Business Trend analysis - Essay Example

Business Trend Analysis: Celebrity Endorsements for Adolescent Product Marketing A recent trend in television advertising has been to reduce the number of celebrity endorsements used in product marketing. This may seem to be an illogical move. The link between celebrity culture and consumer capitalism is evident in all forms of mass communication. While the celebrity is usually a complete stranger, and someone we are never likely to meet, nor ever truly know, the virtual intimacy created between the celebrity and the audience is impossible to ignore. In addition, today’s celebrities are put through a process that grooms their persona and entertainment style to a specific market, presumably making them ideal endorsers for a product designed for their market. The skilful manufacturing of a well-celebrated personality gives credibility to seemingly unrelated products to a broad-ranged demographic. It also creates additional commerce by selling unintended advertising. Beckham’s voice and picture sell wireless phone services as well as advertising space in the tabloids. This, in turn can increase his popularity, visibility, demographic and ultimately the amount of money in his pocketbook, thereby giving him incentive to perpetuate the persona developed. However, marketing consultants such as myself are advising product manufacturers in the adolescent market to avoid celebrity endorsements for a variety of reasons. How Celebrity Ads Influence the Consumer A well-known credible face on a product is often used to display a mental picture to the consumer. When marketing a product, advertisers focus the consumer’s attention on a limited number of those product’s attributes. By shifting the spotlight of this attention to the face of a memorable celebrity, it is possible to manipulate perceptions of the product. Well-known images can be used to make the product’s positive attributes more prominent and therefore increase the probability that the product will be associated with the celebrity (Sutherland, Sylvester, 2000, p. 32). In the basic mental processes, people think in terms of pictures and/or images. The use of celebrity spokespersons help to retrigger the visual associations that have been communicated by the ad. “The significance of whether we think in words or pictures comes when we retrieve the commercial or its message from memory – say, at the point of sale when we recall that we have seen a commercial for the brand. Do we hear the ad in our mind? Do we see in words what it said? Or do we retrieve the visual images or impressions that are associated with it?” (Sutherland, Sylvester, 2000, p. 64). Advertisers are well aware that the act of consuming a brand can become a symbolic way for consumers to express identification with the entities associated with it. Consumers identify privately with another person or a group and often want to signal this feeling of identification to the world in some way (Sutherland, Sylvester, 2000, p. 74). Four types of endorsers (celebrity, CEO, expert, and typical consumer) tested determined that in comparison with other endorser types, the celebrity endorser scored particularly well on dimensions such as trustworthiness, believability, persuasiveness, and likeability (Till & Shimp, 1998). A large part of the reason for this is because anything the celebrity does is typically considered news, so the product(s) that celebrity endorses gain multiple exposure streams as their actions are covered in news media and on film such as “Pierce Brosnan’s involvement with Ericsson, the Swedish electronics group. The company has not only placed its cellular phone and communications technology in the latest James Bond action movie, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies,’ starring Pierce Brosnan, but also used him in its commercials with the headline ‘Ericsson Made/Bond Approved’” (Matthews, 1997, p. 17). When Celebrity Endorsements are Desired While it remains the recommendation of the marketing consultant to avoid using celebrity endorsements for the marketing of new products in the adolescent market for the various reasons highlighted above, there are ways of reducing the level of risk when celebrity endorsements are deemed appropriate. For instance, the match between an endorser and a brand is critical to successful advertising. An example of mismatching is the practice of celebrity athletes promoting unhealthy foods. Not only is it a contradiction to the very reason these athletes are popular in the first place, it is an obvious falsehood. This type of mismatching is damaging to both the saleability of the product and the credibility of the celebrity, an essential factor in marketability. Parents seldom appreciate a much adored and emulated athlete endorsing fatty, salty and sugary food brands. An example of accidental mismatching might include the use of Brittney Spears to endorse a new model car just before the recent news stories broke of Spears driving without a license and engaging in other irresponsible behaviours. Complicating the issue, the public perception of celebrities does not necessarily match the intention of the product makers who selected them. In many instances, there are no proofs against a celebrity ‘turning bad’ on a product following a recent ad campaign, but contractual agreements can have some effect in recompensing the company for financial losses as a result of excessive behaviour on the part of the celebrity. Advertisers want their target audience to have a positive feeling toward their chosen celebrity which transfers to the brand or will otherwise enhance the brands standing. The product’s credibility is threatened if negative information about the celebrity becomes public either during or after an advertising campaign. Widely publicized negative incidents of celebrity endorsers may become liabilities to the brands they endorse. To avoid this type of negative repercussions of celebrity bad behavior, many advertisers have been turning toward unchangeable celebrities. “The fear of potential celebrity scandals has given rise to a mini-trend toward using deceased celebrities – individuals who posthumously can no longer engage in behaviors that might bring embarrassment and injury to the brands with which they are linked” (Till & Shimp, 1998). Another current means of benefiting from celebrity endorsements without excessive risk is the use of celebrity voices for animated characters. While the voice of the celebrity gains the product brand recognition, the extra degree of separation afforded by the animated character minimizes the rebounding effects of any future scandals. Use of multiple celebrities Advertising agencies must decide by what method to utilise celebrities for a campaign. “Is it better to have different celebrities who appeal to different people within the target audience? Is one celebrity enough? How long is the campaign supposed to run? How much money is going to be spent? What media it is going to be run in?” (Baker, 1996). The decision to use a single or numerous celebrities is dependant upon the length of an advertising campaign. Agencies are cautious of potential downsides much more than potential upsides if the campaign has a long-term strategy. “The longer the time scale, the more substantial the brand, and thus, the less likely a campaign would stay with a particular celebrity. In the case of using multiple personalities, none of the celebrities may be specifically associated with the endorsed brand or vice versa” (Baker, 1996). If a campaign has a large advertising budget anticipating a lengthy campaign, multiple celebrities may be launched in order not to tire the target audience. “The sort of personality used to endorse a product should be different for different age groups. For example, two celebrities may be used to give slightly different attitudes to brands. In a lot of cases a brand has a wide range of consumers and sometimes the use of multiple celebrities is needed to cover the whole target audience, though it must be made sure that each celebrity’s values reflect core brand values” (Baker, 1996). A celebrity is the mouthpiece for a brand in communicating messages to target audiences rather more effectively than any other voice. The personalities of celebrities are very strong and they can rapidly change perceptions of a brand. “If a campaign has two or three celebrities, then whose personality is the brand trying to take? In this case, there is a great chance of confusing consumers about the brand’s identity. In order to prevent this possible confusion, when managers have genuine reasons and means to utilise more than one celebrity for a particular campaign, they should make sure every and each celebrity must possess compatible meanings that are sought for brands” (Baker, 1996). When Celebrity Endorsements go Bad Although there is evidence to suggest human spokespersons and celebrity endorsers have been effective, they are also risky to use (Tom et al. 1992) even when one’s celebrity has been 50 years in the grave or the product is endorsed by a series of endorsers. An advertising company, obviously, should select a spokesperson whose characteristics are fit with the brand image meant to be displayed to the consumer, but many do not carefully evaluate their choice of celebrities to ensure that the celebritys image matches the desired brand image. Even with the most careful screening of celebrity stability, however, it is eminently possible for such ‘good girl’ celebrities as Lindsey Lohan was a few years ago to quickly ‘fall off the ladder’ as they reach majority. The use of multiple celebrities begins to confuse the values the advertiser is attempting to highlight unless extreme care is taken in this selection as well. With it established that the risks of celebrity endorsement remain high and continue to rise to newer heights, it is also possible to determine that even young consumers are jaded to the benefits of the celebrity endorsement. An informal survey conducted by Smart Girls website asked 744 participants whether celebrity endorsements affected their decision to purchase. Specifically, the question read, “If a celebrity you like endorses a thing to buy, like shoes, music or a new trend, I would most likely buy it” (“Shop Til You Drop Survey”, 2000). Respondents were asked whether they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the above statement. Nearly half (46.24 %) of the respondents said celebrity endorsement had no effect upon their product choices by indicating that they disagreed with the above statement. Another 12.5 percent indicated that they strongly disagreed with the above statement, indicating that perhaps a celebrity endorsement might be counterproductive for this segment of the population even if the perfect celebrity could be located. (“Shop Til You Drop Survey”, 2000) Together, almost 60 percent of the adolescent female population, the heaviest consumer market of the age group, claim celebrity endorsement has no effect while the risks of using celebrity endorsements continue to rise. Although there remain just over 40 percent of respondents that indicated celebrity endorsements did have an effect upon their purchasing decisions, the trend continues to be for less influence and greater danger. Decision Making Process and Purchase Decision On the part of the consumer, while celebrities have been shown to have some effect on the decision making process, this effectiveness has lost its edge in the more informed market of the modern world. The decision making process is the mindful thought progression consumers go through before making a purchase. The beginning of this process can be triggered by many reasons. Most people dont actually need the product they buy, theyve just been made to believe it would be beneficial for them. Following this they will conduct an internal search made up of past experiences such as related purchases, recommendations or cautions from friends or colleagues, or a memory of an advertising promotion. The next step in the thought process is the external search. This is a more physical, plausible search for a product made by a consumer seeking to make an immediate purchase or as part of an ongoing search to stay updated until theyre ready to make a purchase. Judgment is then made on the information that has been built up during these two steps, internal and external. Only then does the consumer make their decision about which product to purchase. Once theyve made the purchase, they typically conduct a post purchase evaluation of the product that will result in either satisfaction or post purchase dissidence. Much of conventional marketing research has shown that consumer decision follows the sequence of need recognition, search for information, alternative evaluation, purchase and then outcomes. The sequence can have major variations, however, from one situation to the next in terms of the extent to which each of these steps is followed and how this is affected by the use or disuse of celebrity endorsements. There are two types of decision making processes defined. They include Extended Problem Solving and Limited Problem Solving (Engel, Warshaw, Kinnear, 1991). It’s the brand’s images that have a relatively insignificant impact on the consumers purchase decision if that product involves the consumer in extended problem solving. Brand images of products that entail restricted problem solving will have a more significant impact on the consumers purchase decision. “Advertisers today seem to be keenly attuned to the attribution processes through which subjects infer a spokespersons reason and rationale for advertising a product. The recent use of celebrities in advertising who make the claim that they have never served as a spokesperson before (i.e., George C. Scott for Renault) is a direct attempt by advertisers to influence consumers attributional processes” (Kamins, 1989). That is, it is hoped that consumers will attribute the celebritys involvement in the product to his/her firm belief in product quality and service (or other similar attributes) rather than just the monetary reward. “Hence, this strategy as outlined above and the use of a two-sided communication both have a goal of increasing advertiser credibility. In future research, it would be useful to study the interaction between these two strategies as well as the attributional processes which underlie their effectiveness” (Kamins, 1989). Conclusion All advertisers know that when used properly, celebrities can be very powerful marketing tools and help amplify the effects of an ad campaign. At the same time they must be very cautious in the current market to utilize this strong influence in an appropriate manner with carefully screened or ‘foolproof’ endorsers to avoid the kind of negative repercussions felt by products recently endorsed by such Hollywood embarrassments as Paris Hilton, Brittney Spears or Lindsey Lohan. Celebrities alone do not guarantee success as consumers understand advertising, know what advertising is, and how it works. People know celebrities are being paid a lot of money for endorsements and this knowledge leads them to cynicism about celebrity endorsements. Particularly within the adolescent market, where potential endorsers are teenagers themselves and thus highly susceptible to the kinds of sensationalistic headlines as those produced recently, it is wise to avoid celebrity endorsement as often as possible. Works Cited Baker, M.J. Marketing: An Introductory Text. (6Ed). London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1996. Engel, J. F., Warshaw, M. R., Kinnear, T. C. Promotional Strategy Managing the Marketing Communication Process. Richard D Irwin Books, (1991). Kamins, M., Brand, M., Hoeke, S., Moe, J. “Two-sided versus one-sided celebrity endorsements: The impact on advertising effectiveness and credibility.” Journal of Advertising. (Spring, 1989). Matthews, V. “Ericsson Calling James Bond.” Financial Times. , (December 1, 1997), p. 17. “Shop Til You Drop Survey.” Smart Girls. (2000). October 19, 2007 Sutherland, M., Sylvester, A. Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why, (2Ed). St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 2000. Till, B., Shimp, T. “Endorsers in advertising: the case of negative celebrity information.” Journal of Advertising. Vol. 27, Issue 1, (1998), 67-83. Tom, G., Clark, R., Elmer, L., Grech, E., Joseph Masetti Jr., J and Sandhar, H. “The Use of Created Versus Celebrity Spokespersons in Advertisements.” Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol 9, (1992), p. 45-51. Read More