CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The success of a company organization in the present, cut through marketplace depends on how

efficient its advertising is. For this reason, the majority of multinational corporations as well as

local businesses extensively invest in advertising their products (Luo et al., 2009). Many

businesses employ a variety of advertising appeals to draw in their target demographic, typically

using celebrity appeal. The use of celebrities in such advertising has become the culture of the

day because celebrities are seen as credible source of information that consumer rely on in their

purchase decision-making (Choi, 2012). The idea in celebrity advertising is that positive

celebrity personality characteristics are transferable between the brand of the celebrity and the

brands such celebrities advertise which result in desirable advertising campaign outcome (Boon

& Lomore, 2010).

Celebrity advertising is a strategy for drawing attention to a brand and could be either celebrity

license or celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsement is the most traditional way that big

businesses use celebrity recognition to compliment an advertising campaign (Kapoor, 2012).

Endorsement involves using the name and likeness of a celebrity in a print or television

advertising campaign. Celebrity licensing occurs when an existing business licenses the name,

image and rights of celebrity to impose the belief that the celebrity have their own line. The

license which is the brand has all existing designs, manufacturers and distribution in place and

the celebrity has approval rights over the design. Purchase intention can gauge the potential of a

consumer‘s buying power, and the higher the purchase intention the higher possibility

consumer‘s willingness is to buy a product (Khuong& Nguyen, (2015); Abiodun, 2011).

Consumers more likely to assess the brand image of endorsed brands positively and are able to

easily remember brands promoted through celebrities (Hoekman & Bosmans, 2010); (Schiffman,

2009); warranting the huge investments in such advertisements (Flosi, Fulgoni &Vollman, 2013)

by corporations. Celebrity advertising also influence consumer purchase retention which

translates such purchase intention into actual buying (Nyarko, Asimah, Agbemava & Tsetse,

2015; Tirtiroglu & Elbeck, 2015; Till & Shimp, 2017).

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION

The use of celebrity endorsement as a marketing tool has been a common practice in the

smartphone industry for several years (Kamins, 1990). Companies often seek out well-known

celebrities to endorse their products in order to attract consumers and increase sales (Friedman &

Friedman, 1979). In recent years, the use of social media has made it even easier for companies

to connect with celebrities and promote their products (Pham & Johansson, 2019).

Despite the widespread use of celebrity endorsement in the smartphone industry, the

effectiveness of this marketing strategy is still debated among researchers and practitioners (Hsu

et al., 2018). Some studies have found that celebrity endorsements can positively impact

consumer attitudes and purchase intentions (Erdogan, 1999), while others have found little to no

effect (Choi &Rifon, 2012).

Additionally, the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement may vary depending on factors such as

the type of product, the celebrity endorser, and the target market (Keller, 2016). Furthermore,

there are potential risks associated with using celebrity endorsement, such as negative publicity

or scandals involving the celebrity endorser (Seno & Lukas, 2007).

Celebrity advertising in Ghana is woefully inadequate (Noraini&Napi, (2015);Ofori-

Okyere&Asamoah, 2015). Whether celebrities create credibility for companies or risk the

identity of brands is a concern that will continue to baffle advertisers (Radha&Jija, 2013). Also,

several products in spite of celebrity endorsement and expensive adverts have failed to attract

customers‘ attention towards such endorsed brands (Apejoye, 2013). Besides, when a celebrity is

not accepted, his/her unacceptability may affect the product that he/she identifies with negatively

(Apejoye, 2013). Lee and Kim (2005) also found that celebrity endorsement can have a negative

effect on purchase intentions, the product and even the celebrity, especially through shadow

effects or multiple products endorsement. Given the ongoing debate on the effectiveness and

potential risks of celebrity endorsement in the smartphone industry, there is a need for further

research to provide insights into the influence of celebrity appeal on sales and patronage of smart

phones. Therefore, this study seeks to assess the influence of celebrity advertising on students’

patronage of smart phones in Tamale Technical University.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this work is to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of celebrity appeal in

advertisement of smart phones in Tamale Technical University.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. To investigate Tamale Technical University students’ perception about celebrity appeal

in advertisement.

2. To examine the influence of celebrity appeal on students’ patronage of smart phones on

Tamale Technical University.

 3. To identify the constraints of the use of celebrity appeal in advertisement of smart phones

in Tamale Technical University.

RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What are the perceptions of Tamale Technical University students about celebrity

appeal in advertisement?

2. To what extend does celebrity appeal influence students’ patronage of smart phones in

Tamale Technical University?

3. Are there constraints in using celebrity appeal in advertising smart phones in Tamale

Technical University?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Null hypothesis

Celebrity appeal has no influence on students’ patronage of smart phones in Tamale Technical

University.

Alternate hypothesis

Celebrity appeal has an influence on students’ patronage of smart phones in Tamale Technical

University.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this study lies in its potential to provide valuable insights for smartphone

companies on how to use celebrity appeal effectively as an advertising tool while minimizing

potential risks. By investigating consumer attitudes towards celebrity appeal and the

effectiveness of different celebrity appeal strategies, this study can inform smart phone
companies on how to design effective and targeted celebrity appeal campaigns to increase sales

and patronage.

Moreover, the study can contribute to the existing literature on the effectiveness of celebrity

appeal in the smart phone industry by providing empirical evidence on the impact of celebrity

appeal on smart phone sales and patronage. By addressing the gaps in the literature and testing

hypotheses related to the influence of celebrity endorsement on consumer behavior, this study

can contribute to the development of theory in the field of advertising and consumer behavior.

The study can also benefit consumers by providing insights into the potential risks and

drawbacks of using celebrity appeal in the smart phone industry. By examining the impact of

celebrity endorsement on the perceived quality and brand image of smart phones, the study can

inform consumers on the potential biases and limitations of celebrity endorsement in influencing

their purchasing decisions.

Overall, this study has significant implications for both smart phone companies and consumers,

providing valuable insights into the effectiveness and potential risks of celebrity endorsement as

an advertising tool in the smart phone industry.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The focus of this study is confined to smartphone patronage by Tamale Technical University

students, and it is directed toward the utilization of Ghanaian-based celebrities and how they

influence students' choice and patronage of smartphones.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Celebrity: Celebrity is fame and public attention in the media, usually applied to a

person, or group of people (celebrity couple, family etc.), or occasionally, to animals or

fictional entities. Celebrity status is often associated with wealth (commonly referred to

as fame and fortune) and fame can often provide opportunities to make money.

2. Celebrity appeal: is defined as a well-known person using his or her fame to help

promote a product or service. The celebrities market the product through television or

radio ads, large event appearances, and so on. Most organizations use celebrities in their

marketing in hopes that it will drive up sales and have a positive impact on profits.

3. Advertisement: is generally considered a public communication that promotes a product,

service, brand or event.

4. Smartphone: a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer,

typically having a touch screen interface, internet access, and an operating system

capable of running downloaded app.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This section of the study deals with how the work is organized. The study is divided into 5

chapters.

Chapter 1 is the introduction and gives an overview of the study. It gives a background of the

concept of celebrity appeal and how it influences or impacts consumers buying behaviour. It also

gives a fair idea of the questions that would be answered through the research, its objectives and

significance.
Chapter 2 consists of the literature review which will look extensively at the concept of

advertising in general and narrow down to celebrity appeal in advertisement. The review will

identify gaps within the literature that will be reviewed and other related studies and also seek to

fill those gaps. This chapter will examine and analyze text and literature relating to endorsements

by celebrity and influencers and theories and models surrounding the study.

Chapter 3 will look at the methodological approach used in the research and the process involved

in gathering data. It will also look at data analysis plan and ethical consideration.

Chapter 4 will involve the analytical framework used in interpreting the influence of celebrity

endorsements on students’ patronage of smartphones. It will also focus on analyzing the date that

has been gathered and presented on this research.

Chapter 5, which is the final chapter, will cover an extensive discussion of the findings in

relation to the objectives of the study. The chapter will summarize, give its conclusions drawn

from the findings and give recommendations.

Chapter One therefore serves as a guide for this study.

CHAPTER TWO

Literature Review

Advertisement

An advertisement is a valuable tool to divert people’s attitudes positively and attract people

toward a product (Shareef et al., 2019). Advertisement is a mode of communication marketing

through electronic or print media that persuade the customer to continue or adopt some action by

paid content (Cheah et al., 2019). According to Sofi et al (2018), it is a non-personal way of

sharing information related to a product produced by a sponsor with the help of media.

Similarly, Ayanwale et al (2018) proposed that advertising is a paid, non-personal way in which

concepts, products or services, ideas, and information are publicized through media (verbal,

visual, and te’t) and identified promoter influence behavior. Zhang X et al (2020) described that

in a company, to meet communication and marketing objectives, mass media plays a vital role

and maximum information is provided to the target market about the product. Rehman et al

(2017) purported that the aim of advertising has popularity worldwide. Most companies are

spending large amounts of money on advertisement to attract the customer to their products and

services. Lichtenthal et al (2007) summed up that such advertisement is a picture representing

the whole story or in written form that the viewer cannot ignore and it is beneficial for many

advertising media.

Advertising is the impersonal dissemination of information about goods, services, or concepts

through a variety of media. It is typically motivated by persuasion and is funded by known

sponsors (Nichifor, 2014). Long ago, an advertisement first appeared. For instance, an Egyptian

papyrus with information about the impending sale of a slave attests to its existence in ancient
times (Fadel, 2021). In those days, promoting a specific good or service was done by written or

verbal announcements. Some sort of barker disseminated the oral advertising ( Fadel, 2021).

Inscriptions on rocks by the side of the road and on nearby buildings served as written

advertising in addition to papyrus scrolls and wax boards (Frolova, 2014). Similar to today,

practically everything was promoted, including olive oil, amphorae to store the oil, oxen, horses,

and other livestock, as well as equipment and weaponry. Additionally, there was service

promotion. For example, appeals to visit a pub that serves specialty drinks and appetizers or an

invitation to a public bath were included in announcements from that long-ago age. 2004

(Feofanov).

Main Types of Advertising

We can select seven types of advertising:

1. Brand advertising is typically done through text and images. The main goal of this type of

advertising is to increase customer awareness of particular brands. 2013 (Keller).

2. Advertising for businesses and retail establishments focuses on the selling of a particular

product or service; the establishment can be a shop or a service provider. By providing them with

information about the location and key terms of the provision of particular goods or services,

commerce and retail advertising's primary goal is to stimulate the inflow of potential customers.

3. One of the most well-known and effective forms of advertising is political advertising. A

favorable perception of the politician is created (Sandage, 2001).

4. This method of advertising involves exchanging information with potential clients. The most

popular strategy is sending direct mail to a select group of people who are most attractive to

advertising as potential customers (e.g. in the form of catalogs). (2002) Sandage

5. Corporate advertising prepares the public opinion (within a specified group of customers) to

support the advertiser's point of view and nearly never incorporates advertising information (in

the ordinary sense of the word) (2002) Sandage

6. Business advertising is professionally oriented advertising that is sent to groups of people who

share a common occupation. These advertisements are mostly disseminated through specialized

media. (2002) Sandage

7. Public or social advertising, in contrast to commercial advertising, is targeted towards an

audience that is primarily defined by their socioeconomic condition, such as youth, childless

couples, single mothers, etc (Sandage, 2001).

COSTUMER SATISFACTION

It has been recognised that customer satisfaction is the most important result of marketing and

practical and occupies a significant position in both theory and observation (Sallen, Ghafar,

Ibrahim, Yousuf & Ahmed, 2015). The purchase of a product is followed by a post-purchase

behaviour evaluation exercise (Hoffman, Czinkota, Dickson, Dunne & Griffen, 2005). In this

situation, it is acknowledged that when consumers’ expectation are not met by the product

performance, they get dissatisfied, when performance meets consumers’ expectation consumers

are satisfied and when consumers’ expectation are surpassed by the performance, they are
delighted (Kotler & Keller, 2012). This in the context of telecommunication product patronage

by University students, it is believed that these categories of customers that is students subject

their experience with purchased celebrity endorsed brands to post-purchase evaluation, which

could result in dissatisfaction, satisfaction and delight. Customer satisfaction has three

components (Giese & Cote, 2000). Customer satisfaction is a response that is cognitive or

emotional, the response relates to a particular focus that is expectation, product, consumption,

experience and the response occurs at a particular time that is alter consumption, alter choice and

base on accumulated experiences. Following a satisfactory or dissatisfactory experience,

consumers have three possible responses, exit, voice or loyalty (Mosuhab, Mahamad &

Ramayah, 2010); Mittal & Kamakura, 2001). Positive word-of-mouth like voice correlates to

purchase intention (Molinari, Abratt & Dion, 2008). More so, satisfied customers are less

sensitive to price variations and have high capacity to purchase additional products (Kuo, Ho &

Yang, 2013). Zineldin, 2007). Saleen et al, (2015) found that there is a significant relationship

between customer satisfaction and purchase intentions. Moreover, it customer satisfaction

enhances customers’ positive attitude towards the specified product or service (Goh, Jiang, Hak

& Tee, 2016). Customer satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between product attribute

(heightened through celebrity advertising) and repeat purchase intention (Goh, et al. 2016). Other

studies indicate that customer satisfaction is a contingent factor that influences customer

repurchase intention (Sanchez-Garcia, Pieters, Zeelenberg & Bigne, 2012). Customer satisfaction

is the measurement that determines how happy are with the company’s products, services and

capabilities. Customer satisfaction information including survey and rating can help a company

determine how to best improve or changes its products and services. Customer satisfaction is a

measure of how products or services provided by a company meet customer expectation. If

company does not care about customer’s satisfaction, they should not expect them to care about

their product or services.

Customer satisfaction is the degree to which products or services provided by a company meet a

customer’s expectation. In other words, customer satisfaction is how satisfied a customer is after

doing business with the company or consumption of a product or service.

Who is a celebrity?

Choi and Berger (2010) asserted that celebrities are persons who have gained fame or

recognition in the society by virtue of their unique personality. Celebrities are people who enjoy

public recognition by a large share of a certain group of people (Schlecht, 2003). could serve in

various capacities for business organisations such as testimonials, endorsement, actors or

spokespersons (Khatri, 2006). Celebrities could be typical customers of products, experts or

celebrities (Bekk&Spörrle, 2010). Celebrities extend their personality, popularity, stature in the

society or expertise in a field to the brand (Choi &Rifon, 2002).

Celebrity appeal

Celebrity advertising is a time-honored strategy for drawing attention to a brand and could be

either celebrity license or celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsement is the most traditional

way that big businesses use celebrity recognition to compliment a marketing campaign (Kapoor,

2012). Endorsements typically involve using the name and likeness of a celebrity in a print or

television advertising campaign. Celebrity licensing occurs when an existing business licenses

the name, image, and rights of a celebrity to impose the belief that the celebrity has their own
line. Generally the licensee (the brand) has all existing designs, manufacturers, and distribution

in place and the celebrity has approval rights over the design. Two key essential elements of

celebrity advertising are considered under this study; celebrity advertising role and celebrity

personality characteristics. The celebrity advertising roles represent what celebrity advertising

does to influence customers in their purchasing decision making whilst celebrity personality

characteristics represent the key marketable personality attributes of the celebrity who features in

celebrity adverts which eventually influence customers to patronize the endorsed brands.

Celebrity Personality Characteristics

Celebrities possess some personality characteristics that make them ―stand out‖ in celebrity

advertising strategy. Such characteristics are termed celebrity personality traits or characteristics.

These traits are not common to all human beings (Lunardo, Gergaud&Livat, 2015) but those who

possess them are able to appeal to customers through advertising (Lunardo, et al., 2015;

Aggarwal & McGill, (2007)45; Goldberg, 1992). Celebrities must exhibit some kind of

expertise. Expertise of celebrity measures the extent to which an endorser is perceived to be a

source of valid assertions. Hoekman and Bosmans, (2010) reiterated that expertise of celebrities

could be found in different fields. Expertise also embodies how much the celebrity knows about

the product area (Ohanian, 1991). Further, celebrities are supposed to exhibit trustworthiness

among target audience. Trustworthiness portrays how honest the celebrity is about the product.

Trustworthiness also embodies the honesty, integrity and believability of an endorser (Erdogan,

Baker &Tagg, 2001). Trustworthiness causes customer attitudinal change (Balakrishnan&

Kumar, 2011). Another personality characteristic that celebrities must possess is attractiveness.
According to Schlecht, (2003) celebrity attractiveness covers endorser‘s physical appearance,

personality, likeability, and similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived social value of the

source. The use of attractive people is common practice in television and print advertising, with

physically attractive communicators having proved to be more successful in influencing

customer‘s attitudes and beliefs than unattractive spokespersons (Zipporah&Mberia, 2014).

Attractive celebrities influence consumers‘ attitude and behavior (Hoekman&Bosmans, 2010).

Attractiveness also covers intelligence, skills, personality and lifestyle (Gupta, 2007; Erdogan,

1999).

Celebrities must be likeable. Likability measures the extent of affection for the celebrity due to

behavior and physical appearance (Hoekman&Bosmans, 2010). When people like a celebrity,

they are influenced by the celebrity (Kahle& Homer, 1985). Customer‘s purchase decision is

much influenced by the celebrity they like (Raja, et al., 2014). Customers are likely to be

influenced by celebrities that they (customers) are familiar with. Familiarity measures the

resemblance as knowledge that a celebrity endorser possesses through exposure (Belch & Belch,

2001). Hoekman and Bosmans (2010) further iterated that there must be match-up congruence

between the celebrity and the endorsed product. The match-up consists of two central terms; the

perceived fit and the image of the celebrity (Misra& Beatty, 1990)50. Put differently, persons

brand must ―fit in‖ with the expectation of the field (Parmentier, Fischer &Reuber, 2013). It is

critical to match up the image, characteristics and personality of the brand with the celebrity

(Kapoor, 2012) since this lead to greater believability and so effectiveness of the celebrity

advertising (Hoekman&Bosmans, 2010). Celebrity endorsers are deemed as credible source of

information by customers (Belch & Belch, 1994). Credibility measures the extent to which the

consumer sees the endorser as having relevant knowledge, skill or experience and trusts the
source to give unbiased, objective information (Byrne et al. 2003). Compared to foreign

celebrities, a local celebrity is more likely to be seen and to be viewed as real by consumers since

they share certain characteristics with such celebrity in the case of ethnicity, needs, goals,

interests and lifestyles (Hou, 2012), a situation called demographic connect (Zipporah&Mberia,

2014). This means the origin of celebrities influence buying behavior of customers.

Celebrity Advertising Roles

Advertising plays crucial roles in the formation of buyers‘ purchasing intention and actual

subsequent purchase behavior (Hetsroni, 2000). These roles are individually definite and unique

yet the interactive interplay among such roles collectively influences buying decisions of

customers. This results in creating climate for maintaining of improving sales. Customers are

more likely to remember endorsed products than unendorsed brands (Klaus & Bailey, 2008).

Celebrity advertising plays persuasive role in influencing customers to buy the endorsed brand

(Klaus & Bailey, 2008) through tactics such as attacking audience‘s social standing, promising

happiness, limiting availability, creating positive associations, building emotional appeal and so

forth. Celebrity advertising increases the recalling and recognition capabilities of customers for

the endorsed brand (Balakrishnan& Kumar, 2011). Celebrity advertising catches customers‘

attention (Ohanian, 1991) and constantly remind them (customers) of the endorsed brand
(Zipporah&Mberia, 2014). Khatri, (2006) found that celebrity advertising provide information

that aid customers‘ assessment of the endorsed brand(s). Credibility of endorsers enhances brand

quality and brand image which is transferred to customers who find strong attachment with the

selected celebrity (Khatri, 2006; Agrawal & Kamakura, 1995). Similarly, it was found that brand

endorsed by a celebrity is of good quality and thus it influences more as compared to the non-

celebrity endorsed brand (Kaur &Garg, 2016). Higher prices attached to endorsed brands by

superstars signal product quality and customers are more likely to purchase such brands, thereby

aiding the parent firm to generate additional margin that could not be gained where such brands

were not endorsed by celebrities (Friedman & Friedman, 1979). Also, celebrity advertising

enhances brand equity and competitive position of the endorsed brand in the market place

(Babu&Latha, 2014). Hsu and McDonald, (2002) also found that endorsing a product with

multiple celebrities can be beneficial for appealing to various audiences to which the product is

aimed.

QUALITIES TO CONSIDER IN USING CELEBRITY APPEAL

Credibility of Celebrities

The term credibility can be understood as the extent to which a source is perceived as possessing

significant knowledge or enough experience to offer an unbiased judgment; therefore, credibility

outlines whether an individual recognizes a claim as being true, unbiased and honest.

Accordingly, endorser credibility could be defined as “the extent to which a source is perceived
as possessing expertise relevant to the communication topic; and in turn, can be trusted to give

an objective opinion on the subject”

Trustworthiness of Celebrities

Trustworthiness addresses the question of whether an individual could be considered believable,

accordingly, the concept of trustworthiness refers to the extent to which consumers believe the

endorser has integrity and is honest. Similarly, and regarding the trustworthiness of celebrities,

this concept can then be defined as the perceived “willingness of the celebrity to make valid

assertions”.

According to the source credibility model, trustworthiness is an attribute underlying source

credibility that influences consumers’ attitudinal change. Likewise, a celebrity endorser who is

perceived as trustworthy is more likely to influence consumers’ attitudes and behavioral

intentions and will have a higher persuasive influence on consumers compared to other social

influences. Therefore, the celebrity’s trustworthiness is a key factor, since consumers get more

easily influenced by an individual whom they trust.

The Expertise of Celebrities

Expertise refers to the message sender’s knowledge, experience and skills; and accordingly,

expertness could be defined as “a persuasion cue that triggers individuals to use cognitive

heuristics, such as statements made by experts that can be trusted”. In addition, expertise

describes the individual’s level of knowledge and could be conceptualized in terms of the level

of experience, knowledge and problem-solving skills that a person has in a specific area. So, an
expert is able to perform at a high level in a specific domain, and becoming an expert requires

practice, experience and long-term training.

The Attractiveness of Celebrities

The source credibility model was extended to include the attractiveness of the source.

Accordingly, the source attractiveness model proposes that the effectiveness of an endorsement

is influenced by the perceived level of the physical attractiveness of the endorser. The underlying

motive of the influence of the endorser attractiveness is that individuals draw satisfaction from

believing that they have a similar attractiveness to the endorser, and in turn, they conform to the

behavior advocated by the endorser.

INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY APPEAL IN ADVERTISEMENT

Advertising plays crucial roles in the formation of buyers‘purchasing intention and actual

subsequent purchase behavior (Hetsroni, 2000).These roles are individually definite and unique

yet the interactive interplay among such roles collectively influences buying decisions of

customers. This results in creating climate for maintaining of improving sales. Customers are

more likely to remember endorsed products than unendorsed brands (Klaus & Bailey, 2008).

Celebrity advertising plays persuasive role in influencing customers to buy the endorsed brand

(Klaus & Bailey, 2008) through tactics such as attacking audience‘s social standing, promising

happiness, limiting availability, creating positive associations, building emotional appeal and so

forth. Celebrity advertising increases the recalling and recognition capabilities of customers for

the endorsed brand (Balakrishnan& Kumar, 2011). Celebrity advertising catches

customers‘attention (Ohanian, 1991) and constantly reminds them (customers) of the endorsed

brand (Zipporah&Mberia, 2014). Khatri, (2006) found that celebrity advertising provide
information that aid customers assessment of the endorsed brand(s). Credibility of endorsers

enhances brand quality and brand image which is transferred to customers who find strong

attachment with the selected celebrity (Khatri, 2006; Agrawal & Kamakura, 1995). Similarly, it

was found that brand endorsed by a celebrity is of good quality and thus it influences more as

compared to the non-celebrity endorsed brand (Kaur &Garg, 2016). Higher prices attached to

endorsed brands by superstars signal product quality and customers are more likely to purchase

such brands, thereby aiding the parent firm to generate additional margin that could not be

gained where such brands were not endorsed by celebrities (Friedman & Friedman, 1979). Also,

celebrity advertising enhances brand equity and competitive position of the endorsed brand in the

market place (Babu&Latha, 2014). Hsu and McDonald, (2002) also found that endorsing a

product with multiple celebrities can be beneficial for appealing to various audiences to which

the product is aimed.

CELEBRITY ADVERTISING AND PURCHASE INTENTION

Purchase intention predicts subsequent purchase (Tirtiroglu&Elbeck, 2008). Purchase intention

is what consumers think they will buy (Wee, Ariff, Zakuan, Tajudin, Ismail, &Ishak, 2014).

Purchase intention also incorporates both favorable (word-of-mouth communications, purchase

intentions, price sensitivity) and unfavorable (negative word-of-mouth, complaining behaviour)

dimensions of behavioral intentions (Zeithaml, Berry &Parasuraman, 1996). A gap may exist

between expressed intention to buy and actual buying behavior (Niessen& Hamm, 2008). These

gaps are identified by the gathering of actual purchase data and are then compared with data on

expressed purchase intention (Tirtiroglu&Elbeck, 2008). These gaps represent inconsistencies in

what is said and done. Some empirical studies show significant inconsistencies between purchase

intention and purchase behavior (Mullett& Karson, (1985), Pickering & Isherwood, 1974). The
differences in intention-purchase behavior are attributed to variance in both internal and external

forces that affect consumer decision making (Nyarko, et al., 2015). This variance could be

altered positively for consumers to ‗live the talk‘ through celebrity advertising (Brown, 2005).

Wang, Cheng and Chu, (2013) found that celebrity advertisement significantly and positively

affect consumer purchase intention, which a key attitudinal change (Bowman, 2002). More

specifically, in reference to the target population of the study, Randhawa and Khan (2014) found

that celebrity endorsements influence students‘purchase intention to patronize

telecommunication products. Apejoye (2013) also found that celebrity endorsed advert has a

significant influence on students‘purchase intention.

In another words, purchase intention has another aspect that the consumer will purchase the

product after evaluation. Many factors affect the consumer while selecting the product and other

ultimate decision depends on consumer intention with large external factors. The group in the

selection procedure of a brand for known products affects decision making about purchase. The

selection of a brand is based on group cohesiveness of the brand. Many factors intended to

purchase intention are customers’ knowledge, perception of consumers’ product, packaging or

design and celebrity endorsement.

IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON THE PURCHASE INTENTION OF

SMARTPHONE

The use of smartphone has grown steadily since the availability of internet emerged in mid

1990s. In recent times, considering the preferences of millennial customers on using

smartphone, the smartphone industry is expected to grow significantly. Companies and

marketers spent substantial dollars in developing the marketing strategies to attract the

attention of customers. Smartphone industry begun to hire popular celebrities to endorse

the brand with the aims to influence customers and make their brand different from

contending companies. In Malaysia, for instance, ViVo Malaysia, a smartphone company has

appointed Janna Nick and Dato Sri Siti Nurhaliza as their bran ambassador. Furthermore,

companies believe that the celebrity may affect the way on how consumer perceived brands

and thus influence them to purchase the product. Earlier study also has showed that

celebrity endorsement has a significant impact on consumer purchase intention

(Munnukka.,et. al.,2016). When the popular celebrity appears in the advertisement, the

advertisement said to be more effective (McCormic, 2016).Celebrity improves brand

awareness, generates a favourable brand attitude, and develops brand loyalty.

However, celebrity endorsement is not always beneficial to the brand. For instance, celebrity

who misconduct or involved with illegal activities also said contribute to negative impact on the

brand endorsed. It may give impact to consumer perception about the brand and affect the

company’s performance such as sales (McCartney, 2014). In addition to this, celebrity also may

overshadow the brand and thus failed to deliver value as an endorser. The issues mentioned

above leads to the purpose of this study with the aims to (1) analyse the demographic

profile of students in Tamale Technical University and (2) determine the extent at which

celebrity endorsement affect students’ purchase intention on smartphone. In order to achieve

the aims, this study developed the framework that combines items from Ohanian (1991) and

Schimdt & Hitchon (1999) to better understand on how the celebrity that endorsed the

smartphone brands may influence students’purchase intention.The findings of this study

may contribute firstly to marketers to understand the key influence of celebrity endorsement
on students’ purchase intention. Secondly, it will give ideas to marketers in designing the right

marketing strategies once they able to grasp the valuable information conforming student

purchase intention. Celebrity endorsement is defined as “an agreement between an individual

who enjoys public recognition and an entity to use the celebrity for the purpose of promoting

the entity (Bergkvist,L.2016). With the intense competition in the market, celebrity endorsement

has become popular strategy among marketers all around the world. This strategy focuses on

hiring popular and well-known celebrities to endorse the brand. According to Morimoto (2017),

celebrity includes a real people featured on reality television programs. For instance, Zizan

Razak from one reality show in Malaysia was appointed as ambassador for Honor smartphone

brand and recently, a new sort of celebrity has emerged as a result of the empowerment of

new media known as the online influencer or the media social influencer (Khamis et.al,

2016).Persuasion is likely to be influenced by celebrities who endorsed brand (Yang,2018).

For example, Eren-Erdogm, I. et. al., (2016) found that celebrity attributes influence the

purchasing of both non-durable and durable products. Moreover, the appearance of celebrity

in advertisements has had a bigger and favourable impact on purchase intention

(McCormick. K., 2016). Celebrity endorsement may help to place a brand in the minds of

consumers (Munnukka, et al., 2016), maintain and attract consumer attentions to brands

(Pileliene.et al. 2017) and therefore improve brand recall and equity. However, Munukka

(2016) mentioned since the usage of non-celebrity endorsers has grown in popularity, the

credibility of some celebrity has been questioned by consumers and research conducted by

Pileliene. et al. (2017) discovered that there is no difference in the degree of purchase intentions

for brand marketed by both celebrity and non-celebrity endorsers. Given the benefits and

drawbacks of celebrity endorsements, it is critical to understand how to select the right

celebrities, what qualities to look for and how genuine celebrity influence student purchase

intention.

The underlying notion for this study is described in model 1, which presents the conceptual

framework of the study. Conceptually, this study proposes that celebrity advertising has two

main components. These are celebrity advertising roles and celebrity personality advertising.

Celebrity advertising roles predicts a statistically significant yet positive variance in customer’s

purchase intentions. However, this predictive relationship is mediated by the extent of

customers’ satisfaction to the products offered by the smart phones companies. Similarly, the

conceptual framework portrays that celebrity personality characteristics predicts a statistically

significant yet positive variance in customers’ purchase intentions. However, this predictive

relationship is mediated by the extent of customers’ satisfaction to the products offered by the

smart phones companies.