STUDY OF CELEBRITYENDORSEMENT ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

ABSTRACT Today, the use of celebrity endorsement has increased dramatically. It has become an integral part of almost every brands promotional campaign and a big marketing trend. TV channels are flooded with advertisements most of them being celebrity advertisements. Celebrities are seen endorsing almost every product meant for selling. Due to high channel surfing, it is very difficult to keep the viewers attention for a long time and to focus in a productive way. Perhaps, the advertisement with a celebrity is more likely to keep a T.V remote control from changing the channel vis--vis a commercial with a unknown artist. While studying the rationale behind the increasing trend of celebrity endorsements across the globe, researchers explore several dimensions of the celebrity endorsements technique. They summarize that celebrity endorsements are worthwhile investments in advertising considering their several benefits. Celebrities can bring quick memorability, recall and recognition and direct client connection with the audience. Leading film and sports personalities are the preferred choice of Indian marketers for a better recall. However, as rosy as the rule sounds, the variability starts when components change as they always do. Dissonance, Confusion or ExpectationPerformance Deficit arises when the variables in this model change. If a celebrity constantly changes the brands he endorses, you may get confused as to what exactly is endorsed by him. Also, if a brand has many celebrities endorsing it, dissonance occurs as to what attribute of which celebrity is reflected on the product. The most frequently occurring dissonance is when the product endorsed by a celebrity fails to live up to the repute lent to it by the same.Also when the endorser is a larger than life character, there is scope for the endorser completely overshadowing the brand. This paper tries to explore the role, significance and the changing nature of celebrity endorsement in todays highly competitive and dynamic marketing environment by considering certain real life examples in the FMCG industry.

KEYWORDS

Brand, Psychographic Connect, Mass Appeal, Cognitive Dissonance, Brand Ambassador, Brand image, FMCG, Celebrity Match etc.

INTRODUCTION

Globalisation and cutthroat competition have forced marketers to strive hard to create awareness about their products as well as overall positive image about the company. They make every attempt to enhance their image in the customers mind. As a result, they are seen spending and depending heavily on advertising and other promotional activities. In the context of marketing, celebrity come under the broad category of reference groups. A reference group is defined as an actual or imaginary individual or group which has significant relevance to a consumers evaluations, aspirations or behaviour. The presumed perspectives or values of the reference group are used by the consumer as a basis for his/her behaviour. Celebrities have the following type of association with the customers of a brand.

Psycho Graphic Connect: Stars are loved and adored by their fans, and advertisers use stars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments( Age, gender, income group, occupation, etc)

Mass Appeal: Some stars have universal appeal to generate interest among the masses.

PARAMETERS OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Celebrity Credibility

Celebrity Profession

Celebrity Physical Attractiveness

Celebrity Values

C E L E B R I T Y E N D O R S E M E N T

Fit with the advertising idea

Whether celebrity is a brand user

Multiple Endorsements

Celebrity Availability

Celebrity controversy Risk

Costs of acquiring the celebrity

Celebrity-Product Match

Celebrity regional Appeal Factors

Celebrity Target Audience Match

Celebrity Popularity

IUP JOURNAL OF BRAND MANAGEMENT, 2010

FMCG INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) or Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) are products that are sold quickly and at relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable goods such assoft drinks, toiletries, and grocery items. Though the absolute profit made on FMCG products is relatively small, they generally sell in large quantities, so the cumulative profit on such products can be large. Indias FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and
creates employment for more than three million people in downstream activities. Its principal constituents are Household Care, Personal Care and Food & Beverages. The total FMCG market is in excess of Rs 85,000 Crores. It is currently growing at double digit growth rate and is expected to maintain a high growth rate. FMCG Industry is characterized by a well established distribution network, low penetration levels, low operating cost, lower per capita consumption and intense competition between the organized and unorganized segments.

INDUSTRY CATEGORY 1. Household Care

Personal wash Detergents

2. Personal Care
y y y y

Skin care Hair care Shampoos Oral Care

3. Food & Beverages

Food segment Tea Coffee

LITERATURE REVIEW

Celebrity endorsements is no more a new phenomenon in India. Though it was in existence since the late 1970s, it got a kick start after globalisation in 1990s with the entry of many private channels. ( Bhavna. S, 1990 )and( Vaibhav. H, 1990 ) have quoted that the recent market research findings was that eight out of 10 TVCs scoring the highest recall were those with celebrity appearances. Hence the use of celebrity advertisements has become a common market trend today.Among the ones that stand upper most in the minds of many in UstadZakirHussains WahTaj! advertisement. There is an explosion in the number of products and brands available in the Indian market, accompanied by increasing no of television channels of various categories and in numerous languages. Endorsement is a technique where a well-known or respected individual such as celebrity or an expert in the product or service area speaks on behalf of the company or the brand. Testimonials by Celebrities are below average in their ability to change brand preference. Viewers guess that the celebrity has been bought and they are right. Viewers have a way of remembering the celebrity but forgetting the product. ( Ogilvy.G,1983). Celebrities can be any famous, popular public figure or respected personality in the society from any field. Most celebrities are from the world of films, television or sports. Though Indian marketers rely heavily on film stars and cricketers, in other countries endorsements are done by many celebrities which include authors, directors, anchor persons, models, comedians, business personalities, politicians, consumer advocates, etc. This is evident from a list of top 100 global celebrities which include Oprah Winfrey ( Talk show Anchor), Tiger Woods ( golf player), Madonna ( Musician ), Brad Pitt ( Actor ), etc. Celebrities have a credibility influence on consumers ie Consumers tend to believe the source of influence as accurate and unbiased. They also have comparative influence which means celebrity do not set or enforce any rules of behaviour on the consumers, but serve as a standard to choose for comparison. The endorsement by a celebrity can take one of various forms. A celebrity can provide a testimonial, where it is suggested that the celebrity should be a user of the product and endorses it based on his/her experience. An example of a current television commercial is the testimonial for Veet Hair remover by Katrina Kaif, where she is mentioned by name and shows how she is confident of herself because of Veet. In the Reid and taylor advertisement, Amitabh Bachchan talks about the merits of suiting. Sachin Tendulkar had been endorsing Boost, nutritional supplement drink, stating- Boost is the secret of my energy. Other examples of this genre are the television commercials for Garnier Hair color( Simone Singh ) and HimaniNavratna Tel ( Amitabh Bachchan ). The celebrity could state or imply I endorse this product ( explicit mode ) or You should use this product (
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imperative mode ). The most common situation, however, is that the celebrity merely plays the role of a character in the advertisement, just as any other model would. But there is much more to this. The celebrity is well recognized by the audience and is associated with certain attributes and charachteristics, which are meant to strengthen the communication by way of Brand-celebrity fit. Further the celebrity is often engaged in the larger role of a brand Ambassador and participates in product launching and other events associated with the brand being endorsed. There can also be many variations and combinations of the endorsements types described above. For example, in the television commercial for AegonReligare pension plan, Irfan Khan plays the role of a character who advises others to invest in the pension plan. He is, thus, making an imperative statement, which is addressed to other characters in the advertisement, but indirectly to the audience. Another example is that of the BoroPlus Ad, where Amitabh Bachchan is a priest conducting a marriage and he recommends Boro Plus to the groom having a itchy skin. One variant of the celebrity endorser is the expert endorser. When Sachin Tendulkar endorses Nikes sport shoes, his influence on the audience can be much stronger, as in this context, he is not just a popular celebrity but also an expert in the field related to the endorsed product. The television commercial for Sugar Free Natura shows the renowned chef SanjeevKapoor in the role of a celebrity-cum-expert. An organisation too can play the role of celebrity endorser. For example, Dettol soap advertisement uses approval from IMA ( Indian Medical Association ), while Pepsodent toothpaste claims approval from IDA ( Indian Dental Association). Currently we have Orbit Sugar free chewing gum which states that the product is accepted by the Indian Dental Association. Indian marketers are widely used as either a film or sports personality to sell anything to the consumers. In a country like India, where film stars are treated as gods, celebrity endorsement seems to be a good method to increase the sale. Similarly large sections of the population are crazy about cricket. Hence filmstars & cricketers are most preferred celebrities in India for advertising almost any product. The list contains Soft Drinks, chocolates, candies, Biscuits, fast food, soaps, toothpastes, paints, home appliances, pens, hair oil, cigarettes etc. Today many marketers are influenced by the selling power of the celebrities and they are crazy about signing the popular celebrities to endorse their products. However, match between celebrity and brand personality is utmost important in effectiveness and success of celebrity advertising. Amitabh Bachchan fulfils all these requirements and perfectly fits the bill.India, for years, Amitabh has remained the most famous celebrity endorser for many brands.He is possibly the
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biggest celebrity of all time. Perhaps, he is the sole celebrity in India, who reaches across all demographic & geographic boundaries and cuts across the barriers of age, gender, income, region & language. He is the one of the very few celebrities who attracts maximum attention &also lends his credibility status to his brands. That is the reason why every marketer wants Amitabh to be associated with their brand with the expectation of transfer of trust and credibility from him to the brand he endorses. He has so far endorsed more than 60 advertising campaigns. Name any product and you will get the advertisement endorsed by Amitabh. Be it perfume,car, soft drink, chyawanprash,paints, chocolate,suiting, detergents etc. This list could go on. However, there is a greater threat of overshadowing the brand due to his celebrity power. People tend to remember only Amitabh and not the actual brand, since he endorses too many brands. Not all the brands he endorses enjoy the benefits due to his overshadowness. People still strongly associate Amitabh with Cadbury & Nestle. His SocialCampaign of pulse POLIO is the most effective and successful campaign which really motivated many people to walk in to the polio booth with their babies. Marketers enjoy several benefits through celebrity endorsements. Several Research Studies have been undertaken to study the benefits of celebrity endorsements. According to ( Block. A, 1983 ), celebrity endorsers have been found to produce more positive responses towards advertising and greater purchase intentions. Theory and practice proves that use of celebrities in advertising generates lot of publicity and attention ( Ohanian, 1991 ). Undoubtedly, celebrity advertising offers several benefits to the marketers. However, the darker side of this phenomenon cannot be ignored.

Recent examples of celebrity endorsements on Indian television:

1- Processed Food and Drinks: Mahendra Singh Dhoni-Boost, DarsheelSafary-horlicks, KareenaKapoor-Kurkure, Sushma Reddy-Limca, Saif Ali khan-Lays , Katrina kaifSlice mango drink , Akshaykumar Thums up , RanbirKapoor- Pepsi my can , Kajol Alpenlibe confectionary , HritikRoshan Parle hide & seek Milano biscuits.

2- Personal care, Clothing, Health & Allied products: - DeepikaPadukone ( Fiama Di wills Toilet soap),KareenaKapoor-Vivel toilet soap, Trisha Krishnan- Colgate Active salt toothpaste, Priyanka Chopra-Sunsilk Hair Fall Solution Shampoo, SushmitaSenPantene Pro-V Shine Shampoo, MalaikaArora Khan-Streax hair colour, Rahul DravidGillette Mach-3 Turbo razor, JuhiChawla-Wipro Baby soft diaper,ShehnazHussainI

herbal beauty products, Katrina kaif-veet( Hair removing cream), Amitabh BachchanReid & Taylor suitings.

3- Household & Miscellaneous Products:-PareshRawal-Wipro smartlite-compact fluorescent lamp, BomanIrani- Rin advanced detergent, Shahrukh Khan-Link pen

As companies look for better returns on their investment and step focus on regional markets, the small fish in the box office race-from Tamanna and SonaliKulkarni to RituparnaGhosh

and Ravi Kishan seemed to have become the toast of India Inc. Consumer product companies from HUL to ITC and Parle Products to Wipro Consumer Care are accelerating signing endorsement deals with regional actors as they seek to connect with the masses in different states. This is the single largest trend in celebrity endorsement now, says celebrity management firm Kwan.(Das.A, 2011 ). Its tactical and returns on investment are quicker. Biscuit Maker Parle Products dropped Amir Khan and hired Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan for its Monaco brand a couple of months back. Wipro Consumer products, which uses Katrina Kaif for Yardley and JuhiChavla for safe wash detergents nationally, has just signed in Tamil and Telugu film actress Tamanna for one of its soap brands. And despite, DeepikaPadukone endorsing Nescafe nationally, Nestle has signed a big name in the south- the deal is expected to be formalised shortly. The basic idea is to appeal to regional consumers who may not have much exposure to Hindi film industry. The key reason for regional brand ambassadors, we believe, is to establish a relationship between the brand ambassador and consumers who can relate to the former with ease.(Mukherjee.N, 2011 ). However, it is not always cheaper to sign a regional star. Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, who is aligned with ITC, for example, commands a fee that matches national actors. But a smaller actor like Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan can be roped in for 10% the fee of what Amir khancharges.Many brands go for both national brand ambassadors as well as regional ones, to make the best use of both the worlds. Cooking Hair Oil firm Marico, for example, has Anushka Sharma, VidyaBalan and Chitrangda Singh as all India endorsers for its Parachute and Nihar Brands besides a slew of regional actors: KavyaMadhavan for Kerala, BhumikaChavla for Andhra Pradesh, Tamanna for Tamil Nadu and RituparnaSengupta for the east. The dual approach of using national level endorsements and regional ones is here to stay especially in cases of companies with big marketing budgets. It takes care of regional preferences. ( Satpathy.S, 2011 ). So Bollywood actor AbhishekBachhan and actress Shriya Saran, who is popular in South India, both endorse telecom services provider Idea Cellular at different levels. Likewise,
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P& G has both Hindi Actress KareenaKapoor and Tamil/Telugu actress AnushkaShetty to sell its head & shoulders Shampoo. The key reason for regional brand ambassadors, we believe, is to establish a relationship between the brand ambassador and the consumer who can relate to the former with ease. ( Mukherjee.N, 2011 ) By nature or nurture, human beings appear to prefer cognitions that are in consonance to those that are not. Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when there is a discrepancy between what a person believes and information that calls this into question( Festinger, 1957 ). It is psychologically uncomfortable to hold contradictory cognitions. The phychological discomfort triggers a mental recovery process in the affected individual that can lead to:( 1) Search for information supportive of the held belief coupled with constant attempts to downplay the cognition that resulted in the phenomenon of dissonance, or ( 2 ) to a change in belief reflective of the new condition. Later researchers proposed more sophisticated dissonance model (Aronson, 1992 ), self- affirmation Model ( Steele, 1988 ) and the new look perspective ( Cooper, 1984 ) are some of them. The moments immediately after purchase, trigger a series of thoughts in the minds of customers. The positive aspects of the lost alternative and the negative aspects of the gained alternative join together and generate mental unsettledness, thus, making the customer rethink the wisdom of the purchase, notes ( Kassarjian& Cohen, 1965 ). After a purchase, most purchasers tend to think that their cognitive consistency has been compromised to the various marketing interventions made by the seller ( Bell, 1967 ). However according to (Sweeney, 2000 ), people should have different thresholds for dissonance and it is not necessary that all purchases should lead to cognitive dissonance. ( Aronson,1968 ) termed the theory of cognitive dissonance as one of social psychologys greatest theories ever. ( Cummings&Venkatesan, 1976 ) noted that very few of the dissonance related studies exploited its strength in explaining consumer behaviour. Involvement, another concept of interest to the present study, refers to the study of how much time, thought, energy and other resources people devote to the purchase process ( Beatty&Kahle, 1988 ).Involvement is a cognitive response to overcome uncertainty. It is the extent of interest and concern that a consumer brings to bear on a purchase decision task ( Mittal, 1989 ). Purchase involvement is necessarily a concept that is customer defined than product defined( Traylor and Joseph, 1984 ). The individual, the product, the endoser, the situation and the level of communication affects ones involvement with a purchase decision. Choosing a right celebrity that best suits the brand he/she is endorsing is an utmost important decision for the marketers. While searching for the best celebrity match, marketers
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should consider several factors. Popularity ad preference of celebrity of particular gender for particular product categories, type of celebrity, his/her profession, ie from film, sports or other field, age & class of celebrity, overall public image of celebrity and brand image, overexposure of the celebrities as well as overshadowing of celebrities are some of them. (Dhotre.P&Bhola. S , 2010 ) This paper tries to study some of the important issues related to celebrity endorsements

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

We have used primary data for the study. In order to collect primary data for this study, self administeredquestionare is used ( Appendix 1 ). Primary data is collected from 114 respondents.

OBJECTIVES

The present paper deals with four main issues. 1) Single Celebrity endorsing Multiple Brands. 2) Single Brand endorsed by Multiple Celebrities. 3) The product endorsed by a celebrity fails to live up to the expectation. 4) The endorser overshadows the brand. 5) Top-of-mind recall of celebrity endorsements.

SCOPE

Impact of Cognitive Dissonance caused by celebrity endorsements on consuners buying behaviour.

RESPONDENTS PROFILE

People from diverse backgrounds including students, professionals, housewifesetc

DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS
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Gender, Age, education of respondents are recorded

QUESTIONARE DESIGNING

Self-administeredquestionnaire is used which comprises of 11 questions on various aspects of celebrity endorsements. 10 of them are close ended questions, while there is a single open ended question.

OBSEVATIONS/FINDINGS

CONCLUSION

LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH

This study was based on an urban sample from the city of Mumbai. The sample size was relatively small (114respondents) due to time constraints. Further research is needed to explore this area in greater depth across Mumbai and other cities. It would be interesting to assess whether the results found here would hold in the case where the same study is conducted in other major cities like (Delhi,Lucknow, Chennai etc..) of the country. Further research can incorporate other demographic variables such as age
and education level. It would be interesting to determine whether consumers from varying age groups and education levels portray differences in attitudes and behaviour towards brands when exposed to ads featuring single & multiple celebrity endorsements. Further,
there is a new dimension to the whole story. Product line causes further dissonance among consumers today due to the plethora of options available today.

REFERENCES
1. RamanujMajumdar (2004). Product Management in India. PHI Learning. pp. 2628. ISBN 9788120312524. http://books.google.com/?id=ESJzaCJE3fQC&pg=PA26&dq=what+is+fmcg&q=wha t%20is%20fmcg.
2. ICFAI university press journal ,2009. 3. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=107&sid=d0989245 d877-4722-996f-aa117896e1b3%40sessionmgr111&vid=19 4. http://edissertations.nottingham.ac.uk/2069/1/08MAlixrs13.pdf 5. www.magindia.com 6. IUP JOURNAL OF BRAND MANAGEMENT, 2010 7. Economic Times Feb 2,2011 Page-4

8. Marketing mastermind, March 2009 ( Pg 17-20, 43 ) 9. Esnips.com

APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Celebrity endorsement motivates you to purchase.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

2. You purchase a product only because your favourite celebrity is endorsing it.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

3. Celebrity endorsement helps in increasing the sales of product.

4. Which brands come to your mind when you think of the following celebrities?
Amitabh Bachchan:_________________________________________ Mahendra Singh Dhoni: _____________________________________ _

Aamir Khan:______________________________________________

5. Which of the following cases according to you has a greater impact on the product brand ? -Single Celebrity endorsing Single Brand
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

-Single Celebrity endorsing Multiple Brands

-Multiple Celebrity endorsing Single Brand

6. Reputation of celebrity has significant impact on a brand.

7. You switch loyalties if your favourite celebrity shifts from one brand to another after a long association with it.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

8. Mismatch between celebritys personality and the product being endorsed by him/her can have a negative impact on the product (eg- Johny lever endorsing Honda.)
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

9. Sometimes, celebritys larger than life persona overshadows the brand

10. If the product fails, you still continue to trust the claims of the celebrity who endorses that product.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

11. If the product fails, you still continue to trust the claims of the company manufacturing that product.
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree