celebrity endorsement and consumer behaviour over brands ...

Advance Journal of Economics and Marketing Research Adv. J. Eco. Mar. Research Volume: 4; Issue: 03 ISSN: 2271 – 6239 Impact Factor: 2.149 Institute of Advance Scholars (IAS) Publication www.iaspub.org.uk/AJEMR/

Michael .O. Mojekeh Ph.D., Imhoesi Philip Agbaiza, Shaka Mahmud and Imonikhe Suleman Momoh

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CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OVER

BRANDS IN NIGERIA

1Michael .O. Mojekeh Ph.D., 2Imhoesi Philip Agbaiza, 2Shaka Mahmud and

2Imonikhe Suleman Momoh 1Department of Marketing, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Nigeria

2Department of Marketing, Auchi Polytechnic, Nigeria

Manuscript History

Manuscript Type: Original

Research Paper

Category: Economics

Received: 10th December,

2018

Reviewed; 4th January, 2019

Accepted: 16th March, 2019

Keywords: Celebrity,

Celebrity Endorsement,

Target Audience Brand

Image.

Abstract

This paper examined the impact of celebrity endorsement on brand image and the target audience buying and consumption patterns. A celebrity is a person who is famously recognized for spectacular performance in a particular profession in a society or culture, having wider influence in public life and social domain. The broad objective of this paper is to assess the effect of celebrity endorsement on the consumers’ perceptions and overall brand acceptance. A description approach was adopted from secondary source of data. The paper touches on the concept of celebrity, celebrity endorsements, brand endorsements, credibility theory, source attractiveness theory and arguments for and against celebrity endorsements. The findings from this study revealed that celebrity endorsements create brand awareness, promote sense of trust, attract attention and stimulate brand acceptance among the target audience. It proffers policy measures in order to ensure more effective use of celebrities to enhance brand equity and consumer acceptance. The paper concludes that the brand is presumed to be much greater than just an advertisement. Also, that the success of celebrity endorsement in advertising, is dependent on careful selection of “the fit and proper” celebrity and ensuring that the target audience derivable values and brand image are congruent.

Introduction

With the advent of globalization – (the growing

integration of economies and societies around the

world), facilitated by the increasing awareness and

interest in Information Communication and

Transportation Technologies (ICTT), the consumer

buying and consumption patterns are being

increasingly influenced by the exposure to the average

of over 1500 advertisements (ads) per day (Kotler,

2003). Consumers are continually exposed to

thousands of voices and images every day, through

innumerable magazines, newspapers, billboards,

radio stations, television channels, websites, cable

network channels and in-store environments.

Invariably, our society has gone beyond being secular


Celebrity Endorsement And Consumer Behaviour Over Brands In Nigeria

62

or democratic, but can appropriately be referred to as

era of over-communication.

Marketing as the central focus of modern business is

the process of planning, and executing the conception,

pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods

and services organizations and events to create and

maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and

organizational objectives (Boone and Kurtz, 2004 as

cited in Mojekeh, 2010). The marketing concept holds

that the key to achieving organizational goals consist

of the company being more effective than competitors

in creating, delivery and communicating superior

customer value to its chosen target markets (Kotler

and Keller, 2006) and to capture value from customers

in return (Armstrong and Kotler, 2009).

Most leading organizations endeavour to sustain

superior quality brands over their competitors, in an

effort to influence consumer perception, attention,

acquire and retain customer loyalty and commitment

(Ogba and Tan, 2009). Modern marketers aim to

increase their sales by determining what drives the

consumers’ purchase decisions. However, from

automobile and petroleum products, to banks and

other financial institutions services, marketers should

develop strategies that will promote, project and

deliver their brands to achieve their firms’ overall

objectives of profitability, growth, consumer

satisfaction, retention and loyalty, where expectation

is exceeded (Boone and Kurtz, 2004).

Typically, marketing communications mix is often

used by organizations in building brand loyalty in

order to create and maintain competitive advantages

(Duncan, 2005). A consumer as an individual who

purchases or has the capacity to purchase goods and

services offered for sale by marketing institutions, in

order to satisfy personal needs, wants or desires

(Anyanwu, 2005). The field of consumer behavior is

the study of individuals, groups or organizations and

the processes they use to select, secure, use and

dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to

satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes

have on the consumer and society (Hawkins,

Mothersbaugh and Best, 2007). It is being argued that

amongst the factors that influence consumer behavior

that modern marketers tend to use promotion,

especially celebrity endorsement, in order to create

and enhance brand image and motivate consumer’s

desires for brands satisfaction and loyalty.

Celebrities are famous or important people who get

wider attention and are recognized by the society.

Specifically, celebrities are movie stars, sports heroes,

TV personalities, musicians, among others, who

provide a popular type of reference group appeal, such

as in Nigeria – Zebrudaya (Chika Okpala), Mikel Obi,

Jay-Jay Okocha, Sunday Olise, Pete Edochie, Ali Baba,

Basket Mouth, P-Square, 2-Face, Genevieve Nnaji and

Flavour. Typically, celebrities represent an

idealization of life that most people would love to live,

especially their loyal followers and both open and

secret admirers. In other words, they would desire and

aspire to be like them or achieve what they have

achieved or be their fans and fanatics for life.

Marketers/advertisers spend huge sums of money to

contract the services of celebrities, for the promotion

of their products, with the expectation that the

listening, viewing or reading audience, will react

positively to the celebrity’s association with their

product. Confirmed research finding estimated that

one of every three T.V commercials, uses a famous

person to endorse a consumer product or service

(Freidman, 1984, as cited in Ozo, 2002; Mojekeh,

2011). It is presumed among advertisers that brand

communication messages, delivered by celebrities and

famous personalities, generate a higher appeal,

attention and recall, than those executed by non-

celebrities (Jain and Raivtani, 2008).



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In today’s highly cluttered and competitive marketing

environments, it is being argued that celebrity

endorsements of a brand should ensure credibility,

believability and delivery of the desired effect.

Organizations invest enormous amounts as

advertising expenditure, for hiring the right celebrity.

It is presumably feasible to get the right celebrity to

endorse the right brand but uncertainty arises with

respect to matching the values of the celebrity, with

the brand values, in terms of viability and corporate

profitability. Kulkarni and Ganlkar (2005) argue that

consumers perceive the brand as having superior

quality because it has been endorsed by a credible

source. They added that endorsement is one of the

indicators of quality for any brand. Succinctly stated,

the overall consumer perception and attitude towards

the brand and advertisement, are presumed to be

significantly influenced by corporate credibility along

with endorser credibility respectively.

Judging from the above view points, it becomes

contentions whether celebrity endorsement really

contributes to the brand building process or whether

it is just another torpid avenue to make the brand

more visible in the minds of the consumers. The

central objective of this paper is to examine the effect

of celebrity endorsement on the consumers’

perception and overall brand acceptance. The paper

will equally evaluate if the use of celebrity to attract

sales, will result to greater return-on-investment from

advertising expenditure.

Conceptual Framework

Brand

A brand is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol, or

design or a combination of these that identifies the

products or services of one seller or group of sellers

and differentiates them from those of competitors

(Armstrong and Kotler, 2009). Today, branding has

become so strong that hardly anything goes

unbranded. Brands do far more than identify the

manufacturer, hence, they have become

“personalities” with a character much greater than the

products they represent (Harrell, 2004). In diverse

ways, the brand names help the consumers to identify

products that might benefit them, in terms of product

quality and consistency of features, each time they buy

them.

Celebrity

A celebrity, often referred to as “Celeb”, is a person

who is famously recognized for spectacular

performance in a particular profession, in a society or

culture. Celebrities are people who enjoy specific

public recognition and mostly experts in their

respective fields, having wider influence in public life

and social domain. Commonly observed characteristic

attributes amongst celebrities include, attractiveness,

extra-ordinary lifestyle or special skills. They are

generally outstanding and enjoy a high degree of

public awareness and attention. Usually, their

popularity and spectacular performance, are assessed

based on their good cause, positive results, and

morally good acceptable results.

Typically, celebrities represent an idealization of life

that most people would love to live, especially their

loyal followers, and both open and secret admirers. In

other words, they would desire and aspire to be like

them or achieve what they have achieved or be their

fans and fanatics for life (Mojekeh, 2011). A sign of a

celebrity is that his/her name is often worth more than

his service (Boorstin, 2012).

Careers that Produce Celebrity

Some professional activities, by nature of being high-

paid, high-exposed and difficult to get into, are likely

to confer celebrity status (Grinin and Leonard, 2009).

Example, successful professional sportsmen

(Footballers/Athletes:- Jay-Jay Okocha, Kanu

Nwankwo, Mikel Obi, Mary Onyali, Chioma Ajunwa;

Supermodels:- Agbani Darego; Chart-top toping

musicians:- P-Square, Iyanya, D’Banj, Tuface Idibia,



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Tekno; Movie stars and Television actors:- Genevieve

Nnaji, Funke Akindele, Zebrudaya (Chika Okpala);

Entertainers/Comedians:- Ali Baba, Basket Mouth,

Baby-Face. Others are National television reporters,

Daytime television show hosts, and High ranking

politicians and Businessman – Peter Obi, Atiku

Abubakar, Dangote, Emeka Offor, Bill Gates; Human

Right Activists – Late Tai Solarin and Gani Fahwemi;

Humanitarian leaders/charitable works – Prof.

Adorable Dora Akunyili. Also, some film and theater

directors, authors, artists, fashion designers,

scientists, journalists, and dancers, have achieved

celebrity status.

Endorsement

Endorsement implies a written or spoken statement

approving of some product, typically a contract to

promote a product by a celebrity or athlete

(Wikipedia). It is a provision that is added to the main

form of insurance, so that the new provision now adds

more coverage, or otherwise modifies the coverage in

the main form. It is also a notation made on a Driver’s

Licence. A political endorsement could be seen as

signature on a negotiable instrument indicating a

person’s intent to become a party to the instrument.

Product Endorsement

A product endorsement is a form of testimonial from

someone which indicates that they like or approve of a

particular product (Jain and Rawtani, 2008). Socially

prominent individuals and opinion leaders, are

usually requested to endorse products through

positive statements, thereby allowing the companies

to quote such statements in the advertisements.

Example; Peak Milk- “the official milk for the Super

Eagles – 2014 World Cup”, by Stephen Keshi, the Chief

Coach or Amstel Malt – “Be what you can be”

affirmative statement, by Mikel Obi and Genevieve

Nnaji. Product endorsements are always on product

packaging and in advertisements to attract public

attention. In the colonial era, it is presumed that

product endorsement by the Queen, which enjoys the

patronage of the British Royal family, is an indication

of high product quality.

Modern marketers/advertisers spend huge sum of

money to contract the services of socially prominent

personalities, celebrities and opinion leaders, for the

promotion of their products, with the expectation that

the listening, viewing or reading audience, will react

positively to the celebrity’s association with the

product. A times, the endorsement contract may

require the product endorser to use the product

publicly and may be restricted from using similar

products, made by competitors, whenever necessary.

Confirmed research finding, estimated that one of

every three TV commercials, uses a famous person to

endorse a consumer product or service (Freedman,

1984). It is being argue that a product endorsement

does not necessarily imply that a product is good.

Celebrity Endorsement

The use of celebrities in order to increase the sales

and/or the recall value of a brand is called celebrity

endorsement (Jain and Rawtani, 2008). A good

number of Nigerian brands, especially in the

telecommunication and banking sectors, are now

associating with creative personages in music and

acting, as well as sports, to make the brands more

credible and acceptable in the eyes of their target

audiences.

Nigerian firms are increasingly leveraging the

entertainment industry, to cast their goods and

services in better light and this has opened up a N500

million market for music artists, actors and sportsmen

(Osae, 2014). Further investigations indicate that the

fledging Brand Ambassadors market, may grow

astronomically in the nearest future. Celebrity Brand

Ambassador was not frequently used in the Nigerian’s

entertainment industry, until a little over seven years



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ago, and has gained more relevance, as a result of

increasing exposure to television, and major sporting

events in the world.

“A brand ambassador is a celebrity contracted by a

company to promote its products or services. The

brand ambassador is meant to embody the corporate

image of the company in appearance, demeanor and

ethics. At the most basic level, he has the sole

responsibility to represent the company in positive

light and express the message of the company in a way

that consumers can gain further understanding of the

company” (Ugonna, 2014).

On the other hand, a “Brand Advocate” is a celebrity

who promotes the services of a company and is not

paid for doing so. They are all quite different from

modeling, which has been at the root of brand

promotional strategy. However, corporate

organizations seem to have woken up to the benefit of

using celebrity faces to promote their goods and

services (Ben-Nwankwo, 20140. Consequently, the

last seven years, witnessed this fast-growing business,

as an entirely new source of income for the top

celebrities and practitioners, in the Nigeria’s

entertainment industry.

This concept started in 2012, when Globacom, a

telecommunication giant, appointed well-known

names in the music industry and Nollywood, as the

Brand Ambassadors, namely: Basket mouth, P-

Square, Van Vicker, D’banji who earned the highest in

2012. Ego of the Lagbaja . Other firms’ brand

ambassadors that were signed in were:

Wizkid and Tiwa Savage (Pepsi & MTN N25 million)

Don Jazzy and D’prince (Loya milk and MTN)

Hafeez Oyetoro – Saka (Etisalat to MTN N20 million)

Davido, Nkem Owo, Patience Ozorkwor and Joseph

Benjamin, Iyanya, Praiz, Olawale,Mike Anyaso, Kcee,

Chidimma (MTN)

Darey, Art Alade(musician) ban foster inspiration 92.3

FM, Toke Makinwa (Rhythm 93.7 FM), Unilever

Nig./Lipton

Ini Edo, Omotola Jolade Ekeinde and Segun Arinze

(Hollandia)

Genevieve Nnaji (Range Rover Sport)

Banky .W and Kate Henshaw (Samsung N100 million)

P-square and D’banji were the highest paid in 2012,

with P-suqare signing a four year deal worth N240

million. Others Glo ambassadors got between N10 and

N50 million.

Jim Iyke (Virgin Altantee Airline; N23 million)

2face Idibia (Guiness & Airtel)

Vanguard’s Richest Celebrity List of August 2, 2014,

categorized the Top 10 Nigerian top stars, who have

bagged major endorsement deals as below:

1. Genevieve Nnaji has been named the richest

celebrity in terms of endorsement deals in Nigerians.

The Nollywood actress rakes in net worth of N220

million from endorsement alone. The former Face of

Lux has been signing too many deals with multi-

national companies for the past year including

Etisalat, Amstel Malta, Range Rover Envogue, and

MUD Cosmetics, Centrion Energy drink (N50 million)

Polo (N70 million).

2. Iyanya: the singer is worth 151 million on

endorsement deals alone.

MTN deal as worth N60 million

Zinox computers deal is $350,000 (N57

million)

Solo mobile (N35 million)

3. P-square: Glo endorsement deal is N140

million

4. Wizkid: he is worth 101 million on

endorsement alone. MTN- N45 million; Pepsi -

$350,000(N57 million), Guinness.

5. D’banji is worth N100 million on

endorsements with Glo alone. Also Chris Aire Watches

and UAC Foods.



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6. Don Jazzy: Loya milk (N50 million), MTN

(N25million)

7. Omawumi Glo – N25million; Konga – N5 to

N10million, as well as Mortein and Malta Guinness

8. Tiwa Savage: MTN – N30million, also with

Pepsi, Forte oil, & Maggi

9. Davido: MTN pulse deal - N30million plus

Guinness endorsement.

10. Funke Akindele: Vitafoam – N20million. She

also has deals with Globacom, Jobberman, Qlichy,

Klin detergent, Lagos Island, Revenue Service and

Omo detergent.

This observable and evolving trend of celebrity

endorsements in Nigeria was succinctly captured and

explained by Ayani Adekunle, CEO, Blackhouse

media, thus:

“Brands are exploiting celebrities’ images and likeness

for sales driven promos. The celebrities are endorsing

and subtly influencing their followers, admirers and

fans to adopt brands’ products. The benefits of brand

endorsement to the celebrities are enormous, as they

get paid handsomely, depending on their negotiating

power. Endorsement exposes them to their business

opportunities with those brands. It helps them

discovered their other potentials and self-worth.

Celebrity Culture on the Rise

Celebrities are involved in endorsing activities, since

late nineteenth century (Evdogan, 1999). It is argued

that researches of celebrity endorsement have been

contextualized in the realm of source credibility and

attractiveness models and suggests that celebrities

exert their influence on consumer through perceived

attributes, such as expertise, trustworthiness,

attractiveness, familiarity and likeability (Jain and

Rawtani, 2008). Celebrities epitomize a collection of

culturally relevant images, symbols and values, which

are associated with the products through

endorsements. The passion and the meanings

celebrities attach to the products are usually

transferred to their admirers and consumers through

attraction and consumption.

Moreover, the images of celebrities which are formed

through enculturation and acculturation should be the

criteria for their selection for a particular brand

endorsement. As the broadest aspect of the macro-

social environment, culture has persuasive and

deepest influence on consumer behavior. Arguably,

despite some observed cultural convergence among

consumer and the world, fundamental values, beliefs

and tastes, still remain divergent across cultures.

Invariably, advertising practitioners cannot assume

that celebrity endorsers’ image and value, should be

uniformly applied or that it will be equally relevant in

various countries and cultures.

Small amount of transient fame through hype or mass

media is stereotyped as a B-grade celebrity. Often, the

stereotype extends to someone that falls short of

mainstream or persistent fame but seeks to extend or

exploit it. One can be inclined to infer that within a

corresponding social group, celebrities generally differ

from the social norm and enjoy high degree of public

awareness.

Typically, celebrities appear in public in different

ways, especially when fulfilling their professional

commitments or attending special celebrity events,

such as Award Ceremonies, Inaugurations or world

premieres of movies/play. Celebrities have universal

presence and appeal, they are present everywhere, in

news, fashion shows and magazine,

tabloids/paparazzi - , which provide second source

information on events and the private life of celebrities

through news media channels; example, Genevieve

Nnaji, P-Square. Most importantly, celebrities act as

(spokes people, opinion leaders) in advertising to

promote products and services, which is referred to, as

celebrity endorsement (Jain and Rawtani, 2008).



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The rise of international celebrities in acting and

popular music is due in large part, to the massive

scope and scale of the media industries, enabling

celebrities to be viewed more often and in more places

(Gaulkar and Kulkarni, 2005).

Regional or Cultural Celebrities

Each culture and region has its own independent

celebrity system, with a hierarchy of popular

television, film and sports stars. Celebrities who are

very popular in cultural groups might be unknown

abroad, such as within a diasporas. In some cases, a

country’s high level celebrity might command some

attention outside their native country, but not to the

degree that he can be considered a global celebrity, for

example, P-squared is popular in Nigeria and African

sub-regions, whereas singer R-Kelly is widely known

globally.

Sub-national entities or regions or cultural

communities (linguistic, ethnic, religious), also have

their own celebrity systems, especially in linguistically

or culture-distinct regions. Local or regional

celebrities may include regional radio personalities,

newscasters, politicians or community leaders. For

example, Zebrudaya, Osufia, Ali Baba, Basket Mouth.

Niche Market Celebrities

Just as one may become a regional or cultural

celebrity, one may also become a celebrity in their

niche market. It could be argued that all celebrities are

niche market celebrities; some niches are simply much

bigger than others and many celebrities gain fame

apart from niche market as well. For instance, the

highest level of professional sportsmen is well known

even among people who do not follow sports – Jay-Jay

Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo. Certain celebrities are

famous even to people who are not familiar with the

niche market for example, P-Square, Bracket, 2Face

Idibia, Asha, D’banji, Julius Agwu, Teju Baby-face, etc.

Most often, their style and names are famous even to

people who are not interested in their art.

The Personality of the Celebrity and the

Overall Brand Image: Areas of compatibility.

“Any brand can get a celebrity, this is easy. However,

getting a celebrity, who is consistent with the right

brand, to the right degree, at the right time, for the

right purpose and in the right way… that is not easy”.

- Aristotle

“A sign of a celebrity is that his name is often worth

more than his services” -Daniel J. Boorsten.

Katyal (2012) points out that a celebrity is used to

impact credibility and add rational values to a brand,

but the celebrity needs to match the product. It is

presumed that for an endorsement campaign to be

successful, there must be a good brand campaign idea,

blended with an intrinsic link between the celebrity

and the message. Granted that celebrities are good at

generating attention, recall and positive attitudes

towards marketing promotional strategies, it is

equally pertinent to ensure that they are supporting a

good idea cum an explicit synergy between them and

the brand. In Nigeria, the observable trend is that

companies simply select a known face and name to

endorse their brand, without considering if such

personalities strategically fit what their brand stands

for (Adekunle, 2013). It takes the professional

expertise of the advertising practitioner and the brand

manager, to strike the required state of equilibrium,

for the optimal brand equity benefits. Katyal (2012),

postulates certain parameters for compatibility

between the celebrity and brand image as stated

below:

Celebrity’s fit with the brand image

Celebrity – target audience match

Celebrity associated values

Cost of acquiring the celebrity

Celebrity – product match

Celebrity controversy risk

Celebrity popularity

Celebrity availability



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Celebrity physical attractiveness

Celebrity credibility

Celebrity prior endorsements

Whether celebrity is a brand user

Celebrity profession

Sources of Strong Brand Images or Values

Succinctly stated, a brand is a differentiated

product and helps in identifying your product and

making it stand out due to its name, design, style,

symbol, colour combination, or usually a mix of all of

these (Jain and Rawtani, 2008, as cited in Katyal,

2012).

- Experience of use: this encapsulates familiarity

and proven reliability.

- User Associations: Brands acquire image from

the type of people who are seen using them. Images of

prestige or success are imbibed when brands are

associated with glamorous personalities.

- Belief in Efficiency: Ranking from consumer

associations, newspaper editorials etc.

- Brand Appearance: Design of brand offers

clues to quality and affects preferences.

- Manufacturers Name and Reputation: A

prominent brand name such as Unilever, Nestle,

Dangote, ABC Transport Plc; transfers positive

associations.

Empirical Review

Immediate Effectiveness Value of Celebrity

Endorsement: An empirical analysis. Ace Metrix

(2010), a California- based Ad Measurement Firm, (as

cited in Nomes, 2011), on their conducted study,

evaluated 2600 television Ads, shown during 2010.

The company tested 263 Unique National Ads,

featuring celebrity endorsements, spanning 16

industries and 110 separate brands. All Ads were

tasted within 48 hours of breaking nationally, in order

to capture immediate rather than cultivated Ad

effectiveness.

The celebrity Ads were then evaluated against a

control group of Non-Celeb Ads, in order to determine

their comparative effectiveness, in generating Ad “lift”

(better performance). The findings revealed amongst

other things, that only – 12% of the Ads using

celebrities showed more than 10% lift over average

advertising norms in their respective industries. Even

more startling -20% of the celebrity Ads yield 10% or

worse (net negative) performance over the average

advertising norms. Some of the celebrities who had a

“net negative” effect on their clients’ TV advertising

effectiveness during 2010 – worst were listed first:

- Tiger Woods (Nike)

- Lance Armstrong (Radio Shark)

- Kenny Mayne (Gillette)

- Dale Earinhardt, Jr. (Nationwide Auto

Insurance)

- Donald Trump (Macy’s)

The positive lifts were:

- Oprah Winifrey (Liberty Mutual and

Progressive Insurance)

- Ed Burns (Shares)

- Carl Weathers (Bud light)

Based on these findings, this study proves

unequivocally that contrary to popular belief, that the

investment in a celebrity in T.V advertising is rarely

worthwhile. Daboll, (2010) concludes that

“advertising message creates the connection to the

viewer in areas such as relevance, information and

attention and this remains the most important driver

of Ad effectiveness”.

Dean (1999) as cited in Kulkarni and gaulkar (2012),

in their study “Brand Endorsement, Popularity and

Event Sponsorship as Advertising Cues Affecting

Consumer Pre-purchase Attitude”, examined the

effects of three extrinsic advertisement cues viz., third

party endorsement, event sponsorship and brand

popularity on brand/manufacturer evaluation. It was



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observed that endorsement, significantly affected only

product variables (quality and consequences) and one

image variable (esteem). The third party endorsement

hence may be perceived as a signal of product quality.

Goldsmith, Lafferty and Newell (2000) - the Impact of

Corporate Credibility and Celebrity Credibility on

Consumer Reaction to Advertisements and Brands. In

assessing the impact of endorser and corporate

credibility on attitude-towards-the-Ad; attitude-

toward-the-brand, and purchase intention, 152 adult

consumers were surveyed who viewed a fictitious

advertisement for Mobil Oil Company. The evaluation

was based on the credibility of the ad’s endorser, the

credibility of the company, and attitude-toward-the-

ad (Aad); attitude-toward-the-brand (AB), and

purchase intentions. The findings revealed that

endorser credibility had its strongest impact on Aad,

while corporate credibility had its strongest impact on

AB. These findings therefore, suggest that corporate

credibility plays an important role in consumers’

reactions to advertisements and brands, independent

of the equally important role of endorser credibility.

Theoretical Framework

This study is based on the Source Credibility Theory

which states that the acceptance of the message

depends on “Expertness” and “Trustworthiness” of the

source (Tellis, 2012). Expertness is defined as the

perceived ability of the source to make valid

assertions. Trustworthiness is defined as the perceived

willingness of the source to make valid assertions.

Audience acceptance increases with the expertness of

the source and the ability of the audience to evaluate

the product (Tellis, 2012). Source Attractiveness

Theory: this theory is based on social psychological

research and the acceptance of the message depends

on familiarity, likeability and similarity.

Familiarity is the audience’s knowledge of source

through exposure; likeability is the affection for the

source’s physical appearance and behavior while

similarity is the resemblance between source and

receiver (Tellis as cited in Kulkarni and Gaulkar,

2012).

In this theory, the message acceptance is explained in

two ways: Identification and Conditioning.

Identification occurs when the receiver or the target

audience of the communication begins to identify with

the source’s attractiveness, and hence tends to accept

his opinions, beliefs, habits, attitudes etc.

Conditioning is when the attractiveness of the source

is supposed to pass on to the brand after regular

association of the source with the brand (Kulkarni and

Gaulkar, 2012).

However, these two theories were criticized by Grant

McCracken who proposed the “Meaning Transfer

Theory”. This theory explains that a celebrity encodes

a unique set of meanings, which if well used can be

transferred to the endorsed product. In the

communication process, the three stages of the

transfer are: Encoding Meanings, Meaning Transfer

and Meaning Capture.

i. Encoding Meanings: Each celebrity has a

unique set of demographic and psychographic

meanings, such as age, gender, wealth, race, family,

ethnicity, occupation, lifestyle, motives, personality

and self-concept. Through these variables, the

celebrities encode a set of meanings in their image. For

example, Genevieve Nnaji can be adjudged as

adorable, lively, charming and captivating.

ii. Meaning Transfer: At this stage, those

meanings are transferred to the product. When

skillfully portrayed, celebrities can communicate this

image more powerfully than non-celebs.

iii. Meaning Capture: This stage assumes that

consumers purchase products not merely for their

functional value but also for their cultural and

symbolic value. This theory states that consumers buy

the endorsed product with the intention of capturing

some of the desirable meanings which celebrities have



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passed on to the brand. This is more evident in lifestyle

products, such as cars, cell phones, clothes, cosmetics

etc. (McCracken, 1989).

Advertising practitioners are therefore expected to

focus on these theories when evaluating and engaging

celebrities for various brands.

Figure 1: The structure of Meaning transfer Theory.

Source: McCracken, G (1989) who is the celebrity Endorser? Journal of Consumer Research, Ib, 310

-320.

Generally, major objectives of celebrity endorsement

are to: establish a need for a product or a brand

category; create brand awareness and recall, set

customer expectations, create a purchase intention

and stimulate demand.

The Argument for Celebrity Endorsement

The growing trend now is that advertising

practitioners, queue up as soon as, a new face ascends

the popularity charts, in order to, leverage the mass

appeal of celebrities across brand categories. Evident

abound about the phenomenal popularity and

spectacular rise of Genevieve Nnaji and D’Banji as

Brand Ambassadors in Nigeria.

- Endorsement by celebrities promotes a sense

of trust for that brand among the target audience.

- Celebrity endorsements create brand

awareness, attract and ensure attention of the target

audience. Advertising campaign and the brand are

more noticeable through celebrities.

- Psychographic connect: Celebrities exude aura

of confidence that make them likeable and adorable to

their fans and admirers. The advertisers use celebrities

to capitalize on these psychographic feelings, in order

to influence the fans perception towards their brand.

- Demographic connect: Different celebrities

appeal differently to various demographic segments –

age, socio-economic class, gender, ethnic origin.

MEANING MOVEMENT AND THE ENFORCEMENT PROCESS

CULTURE ENFORCEMENT CONSUMPTION

Key - Path of meaning movement - Stage of meaning movement

Celebrity Product Product Consume

r

Objects Persons Contexts

role 1

Celebrity

Stage Stage Stage

2 3

3



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However, some celebrities have a universal

appeal and the ability to arouse interest and stimulate

demand among the masses.

- PR Coverage: Generally, advertisers presume

that celebrities are popular and famous and therefore

are able to generate high PR coverage. For example, D’

Benji as Glo Mobile Ambassador.

- Recovery from Tarnished Image: Celebrities

can be used to restore the consumers’ confidence in a

brand. It can be used to regenerate stagnant brand. Ad

Managers usually put out high-profile damage control

and campaign messages that feature their best and

most expensive celebrities, with the aim of infusing

fresh life into the tarnished image or stagnant brand.

- Associative Benefit: When a celebrity prefers

and publicly uses a brand, it generates a persuasive

and convincing message for the target audience, that

the benefit of the brand is equally derivable and

available for them.

- Higher Degree of Recall: The managers usually

witness higher degree of recall value because the target

audience tends to commensurate the celebrity’s

personalities with the brand. For example, Kanu

Nwankwo and the Peak Milk Brand, Genevieve Nnaji

and Lux Soap in Nigeria. Celebrity endorsement

arguably can build brand credibility within a short

period of time.

- Providing testimony: “This entails giving

positive testimony about the good quality and benefits

of a product or service, the celebrity has used.

However, the celebrity must ensure that his/her

statement is correct to avoid deceiving the gullible

public” (Mojekeh, 2011). The more familiar a celebrity

endorser, the more likely consumers are to buy the

endorsed brand.

Argument against Celebrity Endorsement

It is being argued that celebrity endorsement deals can

go astray because all that glitters may not be gold.

- There is the fear of Brand-Celebrity

Disconnect, whereby the celebrity endorser represents

values that conflicts with the brand values. Invariably,

the advertising message would create conflict in the

minds of the target audience. Example, Aghahowa and

Robb ointment ad.

- The Vampire Effect: This is a situation

whereby the “celebrity endorser is overshadowing the

brand” (Evdogen, Baker, and Tag, 2011). The audience

will remember the celebrity and not the brand because

there is no congruency between the celebrity and the

brand.

- Celebrity Trap and Celebrity Brand: “Celebrity

trap is when the celebrity becomes an addiction for the

marketing team and the task to find substitutes

becomes more and more difficult leading to surfeit of

celebrities” (Kulkarni and Gaulkar, 2012). It is

presumed that target audience will be skeptical about

a brand when there is any negative publicity

associated with a celebrity endorser. The celebrity

endorser may be scandalized or publicly embarrassed,

which may pull down his/her credibility ranking. For

example, O. J. Simpson accused of murdering his ex-

wife and her boyfriend; Madonna the release of “Like

a prayer video”; Ben Johnson found guilty of steroid

use.

However, like Michael Jordan, who survived

adultery and a gambling scandal and Magic Johnson,

who in 2003, survived disclosure of being HIV positive

of 1991, our new face of Lux Soap model, Genevieve

Nnaji survived “despite her past” and “her low

academic qualifications”.

- Multiple Brand Endorsement: Where the

celebrity endorses several products, the impact is

weak and consumers tend to perceive the commercial

dimension of the celebrity’s efforts. For example,

many Brand Ambassadors in Nigeria are appearing

too frequently for many products and services. If a



72

celebrity is endorsing too many brands in the market,

it will negatively affect the brand he is endorsing.

Finally, it is unethical and unprofessional for a

celebrity to endorse and be caught using publicly a

similar brand from a competitor.

Conclusion

The effect of a celebrity on the brand is presumed to be

much greater than just an advertisement showing a

celebrity. The argument that celebrity endorsement

has a positive or a negative impact on the brand is still

open to further interpretations. The success of

celebrity endorsement in advertising is dependent on

several factors, viz. careful selection of celebrity;

matching the target segment and brand values. In

Nigeria, marketers are engaging one celebrity in

endorsing multiple brands and GSM services

providers are recruiting so many endorsers at the

same time, especially from Super Eagles (Danesi,

2006). This is being viewed as unprofessional and

could be counter-productive. However, the celebrities

cannot be blamed if the company does not derive the

desired value from the endorsement. Essentially, the

outcome of a brand ambassadorship deals, is

dependent on the professional expertise of the brand

manager, who decides on the likely benefits for such

contracts.

Recommendations

Based on this study, it was apparent that a number of

initiatives could be taken into consideration by

marketers, in order to ensure more effective use of

celebrities to enhance brand equity and consumer

acceptance. It is presumed that celebrity

endorsements will be more effective and beneficial to

the stakeholders when:

The advertising campaign is easy to

understand, free from distractions and specifically

focus on the celebrity and the brand jointly.

The celebrity is not already strongly associated

with another brand.

The celebrity is consistently used over time to

strengthen the link between the celebrity and the

brand image.

The celebrity is “fit and proper person” and

exhibiting high congruency with the endorsed brand.

The impression and image of the

celebrity/potential brand is tested and confirmed

positive for the target audience.

Also, when the celebrity endorsers are

integrated across the marketing mix variables, they

can reinforce and/or create an image for a brand.

Arguably, celebrity endorsement is most

appropriate strategy for less familiar brands, whereby

the target audiences have limited knowledge or facts.

Ultimately, brand managers should be careful

and cautious in their choice of celebrities, especially

celebrities with negative publicity and avert the

potential risk of damaging the brand’s image.

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