As celebrities nowadays dominate social media, their presence can influence consumers’ purchasing habits, similar to e-WOM. With Signarama’s snazzy infographic stating that over 15% of companies have some sort of celebrity endorsement, the industry is now worth billions. If a celeb is famous enough, they may even choose to dip their toes into any market they wish, much like Avril Lavigne’s endorsement of acne treatment lotion Proactiv or Kim Kardashian, whose sponsorship deals have ranged from Sketchers trainers to Charmin toilets.

However, high-profilers normally do best when endorsing products associated within their trade- for example, Lady Gaga works in the music industry, so her collaborative release of Beats headphones makes sense as it complements her offering- nothing could be more appealing to her Monsters than listening to her music through her official headphones. We’ll be focusing mainly on influencers within the music industry (although Kim K gave it a whirl, she decided to focus on other markets) and discussing the impact they have on products.

 

So, what are the benefits of using a public figure to represent your brand?

Influence & Aspirational Desire
Petty & Cacioppo’s Elaborational Likelihood Model of Persuasion (1968) suggests that endorsement may help capture individuals invested in the figure, who are otherwise relatively uninterested in the products they’re promoting. In addition, it can help create the impression that owning the product is a status symbol, bringing you closer to the celeb.
Goldsmith et al (2000) noted that celebrities were considered credible sources of information, which consumers follow. Taylor Swift’s deal with Diet Coke saw their Facebook page ‘likes’ rocket by over 800% the norm, revealing just how powerful the right spokesperson for your company can be.

Large Reach
The combined Facebook reach of famous figures that endorse sugary drinks is over .75 billion, meaning that endorsements can open up a huge platform for companies to communicate via.

Make Ads Memorable
We all remember that time Johnny Rotten did a commercial for butter. Why? We’re not really sure, but the antithetical juxtaposing of a punk rocker and dairy spread means the ad will stick with us for a quite while. How affective was it? Sales of Country Life soared by over 85%.

 

Sounds pretty good to me. Why isn’t everyone doing it?

Expensive
50 Cent’s deal with Vitamin Water netted him $100 million (due to him receiving shares prior to the company’s acquisition by Coca-Cola shortly after). Although this case is extreme, it highlights an important question- does your company have enough to invest in a prominent representative?

Harder to Quantify ROI
How many people bought The Sims 3: Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats as a result of Katy Perry’s involvement in the project, and who would have bought it regardless? It’s hard to tell, especially as The Sims is already a very popular game, whether the sponsorship deal resulted in additional sales or whether die-hard fans would have bought it anyway.

Brand May Be Affected By Celeb’s Bad Publicity
By relying on a particular individual to promote your product, you have sole figure representing your company- any publicity may alter the consumers’ perception of your brand by association, whether it be ameliorative or pejorative. 55% of those in Signarama’s study thought that a celeb’s bad publicity would most likely damage the reputation of their sponsor- Nivea’s campaign with Rihanna was dropped for her being “too sexy” for their branding.
Kamins (1990) suggested we are less likely to be susceptible to celebrity endorsements if we do not find the celebrity attractive- many people have criticised the GoCompare ad (although not for the actor’s physical appearance, but his persistent singing), which may deter potential customers from shopping with them (fun fact: the adverts landed the singer, Wynne Evans, a record deal and comedy series on the BBC).

People May Not Care
Signarama’s infographic also revealed that over half of those interviewed for their study thought that celebrity endorsement had little or no impact to what they were promoting.

 

So there you have it: some campaigns make a big impact, whereas others may have more limited success (I’m still not really sure how suitable Snoop Dogg was for a Norton Antivirus promotion). Ultimately, it’s down to picking the right person for the right price.

 

Statistics and Academic References

Goldsmith, R., Lafferty, B., & Newell, S. (2000). The impact of corporate credibility and celebrity credibility on consumer reaction to advertisements and brands. Journal of Advertising, Vol 29 (Issue 3)

Kamins, M. (1990), An Investigation into the ‘Match-Up’ Hypothesis in Celebrity Advertising: When Beauty Is Only Skin Deep. Journal of Advertising, Vol 19 (Issue 1)

Petty, R. & Cacioppo, J. (1986) The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Vol 19

Tomaszek, W. (2015), ‘Infographic: Can Celebrity Endorsements Influence Sales?’. Wallblog [Online] Available at <http://wallblog.co.uk/2015/05/12/infographic-can-celebrity-endorsements-influence-sales/> [Accessed 11.01.16]