Arada Jirakarnjanakorn (Noon)Class: KingWord count: 1557

Critically Evaluate the Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Affinity

Celebrity endorsement appears to be an effective marketing communication tool

for today’s marketers. Generally, the tool is not a new phenomenon as it has appeared

in advertising message execution since the late nineteenth century in the utilization of

Queen Victoria in Cadbury’s Cocoa (Shennan, 1985 cited in Erdogan, 1999, p.292), yet

it still seems to be a powerful tool in this intense commercial era. Celebrity endorsement

is the use of celebrity as a spokesperson which could incur large investment for the firm

in exchange of transferring endorsers’ qualities- credibility and attractiveness- to the

brand that would result in generating desirable outcomes. The consequences refer to

the influence on consumers brand choices, thus creating consumers’ attentions, and

purchase intentions to the brand (Erdogan, 1999, p.291). Although celebrity

endorsement has been controversial as a double-edged sword because of the

inconsistent images of celebrities, it could incrementally provoke consumers’ affections

for the brand with celebrities’ qualities.

To begin with, this essay discusses the positive effects of celebrity endorsement

on brand affinity in terms of reassuring consumers of the product qualities and

differentiating a brand from its competitors, using Nike-Golf and Canon case studies.

Then, the essay discusses hazardous effects towards brand affinity when using

celebrity endorsement with reference to the Tiger Woods’ infidelity and David Beckham

multiple images case studies. These effects include celebrities’ images changing and

loss of public recognition, and public controversy. Finally, there is a discussion and an

emphasis on the celebrity endorsement’s rewards that lead to the higher level of brand

affinity.

In this essay, the term celebrity is defined as ‘people who enjoy public

recognition and who often have distinctive attributes such as attractiveness and

trustworthiness’ (McCracken, 1989; Silvera and Austad, 2004 cited in Kumar, 2010,

p.5). As Schlecht (2003, p.3) states ‘…Celebrities generally differ from the social norm

and enjoy a high degree of public awareness’. There could be eight classical forms of

celebrity which include actors (e.g. Pierce Brosnan, Angelina Jolie Pritt), models (e.g.

Naomi Campbell, Gisele Buendchen), sports athletes (e.g. Tiger Woods, Maria

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Sharapova, David Beckham), entertainers (e.g. Oprah Winfrey), singers (e.g. Lady

Gaga, Britney Spears, Jenifer Lopez, Black Eyed Peas), businesspeople (e.g. Donald

Trump, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs), politicians (e.g. Barak Obama), and high-society people

(e.g. Prince William, Victoria Beckham) (Schlecht, 2003, p.3-4).

Commonly, the brands have the distinct images and personalities that attract the

consumers. The intense favorable emotional connection between consumers and the

brands is taken to mean ‘brand affinity’ in this essay. The brand affinity is not usually

logical, but it is powerful. It encourages consumers to view a brand as the

representative of a personal aspect of their persona (DeGabrielle, 2011). To illustrate,

ACNielsen (2006) states that Armani is a brand that stands for well-understood

attributes as high quality, sophistication and style – timeless values with global appeal.

Consumers tend to buy Armani because they would like to be part of that shared

identity. DeGabrielle (2011) suggests that ‘…[Consumers] perceive the brand as

representing their values – or believe being associated with these brands makes them

more “cool”…’. For Armani, the utilization of David and Victoria Beckham- who are

suggested to have a glamorous lifestyle- in Emporio Armani underwear could be an

example of endorsing the brand stylish and sophisticated images affect consumers by

celebrities. It has been believed that celebrity endorsement could be a marketing

communication tool that helps strengthen brand affinity to the brands. The meaning

movement from celebrities’ qualities towards the endorsed products could be illustrated

in figure1.

Source: www.clothingbrands24.com

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Figure 1: Meaning Movement and Endorsement Process (Source: McCracken,

1989 cited in Kumar, 2010, p. 25)

The first positive effect of celebrity endorsement on brand affinity is that

celebrities could reassure product quality in consumers’ minds. Consumers are usually

reluctant to believe in quality of product unless they have consumed it. For this reason,

seeing celebrity reputation attached to the brands could mitigate some uncertainty and

make it easier for the product to become the consumers’ brand choice (Elberse, 2009).

For example, before 1996, although Nike appeared to be well-respected as a successful

brand in mainstream sports apparel especially in footwear, it was generally considered

to be less likely to be successful in entering the golf category because it had limited

experience in an elite category. However, Nike decided to utilize its area of expertise to

build the equity in golf arena by collaborating with the athlete stars similar to the

successful platform made with Michael Jordan. Nike associated with world rising golf

star at that time- Tiger Woods who appeared to be the symbol of fast success and

endurance-and became an emerging successful brand in golf apparels, equipments,

and accessories without actual proved qualities. The statistic in COMPUSTAT (cited in

Farrell, et al., 2000, p.2) explains that after Nike signed a five-year contract worth

approximately forty to sixty million dollars with Tiger Woods in 1996, the returns seemed

to be instantaneous and lucrative. The golf apparel and footwear sales of Nike was

double the contract fee to approximately one-hundred twenty million dollars on the fiscal

year ended on May 31, 1997. Furthermore, the sales of the entire company in the

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following quarter rose by fifty-five percent as a result of Tiger Woods’ endorsement

(Farrell, et al., 2000, p.2). Nike has appeared to be an admirable brand in sports

apparel- ranked number one for the industry (Fortune on CNN Money, 2011).

Source: www.theblemish.com

Another reward of celebrity endorsement on brand affinity is the perceived brand

differentiation by consumers. In this twenty-first century, there are thousands of brands

worldwide. Consumers seem to be more selective and would prefer the brands with the

outstanding images that help express their styles. For that reason, celebrity

endorsement could convey distinctive attributes that differentiates the brand from its

competitors. For instance, as Elberse (2009) explains that ‘Canon's reason for turning to

Maria Sharapova was her reputation as someone who plays aggressively but with

precision, and who has a sense of style - exactly the kinds of attributes it hoped to

emphasize in marketing its line of PowerShot cameras’. The clear images of Sharapova

lead to the distinct images of Canon to consumers. Consumers preempt those attributes

and feel proud to use Canon PowerShot cameras as they see the difference of stylish

Canon to static Nikon or the unclear image of Panasonic. Therefore, Canon appears to

have higher number of referrals among consumers and is on the top rank for compact

digital camera category, despite their actual qualities.

Source: www.letsgodigital.org Source: www.coloribus.com

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Despite the fact that celebrity endorsement leads to stronger brand affinity, it

conveys the potential hazard to consumers’ affection for brand as the celebrities’

images could change and lose public recognition. The lapse in professional

performances may lead to lose in celebrities’ popularity. The preventive tactics for

marketers are to study celebrities’ personal and professional life cycles and research on

their possibilities to maintain or positively transfer the brand images. Take David

Beckham as an example, since his movement from Manchester United to Real Madrid,

AC Milan, and LA Galaxy, he has gradually declined in his top form as the professional

football player. He could lose public recognition if he merely maintains a sole image

because he is not anymore a representative of the successful athlete with high

performance. However, David Beckham appears to convey multiple images such as

Posh’s husband, fashion icon, father of four children, and football player, therefore, his

life expectancy as brand endorser could be favorably extended (Vincent, et al., 2009,

p.177). Consumers still appear to be attracted to Beckham’s endorsed brand as Adidas

and Armani.

Another potential damage to brand affinity results from celebrities’ public

controversies. Rumors, and scandals caused by celebrities’ behaviors could be sources

of negative brand images, thus they may ruin consumers’ affections for the brand. As

Chung, et al. (2011, p.4) states that ‘To name a few, Nike: Kobe Bryant when charged

with rape, Pepsi: Mike Tyson when charged with beating his wife, Hertz: OJ Simpson

and his first degree murder charge, Prince tennis racket: Jennifer Capriati when

charged with marijuana possession, [and Nike: Tiger Woods’ infidelity in November

2009.]’. One study shows evidence that the negative publicity hitting a celebrity who

endorses the brand leads to the decline in company’s stock price (Louie, Kulik, and

Johnson, 2001 cited in Alsmadi, 2006, p.73). For example, Knittel and Stango (2009

cited in Chung, et al., 2011, p.8) who study the negative impact of Tiger Woods’

infidelity scandal states that ‘…By looking at the stock prices of the firms that Tiger

Woods endorses, they estimate that, after the event in November 2009, shareholders of

Tiger Woods’ sponsors lost $5-12 billion relative to those firms that Woods did not

endorse.’ However, it is important to address that the negative effects are more likely to

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affect the brand in the short-term than damaging entire consumers’ brand choices.

According to the Harris Poll (2010), ‘Three-quarters of Americans (74%) say when a

celebrity endorser gets involved in a scandal, it doesn’t impact the way they feel about

the brand or brands they endorse.’ There is also an evidence to support that sales of

Nike product were negative up to March before becoming positive in April 2010 since

his public scandal revealed in November 2009 (Chung, et al., 2011, p.24).

In conclusion, celebrity endorsement could strengthen the consumers’ affections

for brands as it helps reassure product quality and well-portrayed distinct brand images

to consumers. This is because the credibility and attractiveness embedded in celebrities

are easy to access and approachable. Although there are potential hazard effects due

to celebrities’ images changing and public controversies, they can be prevented and

merely lead to the short-term affect on branding. All in all, celebrities’ roles as the

endorsers in the commercials could create favorable emotional connection between the

consumers and the brands. However, further cognitive research on the relationship

between brand affinity and celebrity endorsement is worth undertaking, as it could

examine the true value of celebrity endorsement programs given to the brands and

companies’ investments.

Reference list:

ACNielsen (2006) ‘Giorgio Armani and Gucci – the “world’s most coveted” fashion

brands’ Breaking News.

Alsmadi, S. (2006) ‘The Power of Celebrity Endorsement in Brand Choice Behaviour :

An Empirical Study of Consumer Attitudes in Jordan’ Journal of Accounting-Business &

Management, 13, 69-84.

Chung K., Derdenger T., and Srinivasan K. (2011) ‘Economic Value of Celebrity

Endorsement: Tiger Woods’ Impact on Sales of Nike Golf Balls’.

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Clothingbrand24 (2010) Rafael Nadal in Giorgio Armani underwear campaign [Online].

Available from: http://clothingbrands24.com/brands/rafael-nadal-giorgio-armani.html

[Accessed: 5 September 2011]

Coloribus (2004) Adidas Image Campaign: DAVID BECKHAM [Online]. Available from:

http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/adidas-image-campaign-david-beckham-

6330355/ [Accessed: 7 September 2011]

DeGabrielle D. (2011) ‘Social Media Brand Loyalty vs. Brand Affinity’. Available from:

http://www.visibletechnologies.com/blog/2010/10/27/brand-loyalty-brand-affinity-social-

media-world/ [Accessed: 26 August 2011]

Elberse A. (2009) ‘Risks and rewards of celebrity endorsements’ CNN.com. Available

from:

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-12-16/opinion/elberse.athlete.endorsements.tiger.woods_1

_endorsers-celebrity-brands?_s=PM:OPINION [Accessed: 5 September 2011]

Erdogan, B. (1999) ‘Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review’ Journal of Marketing

Management 15,291-314.

Farrell K., Karels G., Monfort K., and McClatchey C. (2000) ‘Celebrity Performance and

Endorsement Value: The Case of Tiger Woods’ Managerial Finance 26.

Fortune on CNN Money (2011) ‘World's Most Admired Companies 2011 - Industry

champions’. Available from:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2011/champions/ [Accessed: 7

September 2011]

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Arada Jirakarnjanakorn (Noon)Class: KingWord count: 1557

Harris Poll (2010) ‘Celebrity Scandals Have Low Brand Impact’. Available from:

http://www.marketingcharts.com/topics/behavioral-marketing/celebrity-scandals-have-

low-brand-impact-12920/ [Accessed: 5 September 2011]

Kumar A. (2010) ‘Celebrity Endorsements and Its Impact on Consumer Buying

Behaviour’ : The Executive Business School, Bournemouth University.

Letsgodigital (2007) Maria Sharapova in Canon PowerShot commercial [Online].

Available from:http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/14539/maria-sharapova/ [Accessed: 7

September 2011]

Schlecht C. (2003) ‘Celebrities’ Impact on Branding’: Center on Global Brand

Leadership Columbia Business School.

Theblemish (2010) Nike Accepts Tiger Woods’ Apology [Online]. Available from:

http://theblemish.com/2010/02/nike-accepts-tiger-woods-apology/ [Accessed: 7

September 2011]

Vincent J., Hill J., and Lee J. (2009) ‘The Multiple Brand Personalities of David

Beckham: A Case Study of the Beckham Brand’ Sport Marifeting Quarteriy 18,173-180.

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