The paper discusses the role that the celebrity endorsement plays in increasing the companyВ’s chances and potential in winning the loyalty of consumers, building a strong brand image, and using media communication tools for raising the product awareness. At the beginning of the paper, the literature review explains the topic through the lenses of various works that discuss the efficiency of the celebrity endorsement and its influence on the consumer behaviour. Customers go through multiple stages of the decision-making process before making purchases. Examples of expensive and luxury products prove that the celebrity endorsements are natural boosters of the readiness of people to spend money on products from such advertisements. Furthermore, the paper goes on to discuss the evaluated information from the literature and analyse it according to the implementation rate among different businesses. It proves that the celebrity endorsement can be useful. However, it requires a careful approach towards choosing characters for advertisements. Otherwise, the effects of the marketing campaign can be unpredictable.
The celebrity endorsement is a significant element of contemporary marketing strategies, which are developed by companies with the view to gaining appreciation among consumers and winning their loyalty by engaging famous people in their promotional strategies. These prominent individuals become the means of communication, which enhance the link between a company and its target audience. In this way, consumers listen to the sent message more attentively and look forward to new products that are offered by the company. Celebrities help consumers to believe that these products are worth of being purchased since famous public figures assure common people that the quality is high. Companies utilize this natural aspiration in building a unique brand, which will help clients distinguish its products from a great number of similar goods offered by competitors. In such a manner, the celebrity endorsement is an effective booster of the brand awareness and customer loyalty. The business environment seeks fresh ideas and new faces, which will be able to set trends in marketing. A complex literature review analyses the role of this tool in building effective business models, while the discussion proves that the engagement of famous public figures in the marketing campaign has a significant positive influence on the companyВ’s brand image.
Literature Review
Endorsement Models
The marketing sector has already introduced a great number of models that aim at impressing the target audience by outstanding marketing techniques. Celebrities are one of the means of attracting consumers; they ensure the willingness of clients to try new products (Awasthi & Choraria 2015, p. 223). The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) is a two-process model, which helps predict the consumer reaction to an advertisement. It has two outcomes in terms of the clientsВ’ response: either low involvement or high involvement. The core element of the model is the motivation, which fosters the readiness of consumers to purchase a product or service that was seen in the advertisement. In a perfect situation, a consumer should process the message from the promotional piece of information, develop own preferences, and act according to the formulated attitude.
The source credibility model is another useful marketing concept, which asserts that consumers are ready to purchase a product or service based on the reliability of the feedback they find in an advertisement. Celebrities are a source of credibility; they ensure consumers that they can trust an advertisement (Bergkvist, Hjalmarson & M?gi 2015, p. 176). It happens for the reason that potential customers often see a celebrity from an advertisement in movies and TV shows, as well as can learn about celebrities from interviews in newspapers and magazines (Choi & Rifon 2012, p. 643). As a result, consumers have a trustworthy image of a celebrity that encourages them to purchase a product from the advertisement.
The source attractiveness model also has a similar effect on consumers as the aforementioned theories do. However, the distinctive feature is its ability to attract the attention of consumers only with the help of appealing characteristics. It means that celebrities help in making common products noticeable and desired with the help of their presence in an advertisement (Chang & Ko 2016, p. 684). If consumers see that their favourite actor or actress uses a new shampoo, it is most likely that they will be willing to purchase the same one. In such a manner, celebrities make products look appealing and useful.
Media Channels
The development of technologies in the digital era has created the diversity of media channels, which the contemporary companies use in order to implement their marketing strategies. TV, newspapers, magazines and social media contribute to the enhancement of the companiesВ’ productivity thanks to the celebrity endorsement. TV offers its viewers to watch promotional videos with famous celebrities (Carrillat, d’Astous & Christianis 2014, p. 1026). It became a common way of promoting products by sharing video commercials during breaks in movies and TV programs. Newspapers and magazines use printed advertisements on pages between articles; these pieces also attract attention and make readers interested in a new product (Dugalic & Ivic 2015, p. 210). Finally, the social media plays a significant role in implementing promotional strategies of companies (Chung & Cho 2017, p. 486). For example, it became common to advertise products on celebritiesВ’ pages on social networks. Companies offer celebrities millions of dollars if they post a photo with a product and short recommendation. In this way, not only celebrities but also popular bloggers collaborate with various businesses.
Decision-Making Factors
The celebrity endorsement has a significant influence on the decision-making process, which consumers face every time they need to purchase something. When it comes to purchasing expensive products, the choice becomes difficult and doubtful (Kuvita & Karl??ek 2014, p. 17). For example, consumers have to make a considerable analysis of cars present in the market before making a purchase (Johns, Weir & Weir 2015, p. 120). It happens for the reason that purchasing a car means spending a considerable amount of money, which automatically makes the decision difficult.
Nevertheless, celebrities have an outstanding power of influencing choices of consumers. Jackie Chan became one of the most famous celebrities that have been ever involved in the advertisements of the Mitsubishi Group (Dekker & van Reijmersdal 2013, p.