Case Study:
Celebrities Aid Brand Recall, but may not Influence Buying: A Study
What has the recent Pepsi ad that features tinsel town's real-life pair Ranbir Kapoor and
Deepika Padukone along with Shah Rukh Khan done? While the couple has received
oodles of accolades for their on-screen chemistry, the brand Pepsi is somewhere lost in
the throng of celebrities. IMRB, an international research agency, along with PR firm
IPAN, conducted a research across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, mid size
towns like Indore and Lucknow, as well as the small size towns like Ajmer, Madurai,
Ranchi and Cuttack to understand whether people believe in brands because of their
celebrity endorsers or not and to what extent celebrities influence consumers' buying
decisions.
Here's what the research reveals. Although almost 8 out of every 10 say that the most
prominent ad that they remember are the ones with celebrities in it, it doesn't influence
their purchase pattern. It does not affect consumer-buying decision at any point of
time. Since a celebrity is endorsing many brands/product, more than assistance, it
creates confusion for the consumer on the recall. So what works for the consumer?
Apparently, what matters the most is the quality of the product that can be provided to
the consumers.
Across India, 78% of people feel that the most important factor while buying any
product is 'quality of the product', followed by 'price', whereas only 3% consider a
celebrity as an important factor before buying a particular product.
Clearly, celebrity endorsement is no longer as credible as it was a few decades ago.
Unless category and celebrity are closely linked, the power of a celebrity's word is
questionable.
With each celebrity endorsing multiple products and multi brands in a category,
resorting to different celebrities, the consumer is left confused. Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT
India, who has worked on brands such as Pepsi, Lux and many others, says, "The decision
to use celebrities in advertising needs careful thought. Critical to the decision is the brand
and what it stands for, its desired personality and how the star can help it communicate
its attributes. What the star stands for is equally critical: an image and personality fit is
essential. No star can add value if intrinsically there is a mismatch to the brand. Some
categories have become extremely dependent on using star endorsements to further their
cause. Over the long term, it's an expensive proposition and recurring."
Read the above case and answer the following questions:
1. "Consumers are more likely to identify with typical consumers than models used
to depict group influence". Do you agree? Give reasons and examples.
2. What are the other possible pros and cons of using celebrity endorsers to exert
informational influence on consumers?