CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS

Celebrity Endorsements

Karmiya Farber, Arine Fereshetian, Lydia Harris, Allison Moldoff, Isabella Verrilli

Why We Buy

Dr.Vieira

12/02/2015

Table of contents
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
2

I. Introduction3

A. Facts

B. Key Definitions

C. Preview ..

II. What are Celebrity Endorsements.

III. Analysis..

A. Key psychological and sociological processes

IV. Take-aways..

V. What do Take-aways mean for marketers..

VI. Conclusion..

VII. References.

I. Introduction

A. Facts
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
3

B. Key Definitions

Consumer Behavior

In marketing, consumer behavior is the study of the acquisition, consumption, use, and disposal of

products, services, experiences, or ideas, by consumers. It can be defined as the study of how and when

individuals, groups and organizations select, purchase, use and dispose of products, services, experiences

or ideas to satisfy their needs. It also involves the study of why consumption decisions are made (Tetteh,

2015). Consumer behavior also explores the impacts that the processes of selection, purchasing, use, and

disposal have on consumers and on society.

Consumer decision-making comes about as an attempt to solve consumer problems, both major and

minor. One major aspect affecting consumer decision-making is the use of celebrity endorsements as a

way to affect consumer behavior.

The Concept of a Celebrity

A celebrity is a person who grabs greater recognition of the common segments of the people (McCraken,

1989). Celebrity status is often associated with wealth. Celebrity status is often associated with wealth

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

Celebrities range from athletes, to actresses, and even reality television phenomenons.

C. Preview

II. What are Celebrity Endorsements?

Celebrities are often employed by advertisers to lend their personality to a product or brand (Kaikati,

1987). This is considered a celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsements are one of the most popular

forms of marketing used to promote a range of consumer products and services. Brands are retailers are

constantly seeking out ways in which to influence a consumers spending decisions. Many marketers
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
4

believe that celebrity endorsements provide a higher degree of appeal, and attention. Most notably,

marketers also claim that a celebrity affects the credibility of a product and increases the memorabilia

factor of the message, which may provide a positive effect that could be generalized to the brand. In

addition, celebrities are believed to enhance audience attentiveness, make advertisements memorable,

credible, and desirable and add glamour to the product (Spielman, 1981).

Celebrity endorsements are strategically placed to gain consumer interests and brand loyalty in the

marketplace. Most consumers associate products they purchase with the celebrities who endorse them.

Consumers give the product positive attributes that they feel the celebrity endorser has and embraces.

There are many ways in which celebrity endorsements affect consumer perceptions of products. This

paper will discuss multiple theories in which the usage of celebrity endorsements as a means to affect a

consumer is explored.

III. Analysis

A. Key psychological and sociological processes

The first theory explaining how celebrity endorsements affect consumer behavior is the concept of the

parasocial relationships. Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships, where a person allocates

emotional energy, interest and time towards another person who is completely unaware of the others

existence. Parasocial relationships are most common with sports teams and celebrities, like singers or

movie stars. A person forms this special connection with the celebrity and creates a specific imaginary

relationship with the celebrity, wanting to be just like that celebrity. This person follows everything the

celebrity does. Social media outlets have been very beneficial to the strength of the parasocial relationship

that a consumer has with a celebrity, as social media has allowed celebrities to become more accessible to

their fans. For example, if a celebrity bought a designer Chanel handbag and was seen out with this bag

via social media outlets like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, this would influence a person who is in a

parasocial relationship with that celebrity. This influence would push the fan to want the Chanel bag, and

to purchase it. In general, fans of celebrities want to emulate the celebrity they are in a parasocial

relationship with, therefore resulting in fans purchasing whatever the celebrity is endorsing.
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
5

The next theory is the TEARS Model. Shimp (2003) explains that there are two general attributes that

play an essential role in promoting effective communication: credibility and attractiveness. These

attributes are also vital when it comes to determining how effective an endorser will be. The T in the

TEARS model refers to being a person the consumers would see as someone who can be trusted. The

endorser would be a legitimate and credible source. The E component of the TEARS model refers to

expertise. The expertise is about having certain skills, competence or capabilities that can be related to the

endorsed brand. This loops back the T component where someone who is dependable and believable is

necessary for the endorsement. The A component in the TEARS model refers to the attractiveness which

is a key consideration in many endorsement relationships. The R in the TEARS model refers to respect.

This represents how the endorser must embody favorable and respectable qualities, which gives their

selves a good reputation, therefore reflecting positively on the endorsement. The S in TEARS stands for

similarly. This refers to need of finding an endorser who matches with the audience in term of age,

gender, ethnicity, and social class of the product the person is endorsing. The TEARS model is very

similar to the halo effect, which is also very relevant. The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which

someones overall impression of a person, company, brand, or product influences the person's feelings and

thoughts about that individual's character or properties. People have a tendency for an impression created

in one area to influence opinion in another area.

The last theory relating celebrity endorsements to consumer behavior is the social cognitive theory. Social

cognitive theory is the belief that individuals have a capacity for learning by observing others within the

context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. Celebrities and their lifestyles

establish a part of societys symbolic communication system that shapes peoples social reality, including

their lifestyles, tastes, and consumption (Bandura 2001).

By observing different models, people who are not fans can expand their competence and skills that then

allow them to self-organize and self-regulate their actions. Using celebrity endorsers as their models, the

nonfans adapt their attitudes and behaviors toward endorsed brands by observation and emulation. This
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
6

aspect is also recognized as a pertinent part of media acculturation (Shrum 1995). Therefore, through

nonfans celebrity entertainment experiences it would lead to positive endorsed brand attitude.

B. Connecting Celebrity Endorsements to different theories

One significant example of the implementation of the Halo Effect and the TEARS model is Under

Armours utilization of the star the New England Patriots football quarterback, Tom Brady. Under

Armour commonly utilizes celebrity endorsements by paying professional athletes to promote their

brands. With a big consumer business established and the expansion into new categories, such as

footwear, the value of celebrity endorsements became very clear for Under Armour. Consumers are aware

that Under Armour is an authentic brand that was built on the field, meaning that their products are top-

of-the-line for athletes.

Athletes endorsements reinforce this understanding of quality and reliability, and they provide the

company with a bigger platform to communicate their product stories. This relates to the halo effect,

which plays an important role in advertising for a brand. The halo effect stems from the

marketing value gained by associating the product with fame of the celebrity therefore it causes

consumers to associate the products that Under Armour sells with the fame and qualifications of their

athletes. Under Armour is very strategic in terms of what celebrities they choose to endorse their

products. This type of strategy can be associated with the TEARS model that was mentioned earlier.

Under Armours athletes talk about the benefits of the gear because it helps them perform. In

November 2010 Under Armour made a very smart decision to sign Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback.

Seeing a super bowl winning Quarterback wear Under Armour while he plays will influence consumers

specifically athletes to also want to wear Under Armour because of the TEARS model. The T refers to

being seen as believable, dependable and someone who can be trusted. Tom Brady is someone that fans

and athletes believe and trust. The E component of the TEARS model refers to expertise. The

expertise is about having specific skills, knowledge or abilities that can be related to the endorsed brand.

When it comes to sports he is an expertise and has a strong knowledgeable background. The A component

in the TEARS model attractiveness is a key consideration in many endorsement relationship. Tom Brady
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
7

is a very attractive person. Respect is the R in the TEARS model and represents the quality of being

admired due to ones personal qualities and accomplishment. He has the respect of his fans that also

admire him as a person and a player. Attractiveness is the S, which is similarly. This refers to how the

endorser matches with the audience in term of age, gender, ethnicity, and social class. He is similar to the

consumers Under Armour is trying to reach. After going through each qualification of this

model you can see that Tom Brady does indeed make a perfect celebrity endorser for Under Armour. For

these reasons, by using Tom Brady as a celebrity endorser Under Armour will increase sales and profit

because of the increase in consumer purchase intentions.

Beyond Under Armours usage of Tom Brady as their celebrity endorsement, which is a great example of

the Hale Effect and the TEARS model, another brand using celebrity endorsements to effect consumer

behavior is Smartwater. Smartwater chose celebrity actress, Jennifer Aniston, as their celebrity

spokesperson and endorser. Smartwater released a new Campaign, Up Up Up, with

Jennifer Aniston as their primitive figure. Jennifer Aniston is an accomplished lady who shows progress

and motivation in the ad campaigns as well as her real life. Campaign Creative Director, Caroline Kibler

stated that this was, exactly what Smartwater wanted to highlight in the campaign. (source)

Smartwater hopes to inspire consumers in the same way that the Smartwater is inspired by clouds. They

want their consumers to go Up Up Up and elevate their lives by consuming their special vapor-distilled

product. (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/smartwater-jennifer-aniston-173300638.html)

According to a study done on Celebrity Attributes and Influence on Consumer Behavior a match

between the celebrity chosen, as the endorser, and the product needs to have shared attributes of values.

The obvious reason for going in for celebrities is the fact that they have a mass appeal and once

identified with a product, they can trigger an instant recall in the mind of the consumer. (celebrity

attributes article)

Jennifer Aniston, actress, director, producer and business woman works well as the face of the campaign

because of her history of rising success and the publics awareness of who she is. After being on Friends

and many romantic comedies Jennifer Aniston is a recognizable figure and a household name.
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
8

The advertisements show Jennifer Aniston arriving on set, pitching stories and catching flights. The idea

that Jennifer Anistons career is going higher mimics and shows how Smartwater will take your life Up

Up Up. Jennifer Aniston and Smartwater share the values of motivation to reach higher. Caroline Kilber

says that Great things happen little by little and she hopes the campaign will inspire people to be just as

ambitious as the leading lady. (http://www.coca-colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled/smartwater-and-

jennifer-aniston-go-up-up-up-in-new-campaign)

The final example of a brand utilizing a celebrity endorsement to effect consumer behavior is Cover Girls

team-up with celebrity actress, Sofia Vergara. Covergirl is an American cosmetics brand that provides a

wide variety of beauty products at reasonable prices. This beauty product line is known to have celebrity

endorsers, including Sofia Vergara, that serve as the products Brand Ambassador. These celebrities range

from models to actresses, and give consumers the notion to purchase the products.

With the endorsement of Sofia Vergara, Covergirl has seen an increase in sales and proves competitive in

the drugstore market (Creswell, 2008). Furthermore, Sofia is the highest paid female actress as of 2014,

and is very beautiful as well as funny (Gunelius, 2012). This relates to the parasocial theory, because

consumers watch Sofia on television and want to emulate her.

Consumers can watch Vergaras commercials on television, and purchase the lipstick or other Covergirl

cosmetics the next time they shop at a drugstore. The brands slogan is easy, breezy, beautiful,

expressing the natural look the products provide consumers with.

This endorsement was strategic for Covergirl because Vergara has a natural beauty, and her makeup

look appears to be natural and fresh as well. Because Sofia is in her mid-forties, her presence as a

Covergirl targets that age group of women, in addition to women of all ages, and continues to be deemed

effective. In addition, Vergara and celebrity talk show host, Ellen Degeneres, both promoted Covergirl in

a commercial, as well as on Ellens talk show. Consumers who were unaware of the promotion were able

to see it on a commercial and on live television.

Both of these celebrities are well known and trusted by their fans, and are positively viewed in the media

and spotlight. This relates back to the halo effect because consumers relate Covergirl, a respected
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
9

cosmetic line, to Sofia Vergara, a famous and beautiful celebrity. The consumer will have a cognitive bias

on Covergirl by the feeling they have towards the celebrity that endorses it, in this case Sofia.

In addition, the TEARS model is also represented through this endorsement. Vergara is involved in

several other endorsements, and is seen as a dependable person. This Refers to the T in the TEARS

model. The E refers to expertise, and Sofia is knowledgeable in the cosmetics line, as she is a Hollywood

star and has the resources to know the ins and outs this industry. The A refers to the attractiveness, and

Sofia is an attractive face and candidate for the role (Daisy Development, 2015). Respect is the R in the

TEARS model, and she is a highly respected actress in Hollywood. She has a wide range fan base and is

relatable to women all over the globe. S stands for similarly, and Sofia is similar to the target market that

Covergirl appeals to.

In addition to the Halo Effect and the TEARS model, Covergirls choice of Sofia Vergara as their

celebrity endorsements relates to the social cognitive theory, in which consumers feel that they understand

and know Vergara based on her coverage in the media. Celebrities and their lifestyles establish a part of

societys symbolic communication system that shapes peoples social reality, including their lifestyles,

tastes, and consumption (Bandura 2001). It is evident that Vergara has become part of societys symbolic

communication system, and will continue to be front and center for quite some time.

With her good reputation and success on television, Covergirl chose the right celebrity to be the face of

the cosmetic line and will continue to increase sales with consumer purchase decisions. By relating each

of these theories to Sofia Vergara, it is clear that she is the right face for Covergirl and will continue to be

in the future with her qualities that align with the cosmetic line.

IV. Take-aways

V. What do Take-aways mean for marketers

VI. Conclusion

It is evident that a brands usage of celebrity endorsements greatly effects consumer behavior. Whether it

be in regards to the Halo effect and the TEARS model, or the parasocial relationship, consumers are

constantly effected, with consistently changing emotions. Under Armours usage of professional athlete,
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
10

Tom Brady, as their celebrity spokesperson, specifically showcases the Halo effect and the TEARS

model. Whereas, Smartwaters choice of celebrity actress, Jeniffer Aniston, as their celebrity endorsement

displays a strong example of the parasocial relationship consumers have with celebrities. Finally,

Covergirls usage of celebrity actress, Sofia Vergara, is another strong example of the TEARS model, but

it is also an example of the social cognitive theory.

VII. References

Hung, K. (2014). Why Celebrity Sells: A Dual Entertainment Path Model of Brand Endorsement. Journal
Of Advertising, 43(2), 155-166. doi:10.1080/00913367.2013.838720

Keel, A., & Nataraajan, R. (2012). Celebrity Endorsements and Beyond: New Avenues for Celebrity
Branding. Psychology & Marketing, 29(9), 690-703. doi:10.1002/mar.20555

Poghosyan, A. (2015). Celebrity endorsement as one of nowadyas major ways to influence consumer
buying behaviour. European Scientific Journal, (SI), 30.

Popescu, G. H. (2014). The economic value of celebrity endorsements: a literature review. Economics,
Management, And Financial Markets, (4), 119.

Roy, S., Gammoh, B. S., & Koh, A. C. (2012). Predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements
using the balance theory. Journal Of Customer Behaviour, 11(1), 33-52.

THE INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS AND

BRAND IMAGE. (2013). Zbornik Radova Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Istocnom Sarajevu, (7), 147-161.
doi:10.7251/ZREFIS1307147S

ZWILLING, M., & FRUCHTER, G. E. (2013). Matching Product Attributes To Celebrities Who
Reinforce the Brand: An Innovative Algorithmic Selection Model. Journal Of Advertising Research,
53(4), 391-410. doi:10.2501/JAR-53-4-391-410