A study of the attitudes and behaviours of consumers towards celebrity endorsed products and the effect celebrity association with adverse publicity has on these attitudes and behaviours

Leahy, Kieran (2012) A study of the attitudes and behaviours of consumers towards celebrity endorsed products and the effect celebrity association with adverse publicity has on these attitudes and behaviours. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Companies today invest phenomenal amounts of money to bring celebrities to their specific advertising campaign in the hope that they will draw attention to the endorsed products or services and transfer image values to these products or services due to their celebrity profile and appealing persona, the use of celebrities as endorsers is viewed in the main from positive aspects. This caused the author to consider if the converse was also true - that any negative aspects of celebrity endorsers affected consumer choices? More specifically, and interestingly, what particular factors are most important in affecting consumer perceptions of brands as a consequence of negative endorser publicity?

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the attitudes and behaviours of consumers towards celebrity endorsed products and the effect celebrity association with adverse publicity has on these attitudes and behaviours.

The literature review examines the manner in which endorsement is a tool that helps to build a lasting perceptual account of the brand as one that is acceptable and desirable to the consumer The author identified from previous studies in the area of celebrity endorsement four key viewpoints, principally, Company, Celebrity, Brand and Consumer. From previous studies the author identified the key crucial attributes when selecting celebrities as endorsers, as a result this may be considered a preliminary study on which the research question has been based.

The author will use qualitative research methods, because the author is interested in learning about the subjective opinions of consumers regarding endorser crises and the effect on consumers brand loyalty.

It has been proven by this study in conjunction with the literature review that consumers are affected by celebrities as endorsers, and that consequently negative publicity for the endorser may impact negatively on the brand being endorsed. This research holds as per the Research Hypothesis that; as a consequence of the fact the modern public have heightened exposure to the private lives of celebrities; the public are no longer judgemental when the celebrity is associated with negative publicity. The effect of this is that there is little or no negative effect on consumer purchase behaviour toward celebrity endorsed brands. The principle finding in respect of the attributes celebrities should possess are that two crucial attributes, trustworthiness and expertise are fundamental when a company is selecting an endorser.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Advertising H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Consumer Behaviour
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Science in Management
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	17 May 2013 16:12
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2013 17:11
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/797

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