Topic:- “ Investigating Antecedents and Consequences of Celebrity

Endorsement. A case study for FMCG sector in Pakistan”.

Syed Haroon Fazal¹, Waqas Asghar².

Institute of Business & Management, UET Lahore, Pakistan.

Abstract:- The aim of the research was to identify the reasons exist behind Celebrity
Endorsement Strategy and to highlight its outcome for Brands of FMCG sector of Pakistan.
Celebrity Endorsement strategy is new strategy that is now being aggressively used by different
brands to promote their products. The purpose of study is to give information to those
individuals or organizations that are unaware of the emerging trend of Celebrity Endorsement
Strategy and its effects on Brands profitability. Study implied Qualitative Research design in
which 20 face to face interviews were conducted from Marketing Graduates belonging to
different universities of Lahore. Reason of choosing these particular group of individuals as
target respondents of the study was that they were easily approachable and had intense
knowledge regarding Celebrity of Endorsement strategy. Data was gathered by recording
videos of conducted interviews from respondents. Open ended questions were asked from
respondents to take their opinion regarding Celebrity Endorsement strategy. Data was analyzed
by using different Qualitative Techniques in Nvivo software to analyze and extract logical
interpretation from gathered information. Developed positions for the present study was proved
by providing theoretical and empirical evidence. The study identified 15 different factors that
can be categorized as Antecedents and Consequences of Celebrity Endorsement strategy which
includes Positive Purchase Intention , Positive Purchase Decision, Customer Loyalty, Customer
Repurchase Behavior ,Positive Customer Perception , Increased Customer Trust, Customer
Motivation , Better Customer Segmentation , Improved Communication, Improved Sales ,
Increased Profitability ,Brand Recognition , Positive Brand Image, Effective Brand Positioning,
Product Differentiation and Effective Marketing Strategy. From different Qualitative techniques
that were used in the present study it was interpreted that Positive Brand Image , Brand
Recognition , Product Differentiation are major factors of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy
where as Better Segmentation, Improved sales and Buying Motivation were interpreted as less
critical factors of Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

Key Words:- Celebrity Endorsement (CE) , Brand Image (BI) , Brand Recognition (BR),

Brand Awareness (BA), Product Differentiation (PD) , Brand Profitability (BP)

Introduction:- Celebrity Endorsement is now an emerging trend in corporate sector to advertise
product or service among masses. It is an effective tool not only to create awareness among
consumers but also gives an impression to consumers that Celebrities being endorsed in an
advertisement also uses that particular product which results in motivating consumers that after
buying that product they will be able to increase their self image among their social circle.
Celebrity Endorsement strategy also help companies to improve their brand image in the market.
The purpose of the research paper is to highlight several reasons due to which companies
implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy and also to discuss the effect and impact of Celebrity
Endorsement strategy on product and service firms. To start any business companies now a days
have to advertise their product or service offerings on different mediums to let consumers know
that how their products would facilitate consumers. Now a days there are several mediums
available for companies to advertise like advertising on Social Media , Print Media, Television
Channels etc. But what is important now a days is how innovative and different you are from
other brands that are already doing businesses in the market. There are several factors that
companies keep in mind while selecting a particular medium of Advertisement which includes
available budget, nature of business etc. Celebrities are the famous individuals of the society
which have made themselves known to everyone due to their particular work which everyone
appreciates and like. Every celebrity has a particular self image in the society so what marketers
do is that they introduce celebrities in their Product Advertisement so that consumers start
associating the brand image with the self image of the celebrity endorsed. Many experts believe
that the core purpose of implementing a Celebrity Endorsement strategy is to advertise the
product in front of targeted customers with a brand positive image in the market and also to give
a Brand Recognition to business in the market. Although it is believed that a positive brand
image is built up with level of quality delivered to the customers but it is also true that a good
product advertisement can motivate customers to buy it just for sake of trying something
different. Marketers know the fact that every individual of society has a desire to get appreciated
among his social circle so the main aim of introducing the celebrities in advertisements is to give
consumers a feeling that after using this product they would stand out in the society and will get
appreciated by family members. From the companies perspective celebrity endorsement strategy
can help in differentiation of different brands offering the same product or service to the
customers. Moreover it has been believed that celebrity endorsement can only be successful if
the product quality would be up to the mark otherwise customer would not make a repeat
purchase. The essence of celebrity endorsement strategy is to create awareness among the
customers and brands try to give impression that their products are also used by celebrities
themselves .The usage of celebrity endorsement strategy is also to give customers a sense of
security and trust that whatever the company is claiming about their product would be right as it
is endorsed by a Celebrity. Companies need to be careful while being selecting a celebrity for
their advertisements because every celebrity has a different self image in the society and every
person has a different opinion regarding different celebrities so before endorsing a specific
celebrity in the company’s advertisement his or her personal image should be carefully checked
that whether it matches with the service or product brand or not otherwise the strategy would not
work for company. In Pakistani market we have observed that many of the brands are
implementing celebrity endorsement strategy for their advertisement to give sense of security
and trust to their consumers that their product is of high quality. Fair & Lovely started off selling
the beauty product for men when the need of having fair complexion was arose among the male
members of Pakistani market. The company endorsed Shahid Afridi the well known Pakistani
Cricketer in their advertisement to give a sense of feeling to the consumers that Shahid Afridi has
got fair complexion due to their product as we saw in the advertisement that when cream was
applied to the Shahid’s face his complexion got fair. The company designed their advertisement
in such a way that after watching that it was perceived that after using their product the
consumers would get famous and get appreciated in the society like Shahid Afridi. The whole
theme of an advertisement was based on the fact that having fair complexion you would get
successful in your life just like Shahid Afridi is successful in his life. On the other side every
cricket fan knows the fact that Shahid Afridi has got fair complexion the day he started playing
cricket it is not because of Fair & Lovely Cream or other product but this is how marketers
nowadays play with the consumer’s mind by giving the fake impression to them through their
advertisements. From above example it can be interpreted that the main purpose of Celebrity
Endorsement strategy is to build up the perception of consumers by keeping something attractive
for them in their advertisements so that customers would start making purchase after watching
advertisement without having any second thought. Celebrity Endorsement strategy is useful for
the brands who do not have any recognition in the market and consumers start getting familiar
with the brand once they see the famous personality in the company’s advertisement. This
strategy is also helpful for bringing customers interest towards advertisement as in today’s era
customers are being exposed to many advertisements and brands so the ultimate aim is to convey
message to the customer’s mind in the most effective and unique way. It is believed that
advertisement is the medium of communication through which companies communicate with
their customers so it’s kind of first impression that companies make in front of their target
audience through its advertisement so it is important to keep the quality of advertisement high
otherwise customers would lose interest with the company’s product. The theme of an
advertisement is decided keeping in view the type of product that whether the advertisement
should be funny or emotional. The main purpose is to grab the attention of target audience and
make the advertisement successful by spreading the message clearly to the target audience
regarding the product. Most of the consumers believe that celebrity endorsed advertisements are
more catchy and memorable as compared to advertisements having no celebrity. It is because of
celebrity endorsement strategy that customers start perceiving the brand image with the personal
image of the celebrity and they become regular customers of the brand due to the fact that their
product offerings are of higher quality and after using it they would get appreciated by the
members of the society. The aim of the present study is to highlight the purpose of celebrity
endorsement strategy and also to observe its impact on company’s overall performance.
Literature Review:-

The article written by (Chan et al , 2013) highlighted the impact of Celebrity Endorsement on
Brand Image among Chinese adolescents. The article discusses the perception of adolescents
regarding celebrity endorsement strategy. The study conducted the focus group among 76
Chinese adolescents having age between 13 to 19 to define the most appealing elements of
advertisements endorsed by a famous celebrity. Interviewees were also asked to tell that how
celebrity endorsed advertisements work. The elements which were identified by interviewees to
be the effective elements about celebrity endorsed advertisement which helps them recall the
advertisement is that how attractive , expressive and funny is the celebrity being endorsed in the
advertisements. Other elements which were highlighted by focus group participants which can
make advertisement more effective is that to what extent the celebrity being endorsed is popular,
how a good self image he has among his followers and to check the congruence between the self
image of a celebrity being endorsed with the brand. Majority of the participants agreed to the fact
that Celebrity Endorsement increases awareness of the brand , grabs the attention of celebrity’s
followers and increases the purchase confidence.

(Tantiseneepong et al , 2012) discussed the evaluating responses of celebrity endorsement by

using projective techniques. The main objective of the research paper was to understand the
consumer reactions regarding celebrity endorsement strategy specifically for the product which
was perfume. This study also explains that how projective techniques can help marketers in
selection of celebrities for their advertisements. Projective Technique included Picture
association technique to measure the reaction of participants. There were 16 female participants
selected to conduct the study which were exposed to the advertisements of two leading perfumes
brand which were not endorsed by any celebrity and then after that they were exposed to
advertisements having four contrasting celebrities. Reactions of the participants were observed
and compared to the advertisement having celebrity and without celebrity. The analysis of the
study highlighted that celebrity plays a significant role in positioning the brand in the market
however the personal liking factor of people is important for the celebrity which can have a
positive impact on the company’s profitability.

(Thomson, 2006) investigated the antecedents to consumers strong attachment to celebrities in

which he stated that consumers build up strong attachment with the Celebrities due to several
factors. The study implied qualitative research method to provide evidence for the proposed
model. The article documented that attachment of consumers with the celebrities are result of
consumer’s inner feeling and perception about celebrity which includes feeling of trust,
autonomy, personal relatedness and sense of satisfaction with the Celebrity that is being
endorsed in an advertisement. The results concluded that organization like entertainment firms
and political parties would get benefited from Celebrities because they have a regular interaction
with general public so Celebrities can play a significant role in managing firm’s relationship with
target audience. The study suggested that organization should address strategies that how they
can manage Celebrities effectively for their advertisements as they become the face of
Organizations after being endorsed.

(Knight and Hurmerinta , 2010) wrote qualitative research article to study meaning transfer of
Celebrity Endorsement strategy in real life context. After detailed review of Celebrity
Endorsement and Brand Alliance articles, The study proposed that celebrity endorsement
strategy should be considered as Brand Alliance where values can be transferred from one
partner to another. The study implied exploratory research method to explore different processes
that can provide evidence to come up to the fact that Celebrity Endorsement should be
considered as Brand Alliance. There were 2 cases named Sainsbury’s Supermarket Ltd and Chef
Jamie Oliver that were deeply analyzed to carry forward this study. The article proposed the
model for meaning transfer process to establish relationship of Celebrity Endorsement strategy
with Brand Alliance.

(Bergkvist & Zhou, 2016) studied the Celebrity Endorsement strategy by using narrative
approach which focused on psychological processes and effects attached with Celebrity
Endorsement strategy. The study gave new direction and approaches to study Celebrity
Endorsement by proposing six areas of research. The key areas that were identified in the article
were Celebrity Prevalence, Campaign Management, Financial Effects, Celebrity Persuasion,
Non-evaluative meaning transfer, and brand-to-celebrity transfer.

Problem Statement:- What are the Antecedents and Consequences of Celebrity Endorsement

strategy for FMCG Brands?

Research Gap:- Research Gap of the present study is that no particular research has been done
in order to investigate the Antecedents and Consequences of Celebrity Endorsement strategy for
FMCG sector of Pakistan. Research has contributed to give organizations clear evidence of the
possible outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

Research Objectives:-

i. To determine the factors behind implementation of Celebrity Endorsement

Strategy.

ii. To identify the outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy .

Research Design:- Case Study Research design has been implied to carry forward study as

Case Study Method is helpful to investigate a real life phenomena by taking benefit from

multiple source of evidence. It is in depth analysis of individual unit and helpful in answering

“What” and “How” Questions. The major aim of research was to explore antecedents and
consequences of implementing Celebrity Endorsement strategy for FMCG sector in Pakistan.

The aim of research was to explore and address the real facts behind implementation of

Celebrity Endorsement strategy so the study is exploratory in nature.

Questions:-

1. What are the antecedents of Celebrity Endorsement strategy?

2. What are the consequences of Celebrity Endorsement strategy?

Propositions:-

1. Product Advertisement is the reason behind Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

2. Brand Recognition is the reason behind Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

3. Brand Awareness is the reason behind Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

4. Positive Brand Image is the outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

5. Product Differentiation is the outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

6. Increased Profitability is the outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

Unit of Analysis:-

Unit of Analysis for present study is “Organization” belonging from FMCG sector of Pakistan.

Those organizations who are implementing Celebrity Endorsement strategy are being taken into

consideration to explore the general facts regarding Celebrity Endorsement strategy. The aim of

research is to explore the reasons that Why companies use Celebrity Endorsement strategy and

What are its outcome ? Unit of Analysis would be known as Organization because they are being

taken into consideration to address the research questions.

Data Collection:- Data has been collected for this research by conducting 20 Face to Face

Interviews from Marketing Graduates of different universities of Lahore. Videos of these

interviews were recorded to analyze the information gathered from different respondents. The
purpose of study was to investigate Antecedents and Consequences of Celebrity Endorsement

Strategy so for that purpose Marketing Graduates were selected as target respondents because

they have better knowledge regarding Celebrity Endorsement strategy, they were easily

approachable for conducting interviews and also the fact that most of them are the target

audience of major brands so they identified the real facts behind celebrity endorsement strategy

which no other individual could be able to do. Face to Face interviews were helpful to gather as

many information as possible from each individual which gave each individual maximum

opportunity to express his own opinion and ideas by feeling comfortable sitting alone in front of

an interviewer rather than focus groups where majority of respondents are hesitant to express

their opinions. Time duration for each interview was around 10 to 15 minutes. Open ended

questions were asked from target respondents which were quite helpful in extracting different

opinions regarding Celebrity Endorsement Strategy.

Sample Characteristics:-

42.86% 17.41 %

10.50 %
29.23 %

Interviews were conducted from respondents belonging from different universities of Lahore. All
 the respondents were Marketing Graduates and have been characterized according to gender,

colleagues and general population who were being interviewed to gather information to carry

forward the research.

Data Analysis:- Data was analyzed by using Nvivo software as it is quite helpful for data

arrangement and analysis. Nvivo software was used to conduct different Qualitative Analysis

techniques which included Word Frequency Analysis Techniques , Cluster Analysis, Thematic

Analysis and Transcribing Video Recorded Interviews. These techniques were quite helpful to

observe and analyze the different opinions gathered from target respondents. Visualization can

clearly express the complex information into organized form that was the reason of applying

different techniques in Nvivo software to analyze data visually and observe its relationship with

other factors. Word Tag Cloud was quite helpful to explore and analyze the factors and

outcomes of Celebrity Endorsement strategy by observing the repetition and frequency of word

being spoken in recorded interview. Different graphs including Tree map were used to analyze

and interpret the data.

Conceptual Model:-

Antecedents Consequences

Product Advertisement Positive Brand

Image

Celebrity Endorsement
Differentiation of
Brand Recognition
Substitute Products

Increased

Brand Awareness Profitability

The conceptual model of the present research is designed on the basis of the propositions that

were made to conduct the present study after reviewing different literature available on Celebrity

Endorsement strategy. The conceptual model is added to clarify the direction in which present

research is being done. According to our assumptions we have categorized different factors into

antecedents and consequences of Celebrity Endorsement strategy on the basis of which

companies implement this strategy. First of all the most basic reason or factor due to which

companies implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy is to create awareness among masses and

they do it by using self image of famous personalities of the society so “Brand Awareness” is

one of the factor due to which companies implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy. Other

factor which is also considered to be antecedent is “Product Advertisement” like if a company

has launched new product and they want to introduce it in the market they would endorse

Celebrity to advertise their product to give a feeling to their consumers that after using this

particular product they would be able to increase their self image in the market and would get

appreciated by their social circle. “Brand Recognition” is also considered to be antecedent as

new brands which have to introduce themselves in the market against so many competitors they

build up their recognition through the famous personalities of the society as they have major fan

following in the market. Other part of Conceptual model is the consequences which includes the

possible outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy. Through different theoretical and empirical

evidence we have come up to the fact that Celebrity Endorsement helps organization to build up

a positive brand image in the market because Celebrities are the people who are famous and

people trust them, love them and follow their life styles so Organization endorse them in their

advertisement to build up positive Band Image. Celebrities help brands to increase their

profitability because people gets motivated to purchase that product which is being endorsed by

the Celebrity as they perceive that Celebrities also use this product and they would look good

just like Celebrity after buying that product. Celebrities also help Brands to differentiate their
product from other brand after building up a certain image for the brand that is completely

different with the other brand.

Results:-

Figure 1.Word Tag Cloud

Word Tag cloud basically depicts the words that were being spoken repetitively according to

their font size. In Figure 1 it is clearly evident that Brand Recognition , Positive Brand Image,

Increased Profitability are considered to be the critical factors of Celebrity Endorsement

strategy where as Improved Sales , Product Differentiation, Better Segmentation,

Communication, Celebrity Values are perceived to be factors or reasons due to which Celebrity
Endorsement Strategy is implemented by different brands. Larger text font shows that word has

been spoken repetitively which depicts that majority of respondents agrees to the fact that this

particular factor has a larger impact as compared to others.

Analysis:-

According to our target respondent’s opinion Celebrity Endorsement strategy helps brands to

build positive Brand Image in the market. Consumers can easily recognize brands after Celebrity

is being endorsed. Substitute Products can easily be differentiated after implementing Celebrity

Endorsement strategy. Brands can be able to improve their sales and increase their profits after

endorsing Celebrity. All above mentioned factors are considered to be the possible reasons and

outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

Figure 2.Tree Map Extent of Relationship

Analysis:-

Positive Brand Image, Product Differentiation , Better Segmentation , Life Matters and Celebrity

Values are considered to be the critical factors of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy where as

improved sales, Buying Motivation and Brand Recognition are less critical factors of Celebrity
Endorsement Strategy. From above data it can be interpreted that majority of the respondents

believe that Celebrity Endorsement strategy help Brands to maintain positive Brand Image in the

market and it is considered to be the major factor that has a greater impact on Brand’s image.

Other major factor identified by the respondents was that the Celebrities help Brands to

Differentiate their products from substitute brands because after watching the celebrity in the

advertisement customers start recognizing the brand after watching advertisement repetitively.

Respondents also highlighted that Celebrity Endorsement strategy can motivate customers to

make a purchase, improve sales of the company and can build up Brand Recognition in the

market but they are considered to be less critical factors.

Findings:-

1. Brand Awareness is antecedent of Celebrity Endorsement strategy:-

(Chan et al, 2013) studied the impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Image among Chinese
adolescents. The study conducted focus group among 76 Chinese adolescents to gather data and
examine their perception regarding Celebrity Endorsement strategy. The majority of the
participants in that study agreed to the fact that Celebrity Endorsement strategy increases Brand
Awareness among the masses and can easily grab the attention of Celebrity’s followers. Majority
of the participants in the present study also stated that the major reason of implementing
Celebrity Endorsement strategy is to create Brand Awareness among the target audience and the
chances of Brand being remembered for longer time period increases due to Celebrity
Endorsement strategy . On the basis of empirical and theoretical evidence it is proved that Brand
Awareness is one of the possible reason of implementing Celebrity Endorsement strategy.

2. Product Advertisement is antecedent of Celebrity Endorsement strategy :-

(Zipporah & Mberia , 2014) wrote article on The Effects of Celebrity Endorsement on Product
Advertisements. The data was collected from the respondents by conducting face to face
interviews. The article discussed different factors of Celebrity Endorsement strategy which has
several effects in advertising products. Participants of the research stated that advertisers endorse
Celebrities in their advertisements to increase the credibility and trustworthiness of their product
introduced in the commercial which means that Celebrity Endorsement strategy is not only used
for advertising product but also increases the credibility and trustworthiness of the product. In
the present study one of the participant stated that Celebrity Endorsement strategy is an effective
tool to advertise new product in the market because consumers are hesitant to try new products
introduced in the market due to risk attached of money being wasted after not getting the desired
results so Celebrities gives a sense of security that product is safe to use. Based on this theory the
participant of present study believed that Advertisers of different organizations use Celebrity
Endorsement strategy for Product Advertisement. Keeping in view empirical and theoretical
evidence it is proved that Product Advertisement is the factor of implementation of Celebrity
Endorsement strategy.

3. Brand Recognition is antecedent of Celebrity Endorsement strategy:-

(Tantiseneepong et al , 2012) evaluated different responses of the participants regarding

Celebrity Endorsed Advertisements and non Celebrity Endorsed Advertisements for perfume
brands. There were 16 female participants which were part of study and their reactions were
recorded by using picture association technique. The study concluded that Celebrities play
significant role in positioning the brand in the market and consumers recognize and remember
the brand for longer period of time due to Celebrities being endorsed in the Advertisement. In the
present study one of the participant also stated that Brand is easily recognized when it is being
endorsed by celebrity as compared to the non celebrity endorsed brands. Based on the empirical
and theoretical evidence it is proved that Celebrity Endorsement strategy can build up Brand
Recognition in the market.

4. Positive Brand Image is the consequence of Celebrity Endorsement strategy:-

(Nkansah , 2017) studied the role of celebrity endorsement on brand image in the
Telecommunication Industry. The purpose of the research article was to highlight the role of
celebrity endorsement strategy on brand image. Research implied Qualitative method to gather
data from the respondents. The respondents of the study said that credibility and trustworthiness
have a major influence on the brand however they agreed to the fact that Celebrity Endorsement
strategy can generates lot of publicity and exposure of the Brands which can help brands
building up positive Brand Image in the market with the self image of the Celebrity endorsed.
The participants of the present study also gave logical reasons that how celebrities can build up
positive brand image. As described by the participants of the present study the appearance of
Celebrities in the Brand’s Advertisements make it more interesting and appealing for the
consumers to watch and it is perceived like these famous celebrities are also the user of the
advertised products so due to huge fan following and personal liking factor their followers
become the consumer of the product that is being endorsed by their favorite celebrity.
Considering the logical and empirical evidence it is safely to say that Celebrity Endorsement
strategy makes positive Brand Image.

5. Increased Profitability is the consequence of Celebrity Endorsement strategy:-

(Nyarko et al , 2015) discussed the influence of Celebrity Endorsement on the buying behavior
of Ghanian Youth. In the article the author has explained that marketers use celebrity
endorsement strategy to influence the purchase behavior of customers. The qualitative research
method was used to collect data in which youth of Ghana was taken as the respondents of the
study. Face to face interviews were conducted from youth of Ghana to take their point of view
that how celebrity endorsement strategy influence their buying behavior. Participants of the
study explained that after watching Celebrities in advertisement they feel quite motivated to
make a purchase. In the present study the participants were asked about their preference of
buying celebrity endorsed products over non celebrity endorsed products in which majority of
the respondents agreed that they prefer Celebrity Endorsed products because it gives them a
feeling that after using celebrity endorsed products they would get appreciated by their social
circle. Based on theoretical and empirical evidence we can interpret that Celebrity Endorsement
strategy increases profitability of Brands.

6. Product Differentiation is the consequence of Celebrity Endorsement strategy:-

(Busler, 2005) wrote thesis on Product Differentiation, Celebrity Endorsements and the
Consumer Perception of Quality. In the article the author has discussed that for longer period of
time the marketers where continuously thinking of ways to explore that what motivates
consumers to demand a certain product or what drives them to eventually make a purchase of
specific products. The author explained that marketers researched after conducting focus group
of around 150 consumers and came up to the logical fact that after getting exposed to a Brand
Advertisement which is being endorsed by Celebrities, the consumer unintentionally gathers
information about a Brand’s product which becomes a part of its memory and through gathered
information consumer can easily differentiate products of substitute brands. In the present study
the respondents clearly stated that they can easily differentiate substitute products from their
competitors if it is being endorsed by celebrity. One of the respondent also gave an example that
He is able to differentiate between Coca Cola and Pepsi as both are being endorsed by different
celebrities. From theoretical and empirical evidence it can be interpreted that Celebrity
Endorsement strategy can differentiate the substitute products being offered by different brands.

Recommendations:-

The study proposes following recommendations for FMCG brands :-

1. Brands that does not have positive image or reputation in the market should implement

Celebrity Endorsement strategy as study reveals that Celebrity Endorsement strategy

builds positive brand image because consumers start associating the Brand Image

with the self image of Celebrities.

 2. Newly launched brands that does not have any recognition in the market should

implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy as study came up to the logical fact that

Celebrities creates awareness among the masses and positions the brands in an effective

way.

3. Brands that have substitute products as compared to the competitors should also

implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy as respondents of the present study explained

that they are able to recognize and remember the brands for longer period of time which

are endorsing famous celebrities in their advertisement.

4. Study proved the fact that Celebrity Endorsement increases the profitability of Brands

and motivates the customer to make a purchase so Brands that have limited sales should

implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy in order to increase their profitability.

Direction for further Research:-

The present study was conducted to investigate the antecedents and consequences of Celebrity

Endorsement strategy for FMCG sector of Pakistan. Although research would be quite useful for

the individuals who does not have any knowledge about Celebrity Endorsement strategy and its

possible effects on brands but there were limitations due to which research was done by keeping

respondents and area of research narrow. Research can be done by taking into consideration the

auto mobile sector of Pakistan along with the wide range of respondents to explore more real

facts regarding Celebrity Endorsement strategy and also the fact that no research has been done

up till now to check the impact of Celebrity Endorsement strategy in auto mobile sector of

Pakistan. Broadening the research area and respondents would identify more factors that make

this strategy useful for Brands and wide range of opinions would be recorded after gathering data

from larger group of individuals as respondents.

Conclusion:-

In the era of increased competition and substitute products it is quite challenging to conduct

business without having unique idea or strategy. Celebrity Endorsement strategy is a new

phenomena in Pakistani Market as many companies are implementing this strategy knowingly or

unknowingly the factors and possible outcome of this strategy. The purpose of this research

paper was to explore and highlight the possible reasons and outcome of Celebrity Endorsement

strategy to educate masses that to what extent this strategy is helpful for organizations and in

what particular areas it is beneficial for companies. The aim of research was also to test the

developed propositions thorough logical and empirical evidence and identify several new factors

that can be categorized as antecedents and consequences of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy. The

respondents of the present research identified 15 factors that possibly come under antecedents

and consequences of Celebrity Endorsement strategy that includes Positive Purchase Intention ,

Positive Purchase Decision, Customer Loyalty, Customer Repurchase Behavior ,Positive

Customer Perception , Increased Customer Trust, Customer Motivation , Better Customer

Segmentation , Improved Communication, Improved Sales , Increased Profitability ,Brand

Recognition , Positive Brand Image, Effective Brand Positioning, Product Differentiation and

Effective Marketing Strategy. These are the possible reasons and possible outcome of Celebrity

Endorsement strategy identified by the target respondents of the present study. This research is

quite useful for the individuals or companies who want to implement celebrity Endorsement

strategy in their business but have got no idea of the possible factors and outcome of this

strategy. This research also gives a clear understanding of different areas of Business that can be

improved by implementing this strategy. It is concluded that Celebrity Endorsement strategy is

quite useful for Companies to improve their Profitability , build up positive Brand Image and to

increase Customer Loyalty.

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 Appendix (A)

Interview Protocol :-

1. What are the different reasons behind implementation of Celebrity Endorsement

Strategy?

2. Do Celebrities have a positive influence on the consumer when they endorse a product?

3. Does the appearance of a celebrity in an advertisement increase the attention of

consumers ?

4. What can be the possible outcome of Celebrity Endorsement strategy ?

5. Would you buy a product being endorsed by your favorite celebrity ?

6. To what extent Celebrity Endorsement strategy can be useful in increasing profits for

companies ?

7. Does Celebrity Endorsement Strategy improve the Brand Image of a company ?

8. How useful it is to implement Celebrity Endorsement strategy for low quality products ?