Celebrity endorsements can be seen as a powerful and effective advertisement tool to cut through today’s thick media clutter, grab the attention of consumers by underpinning a brand’s image. The use of celebrities as a spokesperson for products and brands has been steadily increasing over the past decades. Celebrity Endorsements are perceived as a ubiquitous feature of modern marketing. Especially young consumers, who are considered to be brand conscious as well as regarded to idolise their favourite celebrities are a prime target of celebrity endorsements. Despite the many benefits celebrity endorsements entail, companies must also be aware of the potential drawbacks it brings along. Particularly celebrity endorser scandals are perceived to have an impact on a brand’s image. Owing to the steady growth of celebrity endorsements as an effective advertisement tool to boost a brand’s image, and to the fact that young consumers will remain the prime target of celebrity endorsements, this dissertation aims at investigating the impact of celebrity scandals on the brand image perception of young consumers. Based on a critical literature review, the author develops a conceptual and theoretical framework, in which this dissertation is set. An empirical study by means of an online survey distributed among 222 participants was conducted. Findings demonstrate that the brand image is hardly affected due to celebrity endorser scandals. However, the findings also reveal that felonies such as murder may lead to instant termination of consumption of a brand. The results of this research study provide some novel and useful insights into celebrity scandals and their impact on brands image, which can be used as guidelines for practitioners and as a starting point for further research.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.2. Background and Importance of the Topic
1.1. Problem Statement and Disposition of the Paper
2. Branding
2.1. What is a Product?
2.2. What is Branding?
2.3. The Importance of Strong Brands
2.4. Brand Equity
2.4.1. Building a Strong Brand: The CBBE Model
2.4.2. Brand Building Implications: The CBBE Model
2.5. Brand Image
2.6. Brands and Young Consumers
3. Celebrity Endorsements
3.1. What is a Celebrity?
3.2. What is Celebrity Endorsement?
3.3. Celebrity Endorsement as an Effective Advertising Tool to Boost Brand Image
3.3.1. Celebrity Endorser Selection
3.3.2. Celebrity Endorsement Selection Models
3.3.2.1. Source Credibility Model
3.3.2.2. Source Attractiveness Model
3.3.2.3. Match-Up Hypothesis
3.3.2.4. Co-Activation Theory
3.3.3. Implications and Limitations of Models
3.4. Celebrity Endorser Scandals: Drawback or Boost for the Brand Image
3.5. Celebrity Scandals and their Impact on Young Consumers
4. Methodology
4.1. Introduction
4.1.1. Research Objective
4.1.2. Research Approach to Empirical Study
4.2. Data Collection
4.2.1. Quantitative Research
4.2.2. Complications with Questionnaires
4.2.3. Assessing Validity
4.2.4. Reliability Testing
4.2.5. Questionnaire Design
4.2.6. Pilot Study
4.3. Sample Group and Execution of the Study
4.4. Data Analysis
4.5. Limitations
4.6. Conclusion
5. Data Analysis and Findings
5.1. Survey Results
5.1.1. Socio-Demographic Factors
5.1.2. Brands and Young Consumers
5.1.3 Celebrity Endorsements
5.1.4. Kate Moss Incident
5.2. Discussion of Results
6. Conclusion and Future Work
6.1. Limitations and Future Research
Research Objectives and Themes
This dissertation aims to investigate the impact of celebrity endorser scandals on the brand image perception of young consumers. Given the prime importance of young consumers as a target market for celebrity-endorsed products, this research seeks to determine to what extent public scandals involving celebrity endorsers negatively influence brand perception and whether such events lead to the termination of brand consumption.
- Analysis of the relationship between brand image and young consumers.
- Evaluation of celebrity endorsement as an effective marketing tool.
- Examination of the effects of negative celebrity information on brand evaluation.
- Empirical analysis of consumer reactions to specific celebrity scandal cases (e.g., Kate Moss).
- Investigation into whether scandals lead to immediate termination of brand consumption among young target groups.
Excerpt from the Book
Celebrity Endorser Scandals: Drawback or Boost for the Brand Image
Despite the many benefits a brand may have due to using a celebrity endorser such as accruing some value from the celebrity, instant brand awareness and recall, refreshment of the brand image defined by the value of the celebrity, building credibility and thus increase attention by the public, which result in more sales and subsequently higher market share, and so forth (Warren, 2007; Tufte, Rasmussen and Christensen, 2005) do not always lead to the desired success of the advertising campaign. According to Majudmar (2010) there are several reasons why failure may occur, which companies need to be aware of:
1) Ineffective Endorsement: marketers often attempt to force fit their brand and product. Frequently, firms select the celebrity they like instead of a celebrity that matches the product/brand.
2) Improper Positioning: as abovementioned; celebrity and product must match, e.g. Donald Trump endorsing a Porsche instead of, e.g. a Mazda.
3) Brand-Celebrity Disconnect: the values of the celebrity have to match the value of the product.
4) Overexposure of the same celebrity: the recall level may drop due to the fact that one celebrity endorses too many different brands.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the competitive nature of global business, the role of branding in establishing a competitive advantage, and the increasing reliance on celebrity endorsements.
2. Branding: This chapter defines branding and brand equity, highlights the importance of strong brands, and details the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model.
3. Celebrity Endorsements: This chapter explores the role of celebrities in marketing, examines various selection models, and discusses the potential impact of celebrity scandals on brand image.
4. Methodology: This chapter outlines the research approach, detailing the use of quantitative methods and online questionnaires to gather data from 222 participants.
5. Data Analysis and Findings: This chapter presents the results of the empirical survey, focusing on socio-demographic factors, brand perception among young consumers, and reactions to specific celebrity scandals.
6. Conclusion and Future Work: This chapter summarizes the research findings, confirming that while brand image is generally resilient to celebrity scandals, severe illegal behavior may prompt consumer withdrawal.
Keywords
Celebrity endorsement, Brand image, Young consumers, Brand equity, Celebrity scandal, Consumer perception, Marketing strategy, Customer-based brand equity, Brand loyalty, Advertising effectiveness, Match-up hypothesis, Co-activation theory, Consumer behavior, Brand consumption, Kate Moss.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research examines the impact of celebrity scandals on the brand image perception of young consumers, specifically whether such scandals damage the brand or alter consumer purchase behavior.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include branding foundations, the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements as an advertising tool, celebrity-product fit models, and the reaction of young consumers to public scandals involving their favorite celebrities.
What is the main objective of the dissertation?
The goal is to determine if celebrity scandals damage brand image from the perspective of young consumers and whether such negative information leads to the termination of brand consumption.
Which scientific methodology was utilized?
The author employed a deductive research approach, conducting an empirical online survey among 222 young participants to test five specific hypotheses.
What topics are covered in the main body of the work?
The main body covers literature reviews on branding and celebrity endorsement models, a detailed methodology chapter, and an extensive data analysis chapter analyzing survey responses regarding celebrity behavior and brand loyalty.
How would you describe the typical respondent in this study?
Respondents are young consumers aged 18-30, primarily of European descent, who are generally brand-conscious but surprisingly report that their personal image is not heavily tied to the scandals of celebrity endorsers.
How do young consumers typically react to a celebrity scandal?
Findings show that young consumers generally are not heavily affected by celebrity scandals unless the celebrity is strongly associated with the brand, or the scandal involves severe criminal acts like murder or rape.
Does a celebrity scandal always lead to a brand's loss of customers?
No, the study reveals that for most scandals, consumers do not instantly stop consuming the brand; however, incidents involving extreme criminal behavior may lead to a termination of brand consumption.
What was the significance of the Kate Moss case in this study?
The Kate Moss incident served as a real-world case study to evaluate manager decision-making vs. consumer reaction, revealing that while consumers might view the celebrity's behavior as "rebellious," managers are often quick to terminate contracts to protect the brand.
What were the final recommendations for practitioners?
The author suggests that companies should not overreact to every celebrity scandal, as damage to the brand image is often marginal, but they should remain vigilant regarding the nature of the controversy (e.g., felonies).
- Quote paper
- Raphael Städtler (Author), 2010, Celebrity Scandals and their Impact on Brand Image: A Study among Young Consumers , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/170577
