Global J. of Arts & Mgmt., 2012: 2 (2)

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1 Research Paper: Rangarajan and Ponnarasi, 2012: Pp CELEBRITY ADVERTISEMENTS AND ITS IMPACT ON CONSUMERS (A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO MADRAS UNIVERSITY) Rangarajan.R and B. Ponnarasi Department of Commerce, University of Madras, Chennai 5. Corresponding author: ABSTRACT Celebrities have become major spectacles of today s media culture. Celebrities include from film world, sports world, and fashion world etc are all called as celebrities. The celebrities who are endorsing the product must have the knowledge over the product and the agencies that they are trusted. The major role of the celebrity endorsement is to build the brand image and also make the customer to go for repeat purchase so that the product can identified. Last but not least the sales factor should be satisfied by the celebrity for whom they have endorsed. For this research study we randomly approached students and faculties of Madras University. We explained the intention of the research while they were selecting one of the multiple choices in the questionnaire. The study focuses on identifying the celebrity advertisement the results showed that the highest percentages of (87%) were fell under the status of single than married with (13%). Men and women seem to like celebrity the most in a commercial followed by music. All the T.V Watching time groups like celebrity as model in a advertisement followed by music. The overall summary is that celebrity is undoubtedly the most preferred factor and almost every group has given 1 st place to celebrity. Majority of men and women or undecided on issues of celebrity advertisements more women favour celebrity advertisement with high scores of (31.7%). there are the things, profit and the loss due to the publicity of the branded products by the celebrities on TV in Chennai. Keywords: celebrity advertisement, attitude, liking, preference of celebrity and desire interest. INTRODUCTION Celebrity endorsements are powerful, has become evident from the above two examples but, why is it so?. This power is offered by the following elements, which also creates a 'Top of the Mind Position'. Instant Awareness, knowledge about the brand and easy recall. Values and image of the brand is defined, highlighted and refreshed by the celebrity. The celebrity adds new edge and dimension to the brand. Credibility, trust, association, aspiration and connectivity to brand. Belief in efficiency and new appearance that will result in at least trial usage (Bahram, 2010). Advertisement is defined as any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. Advertising can be traced back to the very beginning of the recorded history. Archaeologists working in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea have dug up signs announcing various events and offers. The Romans painted wall announce gladiator fights and the Phoenicians painted picture prompting their wars on large rocks along parade routes. Pompeii wall painting praised a politician and asked for votes. During the golden age in Greece town criers announced the sale of cattle, crafted items, and even cosmetics. An early singing commercials went as follows: for eyes that are shining, for cheeks like the dawn or for beauty that lasts after girlhood is gone or for prices in reasons, the women who knows or will buy her cosmetics from Aesclytos (Keane, 2000). Over the years advertisers have paid famous celebrity crores to endorse their products. Celebrity advertisement responsibilities can range from using and wearing certain brands (e.g.) Aamir khan - Samsung, Sharukh khan i10, Sachin boost, etc. It has become a part time profession for celebrities to promote products. Do the viewers really enjoy this? Do they really like to see their favourate celebrities to promote products and act like a model? This research study will provide answers to all these questions and the findings will be useful to every single consumer. Information reliability: Central goal of advertising is the convincing of consumers and persuasion to purchase, the ultimate objective, though not openly spoken, is to somehow attract consumers to the market offering of the company, generating positive attitude, reinforce positive association and ultimately to generate sales, may be a trial purchase. At later stages, the sponsor may work towards creating a brand loyalty but generating initial sales or increasing the existing sales is the primary objective. In this respect, the credibility of an endorser along with advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target audience of the attractiveness of the company's brand and generates sales. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness. Celebrities have become major spectacles of today s media culture. Celebrity advertisement is a powerful medium designed to endorse the product, aspiration and communication concept of acceptable behavior and golden rules (Reinhard and Messner, 2008). The increasing participation of celebrities in the marketing sector has given rise to an attractive market segment for a plethora of 120 ISSN (Online): X (Print) - Rising Research Journal Publication

2 product identification. Many companies have had considerable success using celebrities as spokes persons especially from the field of silver screen and sports persons, because celebrities appear to be seining increasing influence in society. To create effective messages, celebrity advertisers also have to consider the attractiveness of the spokesperson. Source attractiveness refers to the endorser's Physical appearance, Personality, Likeability and Similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived social value of the source. This behavior mainly goes back to halo effect, whereby persons who perform well on one dimension example: physical attractiveness or top professional performance, social status are assumed to excel on other levels as well i.e. happiness and coolness. This is evident from the use of surya and jyothika the modern, dynamic, outgoing and smart personality for Sunrise; they translate the modernism of the brand well. Samsung uses Aamir Khan in his different avatars for communicating to the public that their mobiles are as reliable and passionate as Aamir is for films. Both Surya pair and Aamir carry the message well and enhance the credibility of the brand which they endorse. Advertisement often selects celebrity endorsers as a promotion strategy to communicate the attribute of the product or brand. Today this advertising approach appears to be on the increase across the universe (Balakrishnan and Kumar, 2011). This study is focused on the following objectives: 1. To assess the liking /preference effect of celebrity advertisement 2. To analyze the attitude of celebrity advertisement on consumer. 3. To evaluate the recognition factors of celebrity advertisement towards consumers. METHODOLOGY The research study area was confined to Madras University only. The size of the sample is 200. Questionnaires were issued to 200 persons in person and were collected. All the samples were taken into account for research purpose giving the representation for different groups Viz., according to age, education, occupation and income. Random sampling has been reported for the research. Techniques used were ranking, percentage, chisquare test etc. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The demographic profile of respondents (Table 1) more than half of the respondents felt to the female gender of (50.5%). Correspondent to the age groups maximum fell under the group of below 25 were given by (66.50%). Men and women seem to like celebrity the most in a celebrity advertisement with the 1 st ranking followed by music which was given as 2 nd ranking. Men have given 3 rd rank to location or scenery while women have given for screen play or dialogue, slogan and jingle was rated as 4 th rank, where product information has been given the 6th ranking by both men and women (Table 2). All the T.V Watching time groups like celebrity as model in an advertisement by giving 1 st rank followed by music with 2 nd ranking. Less than 1 hour and 1to4 hour s group have given 3 rd place to location or scenery. 4-6 hours have given 3 rd place to jingle or slogan. Greater than 6 hour s group has given 3 rd place to dialogue and screenplay. Product information has been given 5 th and 6 th place by the groups (Table 3). So far we have seen the liking or preference test results of individual groups. The overall summary is that celebrity is undoubtedly the most preferred factor and almost every group has given 1 st place to celebrity. From this it can be concluded that celebrity factor is given that much importance by the viewers which means celebrity factor have created a big impact on the minds of viewers. In this test fourteen statements both positive and negative were given and the consumers were asked their opinion on a five point scale as to whether they agree or disagree to the statements (Table 4). Majority of men and women or undecided on issues of celebrity advertisements more women favour celebrity advertisement with high scores of (31.7%). While more men are against celebrity advertisements with low scores (Table 5). The calculated chi-square value is more than the table value at 10% level of significance. So there is a significant difference in the way men and women have scored on their attitude test, gender influences attitudes, men and women seemed to think in different ways (Table 6). Majority of the viewers of below 25years group are in favour of celebrity advertisements with high scores (49.8%) while more viewer 25-50years group are seemed to favour celebrity advertisements (40%) and viewers of above 50years group are not in favour of celebrity advertisements (Table 7). The calculated Chi- square test value is more than the table value at 10% level of significance. So there is a significant difference in the way differ age groups have scored on their attitude test. Age influences attitudes, are and attitudes scores are dependent factors (Table 8). From the table it can be seen that single people seem to favour celebrity advertisements views with high score percentage are more than those with low years old (76%). In terms of income level large score percentage. number of respondents fell under the category of below Rs. 1, 50,000 (70%). The highest percentages of (87%) were fall under the status of single than married with (13%). And the next level of resident wise classification the city respondents 121 ISSN (Online): X (Print) - Rising Research Journal Publication But married people against celebrity advertisements with more percentage low scores (Table 9). City residents seem to favour celebrity advertisements with a margin of high scores. Sub units residents are against celebrity

3 advertisements with a good margin of low scores. Attitude test results of individual groups are seen from the results gender, age, marital status; residents have an influence on attitude. These factors play a significant role in the attitude on celebrity advertisement. From the tables we can say that celebrity advertisements have created its impact on the minds of the respondents. Recognition of celebrities advertisements: Recognition test is about how well the respondents recognize the advertisements. Recognition test consist of 5 advertisements with 3 statements each out of 5 advertisements, 3 were celebrity advertisements and 2 were ordinary advertisements. If celebrities advertisements are better recognized then it can be concluded that celebrity advertisements have created an impact (Table 10). Men and women have recognized celebrity advertisements better than ordinary advertisements. Particularly advertisement 3 is well recognized with 77% and 80% score which featured the kollywood silver screen celebrity couple Surya and Jyothika, another celebrity Kareena and Kiran with 56% and 50% and Karthi and Kajal with 40% and 33% (Table 11). Celebrity advertisements Recognition under age group wise were below 25 years category recognized first celebrity advertisement with highest ranking of 1 st i.e.108 respondents (54%). The same people selected the third celebrity advertisement with 2 nd ranking and second celebrity advertisement as 3 rd ranking and identified better than ordinary advertisement (Table 12). Married and single people have recognized celebrity advertisement better than ordinary advertisements. Advertisement 3 as celebrity advertisement is very well recognized with 78% and 79%. Whereas the 2 nd rank was rated to first Celebrity advertisement with 52% and70% and the 3 rd rank was rated as 52% and 51% for third celebrity advertisement (Table 13). Different T.V watching time group have recognized celebrity advertisements better than ordinary advertisements. All the celebrity advertisements are well recognized with above 45% as minimum and maximum as 85% score. CONCLUSION India is one country, which has always idolized the stars of the celluloid world. Therefore it makes tremendous sense for a brand to procure a celebrity for its endorsement. In India there is an exponential potential for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant, thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product. This would especially prove true if the endorser and the category are a natural lifestyle fit like sportspersons and footwear, Sachin for Boost or film stars and beauty products. Television commercial which drew references to the `safety' of the product indirectly. Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalize on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand. Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.). Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet 122 ISSN (Online): X (Print) - Rising Research Journal Publication to generate interest among the masses. Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant chyawanprash category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in Dhoni for a huge amount. Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas. There is a huge Impact of Celebrity Endorsements among the consumers though TV commercials in Chennai as Chennaite s like the celebrities a lot and consider most of the celebrities their role models. There for more and more companies prefer the celebrities of different fields in India like the cricketers, Bollywood celebrities, Kollywood celebrities and other sports personalities. Celebrity endorsement is quite famous and effective in India. Most of the products of many companies are being endorsed by the Bollywood actors and Indian cricketers for better sales targets. Television is something which is watched all over Indian by the people of all class whether the people belong to lower class or middle class or upper class, all of them watch television to entertain themselves and most of the companies play the card of TV commercials in Chennai for more selling of their Consumer products with the help of the endorsements the South Indian celebrities. The companies most of the time get good results of the TV commercials by the celebrities but sometimes it proves out to be negative publicity for them as it often happens to the companies which hire the celebrities form the world of kollywood, world of cricket. Because if the cricketers or actors he or she don t plays well that time their endorsement on television is not like by the viewers and the viewers stop buying the products endorsed by the failure cricketers. So there are the things, profit and the loss due to the publicity of the branded products by the celebrities on TV in Chennai. There have a lot of researches and the analysis on the celebrity s endorsement on the Indian television for marketing the products of the branded companies in India. This is the fact that endorsement of the companies by the celebrities very effectively work in terms of increasing the

4 brand value and the sales of the products. The result of preference test, attitude test, recognition test have been found. Preference test says celebrity advertisement is the most preferred factor for the consumers in a commercial. Attitude test results were not as expected compared to preference: Recognition test says celebrity advertisements are better recognized. Certain factors like frequency of commercial and timing of the commercial which have contributed the better recognition for celebrity advertisements. Across the board all the groups have recognized, preferred celebrity advertisements better than ordinary advertisements. It can be concluded that celebrity advertisement have created an impact on the minds of consumers. REFERENCES Balakrishnan and Kumar Effect of celebrity based advertisements on the purchase attitude of consumers towards durable products, World review of business research, 1(2): Bahram, Zahral moment celebrity endorser influence On attitude toward advertisement and brand, European journal of social science, 13: Keane, Jan Media through the eyes of Young adults Journal of promotion management, 11, (12): Reinhard and Messner Explicit persuasion perceived- The determining roles of attractiveness and likeability, Journal of consumer psychology, 16(3) Table 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents. Gender Wise Frequency Percentage Male Female Age Wise Frequency Percentage Below Above Income Wise Frequency Percentage Below Rs.1,50, Above Rs.1,50, Marital Wise Frequency Percentage Married Single Residence Wise Frequency Percentage City Suburb Table 5. Association between gender and Attitude Scores. Attitude Score Gender (Scores) Level Male Female Total Low Average High Total Chi-square Value = Table 7. Association between age group and attitude Scores. Table 2. Factors preference or Liking of celebrity advertisements. Gender (Ranks) Factors of a Commercial Male Female slogan and Jingle 4 4 Screen play and dialogue 5 3 celebrity as Model 1 1 Music 2 2 Product Information 6 6 Location and Scenery 3 5 Table 3. Preference of celebrity advertisement based on different Television watching time slots. <1hr 1-4hrs 4-6hrs >6hr slogan and Jingle Screen play / dialogue celebrity as Model Music Product Information Location and Scenery Table 4. Attitude of Men & Women towards celebrity Gender (%) Attitude Score Level Male Female Low Average High Table 6. Attitude of Different Age Groups towards celebrity Age groups ( Percentage) Attitude Score Level <25 yrs yrs >50 yrs Low Average High Table 8. Attitude of Married and Single towards celebrity Attitude Score Marital Status wise (%) Level Married Single Low Average High ISSN (Online): X (Print) - Rising Research Journal Publication

5 Table 9. Attitude of Location of Residence Group towards celebrity Location of Residence wise (%) Attitude Score Level City Suburb Low Average High Table 11. Recognition of celebrity Advertisements by Age GroupWise Table 10. Recognition of celebrity Advertisements by Gender wise. Gender wise first instance recognition Advertisements (%) Male Female Table 12. Recognition of celebrity Advertisements by Married and Single groups. Age group wise first instance Marital Status wise Advertisements recognition percentage Recognition <25 yrs yrs >50 yrs Advertisements (Percentage) Married Single Table 13. Recognition of celebrity Advertisements by Different T.V. watching Time slots groups. Advertisements TV watching time groups (Percentage) <1hr 1-4hrs 4-6hrs >6hrs ************ 124 ISSN (Online): X (Print) - Rising Research Journal Publication