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Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible MarketersEmerald Article: What really works for teenagers: human or fictional celebrity?Varsha Jain, Subhadip Roy, Aarzoo Daswani, Mari Sudha

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To cite this document: Varsha Jain, Subhadip Roy, Aarzoo Daswani, Mari Sudha, (2011),"What really works for teenagers: human or fictional celebrity?", Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, Vol. 12 Iss: 2 pp. 171 - 183

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Steve Dix, Ian Phau, Sonia Pougnet, (2010),""Bend it like Beckham": the influence of sports celebrities on young adult consumers", Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, Vol. 11 Iss: 1 pp. 36 - 46http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17473611011025993

Nisachon Tantiseneepong, Matthew Gorton, John White, (2012),"Evaluating responses to celebrity endorsements using projective techniques", Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 15 Iss: 1 pp. 57 - 69http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13522751211191991

Amanda Spry, Ravi Pappu, T. Bettina Cornwell, (2011),"Celebrity endorsement, brand credibility and brand equity", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45 Iss: 6 pp. 882 - 909http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090561111119958

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What really works for teenagers: human orfictional celebrity?

Varsha Jain, Subhadip Roy, Aarzoo Daswani and Mari Sudha

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to explore the relative effectiveness of a human celebrity endorser vis-a-vis a

fictional celebrity or character endorser on teenage consumers’ attitudes. Further, the study also seeks

to assess whether the effectiveness varies depending on the nature of the product being endorsed.

Design/methodology/approach – Given the purpose of the study, experimental design was used as

the research methodology. In an experimental set-up three product categories (low-involvement

food/low-involvement non-food/high-involvement) and two endorsers (human celebrity/fictional

celebrity) and a control group were deployed in a 3 £ 3 full factorial design on 378 teenagers.

Fictitious advertisements were used as stimuli.

Findings – The study suggests that, for food and non-food low-involvement product categories, the

impact of a human celebrity is more than that of a fictional celebrity. Regarding the purchase intentions

of teenagers, it was found that a human celebrity is more effective than a fictional celebrity in food and

non-food low-involvement products. In the case of the high-involvement product, the human celebrity

was not found to create favorable consumer attitudes.

Research limitations/implications – The study results suggest that celebrity endorsements are useful,

but the nature of the product also has an influence on success. One limitation of the study was the

restriction to print advertisements.

Practical implications – A major implication from the findings for the managers is that a human

celebrity may not always be the right choice for any product promotion for teenagers. More specifically,

for high-involvement products, celebrity endorsement needs to be handled with caution since it may not

prove to be successful.

Originality/value – The contribution of the study is in addressing an area that has not been very well

researched as yet, and in addressing a research question that has not been investigated properly.

Keywords Celebrities, Youth, Consumer behaviour, Product endorsement

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

One of the factors that is important in making an advertisement likeable is the use of positive

characters, i.e. those perceived to be credible, memorable, intriguing, amusing and bright

(Leather et al., 1994). Celebrities are considered to be such positive characters and are

used extensively in product endorsement activities. About 60 percent of advertisement

expenditure in India consists of celebrity endorsements (Saxena, 2008). The booming

advertising industry has seen a spurt of celebrity endorsements across all product

categories. Celebrity endorsements are perceived to cut through ad clutter and are effective

in building credibility for the brand while generating spin-off publicity through public

relations. New brands get recognition and this aids in positioning and repositioning the

brands (Kaikati, 1987). Celebrity endorsements are not only fruitful in appealing to the target

audience (Erdogan, 2005), but also in bringing reliability and trust to the brands endorsed

(Challapalli, 2007).

DOI 10.1108/17473611111141623 VOL. 12 NO. 2 2011, pp. 171-183, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-3616 j YOUNG CONSUMERS j PAGE 171

Varsha Jain is a Research

Fellow and Head of the IMC

Division at the Mudra

Institute of Communications

Research, Ahmedabad,

India. Subhadip Roy is an

Assistant Professor at IBS

Hyderabad, Hyderabad,

India. Aarzoo Daswani and

Mari Sudha are both

Research Associates at the

Mudra Institute of

Communications Research,

Ahmedabad, India.

Received: July 2010Revised: January 2011Accepted: February 2011

Similarly, animated films and television have generated a great deal of interest in fictional

characters. As a result these fictional celebrities have featured in variety of products,

including high-priced products. This is done by the licensing of fictional celebrities by

various companies to extract the benefit of these established characters (Callcott and Lee,

1994). The advantages of licensing fictional celebrities as endorsers includes effective

communication of the brand ethos, expanding the product portfolio, increasing brand s

awareness, giving easy entry to new markets and building brand equity while retaining

brand loyalty. Additionally, other advantages include more scope of creativity, flexibility and

cost-effectiveness (Bhatia and Puri, 2007). Also, fictional celebrities bring more enjoyment

than a normal testimonial in advertisements (Bhushan and Philip, 2009). The use of a fictional

celebrity endorser is the fastest approach to making serious money as it brings with it the

prospect to drive into new revenue streams (Sanghari, 2008).

The effect of celebrity endorsement is such that young consumers are more likely to use

products endorsed by them as celebrities mould their consumption (Chan and Prendergast,

2008). Martin and Bush (2000) noted that teenagers were influenced by entertainers and

athletes who were elevated to role-model status by the highly media saturated atmosphere.

Not only do they compare themselves with celebrities but also speak as if they shared a

‘‘real’’ relationship with them.

With about 115.3 million teenagers, India has the largest teenage population in the world. In

a decade, they will represent the largest percentage of the population in India

(NRIFinanceGuide.com, 2008). A survey commissioned by the Associated Chambers of

Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) found that the average monthly allowance of

urban Indian children aged 10-17 years is Rs. 1,300 ($US26) (Ghosh, 2008). The teenage

years are also the first phase of their life in which they feel they are taking informed decisions

about the brands they purchase (Dougall et al., 1999).

Usually, while bidding to get a slice of the teenagemarket, marketers often make the mistake

of considering all kids within a certain age group to be more or less the same and extend the

same treatment to this segment (Geraci et al., 2000). This generates the need to focus on

knowing the exact attitude and behavior of this ever-on-the-move generation towards

advertisements featuring real and fictional celebrity.

2. Literature review

Celebrities are known for being extremely good at something beyond appearing in

advertisements, and their outstanding skill in their respective fields brings them into the

public eye and makes them objects of veneration and respect (Pringle, 2004). Celebrity

endorsement effectiveness has been tested by many researchers in the past, and many

theories and models have been built. The theories include source credibility (Ohanian,

1990), source attractiveness (McGuire, 1985), match-up hypothesis (Till and Busler, 2000)

and the meaning transfer model (McCracken, 1989). Source effect models highlight the

characteristics of the source or the message sender and its effect on the receiver. The

source credibility model identifies source expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness as

key components. The source attractiveness model examines similarity, familiarity and

likeability as key components. The match-up hypothesis suggests that the effectiveness of

celebrity endorsement depends on the existence of a ‘‘fit’’ between the celebrity endorser

and the endorsed brand. The meaning transfer model consists of three stages wherein firstly

the celebrity image is formed, secondly this celebrity image transfers to the product and

finally from the product to the consumers.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) reveals an interaction between involvement level

and type of endorser. Under low-involvement conditions, the type of endorser has a

significant impact on attitudes towards the product but no impact on behavioral intentions.

The type of endorser manipulation found that celebrities had marginally significant impact

on brand recall over ordinary people (Petty et al., 1983). Celebrity endorsers are more

effective than non-celebrity endorsers in generating attitudes towards advertisement,

attitude towards brand and purchase intentions (Erdogan, 1999). Kahle and Homer (1985)

PAGE 172 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj VOL. 12 NO. 2 2011

found that an attractive celebrity created more favorable purchase intention as compared to

an unattractive one.

Furthermore, while trying to explore studies related to teenager perception and impact of

celebrity endorsement advertisements, it appears that the exposure to mass media is quite

large, as 89 percent and 91 percent of teenagers respectively watch television and movies

regularly (NRIFinanceGuide.com, 2008). As a result, teenagers select media figures as their

role models based on the characteristics that they can identify themselves with (Martin and

Bush, 2000). Young people admire their icons and stars that are dependable (McGowan,

2000). They are attached to brands endorsed by their icon celebrity and aspire to adopt their

image and lifestyle (Martin and Bush, 2000; Thomson and Woodham, 1997). The brand is

referred as a ‘‘cool brand’’ among teenagers when a cool celebrity uses it (Martin and Bush,

2000). Teenagers state that when entertainers endorse the products, then the chances of

using the product increase (Chan and Prendergast, 2008). When teenagers attach to a

likable product, there is a high chance of them being involved in its purchase decision

process (Beatty and Talpade, 1994). Brands in the entertainment, food and clothing areas

are major interests among children (Pecheux and Derbaix, 1999).

Erdogan (1999) found that the possibility of teenagers shopping with their parents

decreases as their age increases. Teenagers are future adults and have buying power and

influence over family purchases. They tend to spend more freely on less expensive products

that are especially for their own use and are within their buying limits (Foxman et al., 1989).

Apart from making decisions pertaining to products for their own use, the teenage

population influences many of parental product and brand choices (Foxman et al., 1989;

Erdogan, 1999). Talpade and Trilokekar-Talpade (1995) reveal that teenagers are involved

from the very initial stage of bringing up the idea of buying a product to the decision stage of

buying the product from a store. This increased influence is observed for a variety of

products, ranging from chewing gum to a new car or vacations and travel (Foxman et al.,

1989; Geraci et al., 2000). The influence stems from being better informed than their parents,

so they can enjoy the status of an advisor or consultant to the parents (Christensen and

Rohde, 1999).

Prior research relating to the effectiveness of fictional celebrity endorsers was studied. A

study examining the influence of an animated spokes-character on preschoolers suggests

that animated spokes-characters generate high levels of attention, character recognition

and liking and product recognition and liking. However, these high levels of recognition and

liking did not transfer to product preference, intention or choice (Neeley and Schumann,

2004). Callcott and Lee (1994), in their content analysis of animated spokes-characters in

television commercials, revealed that celebrity spokes-persons appeared more popular for

adult-oriented durable or service products.

With fewer studies dealing in teenagers’ behaviors, attitudes and buying patterns towards

advertisements featuring human and fictional celebrities in different product categories, the

present study tries to find the same, along with the reasons for favoring such advertisement.

The study is insightful, as young people are considered to be innovative, energetic, flexible,

positive, friendly and knowledgeable. Their behavior and thinking is normally different, and it

is difficult to convince them to pursue a product (Byfield, 2002). Thus the following

hypotheses were formulated:

H1. A human celebrity has a more favorable impact on consumer attitudes (i.e. attitude

towards the advertisement, towards the brand and purchase intention) than a

fictional celebrity in the case of a food product.

H2. A human celebrity has a more favorable impact on consumer attitudes (i.e. attitude

towards the advertisement, towards the brand and purchase intention) than a

fictional celebrity in the case of a non-food low-involvement product.

H3. A human celebrity has a more favorable impact on the consumer attitudes (i.e.

attitude towards the advertisement, towards the brand and purchase intention)

than a fictional celebrity in the case of a non-food high-involvement product.

VOL. 12 NO. 2 2011 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj PAGE 173

Admin

Highlight

3. Methodology

3.1 Design of the study

Experimental design was the selected methodology given the nature of the study objectives.

The three product categories included food products, non-food low involvement products

and non-food high involvement products and the three endorsers consisted of a fictional

celebrity, human celebrity and no endorser as the control group. Thus the experimental set

up was a 3 £ 3 full factorial design. The product category had three levels (i.e.

low-involvement food, low-involvement non-food and high-involvement non-food). The

endorser had three levels (i.e. fictional celebrity, human celebrity and control without an

endorser).

3.2 Variables and measures

The independent variables used in the study were the celebrities and the product and

dependent variables were consumer attitudes, namely attitude towards the advertisement

(AAD), attitude towards the brand (AB) and purchase intention (PI).

3.3 Pre-test

The selection of the levels of the independent variables required a pre-test. Pre-tests were

conducted on batches of 60 students of standard ninth and 12th (age ranging between 13

and 17, years respectively), in order to know their preferred products and celebrities. The

first pre-test was conducted to identify the human and the fictional celebrity. This was

conducted on two separate but homogenous groups of sizes around 40 individuals. An

opening brief was followed by a single open-ended question which asked, ‘‘Which

celebrity/fictional character would you most like to watch in an advertisement?’’. The most

preferred human celebrity was Aamir Khan (Hindi movie actor with 87 percent of votes) and

the most preferred fictional character was found to be Mickey Mouse (89 percent of votes).

Pre-test 2 was conducted to identify the products to be used in the study. This was

conducted on a single group of around 40 respondents. The results suggested that for food

products the respondents preferred chocolate; for non-food products they preferred

shampoo (low-involvement) and television (high-involvement).

3.4 Treatments

From the pre-test results, nine treatments were operationalized, with the identified three

product categories and three endorsers. Nine print advertisements were prepared with

fictitious brand names and punch lines. In the human celebrity and the fictional celebrity

conditions, the celebrities selected from the pre-test were put in the ad alongside the

product and the punch lines were adjusted accordingly. The three ads of the control group

had only the product and the punch line. Print advertisements were chosen as the treatment,

for two reasons. Firstly, it was not possible to create fictitious video advertisements using a

celebrity endorser because of cost and production difficulties. Secondly, it was feasible to

use a print advertisement as a treatment, since it could be attached as a supplement in the

questionnaire developed to collect responses. Once completed, the advertisements were

shown to three advertising practitioners to check that the fictitious advertisements looked

natural.

3.5 Questionnaire design

In the final study, nine separate questionnaires were designed. The basic pattern of the

questionnaire remained the same with minor changes according to the treatment. The

questionnaire opened with a brief about a celebrity management group that had roped in a

celebrity for endorsement activities. The brief continued with a note about the product brand

for which the company would use the celebrity as endorser. The brief added that it had come

up with an advertisement but was not sure about the impact of the advertisement. This

followed with questions pertaining to the attitude of the respondent towards the

advertisement and also probed into the reasons for liking. Similarly pages 3 and 4 had

questions pertaining to the attitude of the respondents towards the brand and their purchase


intention, respectively. Further there were questions related to the likeability of the celebrity.

Finally, the last few questions pertained to the demographic factors like age and gender.

3.6 Sample profile and data collection

A total of 15 schools with English as the medium of instruction were approached (as the

language used in the advertisements and the questionnaires was English) in Western India,

of which seven agreed to participate in the research study. Students from the eighth

standard to the 12th standard were considered as they fell in the age group of 13-17 years.

The questionnaires were administered to 418 teenagers and of those 378 respondents were

retained as usable responses. The response rate of the teenagers (respondents) was 90

percent. The number of girls and boys was 177 and 201, respectively.

3.7 The experiment

The experiment was conducted in the following manner. The researcher gave a brief to the

students about the study. Next, questionnaires were distributed along with the

advertisements in the class. In every class three sets of questionnaires along with the

relevant advertisement were circulated and administered, under the supervision of two

researchers. It was also ensured that each student spent five to ten minutes in observing the

advertisement and 15 to 20 minutes in filling up the questionnaire. The researcher ensured

that the questionnaires were completely filled before collecting them back.

4. Data analysis and results

A 3 £ 3 product involvement by celebrity endorsement factorial design was analyzed using

SPSS MANOVA procedure. It was found that the dependent variables (AAD, AB and PI)

were significantly correlated to each other (rAAD;AB ¼ 0:578, p ¼ 0:000, rAB;PI ¼ 0:540,

p ¼ 0:000, rAAD;PI ¼ 0:447, p ¼ 0:000), which necessitated the use of MANOVA to control for

Type I error.

The scores of dependent variables – i.e. attitude towards advertisement (AAD), attitude

towards brand (AB) and purchase intention (PI) – were calculated from multi-item scales

given in the questionnaire before running multivariate analysis. The group means for all the

dependent variables in each treatment group are given in Table I.

Before the MANOVA was run, Box’s M test for homogeneity of covariance matrices was run.

The M statistic was found to be 190.9 and the corresponding F statistic (3.859) was

significant at the 5 percent level. However, the literature (Stevens, 2002; Timm, 2002) has

suggested that Box’s M is very sensitive to sample size and normality of the data and thus

the authors decided to go ahead with the MANOVA. The MANOVA effect results (Table II)

(determined here through Pillai’s trace) for both the independent variables were significant,

with F values for celebrity of 5.027 and for product of 4.536. The interesting finding was that

of a significant interaction effect (F value 1.945); that is, both independent variables of

celebrity and product jointly influenced the set of correlated dependent variables.

Table I Group means: dependent variables (AAD, AB and PI)

Product category/endorser Fictional celebrity Human celebrity No endorser

Low-involvement (food) Treatment 1 2.04 Treatment 2 2.38 Treatment 3 2.172.20 2.68 2.442.04 2.80 2.02

Low-involvement (Non-food) Treatment 4 2.24 Treatment 5 2.83 Treatment 6 2.372.67 3.18 2.612.79 3.05 2.18

High-involvement (non-food) Treatment 7 2.33 Treatment 8 2.17 Treatment 9 2.792.37 2.38 2.632.80 2.68 2.67


Next, the MANOVA result was subjected to further tests in order to examine the effect of the

independent variables on each dependent variable. Table III provides the effects of

independent variables on each dependent variable respectively. The results indicated that

both the independent variables had a significant main effect on AB and PI at the 5 percent

level of significance. However, both independent variables were not found to have a

significant effect on AAD at the 5 percent level. The celebrity £ product interaction effect was

found to be significant on dependent variables AAD and PI but not on dependent variable

AB at the 5 percent level of significance (see Table III).

To test for the three hypotheses stated earlier, the post-hoc Bonferroni tests of mean

comparison was used along with graphs of marginal means. The results of the post hoc tests

have been presented in three sub sections, each one dedicated to a particular dependent

variable.

4.1 Attitude towards advertisement (AAD)

The post hoc tests for AAD supported the findings in Table III. There was no statistically

significant difference in AAD across the categories of the celebrity (mean difference:

human, fictional ¼ 0:3218, p ¼ 0:091; human, control ¼ 0:0198, p ¼ 1:000; fictional,

control ¼ 20:3019, p ¼ 0:126) or the products (mean difference: low-involvement

food, low-involvement non–food ¼ 20:2842, p ¼ 0:085; low-involvement food,

high-involvement¼20.2842, p ¼ 0:217; low-involvement non-food, high-involvement ¼

0.0516, p ¼ 1:000). However, analysis of the profile plot of the marginal means indicated the

presence of interaction effect among the independent variables (Figure 1). The human

celebrity was found to have a favorable impact on the attitude towards the advertisement

than the fictional celebrity and control group for the food product (chocolate) and the

non-food low-involvement product (shampoo). However, in case of the high involvement

product (LCD TV), the control group mean of 2.79 was higher than that of both celebrities

(human and fictional).

4.2 Attitude towards the Brand (AB)

The post hoc tests for AB also supported the findings in Table III. There was no statistically

significant difference in AB across the categories of the celebrity (mean difference:

human, fictional ¼ 0.3123, p ¼ 0.118; human, control ¼ 0.1851, p ¼ 0.511; fictional,

Table II MANOVA results: main and interaction effects

Effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Significance

Celebrity 0.079 5.027 6.000 734.000 0.000Product 0.072 4.536 6.000 734.000 0.000Celebrity £ Product 0.062 1.945 12.000 1104.000 0.026

Note: Design: Interceptþ Celebrityþ Productþ Celebrity £ Product

Table III MANOVA results: main and interaction effects on each dependent variable

Source Dependent variable Type III sum of squares df M square F Significance

Celebrity AAD 5.152 2 2.576 2.468 0.086AB 7.154 2 3.577 3.347 0.036PI 19.472 2 9.736 9.415 0.000

Product AAD 5.799 2 2.900 2.778 0.063AB 11.645 2 5.823 5.448 0.005PI 13.958 2 6.979 6.749 0.001

Celebrity £ Product AAD 14.198 4 3.549 3.400 0.010AB 7.794 4 1.949 1.823 0.124PI 14.650 4 3.663 3.542 0.007


control ¼ 20.1272, p ¼ 1.000). In case of the product, there was a significant difference in

attitudes across chocolate and shampoo and shampoo and TV (mean difference:

low-involvement food, low-involvement non–food ¼ 20:3801, p ¼ 0:011; low-involvement

food, high involvement ¼ 20:0177, p ¼ 1:000; low-involvement non-food, high

involvement ¼ 0:3624, p ¼ 0:017). However, even in this case, analysis of the profile plots

of the marginal means indicated the presence of an interaction effect among the

independent variables (Figure 2). The human celebrity was found to have a more favorable

impact on the attitude towards the brand than the fictional celebrity and control group for the

food product (chocolate) and the non-food low-involvement product (shampoo). Similar to

the previous case, the control group mean was the highest for the high involvement product

(LCD TV).

4.3 Purchase intention (PI)

The post hoc tests for PI suggested that there was a significant difference in the Purchase

Intentions across the celebrity and the product categories. Whereas the human celebrity

generated significantly higher purchase intentions than both the fictional celebrity and the

control, there was no significant difference between the purchase intention levels of the

fictional celebrity and the control group (mean difference: human, fictional ¼ 0:4196,

p ¼ 0:012; human, control ¼ 0:5556, p ¼ 0:000; fictional, control ¼ 0:1361, p ¼ 1:000). In

the case of the product, significant differences were observed between the food and

non-food (both high and low involvement) product categories (mean difference:

low-involvement food, low-involvement non–food ¼ 20:3840, p ¼ 0:009; low-involvement

food, high–involvement ¼ 20:4263, p ¼ 0:003; low-involvement non-food,

high–involvement ¼ 0:0423, p ¼ 1:000). Further observations of the marginal means

suggested that the human celebrity had a more favorable impact on the purchase intention

of the non-food low-involvement (shampoo) and the food product (chocolate) than the

fictional celebrity and control group for food product (see Figure 3). However, in case of the

high-involvement product (TV) the marginal means of all three levels were close to each

other.

Figure 1 Profile plot 1. Dependent variable: AAD; independent variables: celebrity and

product


Figure 2 Profile plot 2. Dependent variable: AB; independent variables: celebrity and

product

Figure 3 Profile plot 3. Dependent variable: PI; independent variables: celebrity and

product


4.4 Evidence for H1

From Table IV it is evident that all the consumer attitudes were higher for the human celebrity

than the animated one or the control in case of the food product, i.e. chocolate. The highest

positive consumer attitude was achieved for the variable ‘‘purchase intention’’ for Aamir

Khan, the human celebrity (2.802). In all cases, the control (i.e. no celebrity) had the least

favorable consumer attitudes. The MANOVA results (represented by the significant F

statistic) supported the claim that the means for all the dependent variables across the

categories of independent variables were significantly different from each other. This was

further supported by the post hoc tests, where most of the post hoc differences were

significant, suggesting a difference of effects because of the character used. Thus H1 was

supported.

4.5 Evidence for H2

From Table V it becomes evident that all the consumer attitudes were higher for the human

celebrity than the animated one or the control in case of non-food low involvement product,

i.e. shampoo. The highest positive consumer attitude was achieved for the variable attitude

towards brand for Aamir Khan, the human celebrity (3.183). The MANOVA results in Table V

(represented by the significant F statistic) here also support the claim that the means for all

the dependent variables across the categories of independent variables were significantly

different from each other. This was further supported by the post hoc tests, where most of the

post hoc differences were significant suggesting a difference of effects because of the

character used. Thus, H2 was supported.

4.6 Evidence for H3

From Table VI it becomes evident that all the consumer attitudes were higher for the control

than the human and fictional celebrity in the case of the non-food high-involvement product,

i.e. television. The highest positive variable that was achieved was for the purchase intention

(2.802) for fictional celebrity; however, consumers’ attitudes were more inclined toward the

Table IV Product £ character means for food product (chocolate)

MANOVA resultsDependent variable Product Character Mean Pillai’s trace F statistic Significance

AAD Chocolate Aamir Khan 2.381 0.158 3.070 0.007Mickey 2.037Control 2.167

AB Chocolate Aamir Khan 2.675Mickey 2.195Control 2.444

PI Chocolate Aamir Khan 2.802Mickey 2.041Control 2.016

Table V Product £ character means for non-food low-involvement product (shampoo)

MANOVA resultsDependent variable Product Character Mean Pillai’s trace F statistic Significance

AAD Shampoo Aamir Khan 2.833 0.161 3.561 0.002Mickey 2.238Control 2.369

AB Shampoo Aamir Khan 3.183Mickey 2.667Control 2.611

PI Shampoo Aamir Khan 3.048Mickey 2.794Control 2.175


control. This means that a fictional celebrity may work for a non-food high-involvement

product but consumers need detailed information about the product. The related MANOVA

results given in Table VI, however, were different from those for H1 and H2. As well as this, the

post hoc tests were not found to be significant, implying that there was no significant

difference in the means of the dependent variables because of the character. Thus, H3 was

not supported.

5. Discussion

The most important finding of the study is that a celebrity may not be the only reason behind

favorable consumer attitudes for any product category. The findings of the study broadly

suggest that human celebrity has a favorable impact on the attitude of teenagers towards

brand and advertisements of food and non-food low-involvement products, which is

supported by the literature (Neeley and Schumann, 2004). In the case of the food product,

the human celebrity created the most favorable impact on the consumer attitudes, namely

AAD, AB and PI. This finding supports the literature on celebrity endorsements, which found

a celebrity to be an effective mode of marketing communication (Erdogan, 1999). In case of

the non-food low-involvement product, the human celebrity was found have a major impact

on consumer attitudes. In this case, the product was a style-enhancing product, and

according to the literature (Martin and Bush, 2000; McGowan, 2000) teenagers are

influenced by celebrities, who they consider to be style icons. In the case of the

high-involvement product the human celebrity was not found to create favorable consumer

attitudes. This may have happened because consumers require more knowledge about a

high-involvement product before they make a purchase decision, and they are not easily

influenced by an advertisement (Byfield, 2002). In fact, the control group had highest means

for AAD and AB in case of the high-involvement product. Thus there was support for H1 and

H2, but H3 was not supported by the findings. The study further suggests that teenagers

think logically about products and accordingly develop intentions to purchase it; they also

prefer ads to carry new features and new technology about the product rather than just the

presence of a celebrity endorser. The finding also supports the elaboration likelihood model,

which suggests that in the high-involvement condition, having a celebrity in an

advertisement may not be sufficient to create positive consumer attitudes (Petty et al.,

1983). Thus, advertisements need to highlight the key features or attributes of the product

clearly. However, in both low and high product categories teenagers desire the product

design and layout to be new and creative. Therefore, advertising appeals or messages need

to be designed according to their preference for different product categories to have a high

impact.

6. Managerial implications

For managers, the first lesson from the current study is that indiscriminate use of a celebrity

is not a good strategy. A human celebrity may not be good for promoting all product

categories. Thus, by being selective about a celebrity endorsement, managers may be able

Table VI Product £ character means for non-food high-involvement product (TV)

MANOVA resultsDependent variable Product Character Mean SE Pillai’s trace F statistic Significance

AAD TV Aamir Khan 2.167 0.158 0.096 2.051 0.060Mickey 2.333 0.158Control 2.786 0.158

AB TV Aamir Khan 2.381 0.160Mickey 2.365 0.160Control 2.627 0.160

PI TV Aamir Khan 2.675 0.157Mickey 2.802 0.157Control 2.667 0.157


to create more effective communication and at the same time save some expenditure.

Secondly, the study also pointed to the fact that a human celebrity may not be more effective

than a fictional celebrity/character in creating a favorable consumer attitude. In cases where

a fictional celebrity/character is popular and is less costly to acquire, the marketer should go

for this option, as it would generate the same positive response as the human celebrity.

Lastly, the product category would have an important role in determining which

spokesperson to use or in fact whether to use one at all. In case of an aspiration-oriented

product, such as a shampoo, consumers may be wooed by a human celebrity since the

consumers look up at him/her as a role model and would like to appear/dress up as him/her.

However, where a product is high-involvement and requires information-seeking from

consumers, using a spokes-character may not turn out to be a successful strategy. The

marketer should rather focus on the product’s features and properly inform the target

audience of them. This too would be less costly. To summarize, our study points out that

there may not be a single successful strategy when it comes to the use of spokes-characters

in advertising. The product category as well as the objective of the marketer will interact to

determine the right strategy.

7. Conclusion and limitations

The objective of the study was substantially supported by the findings. The study suggests

that for food and non-food low-involvement product categories, the impact of a human

celebrity is greater than that of a fictional celebrity. Regarding the purchase intention of

teenagers, it was found that a human celebrity is more effective than a fictional celebrity in

food and non-food low involvement products but a fictional celebrity may have more impact

in the case of high-involvement products. In future, teenagers would like to see human

celebrities in advertisements of low-involvement products because they are attractive and

the teenagers can also easily relate themselves with these celebrity, thus in a way they have

a fair share of being in sync with the latest trends. However, a more detailed depth interview

trying to find out what the consumers look for in an endorsement, and how they differ

depending on the spokes-character (celebrity/fictional character) could provide a future

research direction.

This study used only one medium for the research work, i.e. print. Television could also be

used and a similar study could be conducted. The study could be extended by determining

the effectiveness of celebrities in service brands. The emotional appeal attached to

celebrities among teenagers and simultaneously its effect on product performance can be

derived. Lastly, the same study could be extended and applied to international celebrities for

audiences in the Indian region.

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About the authors

Varsha Jain is a Research Fellow and Division Head of Integrated MarketingCommunications at the Mudra Institute of Communications Research in Ahmedabad.Currently, her research is focused on branding and celebrity endorsements inadvertisements. She has presented her research at international conferences, forexample, the Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC, Singapore),and has publications in international and national journals and book chapters to her credit.Varsha Jain is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]

Subhadip Roy is an Assistant Professor at the ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad. Hereceived his PhD from ICFAI University, Dehradun. His research interests are in the areas ofbrand management, advertising and market research.

Aarzoo Daswani is a Research Associate in the Department of Integrated MarketingCommunication (IMC) at Mudra Institute of Communication Research, Ahmedabad, India.She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from the K.S. School of BusinessManagement, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Som Lalit Institute ofBusiness Management, Ahmedabad, India. Her research interests include advertisingcommunication and consumer behavior.

Mari Sudha serves as a Research Associate in the Department of Integrated MarketingCommunication (IMC) at Mudra Institute of Communication Research (MICORE),Ahmedabad, India. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Statistics from StXavier’s College, Ahmedabad and the School of Sciences, Ahmedabad, respectively. Herresearch interests include operational research, applied statistics, social network analysisand culture and advertising communication.


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