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CONSUMER TRENDS
 Research says celebrity endorsements fail to meet expectations
Despite the fact that businesses believe celebrities
have a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers,
researchers have discovered that this does not seem to be the case.
British and Swiss researchers conducted a study showing that advertisements
featuring endorsements by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett
Johansson are not as effective as those featuring ordinary people. The
difference is that regular people prefer to purchase goods that are bought
by other regular people.
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In a sample of 298 undergraduates, researchers presented a
magazine advertisement for a digital camera that included an
endorsement by a fictional student claiming the camera was “hot”
and his “preferred choice.” The same advert was shown to other
students, but with a difference: the camera was endorsed by an
invented testimonial from a famous person in Germany. The researchers
also measured how important it was for consumers that the purchased
products make a good impression on others.
While the students said that both testimonials were beneficial, the
student testimonial topped the celebrity one if students aimed to
impress others with their purchases. There was no variance with respect to gender.
Professor Brett Martin, of the University of Bath’s School of Management,
explained that the findings can be used not only in Germany, but in other
countries as well. “Our research questions whether celebrities are the
best way to sell products,” said Prof. Martin. “Celebrities can be effective
but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a
fictional fellow student. This is because many people feel a need to
keep up with the Jones’ when they buy.”
According to Prof. Martin, students target fashionable and trendy
products that are endorsed by people who resemble them. They do not
favour products that are “approved by celebrities like David Beckham,
Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt or Scarlett Johansson. So they are more influenced
by an endorsement from an ordinary person like them,” he explained.
Prof. Martin, who collaborated with St Gallen’s Daniel Wentzel and
Professor Torsten Tomczak in the study, went on to say that the research
showed that the advertising industry is needlessly shelling out millions
to endorse products using top performing athletes and actors. “Of course there
are key tools to calibrate the match between a celebrity and a product and when
these tools are used, it can work very well,” he said. “But in terms of this
research, if people are influenced by peer pressure then it's the people who
offer the social approval who count.”
More than half of the students polled, who admitted to purchasing products
that would impress others, said they were influenced by the student testimonial.
Only 20% said the celebrity testimonial would affect their buying decision.
For those who do not buy to impress, only a mere 5% focused on the student testimonial.
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More information:
University of Bath home page
University of St Gallen home page
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