Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Buying Behavior: A Case of Adonko Company Limited
Chapter One
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The following are the main objectives of this research:
- To assess the impact of celebrity endorsements on consumer buying behaviour.
- To evaluate the influence of celebrity endorsers as compared with ‘noncelebrity.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements in motivating consumers to purchase telecommunication products.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
This chapter reviewed the works that have been done by other researchers on this topic and its related, topics. For the purpose of this study, we are reviewing literature on the following themes:
An assessment of the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying behaviour; Impact of celebrity endorsement on a brand; celebrity versus noncelebrity endorsements, positive and negative aspects of celebrity endorsements, consumer buying behaviour, models for celebrity endorsements, Winning celebrities and companies they endorse; Celebrity endorsements gone bad; Corporate firms, Nigerian entertainers and endorsement deals.
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF CELEBRITIES ENDORSEMENT ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR
Who is a Celebrity?
So many definitions have been given to celebrity by various scholars. Celebrity was defined by Schlecht2003, as cited in Khatri, 2006) “as a person who enjoy public recognition by a large share of a certain group of people”. Therefore there are some features such as attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle which are just examples and specific common characteristics which cannot be seen, though it can be said that, within a corresponding social group celebrities generally differ from the social norm and enjoy a high degree of public awareness. Silvera&Austad, (2004), defined Celebrities to be “people who enjoy public recognition by a large share of a certain group and they have distinctive characteristics, such as attractiveness and trustworthiness”. In our day to day activities, we perform many acts, at home, at the work place, in school, in sports, in social life, etc. But these acts may be daily routine or just “acts” per say giving no extra-ordinary results, not noticed by anybody surrounding us, and not taken into notice by the media, but if a person acts or performs something which gives spectacular results and is noticed by the masses, then that person has “done something” special that most of the masses cannot do. He is regarded as a special person with some “extra” gifting from “God”. Therefore, it will leave an impression in the hearts of the people, which will make them to start feeling that he/she is great and exceptional, and start celebrating his/her acts which produce success. If the success rate for that person is very high to “deliver” same results, he becomes a “CELEBRITY”. It may be in field of sports, cinema, music, comedy, theatre, education, social life, politics, science, and anything but something with some special results. Celebrities are popular among the public and they take pleasure in being recognized by numerous people. Good looks, classy lifestyles and special skills are only some of celebrities’ special features that are different from noncelebrities, and are seen by the public, which grants them a large amount of the public’s attention. Friedman and Friedman (2002) explain, that a celebrity could be anybody such as actor, sportsman, presenter, entertainer, etc., whose attribute is different from the general public and is recognized by them, because of his or her achievements. Celebrities such as Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Usain Bolt, RafealNadal and Michael Jordan have made hundreds of millions of dollars from endorsements and in return have helped the sports apparel company Nike become dominant global brand. Michael Jordan once claimed “I never thought a role model should be negative” this is because when a role model is negative, the person is perceived to have adverse effects on his or her audience (Arens, Weigold&Arens, 2011).
In recent years, using celebrity endorsers has become more and more common. According to Byrne & Breen, studies have indicated that a more positive response, along with higher purchasing intentions have been gained by using celebrity endorsers compared to non- celebrity endorsers (Byrne & Breen, 2003). Sales will greatly rise due to the availability of celebrity endorsed products that attract customers. So long as celebrities add up to a brand’s image, corporate firms must also understand that they take a risk when they associate their brands with a celebrity this is because their conducts might go against the image of a company and the norms of society.
It therefore suffices to say that it is the duty of every company to ensure that celebrities endorsing their brands are morally upright and socially responsible. Initially, this strategy seems a non-risk and all-gain situation, but, as with any dynamic marketing communication strategy, there are potential hazards. Individuals can change, and endorsement relations can sour. In a sense, celebrity endorsement strategy can be a two-edged sword, which makes selecting a celebrity endorser from innumerable alternatives in the presence of potential marketing pitfalls very challenging. It has been found that “negative information about a celebrity endorser not only influences consumers’ perception of the celebrity, but also the endorsed product” (Till and Shimp1995). Therefore, a celebrity can invariably attracts attention to an advertisement, his or her impact on other variables such as brand awareness, recall of copy points and arguments about the message, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions must also be considered (Belch & Belch 1995). A general phenomenon is that consumers will focus their attention on the celebrity and fail to notice the brand being promoted (Rossiter and Fercy, 1987). In the above case, the celebrity is always seen as the star, because his image has overshadowed the product, therefore the product will be neglected. As Cooper (1984) puts it “the product not the celebrity, must be the star.” Humiliation has occurred for some companies as a result of their celebrities getting involved in some controversial issues (Hertz Corporation & O.J. Simpson, 1994). Celebrities may vanish from the media within a twinkle of eyes before their contractual term elapsed as was the case of AfeezOyetoro (fondly called Saka) switching from MTN to Etisalat whose act generated a lot of controversy in the telecommunication industry and among his fans.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/etisalat/portability/saka, 2013). A similar issue occurred in Schick Inc’s relation with Mark Spitz, winner of seven Olympic gold medals (Ziegel 1983). It is unusual for celebrities to change their image, but when this occurs it can indicate failure for a campaign. Another important issue could be as a result of the greediness of celebrity and subsequent overexposure when a celebrity becomes an endorser for many diverse products, he may start dictating for his endorser. (e.g. OmotolaJaladeEkeinde 2010). “If a celebrity’s image ties in with many brands, impact and identity with each product may lessen since the relationship between the celebrity and a particular brand is not distinctive” (Mowen& Brown 1991). This act will not only compromise the worth of the celebrity in the eyes of his fans, but it can also makes consumers openly aware of the true nature of endorsement which has little to do with the brand/product attributes, and more to do with generous compensation for the celebrity, leading consumers to publicly have a doubt about their motives (Tripp, et al. 1994).
CHAPTER THERE
RESEARCH METHODS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter deals with the various means and procedures employed in the process of data and information gathering. The study is carried out following some logical steps that will facilitate the achievement of the research goals and to explain the methods of study employed in this research work. Furthermore, the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived to obtain answer to the research questions are organized under the following headings:
- Restatement of Research Question ii. Restatement of Research Hypotheses iii. Research design iv. Target population
- Sample and sampling technique vi. Instrumentation vii. Validity and reliability viii. Sources of data ix. Method of analysis
RESTATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS
A research question this serves as a guide to researchers in their quest to proffer an answer to the problem being investigated (Asika, 2004). The following are the research question for this study which guided the research:
- Does celebrity endorsements affect consumer buying behaviour?
- Is celebrity endorsement a worthwhile venture for Adonko Company Limited in today’s competitive telecommunications market?
- Does celebrity endorsement promote sales than non-celebrity?
RESTATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Hypotheses are tentative statement answer to the research question, which may be in clear answer to the research question. (Osuagwu, 2006).
The research tends to test the following hypotheses
Where H0 is Null hypothesis
TARGET POPULATION
According to Adeleke (2003), population is the aggregate of all elements defined before proper selection of the sample is made. For this study, the students of Lagos State University who are subscriber to Adonko Company Limited will constitute the population. Adonko Company Limited has over Two Thousand Five Hundred (2500) subscribers in Lasu Ojo.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the research findings of the field data gathered. Data analysis involves examination, categorization and tabulation of evidence so as to address initial propositions of the study data. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0, where frequencies and percentages, means and standard deviation were used to interpret the findings. The presentation of data was done using tables. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses formulated.
Response rate refers to the percentage of subjects who respond to questionnaires (Mugenda&Mugenda, 1999). A response rate 50% is adequate for analysis and reporting, whereas that 60% is good and that of 70% and over is very good (Mugenda & Mugenda, 1999). In this study, the researcher sent out 80 questionnaires and received 75 responses. This was a response rate of 93.7%.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION
In this study, the aim of the researchers was to find out the impact of celebrity endorsement on the buying behaviour of consumer: a study of Adonko Company Limited.
This chapter summarizes the information obtained from the study. The main objectives of the study were; to find out whether celebrity endorsements affect consumers’ buying behavior, to examine the influence of celebrity endorsers as compared with ‘non celebrities’ in promotion of sales, and to ascertain whether celebrity endorsements is a worthwhile venture.
Questionnaires were administered to the students. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0, where frequencies and percentages, means and standard deviation were used to interpret the findings. The presentation of data was done using tables. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses formulated.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
According to the analysis done, it shows that, there are more female participants in the survey than male participants. Majority of the participants are single and that majority of the participants are aware about Adonko company ltd. celebrity endorsement. The participants are of the opinions that, celebrity endorsement is a nice concept of advertisement (mean=4.25). That celebrity endorsement has been of help to lift the face of a brand (mean=4.21).Celebrity endorsement helps to create cognitive consonance (mean=3.79).Celebrity’s bad image affects the endorsement of a brand negatively (mean=3.79). Celebrity endorsement is used to revive the image of a declining product (mean=4.01). That Celebrity endorsement brings about high sales turnover (mean=3.87). Majority of the participants accepted that they would buy a brand regardless of whether it is endorsed by a celebrity or not. That the credibility of a celebrity would make me go for the products endorsed by them (mean=3.53). Celebrity endorsement does not affect consumer buying behaviour (F=4.172). Celebrity endorsement is not a worthwhile venture (F=2.604). Celebrity endorsement does not promote sales than non-celebrity (F=6.418).
The study showed that celebrities influence consumers’ buying behaviour and that celebrity endorsement has the power to affect the buying behavior of consumers of Adonko’s products.
CONCLUSION
Even though celebrity endorsement plays a major role in influencing the buying behavior of consumers, it is very important for management of firms to know who to use to endorse their products and services.
From the study conducted, it was found out that many consumers are influenced by celebrities but these celebrities should be used with caution. Reason being that a person might be a celebrity all right, but might not have positive influence on the consumers’ buying behaviours due to who and what they perceive him to be and the amount of liking they have for him. It was also found out that celebrity endorsement was good at helping consumers to get to know products better and choose brands to purchase.
The study also shows that consumers associate celebrities with the products they endorse and that celebrity endorsement, when well utilized, can yield favourable returns to the organisation. Therefore management should also understand that some consumers will buy a product irrespective of who is endorsing the product either celebrity or non-celebrity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATION FOR MANAGERS
Management needs to be careful when using a celebrity to endorse their products. This is because when celebrities are not properly selected to endorse products it can cause irreparable damage to the reputation of a brand and the firm in the eyes of the consumers.
Most respondents said that they will buy a product because they like the celebrity endorsing it and that they will buy a brand if their favorite celebrity endorsed it.
Management should ensure that celebrities with good qualities should be endorsed for their brands and not the ones with bad image.
Management should therefore get to know what entices consumers in celebrities and what factors make their consumers hate or like a celebrity so that when consumers are exposed to it once, the celebrity endorsement and its campaign can have massive effects on them.
Some consumers also said that they would buy a brand regardless of whether a celebrity endorses it or not. This shows that celebrity endorsement, as helpful as it is, should not be the only marketing communications strategy. Management should not overlook other important strategies even as they work to get the best out of celebrity endorsement.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACADEMIA
Academia should look into a way of helping celebrities to turn their bad habits into good habits, as from the survey, some of the respondents were of the opinions that, they can buy a product irrespective of whether it is being endorsed by celebrity or not.
Academia should note that, not all celebrity endorsement is a worthwhile venture.
Academia should also help in further research that will help reshape and takes celebrity endorsement to an enviable position in which it will achieve it original aim.
Academia should also encourage people in the use of other marketing communication means.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
This study presents some suggestions for future research regarding the impact of celebrity endorsements on consumer buying behaviour. The research studied the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying behaviour: case study of Adonko Company Limited limited. Since celebrity endorsement is a broad subject and affects many factors in marketing, many researches can be done on the impact of celebrity endorsement. Other researchers can also delve into other celebrity endorsements in Nigeria by monitoring endorsements and campaigns on television, radio, the press and the internet. Further studies into the social and psychological impacts of celebrity endorsement on the consumer can also be delved into.
It is recommended that other researchers should widen the scope of research to include what has been elaborated above.
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