The impact of paid endorsement and organic endorsements on trainers to consumers’ willingness to buy

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the impact of paid endorsement and organic endorsements on trainers to consumers’ willingness to buy. The study uses a convenient sampling method for questionnaire distribution. For millennials (18-25), 200 questionnaires were distributed, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank my dissertation tutor, Ben Siu, for his support throughout the process. Without his guidance, it would be difficult for me to conduct such research. I also appreciate all of my marketing lecturers at Plymouth University and the support I was given throughout till completion of the degree.

Moreover, I am grateful for the cultivation of my parents to let me finish my education carefree. My cousin Sam, he tried his best to help me finish my studies. I sincerely thank him. Besides, I am also very grateful to my aunts, uncles, my friends and other companions around, with their encouragement and support. They provided me with meals, transportation, travel, and hope. As a result, I was provided with learning resources that have greatly benefited me.

Research background

Since the 21st century, the commodity market has continuously escalated inactiveness and thrive, showing vigorous vitality, while providing consumers with diversified choices, and intensifying competition among enterprises. If you want to go upstream and seize the opportunity, you must implement appropriate marketing and promotion strategies.

Advertising has converted significance on companies to promotional products and consumers to comprehend the company. Celebrity endorsement advertising has been widely recognized and favored by many companies, because advertising can convince consumers to believe a certain point, thereby increasing sales and seeking benefits for the company.

Celebrity advertising is a form of advertising that uses movies and television stars, sports stars, social media celebrities, etc. as a brand or product celebrities. From the transmission of advertising information, the reception, and deal with consumers’ data to the era of purchase intentions, this is an intricacy procedure under internal and external interaction rather than a machinery “stimulus-response” regular procedure. The effectiveness of celebrity endorsement advertising also depends on various elements. Generally, advertising that adds value to a product by connecting the product brand to the image or prestige of a celebrity is one of the most general appeals in current advertising. Existing research shows that the effectiveness of celebrity advertising is influenced by many factors such as celebrity characteristics, product, and advertising characteristics, audience status, and advertising environment. Scholars use reference group models, associative learning theory, four “Fs” models, and other theories about the effectiveness of celebrity advertising.

Introduction

Firms use different approaches to endorse their goods and services. The strategies used to assist in ensuring that consumers could buy their products.  They include the use of different methods of advertisement. One of the process includes the use of social media platforms such as Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, among others (Dwivedi, Kapoor and McDonald, 2015, p.293). Also, they could advertise on TV, social media, and newspapers. According to Chung and Cho (2017, p. 490), common tools for promotion that organizations use are the paid and organic endorsement.

Paid endorsement illustrates the use of celebrity to advertise your products. However, organic endorsement involves using organic products to promote products (Medvene and Krauss, 1989, p.1415). This means that companies pay celebrities to advertise their products.

However, the organic endorsement does not need monetary exchange among the influencer and brand. Yet, they have significant impacts. It involves rewarding an influencer to market a product. Fan, Lu, and Gupta (2017, p.190) posit that organic endorsement is a cousin to the word of the mouth advertisement. It involves using individuals to talk about your products. They could be celebrities. The individuals could be using your products and since consumers love some in

Moreover, according to Spry, Pappu, and Cornwell (2011), the use of celebrity endorsement is an essential strategy since it assists in differentiating the brands and improving competitive advantage. A celebrity is a person who is well recognized and could promote a product through the use of the recognition (Pradhan, Duraipandian and Sethi, 2016, p.2016). Across the world, people watch celebrities, thus making them famous.

The fame could be used as an element to promote products since they capture the consumers’ attention (Seno and Lukas, 2007, p.130).  As a result, they influence the purchase intention of the products. It could also affect the brand one wishes to get a product (Oqunsiji, 2012, p. 143). Celebrity endorsement could also be perceived as part of the design of a company and brand promotion.

According to Roy and Jain (2016, p.540), celebrity endorsement has enabled organizations to establish connections between their brand and well-established individuals, such as celebrities. Many organization has been using celebrity endorsement in this era as a primary tool for promotion. For example, Nike signed a fear-year agreement with Tiger Woods, a legendary golf player in 1997 (Farrell et al., 2007, P.8). This was to increase the sales of their products.

According to Chung, Derdenger, and Srinivasan, (2013, P.285), Nike increased revenue by $103 as a result of endorsement with the Tiger Woods. The usage of celebrity advertisements had accumulatively increased because of social and economic development. For example, in the United States, one in six advertising is recognized by celebrities. In 1988, the section of celebrity advertisings was about 20%, and by 1997, this proportion had risen to 25% (Erdogan, 1999), celebrity advertisings accounted for 57% (Choi, Lee, & Kim, 2005), but in Japan 70% (Hsu & McDonald, 2002). Doran (1999) believes that when more and more consumers make their first consumption choice.

They help consumers make choices through the clear and strong impression of the brand logo in their minds. Therefore, paid and organic endorsements influence the willingness of the consumer to purchase.

Literature Review

The literature review provides information concerning the theoretical construct of the celebrity endorsement.

1.       WHAT IS CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Celebrity endorsement is one of the strategies to promote products. It means establishing a relationship between a brand and an influential person whose character resonates with the target clients and fits the brand (McCracken, 1989). Celebrities could promote a product through different approaches. They include adverts appearance, being mentioned in social media, and press.  Also, stars differ from one another. This is because they are recognized due to different elements. Therefore, celebrities include musical artists, athletes, and TV personalities, among others. According to the WARC Best Practice (2019), marketers would pay a star who has more than 500k $3,000 for an Instagram video post. Therefore, the amount paid depends on the popularity of the celebrity.

Celebrity endorsement draws the attention of the consumers to a brand, service, and product (Knoll and Matthes, 2017, 65). According to Kheder (2018), people who follow a particular celebrity could be interested in the products they provide. It is as a result of the popularity of the stars which make individuals more inspired by the products they endorse (Erdogan, 1999, p.300). According to Friedman (1979), celebrity endorsement increases the willingness of consumers to purchase products.

There are different types of endorsements. They include single, multiple, and created endorsers. Single endorsement involves the use of one celebrity to endorse a brand, while numerous endorsements use many celebrities to endorse a product. Saleem (2007, p.130) posits that having multiple celebrities to endorse brand could have more impacts on the willingness of the consumer to purchase than a single endorsement. For instance, Pepsi has been successful due to the use of multiple celebrity endorsements. It uses individuals such as Lionel Messi, Christian Ronals, and David Beckham, among others. Created endorsers involve an organization creating an individual to act as the spokesman of the firm (Wehmeyer et al., 2009, p. 100). According to Van Der Waldt, Van and Wehmeyer (2009, p.112), created endorsers offer a company with great control and power, as well as the ability to adapt to its marketing organization in addition to the advertising needs.

However, most companies do not use created endorsers since it could be expensive to develop someone within the organization to endorse. Also, it could take time to make one famous. However, the majority of the organization uses single and multiple endorsers. Bhagyashree and Solanki (2015, p. 25), reasons that having multiple endorsers have more impacts on the consumer’s willingness to buy than using a single endorser. This is because, in multiple endorsers, firms use many celebrities who have different followers (Hsu and McDonald, 2002). As a result, many individuals could be interested in the products endorsing.

Nevertheless, in a single endorsement, it involves the use of one celebrity who has followers, not many as in multiple endorsements. Therefore, the products the endorsement will be advertising will have few consumers interested in them than in the multiple celebrity endorsements.

Figure 1: examples of celebrity endorsement: Beyoncé endorsing Pepsi

2.    WHY USE CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Celebrity endorsement is considered and useful promotional tool by marketers worldwide. According to Hung, Chan, and Caleb, (2011, p. 610), one in four advertisements use celebrity endorsement to attain brand awareness, as well as the preference. This is because celebrities are capable of reaching a large number of consumers. Nelson and Deborah illustrate that reach is the number of consumers who have seen or heard a message for the intended product. Niazi et al., (2012, p.116) posit that marketing aims to create awareness about a brand and firm.

Once individuals have information concerning a product, they could choose to buy the brand. As a result, endorsement aims at influencing the behavior of the buyers to purchase (Saleem and Abideen, 2011, p. 60). Therefore, the excellence of the advertisement influence whether the buyers will opt to buy or not. Celebrity endorsement plays a significant role in any enterprise.

Companies use celebrity endorsement due to its benefits. However, the celebrity endorsement has disadvantages too. According to Lombard (2016), celebrity endorsement could build brand equity. As a result, celebrity endorsement establishes brand equity for the organization.  Brand equity refers to the organization becoming popular known, which influences the consumers to purchase their product. It simple terms, it relates to the worth of the products (Sharma, 2016, p.55). Brand equity could refer to the power that a company has over its competitors.

It results in product differentiation in a company. It comes from aggregate worthy of different elements in the mind of the consumers (Raluca, 2012, p.76). The constituents include brand identity, customer perception, brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand image, and brand association (Zipporah and Mberia, 2014, p.178). For instance, Nike has established its brand equity by sponsoring track athletes and tennis (Erdogan, 1999, p.230). This has enabled it to increase its revenue due to an increase in sales since the brand is recognized by man consumers. Therefore, celebrity endorsement creates brand equity, which gives a firm a tremendous competitive advantage in the market. Thus, increased sales.

Secondly, celebrity endorsement associates a brand with the skills of the celebrity (Aureliano-Sliva et al., 2016, p. 64). Therefore, when a celebrity endorses a particular product, the customers’ intention to buy will be influenced by the celebrities’ expertise. Usually, stars are individuals recognized to have top-notch skills. For instance, TV personalities are known for their expertise in the fashion industry (Zhou and Whitla, 2013, p. 1015). Therefore, using them to advertise clothes will entice many individuals to purchase the products. Therefore, organizations use celebrity endorsement to make their products more excellent since they are associated with the celebrities’ expertise.

Thirdly, celebrity endorsement assists in remembering the ads. In the marketing campaign, where celebrities are involved in ads, consumers will recognize the ads more efficiently (Ndlela and Chuchu, 2016, p.81). The ads will enable consumers to search for the products and buy. Therefore, it could lead to additional sales (Ndlela and Chuchu, 2016, p. 80).

Moreover, the use of celebrity endorsement makes adverts more noticeable by the consumers (Ndlela and Chuchu, 2016, p. 83). Since consumers love a particular celebrity making him/her endorse an advertisement will catch the attention of the consumer. Therefore, it could influence their willingness to purchase a product (Sharma, 2016, p. 56). Studies have illustrated that the use of celebrities in advertisement could result in enhancing the persuasiveness of the message. Therefore, it could result to brand recognition and increased sales (Zhou and Whitla, 2013, p.1017). Consequently, it leads to the growth of an enterprise.

However, due to the celebrities’ high-profile, the use of celebrity endorsement could have some disadvantages. First, the celebrity might overshadow the brand.  This means that celebrities might attract more attention than products (Swerdlow, 2003, p.17). For instance, the consumers might focus their attention on the celebrity rather than the product. Every advertisement needs to focus on the product instead of celebrities (Sharma, 2016, p.57). Also, the brand image could change. Celebrities are individuals who could be involved in the scandal (Raluca, 2012, p.76). The scandal could include involvement in sex, alcohol, and drugs, among other scandals.

Hence, the consumer will transfer the negative views about celebrities to the brand (Zipporah and Mberia, 2014, 178). Therefore, how individuals perceive them could change. As a result, consumers could view the products differently. They could have a negative attitude towards the products (Tanjung and Hudrasyah, 2019). Thus, reducing the sales of the products. For instance, Tiger Woods was used to endorsing Nike products. He was involved in the infidelity scandal in 2009, which impacted the company negatively. It is said that the company lost around US$5 to 12billions due to the scandal.

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Figure 2: Constituency of brand equity

Figure 3: the example of advertising raises product awareness.

Advertising can effectively promote the sale of products. Consumers will trust products recommended by their favorite celebrities and will quickly produce a good impression of high quality, high quality, and strength. Consumers’ trust in celebrities increases the value of brand preferences. It can lead to positive attitude shifts and positive emotions in a brand or product, even though this may not always be the case, as mentioned prior. Viewers become consumers of the product, not bystanders, by imitating or following celebrities.

3.      THE RISES OF USING CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

Many brands like to use celebrities in their advertisings, but they anxious that celebrities covered up the brand and undermined the image. Because celebrity celebrities are more familiar than amateurs, celebrities should be more accessible when evaluating advertisements.

So brand identity is more likely than amateurs. For example, well-known celebrities can activate certain associations in consumer memory, which amateurs cannot activate. (Erfgen, Zenker & Sattler, 2015, Erfgen, Sattler & Villeda, 2016). It is essential to use a celebrity that certain a relationship to the product.

Internet media research shows a high percentage of vampire influences: 80% of respondents may remember celebrities but not brands (Okorie, Oyedepo & Akhidenor, 2012). According to Kuvita and Karlíček (2014), in the sample advertisements’ results, it was found that pictures with celebrities are more easily remembered. But only 15% of people can anamnesis what products Angelina Jolie advertisement. Figure 3 is talking about, and even half of them without celebrity endorsements. People can pay attention to celebrities but not to remember products or brands.

Enterprises must choose the right celebrity. When designing advertising ideas, they must let the celebrities serve the brand and products, and not take the lead and have a “vampire effect.”  The vampire effect of celebrity celebrities on brand-related messages can be explained by the accessibility-diagnostic model. (Jahanzeb, Fatima & Butt, 2013, Sierra, Iglesias, Markovic & Singh, 2017) When vampire probabilities are not equal, the influence between celebrities and a brand or product increases. This effect is more likely to occur when a celebrity identifies a product that is not related to what he or she recognizes (Erdogan, 1999). Similarly, related celebrities have higher product recall rates than unrelated celebrities. (Erdogan, Baker & Tagg, 2001)

Figure 4: an example of Angelina Jolie advertising, an unrelated celebrity endorsement

The behavior of the stars is reflected in the brand, which influences the audience’s attitude towards the products they recognize. In the vampire effect, if a celebrity eclipses the brand, it will enable the consumers to remember the celebrity, not the product being promoted. If celebrities do too much advertising, their novelty will decline, so advertisings may not have a significant impact or meaning on the audience.

Celebrities with higher visibility are more familiar than unfamiliar amateurs, whose recognition makes it easy for consumers to remember and has high diagnostic accuracy. Therefore, celebrities may eclipse the brand itself compared to amateurs. The vampire effect is an essential issue in advertising because its occurrence can be difficult to predict.

To communicate a positive and credible message to the public, celebrities must broadly reach and appeal. Celebrities must behave well and decently to maintain a good reputation and integrity. Celebrities will face a crisis of consumer confidence after the announcement of an adverse event. A damaged celebrity reputation can threaten related and brands.

Although some research indicated that negative celebrity events would only harm lower-profile brands, the impact on well-known mature brands is not significant. Celebrity personality and prestige have gradually become important conditions for company choice. However, in the dual entertainment path model (Hung, 2014), celebrity recognition mechanisms can be easily understood as two types of mechanisms: non-entertainment or entertainment, and loyalty consumers’ emotional input beyond entertainment. In long-term marketing practices, talented celebrities cannot guarantee the popularity and best-selling of a product and sometimes even have an adverse effect.

4.      ORGANIC ENDORSEMENT VS PAID ENDORSEMENT

The organic endorsement can save brands money, and such advertising does not require any money investment. At the same time, it can attract consumers. The consumers consist of a group of online visitors who come here; they have developed a strong interest in the product or have a certain admiration for celebrities.

For example, an English journalist Lucy Watson has a lot of public attention, and her dress has been imitated by many people. (Figure 3) Then this will benefit the brand because they did not spend any money. Consumers are likely to think that this is a friend’s recommendation product rather than a sales promotion, which may increase the possibility of purchase intention. (Schreiner, 2019)

However, paid to advertise involves celebrities getting paid, and being a paying partner, using a range of products can attract more customers in a short period. For example, using tags or public brand sponsorship (Figure 4), A single ad can steadily increase the number of returning visitors and potential customers. If appropriately implemented, efficient paid advertising will be beneficial. The most significant advantage of paid advertising is quantifiable marketing results. Whether it’s just email advertising or a carefully planned digital marketing solution, you can use sophisticated computing tools to quantify the effectiveness of your advertising. However, since the lives of modern celebrities are open and companies more connected to stars, globalization with the spread of social media is at risk (Wang & Scheinbaum, 2017).

Figure 5: the example of organic endorsement

Figure 7: the example of paid endorsement

5.      UNDERSTANDING OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT: MODELS AND THEORIES

Scholars have suggested many theories that elaborate on how celebrity endorsement functions in the advertisement. This section provides models and methods of celebrity endorsement

l  Meaning Transfer Model

The meaning transfer model studied by McCracken (1989) is due to associative learning theory. The model was also used on research that researched the Jeans and VCRs using celebrities such as Christie Brinkley and Madonna (Langmeyer and Walker, 1991). The model believes the brand ambassador or celebrity advertising influence on consumers is virtually a representative procedure of meaning transfer and fission this procedure into three phases. Figure 4 below illustrates the stages of the meaning transfer model.

Figure 8: Conceptual Model

1. The formation of celebrity images. When celebrities perform well in television, film, sports, or other majors, the part will have particular social symbolic meanings for social statuses, such as class, gender, age, and personality characteristics.
2. Perceived transfer of meaning from celebrity to product: Celebrities and products appear in advertisements at the same time, the specific purpose of celebrities will be transmitted to endorsement products. McCracken (1989) emphasizes that different products have different meanings. Therefore, when choosing a celebrity, a company should take full account of the most typical meanings that a celebrity can represent (Roy and Jain, 2016, p.55). This occurs when the celebrity image and product image match at best, the transfer of meaning can be successfully completed, and the best advertising effect can be obtained (d’Antone and Merunka, 2015). The view that matching between celebrities and products may influence the effectiveness of advertising has been recognized by the industry, and many researchers call it the “matching hypothesis” (Kamins & Gupta, 1994; Till & Busler, 2000). In recent years, it has become one of the hot spots in advertising psychology research

III. Perceived transfer of meaning due goods to consumer: The procedure of personal consumption is usually a procedure of self-convey or self-improvement (Gwinner, 1997). Consumers consume goods recognized by celebrities, they also admire or acquire their symbolic significance, thereby realizing externalize or embellish of self-worth.

Limitation of the meaning transfer model

According to the Roy (2018, p.853), the meaning transfer theory is relevant in aspect of celebrity endorsement. However, the method is complex. Therefore, it is not used majorly due to its complexity.

Celebrity endorsement is significant because they add valency to the company, brand, or product after the meaning transfer procedure (Abimbola et al., 2010). According to this model, celebrities develop social roles through the identity and image popularized by the media. Social distribution them specific significance, and when they identify products, these significances are transferred to the company, brand, or product (Roy, 2018, p. 853). Will persuade consumers buying products, hoping to translate some of these meanings into life (Langmeyer and Walker, 1991). Advertisers should explore the symbolic meaning of celebrities to decide no matter these utilities are suitable for companies, because the effectiveness of the celebrity based on the part of its importance to the endorsement process.

l  The Four “Fs”

The four “Fs” were advanced by Pringle and Binet (2005). They believe that impressing on celebrities for brand promotion, advertisers and advertisers should premeditate the four factors: Fit, Fame, Facets, and Finance. (Figure 5)

Figure 9: Four “Fs” involved in using a celebrity for branding

1. Fit

This refers to whether the chosen celebrity matches the current product brand. According to Pringle and Binet (2005), if the advertising effect is low, the issue should not be focused on the celebrity, but the lack of appropriate section or scenarist to cooperate, celebrity is only the participant of the advertisement.

1. Fame

The popularity of celebrities is certainly a very significant factor when choosing an advertising celebrity. But it is worth noting that reputation is not an intent circumscription, it only visually presents within the audience. Between times consumers with higher visibility in one group may become blurred and placed in another colony. According to Pringle and Binet (2005), they asked “Is it famous?” is not enough? It must also be clear: “In which group is the reputation high?” Only then can the effectiveness of celebrity advertisings be guaranteed.

• Facets

The facets of showing celebrities in advertisings are not enough. Instead, think about possible celebrity branding methods and choose the creative field that works best. Pringle and Binet (2005) believe that celebrities may be related to the following six main aspects of the brand, and each item in the advertising creative should be carefully examined to determine the advantages of alternative celebrities to maximize the effectiveness of advertising communication.

• Celebrity consumer

In organic endorsement, celebrities may be consumers using a product. But how many audiences know about it? Can their creative ideas be disseminated as more formal facts?

• Celebrity sponsorship

Also, in organic endorsements, brands could connect with celebrities through sponsorship, which is more common in sports.

• Celebrity testimonial

This is one of the most influential ways to use celebrities in advertising. Celebrity testimonial is used mostly in paid endorsement. It also has a variety of expressions, containing voiceovers, music, presenting photos, TV shows, and live sales.

• Celebrity employee

Companies can also achieve branding by hiring celebrities as their employees as a paid endorsement strategy. This strategy has become almost routine in the vogue and cosmetology industries. Outstanding vogue designers, famous models, famous hairstylists, famous beauticians, often core creators of the brand’s intangible value.

• Celebrity owner

No celebrity has the closest relationship with a brand. In this case, celebrities manage and sell products in both paid and organic endorsement.

• Celebrity placement

Another prevalent way for commerce is to put goods, services in the scene of a celebrity’s life in a movie or TV show and present it to the audience simultaneously as the celebrity. It happens both in paid and organic endorsement.

1. Finance

The use of celebrities in any form of advertising in reality will commonly burden financials most. In addition, the amount is relatively large for fund allocation. Generally endorsing, the allowances paid to celebrities tend to far exceed the median rents and the compensation of advertising creative teams. The paid endorsement is usually expensive than organic since it does not require money to endorse.

l   The Source Models

The credibility of the advertising celebrity is an important factor in constructing the credibility of the source. Ohanian (1991) pointed out that the credibility source factors of advertising celebrities can be summarized into three characteristics:

1. Attractiveness

Wheeler, (2009, p.93), suggests that consumers believe that advertising celebrities have external charm, unique personality, sexy and favorite characteristics and so on, by attracting consumers ’attention and producing a positive impression of the products they recommend (Muda et al., 2014, p. 15). Attractiveness would impact paid and organic endorsement. For instance, an attractive celebrity will have an excellent body physique which make him/her to look nice after wearing an endorsing or endorsed product. Therefore, individual will be attracted by the clothes if they used the celebrity to advertise the clothes.  As a result, attractiveness influence the purchasing behavior of the consumer.

1. Reliability (trustworthiness)

Due to the degree to which consumers believe that advertising celebrities own characteristics of honesty and integrity, celebrities with a high level of trust by public often have persuasive effects (Ohanian, 1990). Reliability creates a good reputation to the celebrities which will be transferred to the products. Therefore, when reliable celebrities are used for paid or organic endorsement, the consumer will be willing to buy the products (Choi and Rifon, 2002, p.16). Therefore, reliability have impacts on the purchasing willingness of the consumer.

• Expertise

Consumers believe that advertising celebrities have expertise in displaying products. In addition, Bower and Landreth (2001) pointed out that the interaction between celebrities and products can affect the reputation of celebrities. Very attractive celebrities, consumers will also have a more reliable understanding of this (Wheeler, 2009, p.86). This characteristic is mostly useful in the paid endorsement since celebrities having a good communication could give a testimony about an experience with a particular product efficiently. The expertise has slights have an impact on the purchasing intention of the consumers.

According to Ohanian (1991), it is further pointed out that attractiveness, reliability and professionalism will affect purchase intention. Therefore, if a celebrity is in an advertisement, whether his claim can be effectively communicated to consumers and give them confidence in them depends on the reputation of the celebrity (Clow et al., 2006). Generally, highly reliable communicators are usually persuasive.

According to previous knowledge, the use of advertising celebrities has become an important method for corporate publicity. Companies looking for celebrities to endorse products are trying to gain brand recognition. If an advertiser finds a suitable and well-known celebrity with good image, presumably can add a lot to the effect of advertising (Muda et al., 2014, p. 17). This study explores the impact of celebrity credibility on advertising effectiveness.

In the classification of celebrity credibility, this study believes that the sources of celebrity credibility, as summarized by Ohanian (1991), divide the celebrity credibility into Attractiveness, reliability, expertise. The core idea of ​​this theory is that celebrities can act as effective celebrities. This is because they usually represent the ideal reference population for consumers to dream.

When consumers are watching advertisements, and consumers do not trust the source of the information, even if the message itself is considerably credible and non-bias, the consumer still ignores the message to be expressed in the advertisement (Madariaga, 2007). This shows the credibility of the source. It shows to a degree that it is one of the various significant factors that affect the effectiveness of advertising (Choi and Rifon, 1990, 2000). In other words, credible celebrities will be more popular with consumers, the products endorse of will also have higher ratings, and the general public will also have a positive attitude towards the messages they express.

The source credibility model and source attractiveness model have three important factors: credibility, expertise, and attractiveness (Clows et al., 2006, p.2006). Credibility is the level of consumer information and commitment to celebrities. Expertise refers to the level of professional knowledge on the products displayed, including functions, experience and professional qualifications (Eisend, 2006). Attractiveness mainly refers to the physical attractiveness of appearance.

Among the three important factors credibility is the most important (Choi and Rifon, 1990, 2000). This is because consumer information and commitment to a particular celebrity are essential aspects in the paid and organic endorsement (Jones, Sinclair and Courneya, 2014, 179). If the consumers have information about a product being endorsed, they have intention to purchase the product. Also, if the consumers are commitment to a particular celebrity, they will ensure they understand the products they advertise. In organic endorsement, they make sure that they use the products since they want to be associated with the celebrity (Choi and Rifon, 1990, 2000). In paid endorsement, the consumer will be interested in the product advert which could influence the intention of the consumers to buy a product (Eisend, 2006). The model incorporates many studies and reveals the main influencing factors of effective celebrity endorsements.

l   The Source Attractiveness Model

According to McGuire (1985), source attractiveness model is based on four dimensions: familiarity, likeability, similarity and attractiveness. However, the validity of the message depends on these aspects. Familiar, welcome and similar resources are considered more attractive and persuasive. These people evoke positive stereotypes, attractive celebrity endorsers are more successful in changing perceptions, attitudes and generating buying intentions.

According to the research by Kahle and Homer (1985) has long found that the glamour effect of celebrities in advertising is very obvious. The independent variables in the experiment include three factors: the celebrity’s charm, cuteness, and audience involvement. The results show that in the measurement of brand attitude and behavioral intention, the interactions between the respective variables are not significant, but the main effect of the glamour factor is significant, and the subjects show a more obvious preference for products with high glamour celebrity endorsements.

The result is consistent with the research of Joseph (1982). Joseph has examined the influence of the appearance of the celebrity on the change of opinions, product evaluation and other communication effects. The spread of endorsed products has a more positive impact.

l   The Source Credibility Model

The origin of the source credibility model is the credibility of the information source, the more reliable the information source, the stronger the persuasiveness (Wheel, 2009, p.87). Celebrity endorsement advertisements use people’s trust and worship of celebrities. (Lafferty, Goldsmith & Newell, 2000, Noël, Laure & Pierre, 2017).

According to Albarracin and Shavitt (2018), using the source attraction model, the audience’s familiarity with the influence of the information source, similarity will have a certain impact on persuasion (Clow et al 2006). Celebrity appearance not necessarily great as prospective, and this effect will not have a significant impact on consumers’ willingness to buy (Godsmith et al., 2000, p.50). Celebrities’ in-depth participation in endorsement brands allows consumers to have a positive influence on the brand and increase consumer culture for the brand.

According to Lafferty, Goldsmith and Newell’s experiment (2000), the reputation of celebrities directly affects consumers’ advertising attitudes. At the same time, the quality of advertising content will also have a positive influence on brand attitudes and purchase intentions, while celebrities will also affect the credibility of required conditions, thereby increasing customer retention.

Whether a celebrity-approved product is convincing and acceptable also depends on the sense of harmony and natural link between celebrities and products (Till and Busler, 2000, p.13). As reported by the matching theory or the matching hypothesis, advertising effectiveness depends on how good the celebrity image or personality matches the product, which means that information conveyed is consistent with the product information (Solomon, Ashmore & Longo, 1992). The degree of matching is also equal to the degree of harmony between celebrities and products.

When celebrities and product characteristics match, advertising perform better (Muda et al., 2014, p. 15). The better the degree of match, the better the consumer’s rating of the endorser’s credibility, appeal and product. Matching hypothesis originally derived from celebrity attractiveness research. Kamins found that when attractive celebrities recommend attractive products, consumers are more active in buying and focusing on products.

For unattractive products, the presence of celebrity appeal has no tremendous influence on consumer attitudes, it will only work if the characteristics of the product match the image of celebrity (Kamins & Gupta, 1994, Chou & Chang, 2012). Therefore, credibility has impacts on the purchasing behavior of the consumer.

Ohanian (1991) shows that when celebrities are deeply involved in brand activities, they not just make consumers have enthusiastic attitude ligament to the brand, also help consumers understand the brand culture (Eisend, 2006, p.10). Consumers can deduce their motivations through celebrity endorsements. When they think celebrities placed more time and effort in advertising, they will gain bigger visibility. At the same time, one more complete model is proposed.

l   The match up hypothesis

The match up hypothesis refers to the degree of harmony between the celebrity and the product they endorse (Till & Busler, 2000). How the match between the two is often considered to be one of the decisive factors in determining the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements.

If consumers perceive the celebrity and product match better, the endorsement effect may be better. Kamins and Gupta (1994) explored this view, the experiment contains two independent variables: the type of celebrity (celebrity and non-celebrity), and the matching of celebrity image and product type (high and low).

For the evaluation of the rating scale, in the preliminary experiments, participants were required to rate the matching degree between the candidate celebrity and the product from 1 (indicating mismatch) to 7 (representing matching). The research results show that the credibility, charm level, and product attitude of the celebrities are significantly better than those with low matching when the celebrity and product type are highly matched.

Erdogan, Baker and Tagg (2001) researches on advertising practitioners also found that practitioners do choose celebrities with different typical characteristics for different product categories when they are creative. If the endorsement is a technical or attractiveness-unrelated product, the agency manager believes that the celebrity’s trustworthiness and expertise are better than their physical attractiveness, familiarity, likability are more important. If the non-technical or attractiveness-related products are promoted, they value the celebrity’s attractive limbs, Familiarity and cuteness.

Methodology

Methodology provide information on how study was conducted. It also, provide information on data representation of the collected data.

Research Aim and Questions

The purpose of this preliminary research is to investigate and understand the attitudes of men and women aged 18 to 25 in Hong Kong towards celebrity endorsers in different endorsements (paid and organic endorsements). The 18 to 25-year-old population is the main population of thousands of brands in countless industries worldwide. When it comes to purchasing decisions, people of this age know exactly what they want. In addition, they are happy to invest in their favorite brands. (Tayla, 2018). The question of study include:

1. What is relationship between the credibility of celebrity and willingness of millennials to purchase?
2. Do celebrity endorsement trainers have a significant impact on millennials’ willingness to buy?
3. What is the best endorsement, paid or organic endorsement?

Research Problem and Objectives

Many organization use celebrity endorsement to promote their products. Therefore, it is essential to explore the impact of paid endorsement and organic endorsements on trainers to consumers’ willingness to buy. This provide information whether it is appropriate to use celebrity endorsement as a marketing tool. The objective of the study include:

• To explore the relationship between the credibility of celebrity and the willingness of millennials
• To investigate whether celebrity endorsement trainers have a significant impact on millennials’ willingness to buy.
• To analyze which is the best endorsement to adopt, paid or organic

Figure 10: Research Architecture Diagram

• Research Organization

The research steps are shown in Figure 10. It is based on the research background, motivation and purpose to determine the scope and object to be researched. After consulting relevant literature, constructing a structure and inferring research hypotheses according to the purpose, compiling a questionnaire design, issuing and recycling, and organizing the analysis and discussion of the data. Finally, conclusions and suggestions are put forward.

Figure 11: Research Flowchart

Research Design

The study used both qualitative and quantitative design to obtain data.

Quantitative approach

It is an approach that is adopted to obtain comprehensive information from the research topic. Quantitative approach was employed to test the research theories. It also is adopted to measure opinion, attitude, as well as other variables.

Qualitative approach

This method assist in acquiring depth information on topic that are not recognized. The method is shown in form of word. Qualitative approach obtains data from the case studies, interview, and observation.

Design of Questionnaire

The questionnaire had 11 questions. The queries were set based on the impact of paid endorsement and organic endorsements on trainers to consumers’ willingness to buy. The researchers invited similar researchers’ topics to assist in the first draft of the questionnaire. Then, the final questionnaire was created after the making possible adjustment. The scale used for the questionnaire was the unipolar scale. This is because it is easier to answer.

The scaling also assisted in providing attitudes and feelings of the respondents concerning the celebrity. Also, it assist in reducing bias in the study.  Also, there was use of image to collect data. David Beckham daily outfit were chosen and the focus was on the shoes.

The questionnaire had two sections: The first section (key question) was mainly divided into celebrity endorsement credibility (including three aspects: attractiveness, credibility, expertise), advertising endorsement categories (respectively: paid endorsement and organic endorsement), and millennials’ purchase intention. The second section involved personal information about the respondents. The explanations are as follows:

• Celebrity credibility

Ohanian developed his credibility in 1991 as a tool for measuring the credibility of celebrity endorsements based on personal feelings. The scoring method of the scale is the Likert five-point scoring method, and the scales are marked with “strongly agree”, “agree”, “neutral”, “disagree”, and “strongly disagree”.

• Advertising endorsement categories

Paid endorsement and organic endorsement are used as the definitions of advertising endorsement categories in this study. The paid endorsement is fees that celebrities charge to promote the brand’s products, the organic endorsement is celebrities do not charge anything but instead love and use the brand ’s products.

• Purchase intention

According to Shamdasani (2001) purchase intention, to understand the possibility that millennials have a purchase action or the degree of recommendation for this product.

• Personal information

Mainly understand basic millennial information including gender, age and occupation.

Sampling Methods

Sampling methods are approaches that could be adopted to select individuals for target population in a research. The research adopted simple random sampling. A method that ensures that individuals have equal chances of being included in the study (Wahab, Bin Mohamas, and Faisalmein, 2019, p. 533). Moreover, the convenience sampling techniques was used. The method was appropriate since it assists in obtaining primary data (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016, p. 3)

Target population

The target population refer to individuals that are selected from which information will be obtained. They represent the significant population. The target population of the research was individuals between 18-25 years. The age group of chosen since it comprises the majority of individuals who consume most of celebrity endorsed products. The sample size of the study was 200.  The size of population as large. Therefore, it provided wide range of information. The study targeted all the genders, thus avoiding gender bias.

Data Collection Method

This is the method that is adopted to collect data. The research used both structured questionnaire to collect information (Paradis et al., 2016). The questionnaire assisted in providing rich information which was useful for the study (Bethlehem, 2009). The questionnaire was given to individuals between age brackets 18-25 years. As a result, the data aided in recognizing the aim of the study. The questionnaire had queries asking whether the respondent had bought endorsed products. There was option for yes or no and then they would give reasons for their choices. Also, there were questions concerning their experience in the endorsed products.

Validity and Reliability

Validity is the extent to which collected obtained implies the definite phenomenon in the research (Drost, 2011, p.105). The study used diverse approaches to test validity. First, validity was tested through conducting confirmation from several professionals (Dikko, 2016). The professionals could be business expertise among other professionals. Also, the research tested the construct validity through ensuring that the questionnaire queries were restricted on the research topic.

Reliability measures extent to which research instruments would produce similar results after the first study. As a result, the study was conducted the reliability test. In this case, a pilot study was conducted. Then after two weeks the same respondents were given the same questionnaires to fill. Comparison between the two results were analyzed. Therefore, the consistency of the study was measured.

Pilot Testing

Pilot study was conducted. Study involved testing of the research tools. It used respondents who were not featuring in the main study. As a result, it involved random choosing of the respondents for the pilot study. The aim of the study was to appraise the tools which comprised the questionnaire.  The study tested if the queries were clear to the respondents and whether they were consisted with the survey topic. Therefore, the test identified the data validity.

Data Analysis

In this study, a total of 200 questionnaires were distributed and 202 were recovered. All returned questionnaires are valid. The questionnaire is used to collect data, and SPSS is used as an analytical tool for data integration analysis. The statistical methods used in this study are as follows:

l   Descriptive

Based on the analysis of the distribution of customer basic data and variables in the sample structure, use descriptive statistical analysis to understand the sample distribution. It mainly cores on the relevance of celebrity endorsement trainers on millennials ’purchase intentions, including gender, age, occupation, etc., describe the distribution of samples and understand the structural characteristics of millennials through frequency distribution and percentage, the higher the average value of the sample, the higher the range of agreement on question or factor; smaller the standard deviation of the sample, indicating that the respondents have more consistent views on the question.

l   Reliability Analysis

Reliability refers to the reliability of research data. It mainly checks whether the questions of the same facet have consistency and stability. The higher the score, the more consistent and stable the scale prediction will be. When Cronbach ’s α coefficient is above 0.7, the reliability standard. The reliability of the overall questionnaire Cronbach ’s α in this study reached 0.929 (appendix 2), indicating that this questionnaire has credibility.

l   ANOVA

Analysis of variance is abbreviated as ANOVA; the main purpose is to test whether the average of the observations of three or more independent samples is equal: the independent variable is a discontinuous variable, the independent variable is a continuous variable, and the independent variable is a three-point nominal variable or multivariable. Category variable. It divides the total change of a set of data into different parts according to the factors that may cause change, and judges whether these factors can really explain the change of data through the method of hypothesis testing.

l   Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis is to find the degree of correlation between two variables. Statistically speaking, the degree of correlation between two variables is usually expressed as a “correlation coefficient”. The correlation coefficient has two characteristics: first, the greater the absolute value of the correlation coefficient, the stronger the correlation between the two variables; the smaller the absolute value, the weaker the correlation between the two variables. The second is the positive and negative of the correlation coefficient, indicating that the relationship between the two variables is positive or negative. This is called a positive correlation, that is, there is a positive correlation between the two variables. If the correlation coefficient is negative, it means that one variable is increasing (decreasing) and the other variable is decreasing (increasing). The correlation direction is negative correlation, that is, there is an inverse relationship between the two variables.

The correlation coefficients used to measure the correlation between two variables can be divided into two categories: one is the A-type correlation coefficient, whose value is between 0 and 1; the second is the B-type correlation coefficient, whose value is between -1 and 1, Pearson correlation analysis is a type B correlation method.

In this study, we mainly discuss the Pearson correlation analysis of celebrity endorsement trainers (paid endorsement trainers and organic endorsement trainers) and millennial purchase intentions and analyze the relationship and strength of celebrity endorsement products and millennial generation purchase intentions.

Research Limitation

The study used a large sample size of 200 which resulted to taking a lot of time to conduct research.

Ethical Consideration

Ethical consideration were considered during the study. First, the respondent were requested to participate voluntarily. They were asked to give their informed consent before the data collection process. Also, the respondents during data collection had a right to leave the interview at any time. Another ethical consideration was that the information given by the respondents was treated with respect and confidentiality. Last, permission was obtained from the relevant authorities to collect data in the target area.

Hypothesis

From literature review, the following hypotheses were made:

H1. Millennials buy products for celebrity endorsements

From the literature review, celebrity endorsement has impacts on the buying behavior of the consumers. It could influence the buyer willingness to purchase. Therefore, millennials buy products for the celebrity endorsement.

H2. Celebrity endorsements affect millennials’ willingness to buy

From the meaning transfer theory, celebrities convey the information about a brand to consumer, creating brand recognition. It could influence buyers to purchase products.

H3. Celebrity attractiveness, reliability, and expertise has a major impact on millennials’ attitudes towards trainers’ purchases

From the source model, attractiveness, reliability and expertise of celebrity could influence the willingness of the consumers to purchase products.

H4. Millennial prefer to buy paid endorsement trainers

Even though paid endorsement is expensive, it is widely used by many organization. It has a great influence to consumer buying than organic endorsement

Philosophical Research

There are two types of market research: conclusive research and exploratory research. According to the views of Malhotra and Birks (2007), the conclusive research is a formal survey and conclusions are drawn through data analysis. The difference between conclusive research and exploratory research is that conclusive research is a formal market research activity, while exploratory research is informal. Modern formal market research programs usually focus on consumer attitudes, behavior, and ultimately the impact on the brand. The purpose of conclusive research is to test specific hypotheses and relationships. It requires that the information provided must be clear and can be divided into descriptive and causal investigations.

l   Descriptive Research

The descriptive investigation is a common project investigation, which refers to the investigation and research of different factors and different aspects of the current situation. The collection and recording of data and data focus on the static description of objective facts. A descriptive investigation design is to describe things through the collection and analysis of market information.

It is based on a clear understanding of the status of the research question by the investigator and is based on the investigation of a large number of representative samples. It needs to clearly answer six questions (6W): who, what, when, where, why, and method. It is divided into two horizontal and vertical design methods, of which the horizontal design can be subdivided into a single horizontal design, namely a single sample survey design and multiple horizontal designs, group analysis.

l  Causal Research

Causality investigation refers to the investigation to find out the relationship between different elements of the project, and to find out the reasons that cause certain phenomena. Through this form of investigation, it is possible to know the degree of impact of changes in external factors on project progress, and the sensitivity of project decision changes and responses, with a certain degree of dynamic.

The purpose of a causal investigation is to find the causal relationship between related phenomena or variables. Descriptive investigation can show that certain phenomena or variables are related to each other, but to explain whether a certain variable cause or determines the change of other variables, causal research is used. The purpose of causal research is to find sufficient evidence to test this hypothesis.

Exploratory surveys usually collect preliminary data from the survey. The purpose is to understand the nature of the issue to further determine the focal path and scope of the investigation when the content and nature of the problem is unclear. Through this survey, will present further knowledge to understanding the situation and root problems, to obtain some assumptions or new ideas about the research project for further research. Exploratory research is a small survey that aims to determine the nature of the problem and better understanding in environmental issues. Exploratory investigations can express large and ambiguous questions as a subtle and precise sub-question to make the question clearer and identify information that requires further investigation.

Data Presentation and Analysis

This section presents and analyses data

Demographic Analysis of Respondents

Figure 12:  Gender

From the table above, it is clear that majority of the respondents were men. They had 54.7% percent while women were 45.3 % of the total population.

From above figure 12 and 13 it shows that 95.5 % have bought products endorsed by the celebrities. Only 9% of the respondents have not purchased products that celebrities endorse. This approve hypothesis that say that millenials purchase products for celebrity endorsement.

Figure 14

From the figure 14, it demonstrates that the large number of respondents (44.6% ) would stop buying trainers if their favorite celebrity stop endorsing them. This shows that paid and orgnic endorsement have impact on the millenial’s intention to buy. Therefore, proving the hypothesis that celebrity endorsement affect millenial’s willingness to buy.

Figure 15

Figure 16

The two figures explain whether individuals will be influenced to buy a brand by paid or organic endorsement. In organic endorsement, respondents strongly agreed to purchase a product by 30.7% if celebrity was in the Ads. However, in paid endorsement, 33.7% strongly agreed to purchase a brand if the celebrity was presence in the ad. Therefore, it means that paid endorsement encourages consumers to purchase products. Therefore, influencing the willingness of the millinials to purchase. This approve the hypothesis that millenials prefer to buy paid endorsement trainers.

Reliability Test

Figure 17: Reliability Statistics

From the above figure the Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.929. It is above average, therefore, it shows that there is consistency of results. As a result, information from the study is reliable and crucial to be used in the study.

Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis explore association between dependent and independent variable.

Figure 18: Correlations

From the table above, the correlation between do you think this brand is a good fit for this celebrity to endorse and how believable is this celebrity endorsing this brand is 0.537.  The correlation is above zero, therefore, it shows that there is a positive relationship. In the case of “How believable is this celebrity endorsing this brand” it refers to the credibility of the celebrity while “do you think this brand is a good fit for this celebrity to endorse”, it means the characteristics of the celebrity. The characteristics of the celebrity include expertise, attractiveness and reliability. Therefore, there is a positive relationship between expertise, attractiveness and reliability and credibility of the celebrity. Credibility of celebrity influences the willingness of millenials to purchase. Therefore this approve the hypothesis 3: Celebrity attractive, reliability, and expertise has a major impact on millennials’ attitudes towards trainers’ purchases.

FACTOR ANALYSIS

In this study, based on the statistical analysis of the valid questionnaires recovered, the analysis results and hypothesis verification situations are discussed and analyzed as follows. Through SPSS statistics and related analysis, the data on the influence of celebrity paid endorsements and organic endorsements of trainers on millennials’ willingness to buy show that the following findings are found:

• Celebrity attractive, reliability, and expertise has a major impact on millennials’ attitudes towards trainers’ purchases.

Through questionnaire surveys, when celebrity endorses for trainers in paid endorsement, the three facets of the credibility of the celebrity (attractiveness, reliability, and expertise) are all factors that affect the purchase willingness of millennials. The statistical analysis results show that the higher the three facet factors of celebrity endorsement credibility, the higher the willingness to purchase trainers for millennials.

• Millenials prefer to buy paid endorsement trainers than organic.

Through the results of the questionnaire survey in the organic and paid endorsement, it is also found that a high percentage of the respondents strongly agreed that they will be encouraged to purchase paid endorsement trainers. Through comparing the two result, it shows that millenials prefer paid endorsement trainers.

Therefore, it can be confirmed Till and Busler (2000) mentioned that celebrities will be considered to have better match-up when they endorse for related products. When appropriate, the endorsement effect is better, so it can show better results. For celebrities in organic endorsements, although the adaptability is higher than endorsement products, products that increase the attractiveness of users through the charm of celebrities themselves can also lead to a higher brand attitude and willingness to buy. Celebrities often have certain supporters. Under the influence of their appeal and the reliability given by the general public, consumers will also have a good impression on the product and show a higher willingness to buy.

According to Mowen and Minor (2001), when consumers make purchase decisions, in order to meet relevant needs, consumers will combine their own experience and external environmental factors to search for purchase information, and then evaluate and consider decide to buy another product.

CONCLUSION

From the research, statistical research and analysis could conclude the study. The aim of the research was to explore the impact of paid endorsement and organic endorsements on trainers to consumers’ willingness to buy. Hypothesis of the study were all proved to be true. The following are conclusion of study:

• Millenials prefer paid endorsement rather than organic endorsement. Paid endorsement could draw attention of the consumers more than organic endorsement.
• Attractiveness, reliability, and expertise influence the willingness of millenials to purchase of a brand.

According to the results of statistical analysis, the higher the three facet factors of celebrity endorsement credibility, the higher the willingness of millennials to purchase trainers.

• Millennials buy products for celebrity endorsements
• Celebrity endorsement influence millenials to buy

Recommendations to related companies

For the endorsement of trainers, choosing celebrities as endorsements for trainers, the extent to which the marketing effects of celebrities themselves can influence the purchase intention of millennials, is beyond the scope of this research, but it is also a topic worth discussing. Through celebrity endorsements, good marketing methods can be a big plus for products.

Follow-up research

There are many ways to display advertisings. This study looks at the willingness of millennials to buy celebrity trainers, the follow-up research can study the factors that influence millennials to buy celebrity endorsement products. In addition, this study uses millennials as a sample for experimental design research. Based on the research results, suggestions for follow-up research include: First, due to the time limit of this study, the selected samples are mainly for millennials, age groups It is more consistent, and its research results cannot be pushed to various ethnic groups. In the future, it is also possible to consider expanding the maternal level to conduct research to make the results more general and helpful. Secondly, the celebrities selected by the Institute are mainly idol stars, that is, celebrities to endorse for. Follow-up research can be made by different types of celebrities, and with different types of brand images, such as celebrity type with symbolic image brand, expert type matching function Sexual image of the brand, to verify the credibility of its different celebrities and the influence of the brand image on advertising effectiveness. Finally, the brand samples used in this research take parity products as samples. It is hoped that follow-up studies could conduct more extensive research on different brand as the sample.