11

In recent times, we had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign with the

objective of mitigating the impediment that an unknown Korean
brand faced in the Indian market. The objective was to garner faster
brand recognition, association and emotional unity with the target
group. Star power in India can be gauged by the successful
endorsement done by Sharukh for three honchos- Pepsi, Clinic All
Clear and Santro. Similarly, when S Kumars used Hrithik Roshan,
then the hottest advertising icon for their launch advertising for
Tamarind, they reckoned they spent 40 - 50 per cent less on media
due to the sheer impact of using Hrithik. Ad recall was as high as 70
per cent, and even the normally conservative trade got interested.
In the Indian context, it would not be presumptuous to state that
celebrity endorsements can aggrandize the overall brand. We have
numerous examples exemplifying this claim. A standard example
here is Coke, which, till recently, didn't use stars at all
internationally. In fact, India was a first for them. The result was a
ubiquitously appealing Aamir cheekily stating Thanda matlab Coca
Cola. The recall value for Nakshatra advertising is only due to the
sensuous Aishwarya. The Parker pen brand, which by itself
commands equity, used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in
India. According to Pooja Jain, Director, Luxor Writing Instruments
Ltd (LWIL), post Bachchan, Parker's sales have increased by about
30 per cent.
To cite an instance , to overcome the resistance of a particular
community in the state of Uttar Pradesh which was inimical to the
administration of polio drops , personalities of the stature of
Amitabh Bacchan and Shahrukh Khan were brought in by the
government to endorse the efficacy and harmlessness of the polio
drops. Think of Sachin Tendulkar. He means Pepsi in soft drinks,
Boost in malted beverages, MRF in tyres, Fiat Palio in cars, TVS
Victor in two-wheelers, Colgate Total in toothpastes, Britannia in
biscuits, Visa in credit cards, Airtel in mobile services and Band-aid.
12

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. In India there is an exponential
potential for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely
relevant, thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product.
This would especially prove true if the endorser and the category
are a natural lifestyle fit like sportspersons and footwear, KapilSachin and Boost or film stars and beauty products.

13

IMPORTANT CELEBRITY ATTRIBUTES

While selecting a celebrity as endorser, the company has to decide
the promotional objective of the brand and how far the celebrity
image matches with it. The selection is in fact a collaboration, from
which both the company and the celebrity gains.
The most important attribute for a celebrity endorser is the
trustworthiness. The target audience must trust that a celebrity
carries a particular image and it must match with the product.
The second attribute in order of importance is likeability. The
celebrity also must be accepted as a popular icon by a large cross
section of the audience. Companies use celebrity endorser because
they are considered to have stopping power, i.e., a celebrity can be
a very useful tool to draw attention to advertising messages in a
cluttered media environment. The overall popular image coupled
with exact product-image match enhances the consumer attention
resulting in greater brand recall.
Similarity between the target audience and the celebrity is the
third important attribute. A person well-known in a society can have
greater impact than a celebrity of a different world. If the endorser
and receiver have similar needs, goals, interests and lifestyles, the
position advocated by the brand communication is better
understood and received.
Certain other parameters that must be carefully considered before
engaging a celebrity are:

Celebritys fit with the brand image.

Celebrity - Target audience match

Costs of acquiring the celebrity.

14

Celebrity - Product match.

Celebrity controversy risk.

Celebrity popularity.

Celebrity availability.

Celebrity physical attractiveness.

Celebrity credibility.

Compatibility of the Celebritys Persona with the Overall

Brand Image
A celebrity is used to impart credibility and aspirational values to a
brand, but the celebrity needs to match the product. A good brand
campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the
message are musts for a successful campaign. Celebrities are no
doubt good at generating attention, recall and positive attitudes
towards advertising provided that they are supporting a good idea
and there is an explicit fit between them and the brand. On the
other hand, they are rendered useless when it comes to the actual
efficiency of the core product, creating positive attitudes to brands,
purchase intentions and actual sales.

ADVANTAGES OF A CELEBRITY ENDORSING A BRAND

Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time.
Across categories, whether in products or services, more and more
brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As soon as a
new face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to
have it splashed all over. Witness the spectacular rise of Sania Mirza
and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of a few months. The
15

accruement of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the

following advantages that are bestowed on the overall brand:
1. Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star
fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target
audience- this is especially true in case of new products. We
had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign. At launch, Shah Rukh
Khan endorsed Santro and this ensured that brand awareness
was created in a market, which did not even know the brand.
2. Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target
group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making
the ad and the brand more noticeable.
3. PR coverage: is another reason for using celebrities.
Managers perceive celebrities as topical, which create high PR
coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity campaigns
is one of the Worlds leading pop groups, the Spice Girls, who
have not only appeared in advertisements for Pepsi, but also
in product launching and PR events. Indeed, celebritycompany marriages are covered by most media from
television to newspapers (e.g. The Spice Girls and Pepsi)
4. Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the
personalities of the celebrity with the brand thereby
increasing the recall value. Golf champion Tiger Woods has
endorsed American Express, Rolex, and Nike. Actress
Catherine Zeta-Jones is used by T-Mobile and Elizabeth Arden.
007 Pierce Brosnan promotes Omega, BMW, and Noreico.
5. Associative Benefit: A celebritys preference for a brand
gives out a persuasive message - because the celebrity is
benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.

16

6. Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to

restore the consumer's confidence in its chocolate brands
following the high-pitch worms controversy; so the company
appointed Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last year, when the
even more controversial pesticide issue shook up Coca-Cola
and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both soft
drink majors put out high-profile damage control ad films
featuring their best and most expensive celebrities. While
Aamir Khan led the Coke fight back as an ingenious and
fastidious Bengali who finally gets convinced of the product's
`purity,' PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin
Tendulkar together once again in a television commercial
which drew references to the `safety' of the product indirectly.
7. Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored
by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalise on these
feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.
8. Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to
various demographic segments (age, gender, class,
geography etc.).
9. Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and
therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest among
the masses.
10.

Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of

infusing fresh life into the stagnant chyawanprash category
and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India
roped in Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore.
11.

Celebrity endorsement can sometimes

compensate for lack of innovative ideas.

BRAND IMAGE & CELEBRITY

17

Research has shown that there are three aspects that influence a
customer's attitude and, hence, the long term impact on the brand Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Expertise. The matrix below
shows us the images and the celebrities:
Aspect of
Brand

Attractiveness

Image

Celebrity

Product

Elegance
Beauty

Renuka Shahane
Madhuri Dixit
Saif & Tiger

Whisper
Emami
Asian Paints-

Pataudi
Fardeen Khan
Amitabh Bachhan
Tarun Tejpal
Sachin Tendulkar

Royale
Provogue
Reid & Taylor
Tehelka
TVS Victor

Sachin & Sehwag

Reebok

Naina Balsavar

Shampoo

Classy
Stylish

Trustworthiness
Expertise

Honest
Reliable
Knowledg
e
Qualified

Hence, we see, depending on the product and aspect of brand, the

choice of the celebrity is important so that the celebrity can reflect
that and not go against the brand.

18

CELEBRITY SELECTION
There are various scientific ways in which the right celebrity is
selected for the product endorsement, which are discussed here
after
Stereotyping
Stereotypes are defined as perceptions and depictions of individuals
based on simplistic, biased image of the group to which they belong,
rather than on their own individual characteristics. For example: its
better to select celebrities who say are teens for chocolate
advertisements and females for detergent ads, etc.
The TEARS Model
The attributes highlighted by the acronym "TEARS" are gauged for
celebrity selection. These are:

Trustworthiness: For example - Legendary actor Amitabh

Bachchan who is an icon of trust; promoting ICICI Bank.

Expertise: For example - Golfer Tiger Woods for a sports

brand.

Physical Attractiveness: For example - Tennis player Anna

Kournikova who earns 10 Million dollars per year in just
endorsement.

Respect: For example - Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and

the Eye donation campaign.

Similarity: For example - a child artist promoting a chocolate

brand.

19

A celebrity scoring high on all the above attributes can turn out to
be a good endorser for the brand under question.
The No TEARS Model
The "No TEARS" approach is a tool for managers and their
advertisers how to go about selecting celebrities so as to avoid the
pitfalls from making an unwise decision. It gauges the following
information: 1.

Celebrity & audience match up,

2.

Celebrity & brand match up,

3.
4.

Celebrity attractiveness,
5.

6.
7.
8.

Celebrity credibility,

Cost consideration,

A working ease and difficulty factor,

An endorsement saturation factor,

A likelihood-of-getting-into-trouble factor

20

Selecting the right celebrity does more than increasing sales; it can
create linkages with the celebrities' appeal, thereby adding new
dimension to the brand image. Research conducted by Katherine
Eckel has revealed that celebrities can get people to make a better
choice but cannot influence 'people to make a foolish choice'.
The success of celebrity endorsement in India can be sought from a
market research conducted earlier which found that 8 out of 10 TV
commercials scored the highest recall were those with celebrity
appearances. A few examples: Sachin Tendulkar - Adidas, Sourav
Ganguly - Britannia, Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupati - J. Hampstead,
Shah Rukh Khan - Pepsi, Sushmita Sen - Epson, and Aishwarya Rai Coke.

DISADVANTAGES OF A CELEBRITY ENDORSING A

BRAND
1. The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after
he/she has endorsed the product: Pepsi Cola's suffered
with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna, and
Michael Jackson. Since the behaviour of the celebrities reflects
on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at times become
liabilities to the brands they endorse.
2. The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of
a celebrity overshadowing the brand. If there is no congruency
between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will
21

remember the celebrity and not the brand. Examples are the
campaigns of Dawn French - Cable Association and Leonard
Rossiter - Cinzano. Both of these campaigns were aborted due
to celebrities getting in the way of effective communication.
Another example could be the Castrol commercial featuring
Rahul Dravid.
3. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the
celebrity: The celebrity may lose his or her popularity due to
some lapse in professional performances. For example, when
Tendulkar went through a prolonged lean patch recently, the
inevitable question that cropped up in corporate circles - is he
actually worth it? The 2003 Cricket World Cup also threw up
the Shane Warne incident, which caught Pepsi off guard. With
the Australian cricketer testing positive for consuming banned
substances and his subsequent withdrawal from the event,
bang in the middle of the event, PepsiCo - the presenting
sponsor of the World Cup 2003 - found itself on an uneasy
wicket
4. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would
lead to overexposure: The novelty of a celebrity
endorsement gets diluted if he does too many
advertisements. This may be termed as commoditisation of
celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big bucks.
Example, MRF was among the early sponsors of Tendulkar with
its logo emblazoned on his bat. But now Tendulkar endorses a
myriad brands and the novelty of the Tendulkar-MRF campaign
has scaled down.
5. Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another
(competitor): Sainsburys encountered a problem with
Catherina Zeta Jones, whom the company used for its recipe
advertisements, when she was caught shopping in Tesco. A
22

similar case happened with Britney Spears who endorsed one

cola brand and was repeatedly caught drinking another brand
of cola on tape.
6. Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the
brand: Celebrities manifest a certain persona for the
audience. It is of paramount importance that there is an
egalitarian congruency between the persona of the celebrity
and the image of the brand. Each celebrity portrays a broad
range of meanings, involving a specific personality and
lifestyle. Madonna, for example, is perceived as a tough,
intense and modern women associated with the lower middle
class. The personality of Pierce Brosnan is best characterized
as the perfect gentlemen, whereas Jennifer Aniston has the
image of the good girl from next door
7. Negative publicity: If the celebrity is strongly associated
with the brand then the occurrence of the negative publicity
can spill over the brand. This can harm the trustworthiness
and credibility in the mind of the consumers. E.g., Salman
Khan lost his endorsement deal with Thumbs-Up after his
infamous incidents like buck-killing and rash-driving.
8. Overexposure: This risk arises when the celebrity chooses to
endorse several different products simultaneously which
might leave the consumers confused. E.g., Sachin Tendulkar
endorses several brands such as MRF, TVS Victor, Pepsi, Fiat,
Boost, etc.
9. Overuse: Sometimes the company can use many different
celebrities to appeal to different market segment. But
multiplicity of endorser might blur the image of the brand and
reduce the effectiveness of the means of persuasion.

23

10.

Extinction: The favourable response obtained by a

particular brand may weaken over time if the brand gets

significant exposure without the association of the celebrity. If

the celebrity contract is for a considerable period of time, then
it can lead to draining out capital without proper return.
11.

Financial Risk: The decision for hiring an expensive

endorser may not be always feasible if there is a poor brand

fit.

Therefore, for celebrity endorsements to work effectively

there are some fundamental ground rules: The brand promise and the brand personality should be clearly

articulated.
The communication objectives for the campaign should be

frozen.

Focus must be on the synergy between the brand and the

celebrity image

Establish explicitly what the celebrity is going to communicate

Once these criteria are met, endorsements can work as a force

multiplier. A deeper insight in the impact of celebrity endorsement
on consumers' minds can be explained by the meaning transfer
model, explained in the next section.

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT: THE ISSUES INVOLVED

24

There are several factors to consider before resorting to celebrity

endorsement. There is no single formula to win in the world of
marketing. A company must analyze the prospect of endorsement
from 360 degrees, prior to product promotion.
Price vs. Profit
The most important issue is that of return on investment (ROI).
Companies need to perform a cost-benefit analysis prior to
endorsement. The process of gauging the effectiveness of
endorsement on the overall brand is but difficult. The companies
expect to bring, in the long run, future sales, revenues and profit
from the present investments on celebrity endorsement. Celebrity
endorsement is an expensive means of brand promotion and the
price burden almost always shifts on to the consumers; if not, then it
narrows the companies' profit.
Multiple Brand Endorsement vs. Multiple Celebrity
Endorsement
In the advertising landscape, we find either a celebrity endorsing
multiple brands or multiple celebrities being used to endorse a
single brand. Sachin Tendulkar, for example, in 2002 endorsed 12
brands (including Pepsi, Boost, Colgate Total, Gillette, Britannia
Tiger, Fiat Palio, TVS Victor, Fiat Sienna, MRF, Adidas, Visa Cards and
Home Trade). It is said that endorsement of as many as four
products negatively influences the celebrity spokesperson's
credibility and likeability.
Also, the use of multiple celebrities to endorse a brand may hinder
the meaning transfer process, and thus, lead to confusion among
the consumers.
Similarity between the target audience and the celebrity is the
third important attribute. A person well-known in a society can have
25

greater impact than a celebrity of a different world. If the endorser

and receiver have similar needs, goals, interests and lifestyles, the
position advocated by the brand communication is better
understood and received. Similarity is also used to create a situation
where the consumer feels empathy for the person shown in the
commercial. The bond of similarity between the endorser and the
receiver increases the level of persuasiveness.
The companies have to first clarify their business objectives, brand
values and then decide who the celebrities are who can carry them
forward. Otherwise, there can be unnecessary investments without
proper return. So the celebrity endorsement cost has to be weighed
up against the return on marketing investment.
Besides, while designing an ad campaign, one should also keep in
mind that the overuse of some extremely popular celebrities often
tends to confuse consumers and reduce the utility of celebrity
endorsement. Another argument against celebrity endorsement
involves the behavior of the celebrity. The values that display
themselves in regrettable behavior could transfer themselves to the
brand. The marketing function of a company should also understand
that brands should assume a much greater space than the
celebrities, because their association may be temporary but the
brands are permanent.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
26

Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star

fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target
audience- this is especially true in case of new products.

Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target

group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making
the ad and the brand more noticeable.

PR coverage: is another reason for using celebrities.

Managers perceive celebrities as topical, which create high PR

coverage.

Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the

personalities of the celebrity with the brand thereby
increasing the recall value. Amitabh Bacchan promotes
Dairymilk, Aamir Khan promotes Titan watches.

Associative Benefit: A celebritys preference for a brand

gives out a persuasive message - because the celebrity is
benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.

Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored

by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalise on these
feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.

Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to

various demographic segments (age, gender, class,
geography etc.).

Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and

therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest among

the masses.

Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of

infusing fresh life into the stagnant chyawanprash category
27

and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India

roped in Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore.

Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for

lack of innovative ideas.

Weakness

The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after

he/she has endorsed the product: Pepsi Cola's suffered
with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna, and

Michael Jackson. Since the behavior of the celebrities reflects

on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at times become
liabilities to the brands they endorse.

The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of

a celebrity overshadowing the brand. If there is no congruency
between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will
remember the celebrity and not the brand.

Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the

celebrity: The celebrity may lose his or her popularity due to

some lapse in professional performances.

Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would

lead to overexposure: The novelty of a celebrity
endorsement gets diluted if he does too many
advertisements.

Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another

(competitor): Sainsburys encountered a problem with

28

Catherina Zeta Jones, whom the company used for its recipe
advertisements, when she was caught shopping in Tesco. A
similar case happened with Britney Spears who endorsed one
cola brand and was repeatedly caught drinking another brand
of cola on tape.

Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the

brand: Celebrities manifest a certain persona for the
audience. It is of paramount importance that there is an
egalitarian congruency between the persona of the celebrity
and the image of the brand. Each celebrity portrays a broad
range of meanings, involving a specific personality and
lifestyle. Madonna, for example, is perceived as a tough,
intense and modern women associated with the lower middle
class.

Opportunity

Celebrity endorsement increase brand awareness through

popularity of the endorser

Profitable from positive image transfer due to the celebrities

attractive and likeable personality

Reinforces brand appeal through the endorsers credibility and

believability

Differentiate from the competition

Influence consumer behavior

Amplify consumer purchase intent

Lead to an increase in sales

29

Boost employee motivation by providing a role model to look

up to

Threats

According to a study, celebrity endorsement does not work. In

fact, they came second last on the list of very important
information channels that consumers used to judge products.

Consumers rely on is information on the package, views of

consumer groups, and friends and family. People also depend
on websites and blogs to judge information, because they
consider the motivation of those behind the claims. Formal
celebrities played an important role, but were not sufficient
alone.

30

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The Impact of Celebrity Endorsers on Consumers Product

Evaluations:
A Symbolic Meaning Approach
James B Hunt, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Celebrities can be very effective in the endorsement of products;

however, they can also be dangerous. The advantages of using a
celebrity are that they can increase attention to and memorability of
the ad and product, enhance credibility of the message, and imbue
a product with positive image characteristics. The disadvantage, or
danger, is that if a celebrity has a negative image, it can be passed
on to the product being endorsed. As shown in this study, bed
sheets are perceived as ordinary, safe, reliable, and delicate. When
advertised by Deion Sanders,
However, bed sheets are perceived as unusual, risky, less reliable,
and somewhat rugged. This suggests that great care should be
taken in selecting a celebrity endorser. The celebrity's image must
be taken into account.

The results of this study indicate that the perception of the endorser
does affect the image of the product by moving it toward the image
of the endorser. However, this study does not support Langmeyer
and Walker (1991), who found that regardless of the endorser, the
pattern for the endorser/product combination was located closer to
the pattern for the endorser than to the pattern for the product. The
results of the present study indicate that the pattern for the

31

endorser/product combination is located closer to the pattern for the

endorser for Deion Sanders, But not in the case of Michael Jordan.
This suggests that evaluation of the endorser may, for some
endorsers, have a greater impact on the combination than the
evaluation of the product. Michael Jordan and Deion Sanders appear
to have more of an impact on a product that is high image, and has
been previously endorsed by celebrities. This finding is in sharp
contrast to Langmeyer and Walker (1991), who found Madonna and
Christie Brinkley to have only moderate effect on the image of
jeans. Whether celebrities are good for the endorsement of products
is a question that many advertisers face. The answer is, "It depends
on the endorser and the product." Future research needs to
Continue focusing on a variety of product categories and a variety of
types of endorsers (e.g., actors, athletes, entertainers). Different
types of audiences should also be studied to help advertisers better
understand the roles of celebrity image, product characteristics, and
consumer Profile on product evaluation.

Ads with Celebrities Draw Higher Recall- Study

Customer recall is higher in products whose ads feature celebrities,
according to a study on celebrity endorsement carried out by Indica
Research. Celebrities who feature in a wide range of ads and in
highly visible ones like Coke and Pepsi score on overall visibility.
Ergo, there are no surprises in the dominance of Sachin Tendulkar.
Shah Rukh Khan follows a close second. The real surprise is Kareena
Kapoor who seems to have made a very high impact entry with the
Pepsi ad. In comparison, coke endorsers like Hrithik Roshan (who
also figures in a range of other ads) does not seem to be that highly
visible. Amongst ads featuring celebrities with the highest recall,
Pepsi tops the heap. Archrival Coke, though, is lower across all
markets. It is likely that, given the high mention of Kareena Kapoor,
the current Pepsi ad has been something of a hit.
32

The research was conducted in Delhi, Mumbai , Chennai and

Bangalore. A total of 599 SEC A (upper class) adults in the age group
of 15-45 years were interviewed.
When the Versatility Index (how many categories does a celebrity fit
in?) was undertaken, it was seen that Shah Rukh Khan (SRK)
amongst the younger lot, emerges as the most versatile with cross
category association - strongly associated with cold drinks, mobile
services and cars - all of which he endorses. Also with branded
clothes, insurance and banks. Indeed, he is the most highly
associated male celebrity with female dominated categories like
perfumes and watches, the Indica research states
RECALL VALUE OF CONSUMERS AS SHOWN BY THE STUDY
Product

Percentage

Pepsi

70

Coke

52

Thums Up

13

Lux

12

Limca

Palio

Fanta

Santro

ICICI

Hero Honda

33

VERSITALLITY INDEX OF DIFFERENT CELEBRITIES AS SHOWN

BY STUDY

Shah Rukh Khan

80

Sachin

70

Amitabh Bachchan

50

Hrithik

30

Kareena

30

Aishwarya

30

Preity Zinta

20

34

35

Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Overall Brand

By
Sanyukta A. Kulkarni
Sahir U.Gaulkar

Today 'Celebrity Endorsement' has attracted immense debate on

whether it really contributes to the brand building process or
whether it is just another lazy tool to make the brand more visible in
the minds of the consumers. Although it has been observed that the
presence of a well-known personality helps in solving the problem of
over-communication that is becoming more prominent these days,
there are few undesirable impacts of this practice on the brand. The
theories like 'Source Credibility Theory, Source Attractiveness
Theory and Meaning Transfer Theory' provide a basis on which the
methodology of celebrity endorsement works and also explains how
the process of the celebrity endorsement influences the minds of
the consumers. Firms invest huge amounts as advertising
expenditure for hiring the right celebrity. However there lies
uncertainty with respect to the returns that the company might be
able to garner for the brand. The issue of matching the values of the
celebrity with the brand values is also very important, i.e. getting
the right celebrity to endorse the right brand. Consumers perceive
the brand as having superior quality because it has been endorsed
by a credible source. This makes endorsement as one of the
indictors of quality for any brand. Corporate credibility along with
endorser credibility plays a significant role in the attitude of the
consumer towards the brand and the advertisement respectively. On
the other hand, the over popularity of the celebrity sometimes
overshadows the brand. If the celebrity is involved in multiple
endorsements, it tends to create confusion among consumers and
hence negatively affects the perception of the advertisement and
36

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

endorsement impacts positively or negatively to the brand still
remains a debate.

Celebrity endorsements and brand celebrity mismatches

By: Dr R K Srivastava
The use of celebrities in order to increase the sales and/or the recall
value of a brand is called celebrity endorsements. Advertisers have
used celebrity endorsement for as long as advertisement has
existed. The fact of associating the product with a well known
individual acts to increase the positive view of the consumer as the
celebrity becomes the role model for consumers.

They have given six uses of celebrity endorsementsEstablishes Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a
sense of trust for that brand among the target audience- this is
especially true in case of new products Attracts
Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by
breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the ad and the
brand more noticeable
Associative Benefit: A celebritys preference for a brand gives out
a persuasive message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the
brand, the consumer will also benefit.
Psychographic Connect: Stars are loved and adored by their fans
and advertisers use stars to capitalize on these feelings to sway the
fans towards their brand.

37

Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to

various demographic segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.).
Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore
prove to be a good bet to generate interest among the masses.

38

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

To know the impact of celebrity endorsements on brands w.r.t

FMCG sector.

To know whether celebrity endorsements increase the sales of

the company.

To know & understand whether celebrity endorsement work in

India.

To study the impact of celebrities on the consumer

perceptions of product. .

To compare the two celebrities, which one is better in

advertising the product and making it more popular?

To examine the images evoked by individual celebrity

endorsers and products.

To explore the impact of combining celebrity and product

images.

39

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Selection of correct Methodology is the first step in getting a good

response or result from the research. It should be a mixture or a
method that helps in extracting the correct information from the
population using a sample.
In this research we are using Descriptive Research Design as this
area has some previous study. For this we are using Questionnaire
method i.e. using a standard questionnaire to extract primary data
as to what the viewers feel about the usage of animated
characters/brand mascots and celebrity endorsers and to highlight
the attributes that has a significant positive impact on their
perception towards an advertisement.

Sampling
SAMPLE SIZE
100
PRIMARY DATA
It is collected using structured questionnaire.
SECONDARY DATA Books, Newspaper, Magazines, journals,
market reports & internet
BASIS OF SAMPLING
Questionnaire: The respondents were mainly those who had an
opportunity to watch both spokes characters and celebrity
endorsers in advertisements. It is a Probability, convenient sampling
Target Area Delhi & Gurgaon
40

41

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The conceptual framework has been modified using the Conceptual
Model Effects of Price, Brand, and Store Information on the Buyers
Product Evaluation.
This study is based on the hypothesis that the involvement of a
celebrity in a marketing communication of a brand positively
influences the consumer behaviour towards that brand and thus
piloting the chart to Branding and enhancing the Brands value.
The brand is developed using a positioning strategy which is done
through a marketing communication strategy that the company
aims to use to spread the message. There are various strategies a
company can use, among which the most used are:
Country of origin whereby the company pitches its product
against the place from where it originated and that helps in building
the brand value. The expertise of a country in producing goods of
similar nature conveys a particular type of image.
Co-Branding is the companys conscious effort to leverage the
success of an existing brand to introduce a new product and make
consumers associate the new product with the already successful
and established brand.
Company Branding Strategy refers to the corporate branding
strategy or the logo or name branding.
Licensing is when a product is sold under the famous name or logo
or character of another companys brand.

42

Events and Sponsorships is a common strategy of many

companies to link its product to an event whose image they want to
portray for their product as well. Also the sponsorships for such
events help them reach their target audience easily.

Awards and Reviews of a company in a prestigious journal,

magazine, or newspaper or patronization by certain review
programs and television channels help build the product into a
brand.
Among all these strategies, Spokesperson is an increasingly used
strategy whereby an expert, an executive, a common man or even
more common a celebrity is used to lure a consumer into believing
the message conveyed. Of the various spokespersons, celebrities
being highly eminent public figures draw enormous amount of
attention unlike any other spokesperson or even through various
other communication strategies.
They attract a larger audience simply because they are publicly
well-known individuals and it is due to this immense attracting
capability that they tend to have a larger impact and influence on
the consumers as compared to other spokespersons.
The influence and impact of the celebrity creates a certain image in
the consumers mind which is established due to the characteristics
of the product personified through the celebrity. This forms a
positive image of the brand in the minds of those consumers who
have a good image of the celebrity. Those consumers who dislike or
hold a negative opinion of the celebrity tend to distance themselves
with the brand.

43

The positively influenced consumers associate themselves to the

brand. They patronize, believe, support and recommend the brand
further which leads to higher purchases and thus brand building.
Those consumers who are not influenced by the celebrity or dislike
the celebrity are either not affected by the presence of the celebrity
in the advertisement or dissociate their selves from the brand.

44

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

1. Gender of the respondent

Table 1
Gender

Percentage

Male

65

Female

35

Figure 1

Interpretation:
This pie-chart depicts that 65% of the respondents are males and
35% are females.

45

2. Age of the respondent:

Table 2
Age

Percentage

18-25

30

26-32

20

33-39

30

Above 40

20

Figure 2

Interpretation:
This pie-chart depicts that mostly respondents are young and while
rest are above 25 years.

46

3. Occupation of the respondent:

Table 3
Occupation

Percentage

Business Class

25

Service Class

25

Student

30

Others

20
Figure 3

Interpretation:

From this pie-chart it is clear that majority of the respondents are

students and rest of the share is occupied by service and business
class.

4. View of respondents on quality of products endorsed by

celebrity
47

Table 4
Preference

Percentage

Strongly Agree

45

Agree

15

Indifferent

10

Disagree

20

Strongly Disagree

10

Figure 4

Interpretation: This chart depicts that mostly people agree that

products endorsed by celebrities are of good quality, nearly 45% of
people strongly agrees to this statement and 20% of people
disagrees to this statement.
48

5. Factors affecting purchase decisions

Factors
Percentage
Table 5

Price of the product

20

Celebrity Endorser

35

Brand Name

15

Opinion-leader

30

Figure 5

Interpretation:
This pie-chart depicts that 35% of the people consider celebrity
endorser while going for the purchase, followed by brand name-with
15%, opinion leader 30% and 20% people consider price. Brand
name usually covers all aspects like functional aspects viz.mileage,
speed etc. As people usually are more interested towards well
49

known brands and

are advertised by
it creates a huge
6. Like to see
endorsing your

if these brands

Preferenc
e

Percentage

Yes

55

No

25

Can't say

20

famous celebrity
impact.
any celebrity
brand

Table 6

Figure 6
Interpretation:
This pie-chart clearly indicates that 55% of the respondents want
their products to be advertised by celebrities, 25% dont want and
20% of the respondents werent sure. So, this clearly shows how
much important these celebrities are in the daily life of common
man.
50

Preference

Percentage

Strongly Agree

45

Agree

15

Indifferent

10

Disagree

20

Strongly Disagree

10

7. Celebrity endorser as an
effective method of
persuasion
Table 7

Figure 7

51

Preference
Film star
Famous personalities
Cricketer
Politician

Interpretation:
Percentage
This chart depicts that mostly
35
people agree that Celebrity
15
endorsement is an effective
20
tool of persuasion. 45% of
people strongly agree that

30

celebrity endorsement is an
effective tool of persuasion and 20% of people disagree that it is
one of the tool.

8. Persuasion of Celebrity Endorsement to purchase the

product.
Table 8

Figure 8

52

Interpretation:
This chart depicts that mostly people agree that Celebrity
endorsement persuades them

personally to purchase products.

35% of people strongly agree that celebrity endorsement is an

effective tool of persuasion and 15% of people disagree that it is
one of the tool.

9. Respondents view on revenue generation because of

celebrity endorsement

53

Table 9

Preference

Percentage

Yes

70

No

20

Dont know

10

Figure 9

Interpretation:
This chart depicts that mostly people agree that revenue is
generated because of Celebrity endorsement, approx 70% agrees to
this. 20% does not agree to this.

54

FINDINGS

1 Celebrity endorsement plays a very minute role in final

decision making for buying a new product. Celebrity might
help in easy reorganization and popularity of a product but not
in final decision making.
2 If a consumer wants to purchase a new product then latest
technology matters the most to him/her and brand
ambassador matters least to them.
3 Effect of brand ambassador differs with different products,
according to our survey results, it matters most in case of
clothing and food products. Because people tends to be more
choosy in case of high attachment and costly products like
cars.
4 A common man feels that a celebrity helps an organization in
increasing their total sales and hence the revenue.
5 A brand ambassador also helps in increasing the market share
of the product.
6 But vast majority of the surveyed people feels that celebrity
themselves dont use their endorsed products.
7 Film stars are the most popular celebrities among all, followed
by cricketers.
8 The high cost of a celebrity is the biggest drawback of
celebrity brand endorsement followed by celebrity vampire
effect.
9 In final decision making, a value for money is most important
for a consumer and a brand ambassador matters the least.

55

SUMMARY

Celebrity endorsements will be more effective when used

consistently over time to increase the strength of the link
between the celebrity and the endorsed brand.

Celebrity endorsements will be more effective when the ad

execution is simple, clean, and free of irrelevant design
elements. Focus on the celebrity and the brand together.

Celebrity endorsements will be more effective when using a

celebrity who is not already strongly associated with another
product or service.

Celebrity endorsements will be more effective when using a

celebrity with a high fit, congruence, or belongingness
with the endorsed brand.

Celebrity endorsers can be used to effectively reinforce and/or

create an image for a product or service.

Test potential brand/celebrity combinations to ensure that the

impression and image of the celebrity is positive for the target
audience.

Celebrity endorsements will be more effective for less familiar

brands.

Celebrity endorsers will be more effective for brands for which

consumers have limited knowledge/facts.

Celebrity endorsers will be more effective when integrated

across the elements of the marketing mix.

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Caution in choice of celebrity endorser is warranted given the

potential risk of tarnishing the brands image.

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CONCLUSIONS
Celebrity endorsement can be a goldmine or a minefield for a
companys brand building process. There have been extensive
studies relating to the process of celebrity endorsement and brandbuilding. These studies indicate that celebrity endorsement has
worked well in some consumer segments while failing others. Few
celebrities have been more successful than those with almost
parallel fame. So the role of celebrity endorsement in the
advertising space is equivocal and cannot be seen as a assured
strategic tool to win profits, market share, revenues, etc.
There is an increasing challenge to the marketing manager to
develop and implement an integrated marketing communication
(IMC) plan to realize the true value of the celebrity endorsements.
There is a gradual shift from the traditional approach of showing
celebrities in advertisement to making them the spokes-person of
the brand. Companies have taken celebrity endorsement to next
level by projecting brands as a way of life. Smart companies are
using their brand ambassadors in other mediums such as movies to
promote their brands. Eg, Amitabh Bachchan, who endorses the
financial instruments of ICICI Bank, is shown as a branch-manager of
ICICI Bank in the movie Baghban.
Wooing the key existing and potential target customers is the trait of
a successful promotion strategy. However, the marketing manager
should be able to offer significant value propositions in the services /
products offered to the customers. Thus, one needs to integrate
celebrity attributes align with the overall brand or company.
Companies that succeed in developing such an integrated IMC plans
is the one to succeed in the long-term.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
JOURNALS:Ohnian. Roobina (1991), "The Impact of Celebrity Spokespersons'
Perceived Image on Consumers' Intention to Purchase," Journal of
Advertising Research, 31 (February/March), 46-54.
BOOKS:1. Principles of marketing by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong.
2. Marketing Management (12th edition) by Philip Kotler and
Kevin Lane Keller.
3. Marketing Research by David A. Aaker.
4. Advertising and promotion, an integrated marketing
communications perspective by
George E Belch, Michael A Belch and Keyoor Purani .
WEBSITES:

www.thedayaftertomorrow.com

www.indiantelevision.com

www.magindia.com

www.blonnet.com

www.rediff.com article by Country head, O&M India

indiainfoline.com article 'Celebrity Endorsements in

brands.

www.coolavenues.com

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ANNEXURE
Questionnaire
Name of the respondent
1) What is your gender?
Male Female
2) What is your age?
18-25
26-32
32-39
More than 40

3) What is your occupation?

Business Class Service Class Student Others (Please Specify)
_________

4)

5)

6)

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7)
8)
9)

61