The impact of

congruence between
celebrity image and
consumer self on brand
purchase intention.

BACKGROUND
There should also be some relationship between the image of the
celebrity and the self of the consumer so that a meaningful association is
created with the product.
IF IT WAS ALL ABOUT BRAND CELEBRITY CONGRUENCE

To establish if there is a
congruency between the
celebrity image and the selfimage of the consumer for
the soft drink segment.
To see the purchase intention of the
consumers in case congruency is
established

To assess the importance

of brand image and selfimage congruence

LITERATURE REVIEW

According to the match-up hypothesis (Kamins 1990) the

image of the brand that the celebrity endorses should always
match up with the celebritys image, such that there is a high
degree of perceived fit between the brand and the
celebrity to the Transfer Model (McCracken 1989) when a celebrity
According
endorses a brand then the celebritys cultural values are
automatically
passed
on to the
product.
Though several
models
have
been proposed regarding the
mechanism through which celebrity endorsers impact
advertisement effectiveness, it is clear that celebrities can
increase the effectiveness of advertisements, positively
impacting brand attitude and increasing purchase intentions
(Kaikati 1987; Erdogan 1999).

Consumer SELF
Consumers self-concept is an important influence on purchase
decisions (Ericksen, 1997; Graeff, 1996; Sirgy, 1982, 1985)
Consumers are more likely to purchase products that portray
their self. Consumers buy products that they feel suits or
match their personality
Now, Self congruity is a result of the match between a brands
image and a consumers actual self-image is, while ideal
congruity denotes a match between a brands image and a
consumers ideal self-image. Self-image congruence helps
explain and predict different facets of consumer behavior.
In a survey conducted by Bailey (2007), several respondents
indicated some degree of skepticism regarding celebrity
endorsements

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Physical Attractiveness:

An informational signal, which involves

subtle, pervasive and inevitable effects and
helps in the production of definite difference
patterns and affects transcending of culture.
The relation between the self and celebrity
personality can be understood by a research by
Kahle and Homer in 1985, which suggests that
attractiveness of celebrity, produces
significant results as people are themselves
conscious about their own attractive looks.

TRUSTWORTHY/ CREDIBLE

The
honesty,
integrity
and
believability
expressed by an
endorser.
Consumers
consider
celebrities as a
communication
source and they
also
associate
the same feature
with their own
personalities.

In case there is higher

expertise in the field of
endorsement, the trust is
supposed to be even higher.

One of the researches that

support this proposition is that
one interesting factor for trust
increase on celebrity is
confirmed by the ethnic status
of the target group. It reflects
that the celebrity belongs to
similar region, having same
life-style with targeted group

EXPERTISE

- The degree to which a

communicator is
perceived to be a
foundation of legal
proclamations
- It is believed that
only in case that the
people consider
celebrities to be more
expert in the area, the
people will have higher
intentions of purchase.

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

FINDINGS

Physical Attractiveness (Male)

Attractiveness
: 3.93/4.07

Physical Attractivess (Male)

4.50

Classy:
3.71/3.50
Sexy:
3.13/3.64

4.00

3.50

3.00

2.50

2.00

Elegant:
3.79/3.86

1.50

1.00

0.50

Handsome/
beautiful:
4.14/3.70

0.00

Attractivess

Classy

Handsome/Beautiful
Celebrity

Self

Elegent

Sexy

Physical attractiveness (Females)

Attractiveness:
4.6/3.6

Physical Attractiveness (Female)

5

Classy:
4.2/3.2

4.5
4
3.5

Sexy:
4/2.9
Elegant:
4.6/3.7

3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

Handsome/ beautiful:
4.5/3.6
0

Attractivess

Classy

Handsome/Beautiful
Celebrity

Self

Elegent

Sexy

CREDIBILITY (MALE)

Dependable: 3.71/
4.36
Honest: 3.86/4.21
Reliable: 3.93/4.50
Sincere: 4.0/4.14
Trustworthy:
3.93/4.64

Credibility (Male)
5.00
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Celebrity

Self

CREDIBILITY (FEMALE)

Dependable:4.2/4.1
Honest: 4.2/4.1
Reliable: 3.9/4
Sincere: 4.0/4.1
Trustworthy: 4.3/3.8

Credibility
Credibility (Female)
(Male)
5.00 4.2
4.50 4.1
4.00 4
3.50 3.9
3.00
2.50
2.00

3.8
3.7
3.6

1.50
3.5
1.00
3.4
0.50
0.00
Celebrity
Celebrity Self
Self

EXPERTISE (MALE)

Expert: 3.93/3.86
Experience:4/3.86
Knowledgeable:
4.64/4.14
Qualified: 3.50/3.86
Skilled: 3.79/4

Credibility
Credibility
(Male)
Expertise(Female)
(Male)
5.00 4.2
4.20
4.50 4.1
4.00
4.00 4
3.50 3.9
3.80
3.00

3.8

2.503.60
3.7
2.00

3.6
3.40
1.50
3.5
1.00
3.20
3.4
0.50
0.003.00
Celebrity Self
Self
Celebrity
Celebrity
Self

EXPERTISE (FEMALE)

Experience:4.4/3.3
Knowledgeable:
4.1/3.6
Qualified: 3.8/3.5
Skilled: 3.7/3.7
Expert: 3.9/3.3

Expertise
Credibility
Credibility
(Female)
(Female)
(Male)
Expertise
(Male)
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5

5.00 4.2
4.20
4.50 4.1
4.00
4.00 4
3.50 3.9
3.80
3.00

3.8

2
1.5

2.503.60
3.7
2.00

1
0.5
0

3.6
3.40
1.50
3.5
1.00
3.20
3.4
0.50
0.003.00
Celebrity
Self
Celebrity
Celebrity
Celebrity
Self Self
Self

MALE VS. FEMALE

Self

Celebrity
Male

Female

Male

4.50

4.00

3.50
4.40
3.00

4.30
4.20

2.50

4.10
2.00
4.00
1.50

3.90
3.80

1.00

3.70
0.50
3.60
0.00

Physical Attractivenss

Credibility

Expertise

3.50
3.40

Physical Attractivenss

Credibility

Expertise

Female

CORRELATION

Celebrity and self

Attractiveness: 0.048
Credibility: -0.159
Expertise: 0.09

Congruence and
purchase intention
Attractivenss:0.047
Credibility:0.4647
Expertise: 0.12

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2
Corelation between celebrity and self
Corelation between congruence and purchase
intention
0.1

0
Physical Attractiveness

-0.1

-0.2

Credibilty

Expertise

Qualitative data

FOCUS GROUP
DISCUSSION

TOPIC:
How does the
reflection of you in a
celebrity affect your
purchase decision?
PARTICIPANTS:

QUESTIONS INCLUDED:
How do you access the relationship between you and a
celebrity endorser?
How similar are the personalities of you and the celebrity of
your most purchased cold drink brand?
What are the main personality features that you notice in a
celebrity?
You mentioned that you can associate yourself with certain
attributes of the celebrity. What are the reasons behind that?
In what ways are you similar or different?
To what extent does the presence or absence of a celebrity
affect your purchase decision for your brand?
How should a Company choose a celebrity endorser given the
personality of the target segment? Examples
How does brand personality-celebrity personality congruence
differ from self-image- celebrity personality?

MAJO
MAJOR FINDINGS:
- Most of the respondents could easily relate themselves
with the celebrity that they chose earlier. The reasons
why they could not relate to the other celebrity were
also discussed.
- One of the examples of negative congruence was given
by Ajay, where he said that he can never relate to
Akshay Kumar and thus he has never wanted to taste or
tasted Thumps up. Even if there is no other cold drink
available at a store, he would not consume a Thumps
Up.
-

MAJO
MAJOR FINDINGS:
It does affect the purchase decision. Many a times, we
do not remember the brand, but we remember that a
celebrity is endorsing certain brand and will want to buy
that product as the celebrity looked good in it or
seemed to enjoy its consumption. Besides, when there
are a lot of choices between substitutes in the same
product category, it is our perception towards the
celebrity endorsing the brand, which causes us to buy a
brand.
-

MAJO

MAJOR FINDINGS:
A company should choose a celebrity that is
connectable to the target group. If the Company
chooses only such celebrities who look posh and classy,
but cannot reflect the sentiments of the target group, it
does not make sense. For instance, a Company can also
choose to advertise an Agarbatti ad with a young
actress and they have, however the ads work best when
they use house wife celebrities. It is because the target
group can connect themselves with the celebrity and
their features.
-

MAJO
MAJOR FINDINGS:
Brand personality and celebrity personality congruence
is important, but not as important as celebrity
personality- self-image congruence. Even mass brands
use premium celebrities and premium brands use mass
celebrities and it is all because they want to establish
connections with the target group. This connection is
established when the consumers can believe that the
celebrities can associate with the product and this
happens when there is an implied relationship between
the celebrity and the consumer.
-

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IMPLICATIONS

Concept of self-image is used as a cognitive referent in
the evaluation with celebrity image
The managerial benefit of self-image is neither recent
nor exceptional
The existence of a link between the celebrity and the
consumers self-image provides marketing executives
with the opportunity to have a strategic tool which
enables them to improve or strengthen the mapping of
their brands

THANK YOU