IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND THEIR ROLE IN CREATING BRAND AWARENESS

V.Harini1 Email: hariniy.edu @gmail.com.Ph:9985530400. P.Ramya2 Y.Prashanth Rao3

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Abstract
Indians adore their loving stars (celebrity) .The advertisers see this as an opportunity to grab and work on so as to expand their products. The celebrity endorser is a panacea for all marketing woes. Despite the cost and the risks involved with this technique of advertising, it is been used quite extensively in the present era. Exploit of Celebrity in advertisements adds new edge and dimension to the brand. To be successful, a brand needs to have a strong identity of its own. It should ideally not piggyback on the identity of a celebrity and hope to achieve success. The star appeal however needs to be perfectly blended intelligently and strategically to reap the benefits and make brands. The verdict of the study reveals impact of celebrities endorse in creating awareness of the brand to the customers also unearth the relationship between celebrities, the brands they endorse which make the customers to snatch the brand. Keywords: Celebrity, Endorsement, Brand Awareness, Customer, Advertisement.

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V.Harini1Assistant Professor Dept. of Business Management, Vaageswari Institute of management sciences, JNTU (H), Karimnagar. Email: hariniy.edu@gmail.com.Ph:9985530400. P.Ramya2 Assistant Professor Dept. of Business Management, Vaageswari Institute of management sciences, JNTU (H), Karimnagar. Email:parimala.ramya1@gmail.com.Ph:9966132211 Y.Prashanth Rao3 Dept. of Business Management, Kakatiya Institute of Management and Sciences, KU, Karimnagar. Email: prashanth.y88@gmail.com. Ph:9985540400

INTRODUCTION
Celebrity endorsement is increasingly being employed across various industries regardless of the product type. As it is playing the role of a signaling strategy. (Pappas, 1999) examined the value of star power in an endorsement and pointed towards how a well-designed advertising helped celebrities convert their star power into brand equity. Various advertising styles are used by advertisers to influence consumer brand choice behavior and among these different available choices one very popular choice is Celebrity Endorsements. (Alsmadi,2006). A person who enjoys public recognition from a large share of a certain group of people and uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in advertisements is known as a celebrity. (McCracken, 1989). According to (Reynolds, 2000) celebrity endorsement can give a brand a touch of glamour. Majority people of the country are speckled in terms of beliefs, traditions, states, culture, language, dialects, norms and values. Indian advertisement has been placing a vital amount of importance on both recall and persuasion as brand differentiating messages.(Dixit,2005). Some people are seen to admire, imitate, and become infatuated with their favorite celebrities, which forms the root for the celebrity endorsement being quite a sought after advertisement technique.(McCutcheon et.al 2003). Today celebrity endorsement is being seen more and more as an integral part in an integrated marketing communication strategy. The three main principle factors in the market today justify the validity of celebrity endorsement as a promotional strategy. The first factor is increasing opportunity for interactivity between brands and their consumers. The era of consent situation presents today where consumers have more control over the messages they receive. And lastly is the increasing media fragmentation and commercial communication disorder.(Temperley and Tangen, 2006).

The Root of the Concept in India: In India from late1970s and early 80s brands started being
endorsed by the celebrities. One of the first sports endorsements in India was when Farokh Engineer became the first Indian Crickets to model for Brylcream. The Indian cricket teams now earn roughly Rs. 100 crore through endorsements. Also Endorsing Late Jalal Agha in Pan parag, Tabassumi the ad of Prestige pressure cooker, Sunil Gavaska for Dinesh suitings, and Kapil Dev to the Palmolive shaving cream are some of the examples for brand endorsement at the time. The first brand that comes to the Indian mind is that of Lux, the Beauty Bar of the Stars HLL has used Hindi film stars to endorse their beauty soap. Since its inception, Lux the brand has grown positioning itself through celebrity endorsement. Also Lux tried to change its positioning from being a womans soap to being soap for men as well by introducing Sharukh khan as one of the ambassador in the year 2010. However, the positioning is not at most success.LUX since the fifties.
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Theory and practice proves that the use of superstars in advertising generates lot of publicity and attention. (Ohanian, 1991). More or less every consumer has a brand preference and given the affordability and societal norms, each buyer would like to buy and consume one of the highly acceptable, recognizable, and reputed brands. Advertising that uses celebrity endorsers enjoys high popularity among brand managers (Amos et al., 2008). The billions of dollars spent on celebrity endorsement contracts show that celebrities from Sports, Film Industry, and Models play an important role in the advertising industry. (DaneShvary and Schwer, 2000, Kambtsis et al.2002). Known products and names are sold more than unknown ones.Each year, companies spend vast amounts of money to convince celebrities to endorse their products and brands (Jaiprakash, 2008; Klaus and Bailey, 2008; Lee and Thorson, 2008); for instance, the below Table-1 show celebrity brand endorsement 2012.

Table-1: Celebrity Endorsements In 2012

Multi-Brand Endorsement Kareena Kapoor Sony Vaio, Alpenliebe Eclairs, Head & Shoulders, Philips Hair Curlers, AirTel, Lavie, Boro Plus, Lux, Pepsi, Sangini Diamonds, Limca & Mahindra Rodeo! Phew! Saina Nehwal Top Ramen Tiger biscuits, Thumbs Up, Yatra.com (in Salman Khan which he is also a stake holder), Ranbaxys Revital & Relaxo, Hawaii chappals Mahendra Singh TVS Bike, Pepsi ad with Ranbir, McDowell's No 1 Soda, Airtel - Keep Dhoni Believing & Maxx Mobile. TVS Scooty, Sofy sanitary napkins, Reliance Anoushka Communications Ltd, Elle 18 Cosmetics, Sharma Nivea, Canon & Geetanjali Jewellery. Priyanka Chopra Nikon Cool Pix, Dabur Amla Hail Oil, Dabur Vatika, Blender's Pride Fashion Tour 2012, Asmi & Garnier Cream. Shahrukh Khan Mahagun, Pepsodent, Navratan oil, Tag Heuer & Lux. Relaxo Hawaii Chappals, Nakshetra Diamonds, Titan Raga Watches, Yardley & Lux. Pepsi, Lenovo, Tata Docomo and Nissan Micro. Luxor Nano Clean, Just Dial, Kalyan Jewellers and Maggie Noodles. Nescafe, BSNL , Yamaha Scooty Celebrity Estimated Amount

Rs 1-1.5 crore per day

Rs 40 crore 3-year deal Rs. 1.5-7 crore

100-crore deal signed in 2010.

Rs 80 lakhs

Rs 3-3.5 crore per deal Rs 5-7 crore per brand / Rs. 1.5-2 crores per day Rs 1- 1.25 crore per day Rs 1.5-2 crores per day Rs 1-1.5 crores

Katrina Kaif Ranbir Kapoor Amitabh Bachchan Deepika Padukone

Rs 6-crore deal with Garnier

Source: www.buzzintown.com

Literature Review:
Indian advertisement has been placing a vital amount of importance on both recall and persuasion as brand differentiating messages. (Dixit,2005). According to (Friedman and Friedman ,1979), a "celebrity endorser is an individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed. Various advertising styles are used by advertisers to influence consumer brand choice behavior and among these different available choices one very popular choice is Celebrity
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Endorsements. (Alsmadi, 2006). Traditional celebrity endorsements are as well established as the concept of celebrity itself.(Anonymous, 2007). According to (Tom, 1992) results endorsers were more effective in creating a link to the product than celebrity endorsers based on the classical conditioning paradigm. In the light of company news and academic writing it is safe to argue that celebrity endorsers are more effective than non celebrity endorsers in generating desirable income.(Erdogan, 1999). Marketers make use of celebrity endorsements as they lead to better information storage in the minds of the consumers which can be readily retrieved when the purchasing situation dose arise. All these lead to the conclusion that celebrity endorsements is likely to have a positive effect on product choice behavior.(Goldsmith, Lafferty and Newell, 2000) A Celebrity may be asked to present a product or service as a part of character performance rather than personal testimonial or endorsement. On the concept and application of celebrity endorsement (Agarwal and kamakura, 1995) cite industry sources who estimate that approximately 20% of all television commercials feature eminent people..They studied all endorsement contracts over the period 1980-1992. In their sample 60% of the endorsement deals involve soft drink companies and athletic shoes manufacturers. They also provide an event study that examines abnormal stock returns on the day that a company announces the signing of a celebrity for product and endorsement purpose. Experiments suggest that in certain situations, celebrity endorsement can enhance recall and consume assessment of the products. (Clark & Horstman, 2003). (Mishra and Beauty, 1990) (Petty et al, 1983) and (Menon et al, 2001) indicate that celebrity endorsements enhance brain recall. It is believed that using celebrities can also turn out to be an unnecessary risk, unless there appears to be a very logical relation between the endorser and the product.( Erdogan, 1999).The following Table-2 show some advantages and disadvantages of celebrity endorsement.

Table-2
Celebrity Endorsement Advantages and Disadvantages Potential Advantage Increased attention Image Polishing Brand Introduction Brand Repositioning Potential Hazards Overshadow the brand Public Controversy Image Change Over Exposure Image Change and Loss Of Public Recognisation Underpin Global Campaigns
Source: Erdogan 1999

Expensive
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Objective of the Study:

The Present study mainly attempts t examines: To study Impact of celebrities endorsement in creating awareness of the brand to the customers and To unearth Customers Preference towards celebrity endorsed brands.

Sources of Data:
The present study is based on both primary data and secondary data Primary data were collected by asking simple questions. Questions are framed to justify the at most objective of the research. Secondary data were collected from various books, news papers, magazines, related articles from journals, related data from internet.

Sample Design:
The present study has followed the convenient sampling method. The study is confined to karimnagar district only and due to time constrain the following information was collected from 45 respondents which includes all categories of demographic profile.

Limitations of the Study:

The study is based on a sample of 45 respondents only. The generalization made in the study is applicable only for karimnagar district, Andhra Pradesh. The inferences are based on the assumption that the data provided by the respondents is true and correct. The findings of the study are based on simple percentage analysis.

Analysis and Interpretation:

Table-2: Demographic Profile

Demographic Factor

No of respondents

Percentage (%)

GENDER Male Female Total AGE Under 18 18-25 26-35 36-50 Abov50 Total OCCUPATION Students Business Class House Wives Total EDUCATION Under Graduate Graduate Post Graduate Professionally Qualified Total
Source: Primary data

17 28 45

37.77 62.22 100

1 14 21 5 4 45

2.22 31.11 46.6 11.11 8.88 100

25 12 8 45

55.55 26.66 17.77 100

05 11 17 12 45

11.11 24.44 37.77 26.66 100

Inference: The above demographic profile of the respondents primarily reveals the category of gender of 37.77% is male respondents and 62.22% are the female respondents. The age category shows 46.66 are under the age group of 26-35 the rest indicates the other age groups. Occupation expose 55.55% percent of students and others are business class and housewives 26.66% and 17.77%.finally the education qualification of the above respondents are 37.77% of post graduates, 26.66% are professionally qualified, 24.44% and 11.11% are graduates and under graduates.

Table-3:
Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Product/Brand S.No 1 2 Response Yes No Total No of respondents 37 08 45 Percentage of respondents (%) 82.2 17.7 100

Chart: 1

17.77%

Yes No 82.22%

Source: Primary data

Interpretation: There are 37 respondents who accepts that celebrity endorsement have impact on creating awareness of the product & brand out of which 8 respondents disagree with the above statement. Conclusion: It is observed that celebrity endorsement reflect on the Product/Brand.

Table-4:
Celebrity Endorsement in Creating Brand Awareness S.No 1 2 3 Response Yes No Cant say Total No of respondents 31 11 3 45 Percentage of respondents (%) 68.88 24.44 6.66 100

Chart no: 2

6.66%

24.44%

Yes No 68.88% Can't say

Source: Primary data

Interpretation: Respondents of about 68.88% accept that celebrity endorsement create more brand awareness to the product/brand where as 24.44% disagree and that they do not have any effect of celebrity in choosing their brand and 6.66% revels that they cant say anything about it.
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Conclusion: Most of the respondents accept that it is essential to endorse a celebrity in creating brand awareness.

Table-5:
Customer Perception towards celebrity Endorsement S.No 1 2 Response Indicate quality of the brand Creates awareness of the brand to the new customers 3 Both Total 10 45 22.22 100 No of respondents 18 17 Percentage of respondents (%) 40 37.77

Chart no: 3

22.22% 40%

Indicates Quality Awareness to new customers

37.77%

Both

Source: Primary data

Interpretation: Respondents of about 40% accept that endorsing of a celebrity for a product or brand indicates quality of a brand/Product.37.77% belive that celebrity endorsement create awarenes of the brand to the new or existing customers.Only few of the respondents say that Celebrity Endorsement indicates quality of the brand as well as create awareness of the brand to the new or existing brand is accepted by 22.22% . Conclusion:
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The perception of customers towards celebrity endorsement indicates quality of the brand and the respondents also accept that it creates awareness of the brand to the new and existing customers some of the respondents agree for both.

Table-6:
Preference/Demand to brand/Product in view with celebrity endorsed S.No 1 2 3 4 Response More Average Less no Total No of respondents 20 15 8 2 45 Percentage of respondents (%) 44.44 33.33 17.77 4.44 100

50.00% 45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00%

44.44%

33.33%

17.77%

4.44%

More Source: Primary data

Average

Less

No

Interpretation: Above data explain that Product/Brand which are endorsed by the celebrities will be given more preference and have more demand in the market when they are purchasing 44.44% and 33.33%.Customers believe that they review the celebs when they purchase their product or brand. Only few customers say that they give less preference /demand or no preference/demand to the brands or products which are endorsed by the celebrities.
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Conclusion: Product/brand has more demand and given more preference when they are endorsed by the celebrities. Conclusion: The research study concludes that celebrity endorsement create awareness to the customers about the product or brand. It is observed that customer prefer and believe in those products which are endorsed by the celebrities as well the product endorsement by the eminent personalities indicates quality of the product to the existing as well as to the new customers which in turn creates demand to the product in market. Finally, Beauty and popularity in the society creates money to themselves and to marketers.

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Websites: www.buzzintown.com.

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