Pair the Ad Tagline to the Endorser’s Behavior

Celebrity endorsements are most effective when the shopper perceives that the celebrity’s skills match the nature of the marketed item and/or the celebrity is respected by the shopper for their distinctive accomplishments over time. A set of studies at University of Jammu augments this attention to the behavior of the celebrity. The studies analyzed the impact of priming—how observing the celebrity’s actions influences the consumer’s receptivity to subsequent marketing messages.
     The prime here was whether the celebrity was seen as living a more or less luxurious lifestyle. This was assessed in the context of whether the celebrity urged the shopper to spend money or save money. Since the studies were conducted with university students in India, the two celebrities chosen for reference in the example ads—Salman Khan and Ajay Devgon—were Bollywood film stars. On a survey prior to the main experiment, using a different group of participants, Mr. Khan had been found to be perceived as living quite luxuriously and Mr. Devgon as living more simply. In the main experiment, participants were shown photographs designed to reinforce these impressions.
     The ad in the experiment was for a fictitious brand of smartphone. For some versions, the tagline read, “Luxury, you deserve it,” while in other ads, it read, “Being economical keeps you going.”
     The study results indicated that participants’ willingness to spend money for the phone was raised when the primed reputation of the endorser matched the spirit of the tag line. In a follow-up study, parallel results were obtained when the priming was with a movie poster showing Mr. Khan playing either a wealthy or an indigent hero.
     Matching the ad tagline to an actor’s behavior might be safer when the endorsement is from the celebrity’s role persona than from their personal life. Studies at University of Newcastle and Monash University found that endorsements by the characters produced better attitudes toward the advertisement, attitudes toward the brand, and intentions to purchase the item. The reason is that the associations held by consumers are limited and fully known. But the real-life person can subsequently misbehave, dragging down the value of the endorsed brand.
     An extramarital affair, a DUI, a lapse in professional integrity. Reports of each of these were presented to a sample of Millennials by researchers at University of Leeds, University of Kent, and University of Sheffield. There was indeed a drop in the celebrity’s endorsement credibility.

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Roll Out Role-Based Celebrity Endorsements