The Influence of Celebrity Endorsers on Customer Buying Behavior

Saldanha, Mulye, &Rahman (2018) elaborated on the relevance of consumer-celebrity attachments and argued that future studies should focus on the consumers‘ psychological mechanisms which could explain the celebrity influences which lead to stronger consumer attachment relationships and effects on decisions. Knoll and Matthes (2017) carried out an important and comprehensive meta-analysis of the celebrity endorsement literature in which the authors focused on the role of moderators and the affective, cognitive and conative effects of celebrity endorsements. The authors suggest that psychological aspects, such as those which influence the complex consumer-celebrity relationships, are important aspects to be addressed in future studies.Bergkvist and Zhou (2016) identified six main research areas in the celebrity endorsement research: celebrity prevalence, campaign management, financial effects, celebrity persuasion, non-evaluative meaning transfer and brand-to-celebrity transfers. Nonetheless, it does address in the evolving ways consumers interact with celebrities. Hackley and Hackley (2015) propose that consumer relationships with celebrities are shaped by the media convergence which provides multiple communication channels. The increased democratization of fame and its consequences should be incorporated into the future research agenda. Through the development of new social media platforms and reality television programming, more research is required to understand the key celebrities‘ attributes which contribute to stronger consumer-celebrity relationships.he importance of entertainment celebrities in modern societies is increasing at an exponential rate (see Yu, Ronen, Hu, Lu, & Hidalgo, 2014).Hence, Keel and Nataraajan (2012) call for studies which address the role of celebrities beyond the celebrity endorsement field. In the last decades, the ways consumers relate with celebrities have evolved.the multifaceted influence of celebrities on consumer decisions makes them a critical research topic for marketing managers and academics to investigate and discover more effective marketing applications (Gamson, 1994; Rojek, 2001, 2012; Rowlands, 2008; G. Turner, 2013).It was once considered innovative to use celebrities to endorse products. It's become commonplace nowadays. When compared to their competitors, marketers always use unique tools and techniques to succeed in the marketplace. Using a well-known person from sports, cinema, or another field as an endorser in advertising is one way to stand out in a crowded market. Advertising is a type of brand communication that encourages, persuades, or manipulates the audience (Vijayakumar 2014). However, there are some drawbacks to using celebrities.  Short lifecycle: Most starts have a short lifespan. It is possible that after an advertiser signs a service agreement with the hottest celebrity at the time, but before the ad is released or the campaign reaches its peak usage, the celebrity's fame begins to fade.  Celebrities have two sides to their personalities. Scams, scandals, and bad press about famous people can harm the brands they promote.  Celebrities are usually pricey.  The goods can also be vampired (overshadowed) by celebrities.

Smart Barry (2010) claims that the govt's radical reform ad attributes sports celebrities in order to raise public awareness, particularly among youth. People will respond to ads that attribute celebrities, such as the Saving Tigers programme in India, which features Yuvraj Singh Dhoni, much more than ads that do not. In their study, Goddard L, Wilbur N (2009) established a basis for future studies on negative info transference in celebrity endorsement relationships. It is critical that businesses understand the dangers of using celebrities to endorse their stores. Given that these findings suggest that a decrease in a celebrity's image can affect the brand's image, marketers should carefully select an endorser who has a positive image now and will be capable of maintaining it in the coming years. In some cases, celebrity endorsers' excessive popularity can lead to negative reactions to the brand. By involving yourself in multiple brand endorsements, you risk creating a lot of confusion in the minds of your customers. The impact of celebrity endorsement on purchasing behaviour continues to be a source of debate among marketers. There are a variety of soft drink companies on the market, and almost all of them use celebrity endorsers to promote their products, but the question is whether these celebrities have an impact on consumer decision-making. Every day, we see new and innovative advertisements on television and in print, but is advertising just a tool for communicating with customers? Or does it actually persuade customers to buy their product?Is it true that customers want to buy a product simply because it is endorsed by a celebrity or because it is necessary? Most people quickly switch from one brand to another, so what motivates them to do so? As a result, we will obtain an answer to the above-mentioned question by soliciting consumer feedback. In order to pamper a consumer, a celebrity is deployed to transmit credibility and aspirational values to a brand in alignment with the product. There should be certain compatibility between the celebrity endorsers and their popularity, availability, physical attractiveness and their profession in consonance with the product. It is indispensable that creativity should underlie while using celebrity endorsement otherwise it may over power and over shadow the brand popularity. A celebrity is used to provide credibility and aspirational values to a brand that is aligned with the products . in order to pamper a consumer. There should be some fully compatible between celebrity endorsers as well as the item in terms of their popularity, availability, physical beauty, and profession. When using celebrity

1. Determine consumer attitudes toward celebrity endorsers. 2. Determine the consumers' preferences for celebrity endorsers. 3. To examine the effect of celebrity endorser characteristics on consumer purchase decisions.

The descriptive research design was used in this study. The researcher must explain the current scenario in order to determine the influence of celebrities on customer purchasing decisions. As a result, this study employs a descriptive research design. The convenience sampling technic. was used in this research. The questionnaire was used as the study aid, and it included both open-ended and closed-ended questions. This research will use a sample size of 120 people.

1 Taste 20 17 2 Cost 39 33 3 Ad 44 36 4 Family 15 12 5 Others 2 2

It is attempted to determine the factors that influence consumers' purchasing decisions. 17 % bought their products because of the taste, 33% for the cost, and 36 percent for the ad, point out the importance of advertising.

1 Conceptual 21 18

3 Song 40 33 4 Conceptual delivery 9 7

It can be inferred that 18 percent respondents preferred conceptual, 33 percent respondents preferred song aspects in the advertisement and majority 42 percent respondents preferred celebrities in the advertisement.

1 Efficiency 55 46 2 Cost- effective pricing

17 15

3 Good Picture 15 12 4 Good hikes 5 4 5 Celebrities 28 23

It is inferred that 46 percent respondents opined that efficiency is the important factor for brand building, 23 percent respondents opined that celebrities are the important brand building factors, 15 percent respondents opined that cost effective pricing is important for brand building. The result shows that celebrity advertising is one of the important elements in the brand building activity.

1 celebrities are preferred 85 71

It can be understood that 71 percent respondents are preferred to buy product for the celebrities who appears in the advertisements and 29 percent respondents did not prefer to buy product because of celebrity. This analysis shows that majority of the respondents prefer celebrities in the advertisements.

Age

18 -25 60 26 86 26-35 15 12 27 36-45 2 5 7

It is understood that youngsters particularly 18-25 age group respondents are more preferred to buy the products and services because of celebrities as compared to other age groups. The results show that 69.76 % of 18-25 age group respondents prefer celebrity endorsed advertisements for purchase whereas in the 36-45 age group it is not so as they are more experienced and matured.

1 Actor / Actress 47 39 2 Sports persons 41 34 3 Politician 9 7 4 Singer 20 17 5 Others 3 3

It is inferred that 39 percent respondents are influenced by Actors or Actress followed by 34 respectively. The result shows that majority of the respondents are influenced by the cine actors and sports stars because of their wide appeal to all types of customers.

1 Strongly agree 45 37 2 Agree 60 50 3 Not Agree 15 13

It is inferred that 37 percent of the respondents strongly agree and agree that presence of celebrities in advertisements helps them to recall the specific product and only 13 percent respondents did not agree that celebrities help them to recall the specific product. This shows the effectiveness of the celebrity influence.

1 Strongly Agree 37 32 2 Agree 60 50 3 Not Sure 16 13 4 Disagree 7 5

It is inferred that 50 percent respondents agreed that the presence of celebrities in advertisements make them to choose the brands easily and only 5 percent respondent disagree that the presence of celebrities in advertisements did not help them to choose the brands easily.

It is noted that 29 percent respondent strongly agree that the celebrities induce their buying decision, 44 percent respondents agreed that the celebrities induce their buying decision, 21 percent respondent are not sure about the celebrities‟ influence on their buying decision, 4 percent respondents disagree the celebrities would not induce their buying decision and 2 percent respondents strongly disagree the celebrities would induce their buying decision.

The Influence of Celebrity Understanding on Purchasing Decisions It is attempted to determine the impact of celebrity knowledge on consumer purchase intentions. The effect of celebrities on consumer purchase decisions is empirically tested using simple linear regression. The table below shows the results of a regression examination of the relationship between celebrity knowledge and consumer purchase intent.

1. .729a .698 .676 1.519

a. Predicators : ( Constant) , Knowledge of the Celebrities From the model Summary (Table 3.11) R Square is 0.698 > 0.6 which implies a strong relationship between knowledge of the celebrities and purchase decision of the consumers.

a. Dependent Variable : Purchase decision of the consumers The result obtained through the regression analysis regarding direct relationship between the two variables suggest that if the celebrities are more knowledgeable then it may have significant impact on consumers purchase intention (β coefficient of Knowledge = .526).

The second regression analysis examines the impact of reliability of the celebrity endorser on the purchase intention of consumers. Table 13: Model Summary of Reliability Model Summary

1 .689a .448 .155 .89579 From the model Summary (Table 13) R Square is 0.448 which implies a strong relationship between reliability of the celebrities and purchase decision of the consumers.

a. Dependent Variable : Purchase decision The result obtained through the regression analysis regarding direct relationship between the two variables suggest that if the source is more reliable then it may have significant impact on consumers purchase intention (β coefficient of Reliability = .290).

The third aspect explored the effects of consumer prominence on purchasing intention. The outcomes of a simple linear regression examination of the relationship between buyer prominence and purchasing intention are shown in the table below :

a. Predicators : (Constant) , Popularity of the celebrities the consumers.

a. Dependent Variable : Purchase Decision The regression analysis result state the direct proportional relationship between the two variables. If the source is more popular then it will have significant impact on consumers purchase intention (β coefficient of popularity s = .270).

The next component explored the effects of the endorser's No frills character on consumer purchase intension. The outcomes of a simple linear regression analysis of the relationship between no frills personality and consumer purchase intention are shown in the table below.

1. .454a .216 .234 .85588

a. Predicators : ( Constant) , No frills Personality of the Celebrities From the model Summary (Table 17) R Square is 0.216 which implies a strong relationship between popularity of the celebrities and purchase decision of the consumers. a. Dependent Variable : Purchase decision The regression analysis result state the direct proportional relationship between the two variables. If the source is not involved in any problem then it will have significant impact on consumers purchase intention (β coefficient of No frills personality = .330). The overall LMR analysis demonstrates a positive relationship between consumer purchase decisions and various celebrity endorser attributes, such as understanding, durability, prominence, and a no-nonsense character. The analysis reveals that the linear regression assumptions are met, implying that all of these characteristics have a positive impact on consumer purchasing intention.

Despite the fact that many people do not trust advertising, a large number of respondents purchased products and services as a result of the advertisement's innovative nature. Majority 43.6 percent of respondents favoured celebrities in advertisements because it is easier for them to select the appropriate products. If a celebrity appears in an ad, they believe it is trustworthy. It demonstrates the respondents' trust in the product recommendations of celebrity endorsers. Although quality is important for brand building, celebrity endorsement is the strongest factor, as evidenced by the study, which found that 71 percent of respondents preferred to buy a product because of celebrity endorsement. In comparison to other age groups, young people, particularly those in the 18-25 age group, preferred to buy products and services

case in the 36-45 age group, who have more experience and wisdom.Because of their broad appeal to a wide range of customers, movie actors and athletes are the most popular celebrity endorsers. The overall effect of advertising, on which we spent $ 14 billion in 1965, is to devote these productive assets to generating advertising rather than other goods and services (George Leland Bach 1966), implying that a great deal of money is wasted in various media. Celebrity endorsers, on the other hand, assist advertisers in overcoming this problem because they are well-known, which reduces advertorial clutter.According to the findings of this study, the majority of participants (87.3%) agreed that seeing celebrities in ads helps them remember specific products, and an equal number of respondents agreed that seeing celebrities in ads makes it easier for them to choose a brand. 73.7 percent of the respondents agreed that celebrity influence influenced their purchasing decision, demonstrating the authority of celebrity influence.It's also worth noting that celebrity endorsers are more likely to influence children than adults. The overall LMR analysis demonstrates a positive relationship between consumer purchase decision as well as celebrity endorser attributes such as understanding, consistency, prominence, and no frills personality. This clearly demonstrates the impact of celebrity endorsers on consumer purchase decisions. Because the majority of respondents buy products because of celebrities, automakers must continue to use celebrities as a promotional tool to inform consumers about their product's quality.So, it would be highly essential if celebrity endorsers are considered as an important part of promotional activity.

The primary goal of this research is to determine the impact of celebrity endorsers on consumer purchase decisions. Celebrity endorsements have become an important tool for raising product awareness. According to the findings, celebrity endorsers play a significant role in consumers' purchasing decisions.Consumers find celebrity endorsement more useful in terms of brand recall, according to the current study. That is why many businesses use celebrities in their advertisements for their products and services. Furthermore, the attributes of the celebrity endorser have a positive relationship with consumer purchase decisions. However, marketers must exercise extreme caution when selecting appropriate endorsers. Unparalleled celebrity will have a negative effect on production and services they promote.

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Research Scholar, Sunrise University, Alwar, Rajasthan