revisiting the celebrity endorsement source models in advertising- an international final)
TRANSCRIPT
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“Revisiting the Celebrity Endorsement Source Models in Advertising -
An International Perspective”
Tanmoy De
Associate Professor
Mobile-9861035208
And
Rupali Mazumdar
PGDM (2009-2011)
Mobile- 7735566690
Institute of Management and Information Science
Vivekananda Marg, Bhubaneshwar-751002
Odisha, India
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ABSTRACT
The main purpose of the study is to find out the difference between the attitudes of married
couple towards celebrity endorser. The married couples taken in the study include couples
residing in India i.e. Indian nationals and married couples residing outside India i.e. foreign
nationals. The study also finds out the difference between overall attitude of Indian nationals and
foreign nationals towards celebrity endorser. The study was conducted irrespective of any
celebrity endorser or any particular advertisement. The study was based on research approach,
which used a convenience sample of 128 pairs of married couples (husband-wife duo),both
Indian nationals and foreign nationals, drawn from an international airport and Odisha tourism
development and corporation (OTDC) hotels where foreign as well as Indian couples were
residing. The study took place for 56 days and the data was analyzed through a statistical
technique, independent Sample t-Test, and One-Way ANOVA test. The main findings showed
that though there was not any significant difference between the attitudes of Indian husbands and
wives as well as foreign husbands and wives, a significant differences was found between the
attitude of Indian nationals (both husband-wife duo) and foreign nationals towards the celebrity
endorser.
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INTRODUCTION
In a market where advertising plays a vital role in coordinating consumer purchases, it becomes
pertinent for companies to induct all possible measures to influence, motivate and inculcate
desire to purchase, in the customer through an effective advertising campaign. Theory and
practice proves that the use of superstars in advertising generates lot of publicity and attention. It
is estimated that the companies in US spent $800 million in 1998 to acquire talent entertainers,
athletes and other high profile personalities to spot light in advertising, promotion and PR
campaigns .In India advertisers pour crores of rupees every year into celebrity advertising. Think
of Sachin Tendulkar that means Pepsi in soft drinks, Boost in malted beverages, Fiat Palio in
cars, TVS victor in two wheelers, Colgate Total in toothpaste, Britannia in Biscuits, Visa in
credit cards, Airtel in mobile services and many more brands.
Companies invest large sums of money to align their brands and themselves with endorsers.
Such endorsers are seen as dynamic with both attractive and likeable qualities and companies
plan that these qualities are transferred to products via marketing communications activities.
Furthermore, because of their fame, celebrities serve not only to create and maintain attention,
but also to achieve high recall rates for marketing communication messages in today's highly
cluttered environments.
Celebrity endorsements are one of the most popular advertising strategies used in today‟s global
marketplace. In Japan, nearly 70 percent of television commercials feature a celebrity. In the
United States, about a quarter of all ads feature a celebrity endorser. In fact celebrity endorsers
are being used in about 25 percent of all television advertisements in order to promote brands.
These endorsers are being paid by about 10 percent of advertiser's budgets. In an effort to
maximize persuasive advantage; U.S. firms invest heavily in the use of celebrity endorsements,
sometimes running into the millions of dollars per endorsement deal. Benefits of using celebrity
endorsements include an enhancement of ad recall, product desirability, and product glamour.
Other research suggests celebrity endorsements are an effective strategy for gaining and holding
attention , positively impacting brand attitudes and enhancing likelihood of purchase, fostering
brand loyalty, and positively impacting word-of-mouth. Additionally, McCracken (1986)
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theorized that celebrity endorsers transfer cultural meaning from the celebrity to the endorsed
product, suggesting advertisers need to be familiar with meanings associated with potential
celebrities or risk having undesirable meanings linked with their products. Numerous researches
have proved empirically the effectiveness and the positive influence of the endorsements by the
celebrities in advertising, particularly on endorser‟s credibility, message reminder,
announcements approval and purchase‟s intention. Many literatures have shown a considerable
interest regarding factors that could help to establish the positive relationship, between celebrity
endorsers and the products. Research indicates that celebrity endorsements can result in more
favorable advertisement ratings and product evaluations (Cooper, 1984; Dean and Biswas, 2001)
and advertisement featuring celebrity figures consistently produce more favorable impact than
the non-celebrity advertisements (Atkins and Block, 1983). Nonetheless, it is clear that there is
gender based purchasing, which should be taken into account when utilizing a celebrity endorser
(Aiken, 1963; Gentry and Doering, 1977; Vitz and Johnston, 1965).
Many businesses believe that an advertisement delivered by a celebrity provides a higher degree
of appeal, attention, recall and possibly purchase compared to those without celebrities. Yet not
many studies are conducted to test if the celebrity advertisement appeal carries on towards both
male and female, or only towards a particular gender. Companies must understand that the fees
for celebrity talent can be substantial, cost of national advertising, especially on television, is
extremely high, and the type of spokesperson affects the levels of awareness and recall
Studies with regards to celebrity endorsers, researchers have included the issue of demographics.
Nevertheless, many of these studies on celebrity endorser have looked at the issue of gender, but
from the perspective of the celebrity themselves and not of the respondents gender specifically.
The increase of celebrity endorser based advertising over the recent years begs the question as to
the impact on the different respondent gender towards the use of celebrity endorsers.
The aim of this investigation is to assess the impact of gender – both gender of the consumer on
consumer‟s attitudes and perceptions of celebrity endorsements. To what extent does gender of a
target audience member influence his/her response to a celebrity endorsed advertisement.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
To use an endorsement by celebrities is not a new phenomenon. During, more than 50 years the
advertising sector had used celebrities, Marilyn Monroe and Marlène Dietrich are famous
examples. This endorsement strategy owes its popularity to the development of radio advertising
in the 30s, and the TV advertising in the 50s, so the cinema widened the extent of this strategy
(McDonough 1995).in the late seventies, this strategy continued to develop in a remarkable way.
Today the endorsement by the celebrities became a full element of the marketing
communications strategies (Erdogan 1999).
Numerous researches have proved empirically the effectiveness and the positive influence of the
endorsements by the celebrities in advertising, particularly on endorser‟s credibility, message
reminder, announcements approval and purchase‟s intention (Menon 2001, Pornpitakpan 2003,
Pringle and Binet 2005, Roy 2006).
Some properties such as likeability, expertise, trustworthiness and similarity cause a celebrity
endorser to become a source of persuasive information and this creates a sense of certainty which
has been revealed in many studies. Also physical attractiveness of the endorser is considerable in
effectiveness of a message. Acceptance of a message by a receiver could be influenced by
celebrity endorsers as believable sources of information about a product or a firm. Using of
celebrity endorsers to support products is explained by balance theory principles too. According
to this theory, successful companies establish an emotional relation between the observer and
endorser and a relation between endorser and brand too. Before proceeding conceptual model,
we describe the main constructs of this study.
While a number of studies have explored several factors related to the impact of using celebrities
as product endorsers, surprisingly few studies have examined the impact that the gender of the
celebrity and the gender of the target audience member might have on consumer response to
celebrity endorsements. The results from published research regarding this issue have been
mixed at best. Ohanian reported that there were no significant main effects of gender in her study
of the impact of gender on consumers‟ perceptions of a celebrity‟s attractiveness,
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trustworthiness, or expertise, or on the likelihood of purchasing a product that was endorsed by a
celebrity.
Peetz, Parks, and Spencer (2004) reported on a study in which they showed participants pictures
of certain athletes (Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm, Michael Jordan, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee)
and asked these participants to identify and describe the athletes. They then asked the
participants whether they considered the athletes experts on products related to the athletes‟
sports, and whether the athletes could influence their purchase intentions. Their study yielded
some gender-based results: odds of identifying male athletes were greater than those for
identifying female athletes (4 times greater); male athletes were perceived as being more
influential on purchase intentions than female athletes; and male respondents were more
favorable toward the less well-known male athlete.
Celebrity endorser
According to McCracken (1989), celebrity endorser is a person who enjoys recognition by public
and who can use this recognition on the behalf of a product by appearing in an advertisement
with that product. Similarly according to Friedman and Friedman (1979), celebrity endorser is a
person who is known to the public not due to the product he or she endorses but due to the
achievements in the areas other than that. So celebrity endorser is a person who uses his fame to
advertise a product which has no direct effect on his previous recognition. Celebrity endorsement
is one of marketing strategies like many others for instance, direct marketing, sales promotions,
on spot advertising etc. Moreover, celebrity is used as testimonial, endorsement, actor or
spokesperson by the firm. Research has demonstrated that celebrity endorsement affects
consumers' feelings in general and it could affect the attitude of consumers towards the
advertisement and brands too. This could result in enhancing of purchase intentions and as a
result enhancing of sales.
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Pros and cons of celebrity endorsements strategy
Academic findings and company reports safely argue that celebrity endorsers are more effective
that non-celebrity endorsers when it comes to generating all desirable outcomes(attitude towards
advertising and endorsed brand, intentions to purchase and actual sales) when companies utilize
celebrities whose public personality matches with the product and who have not endorsed
previously.
Even if there are significant potential benefits with using celebrity endorsers, one should know
that there are also costs and risks. The following table views the potential advantages contra
hazards on why it might be beneficial to use celebrity endorsements. It also suggests some
preventive tactics.
Potential advantages Potential hazards Preventive tactics
Increased attention Overshadow the brand Pre-testing & careful planning
Image polishing Public controversy Buying insurance and putting
provision clauses in the
contract
Brand introduction Image change and over exposure Explaining what is their role
and putting clause to restrict
endorsements for a brand
Brand repositioning Loss of public recognition Examining what life-cycle
stage the celebrity is in and
how long this stage is likely to
continue.
Underpin global campaigns Expensive Selecting celebrities who are
appropriate for a global target
audience, not because they are
„hot‟ in all market audience.
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Models on Celebrity Endorsement Strategy
Several models have been developed that give insight to independent variable effecting celebrity
endorsement and hence its efficacy. This section deals with some of these models and also gives
important inputs about the two models which have been extensively used in this study.
The TEARS model
The TEARS model, developed by Shimp (2003) describes the essential qualities of celebrities
that are important in determining their effectiveness in endorsement. But this does not say much
about the selection criteria used by marketers and advertising makers.
Research has shown that effective celebrities must be assessed against five essential attributes,
usually referred to as 'TEARS' model:
1. Trustworthiness: honesty, integrity, and believability of an endorser. It reflects the extent to
which audience members trust and believe what celebrities say regarding the advertised brand.
2. Expertise: knowledge, experience, and skills of an endorser regarding the advertised brand.
For example, a sport athlete is considered to be an expert when he/she endorses sport related
products.
3. Attractiveness: all characteristics that make an endorser attractive to audience members (e.g.
physical look, personality properties, attractive lifestyle, etc.).
4. Respect: refers to the quality of being admired or esteemed due to endorser's overall
accomplishments.
5. Similarity: represents the extent to which an endorser matches target audience on
characteristics related to the endorsement relationship (sex, age, lifestyle etc.).
The Match-up Hypothesis Model
Several Research studies have examined the congruency between celebrity endorsers and brands
to explain the effectiveness of using famous persons to promote the brands (Till and Buster,
1998), (Till and Shimp, 1998) Results show that a number of celebrity endorsements proved very
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successful, whereas other completely failed. The match-up hypothesis specifically suggests that
the effectiveness depends on the existence of a “fit” between the celebrity spokesperson and
endorsed brand (Till and Buster, 1998). Though Oharian (1991 acknowledges a popular person‟s
ability to create awareness and initial interest for an advertisement she concludes that this may
not necessarily change consumer‟s attitude towards the brands. The model emphasizes that the
physical attractiveness of a celebrity endorser will enhance evaluations of the products
characteristics only if the characteristics of the product “match-up” with the image conveyed by
the celebrity. Hence an extension beyond attractiveness and creditability towards a consideration
has to be done in terms of making the entire image of the celebrity with the endorsed brand.
Model of Meaning Transfer
The Meaning Transfer Model was given by Mc Cracker (1989).he explain that the celebrity
spokesperson would be effective only if clarity is achieved in assessing the meanings consumers
associated with the endorser which are eventually transferred to the brand. Mc Cracker explains
this meaning transfer model in 3 stages. First, the meaning associated with the famous persons
makes them the endorser to the product or brand. Thus, the meanings attributed to the celebrity
become associated with the brand in the consumers. Secondly, in the consumption process, the
customer acquires the brands meaning. The third stage of the model explicitly shows the
importance of the consumer‟s role in the process of endorsing brands.
Source Models
The Source models are categorized as Source Credibility Model and Source Attractiveness
Models since these two models basically inform and reflect research of the Social Influence
Theory and Source Effect Theory which argues that various characteristics of a perceived
communication source may have a beneficial effect on message receptivity (Kelman 1961;
Meenaghan 1995). These two models have been applied to the celebrity endorsement process
although they were originally developed for the study of communication.
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The Source Credibility Model
This model contends that the effectiveness of a message depends on perceived level of expertise
and trustworthiness in an endorser. Information from a credible source (eg. celebrity) can
influence beliefs, opinions, attitudes and/or behavior through a process called internalization,
which occurs when receivers accept a source influence in terms of their personal attitude and
value structures.
A source is a person or an organization disseminating a message. The source‟s credibility is “the
degree to which a viewer perceives the source to possess knowledge or an appropriate experience
and do not provide biased information”. Thus, two fundamental dimensions of source‟s
credibility are: expertise and trustworthiness.
Expertise is defined as “the extent to which a communicator is perceived to be a source of valid
assertions”. The communicator has the ability to make these reports. At the beginning of the
eighty year in a context of sale, the results showed that the expert salesman induced a number of
consumers significantly higher to buy the product, that induced by the inexpert salesman.
Trustworthiness is defined as “the degree of confidence in communicator intends to
communicate the assertions that he considers the most valid.” In certain circumstances the high
source credibility and expertise were demonstrated to carry out a greater effectiveness (attitudes
change and behavioral intention) that a low source credibility. Other studies proved that there is
no relationship between the expertise or the credibility level and the communication
effectiveness.
The source attractiveness model
The source attractiveness model is a component of the “source valence” (McGuire 1968).
This model showed that the communicator‟s message effectiveness depend on source
“familiarity”, “sympathy” and “similarity” with the receivers. Similarity is the "degree to which
a source is perceived as similar to the audience in terms of attitudes, opinion, activities, interests
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etc. Many young male athletes are regarded as attractive sources with the same teenagers‟ genre.
Familiarity is “the extent to which the audience members feel that they know endorser”.
Sympathy refers to the “presence or absence of the feelings which the message receiver would
have towards the source information” .The physical attractiveness, the lively personality and the
charisma play in the source agreement aspect.Baker and Churchill (1977) noted that the use of
attractive characters has a positive influence on the emotional reactions of advertising, contrary
to the cognitive and co native reactions which prove to be negative. However, Petroshius and
Crocker (1989) and O‟Mahony and Meenaghan (1997) stipulated that attractive characters used
in advertising lead to a more favorable attitude towards the advertising and to high purchasing
intentions.
METHODOLOGY
The study employed a multi-stage research format. At the first stage pilot study was done on 15
husband-wife duo to find out the validity of the research format. Subsequent changes were made
and a sample size of 200 was selected. This study was designed to compare directly which of the
major models used in finding the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements exerts influence on the
respondent. Special attention was given to gender differences. The sample was divided into two
groups, Indian and overseas husband-wife duo. The independent variables taken here were the
husband-wife duo while the dependent variables are the 24 attributes of source credibility model
and source attractiveness model used in the research.
The main purpose if this research includes finding out the difference between perceptions of
Indian husband and foreign husband, Indian wife and foreign wife, in attitude towards celebrity
endorsements.
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Hypotheses
H1A: There is no significant difference between the attitude of husbands and wives (Indian
nationals) towards celebrity endorser.
H1B: There is significant difference between the attitude of husbands and wives (Indian
nationals) towards celebrity endorser.
H2A: There is no significant difference between the attitude of husbands and wives (foreign
nationals) towards celebrity endorser.
H2B: There is significant difference between the attitude of husbands and wives (foreign
nationals) towards celebrity endorser.
H3A: There is no significant difference between the attitude of Indian nationals both (husbands
and wives) and foreign nationals (both husbands and wives) towards celebrity endorser.
H3B: There is significant difference between the attitude of Indian nationals both (husbands and
wives) and foreign nationals (both husbands and wives) towards celebrity endorser.
Sample design
The major components of this research study were developed using the two models which are
extensively used in measuring the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements. The two models,
collectively known as celebrity endorsements source models, include source credibility model
and source attractiveness model.
Source credibility model
"Source credibility" is a term commonly used to imply a communicator's positive characteristics
that affect the receiver's acceptance of a message. The source-credibility model resulted from a
landmark study by Hovland and his associates (1953). They analyzed the factors leading to the
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perceived credibility of the communicator and concluded that two factors-namely, expertness
and trustworthiness-underscore the concept of source credibility.
Trustworthiness-The trust paradigm in communication is the listener's degree of confidence in,
and level of acceptance of, the speaker and the message. Giffin (1967) reviewed the concept of
trust, in a tour of the centuries from Aristotle to King, and concluded that what Aristotle called
"ethos," and what Hovland, Janis, and Kelley (1953) called "source credibility," are the same
concept: a listener's trust in a speaker. Furthermore, such terms as "favorable disposition,
"acceptance," "psychological safety," and "perceived supportive climate" are often mentioned as
favorable consequences of trust .the above factor is supported by three indicators which forms
the variables for questionnaire design; Dependable ,Reliable, Honest ,Sincere. These indicators
are further defined as;
Dependable-A person worthy of reliance or trust
Reliable- A person who conforms to facts and therefore worthy of belief
Honest- A person who has gained or earned reputation without cheating or stealing
Sincere- A person who is open and genuine; not deceitful
Expertise- Expertise is the second dimension of source credibility as defined by Hovland, Janis,
and Kelley (1953). This dimension is also referred to as "authoritativeness", "competence",
"expertness", or "qualification". Adjectives such as "trained-untrained," "informed-uninformed,"
and "educated-uneducated" commonly have been used to measure this dimension. Now expertise
as a factor, has been supported by four indicators used in our study; Skilled, Qualified,
Knowledgeable, Experienced. These variables can be further defined as;
Skilled- Having or showing or requiring special skill
Qualified- Holding appropriate documentation and officially on record as qualified to perform a
specified function or practice a specified skill.
Knowledgeable- Highly educated, having extensive information or understanding.
Experienced- Having accumulated knowledge or skill that resulted from direct participation in
events or activities.
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The source-attractiveness model has its origins in the social psychological research and is a
component of the "source valence" model of McGuire (McGuire 1985). The attractiveness model
contends that the effectiveness of a message depends on source's "familiarity," "likability," and
"similarity" to the respondent.
Familiarity- Familiarity is “the extent to which the audience members feel that they know
endorser”. The indicators for familiarity include Informality, Conversancy, Personnel
knowledge, and Casualness. These indicators are further defined as;
Informality-A manner that does not take forms and ceremonies seriously
Conversancy- Ability to carry out a conversation in a persuasive manner.
Personal knowledge - A person having informal knowledge about a celebrity.
Casualness- A casual approach of the celebrity
Similarity- Similarity is the "degree to which a source is perceived as similar to the audience in
terms of attitudes, opinion, activities, interests or lifestyle.(O‟Mahony and Meenaghan 1997).
The indicators for similarity include Alikeness, Exchangeable, Resemblance, and Replaceable.
These indicators are again defined as;
Alikeness- Similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things.
Exchangeable- Capable of replacing or changing personality with something you
Resemblance-Appear to be similar or bear a likeness to the celebrity endorser you see
Replaceable-Take the place or move into the position of the celebrity endorser you see
Likability- It refers to the “presence or absence of the feelings which the message receiver would
have towards the source information” (O‟Mahony and Meenaghan 1997). The indicators for
likability include Friendliness, Relevance, Empathy, and Realness.these indicators can be further
defined as;
Friendliness-An associate who is capable of providing cooperation or assistance or affection
Relevance- The person has genuine interest in the product and uses the product.
Empathy-The person understands and enters into your feelings
Realness-Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something
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SAMPLE AND RESEARCH DESIGN
The respondents targeted for this study were husband-wife duo and were divided into two
segments; Indian nationals and foreign nationals. A total of 83 Indian nationals (husband-wife
duo) and 59 foreign nationals (husband wife duo) were randomly selected from two major
sources to participate in the study. The two areas targeted for getting the response were the
airport ant the DTDC hotels serving various tourists (both Indians and foreigners).Inappropriate
surveys were eliminated and missing data were treated with list wise deletion of cases. There
were errors which included non-responses, partly filled questionnaires, and unpaired (filled by
only one counterpart) questionnaires which were discarded. The final sample size of 128
including 76 Indian husband-wife duo and 52 foreign husband-wife duo was used for analysis.
Respondents‟ ages ranged from 27 to 50 years of age.
This study is based on field work and it took place in Orissa, a state in India with the
participation of 142 husband-wife duo (both Indian nationals and foreign nationals).The time
frame for the research was one month. The research was conducted using a survey approach
which was carried out for a month in two places. The two places targeted for getting the
respondents were the airport and the OTDC (Orissa Tourism Department and Corporation) hotels
serving various tourists. In the first phase, the airport survey was done for 10 days. Data was
collected on a daily basis. For this, a list of the married couples who were travelling to n fro was
generated through the airport departments. This was mainly for finding the number of married
couples flying. Respondents who showed an interest to participate in the study were selected.
The data was collected using a non-probability convenience sampling approach where the
couples were randomly selected and were requested to fill the questionnaire. The questionnaire
was given to both husband and wife separately. The consumers were briefed about the purpose of
the study prior to filling out the surveys. Each respondent was provided with a questionnaire.
In the second phases OTDC hotels were targeted. The survey was done for 15 days. Data was
collected on a daily basis. For this, a list of the married couples (both Indian nationals and
foreign nationals) who were staying in the hotels was generated through the hotel departments.
This was mainly for finding the number of married couples. Respondents who showed an interest
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to participate in the study were selected. The data was collected using a non-probability
convenience sampling approach where the questionnaire was kept at various places. The
questionnaire was given to both husband and wife separately. The consumers were briefed about
the purpose of the study prior to filling out the surveys. After the process of data editing, the
usable sample was 128 respondents (husband-wife duo).
Dependent Variables
To measure the celebrity‟s credibility, we used the credibility scale developed by Ohanian
(1990). The source credibility scale is characterized by three dimensions: trustworthiness,
expertise, attractiveness. Each of source credibility dimensions is composed of 4 items measured
on a scale on 5 points.12 items were evaluated on a five point Likert scale.
To measure the celebrity‟s Attractiveness, we used the attractiveness scale from the Source
Attractiveness model which is a part of Source Valence model. The source Attractiveness scale
is characterized by three dimensions: familiarity, similarity and likability. Each of Source
Attractiveness dimensions is composed of 4 items measured on a scale on 5 points Likert scale.
Independent variables
The independent variables taken here are married couples (husband-wife duo).the married
couples were further segmented into Indian nationals and foreign nationals. The Indian nationals
(husband-wife duo) can be defined as those who are from India. The foreign nationals are those
couples (husband-wife duo) who are not resident of India.
RESULTS
First hypothesis- Table 1 (Independent Samples Test)- The individual subjects taken for the
following analysis were Indian husbands and Indian wives with respect to total of Source
Credibility (SC) Model and Source Attractiveness (SA) Model. The summary of the table is as
follows.
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Hypothesis H1A argued that there is no significant difference between the attitude of husbands
and wives (both Indian nationals and foreign nationals) towards celebrity endorser with respect
to Source Credibility Model (SC) and Source Attractiveness Model (SA). The results from this
study supported this hypothesis. According to the Levene‟s teat for equality of variances, if the
significance level is less than .05, we assume that there is homogeneity in the two samples taken.
Since in the above case, sig > .05, so we assume that the two samples are not homogeneous
(Indian husbands and Indian wives). Further according to t-test for equality of means, we find
that the two tailed significance level is greater than .05.thus the null hypothesis (H1A) is
accepted.
Second hypothesis
Table 2-Independent Samples Test
The individual subjects taken for the following analysis were foreign husbands and foreign wives
with respect to total of Source Credibility (SC) Model and Source Attractiveness (SA) Model.
The summary of the table is as follows.
Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df
Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Total of
SC and
SA
Equal
variances
assumed
2.649 .106 .538 150 .591 .5132 .95380 -1.37146 2.39777
Equal
variances
not
assumed
.538 143.316 .591 .5132 .95380 -1.37217 2.39849
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Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df
Sig.
(2-
tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Total of
SC and SA
model
Equal
variances
assumed
9.681 .002 -1.568 102 .120 -1.3654 .87053 -3.09208 .36131
Equal
variances
not
assumed
-1.568 87.070 .120 -1.3654 .87053 -3.09564 .36487
Hypothesis H2A argued that there is no significant difference between the attitude of husbands
and wives (foreign nationals) towards celebrity endorser with respect to Source Credibility
Model (SC) and Source Attractiveness Model (SA). The results from this study supported this
hypothesis. According to the Levene‟s teat for equality of variances, if the significance level is
less than .05, we assume that there is homogeneity in the two samples taken. Since in the above
case, sig < .05, so we assume that the two samples are homogeneous (foreign husbands and
foreign wives). Further according to t-test for equality of means, we find that the two tailed
significance level is greater than .05.thus the null hypothesis (H2A) is accepted.
The results showed that though there was no significant difference in the attitude of husbands
and wives (both Indian nationals and foreign nationals), they (husband-wife duo) shared the
same kind of attitude among themselves.
hird hypothesis
Table 3-Independent sample t test
The individual subjects taken for the following analysis were Indian nationals (husband-wife
duo) and foreign nationals (husband-wife duo) with respect to total of Source Credibility (SC)
Model and Source Attractiveness (SA) Model. The summary of the table is as follows.
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Hypothesis H3A argued that there is no significant difference between the attitudes of Indian
nationals both husbands and wives) and foreign nationals (both husbands and wives) towards
celebrity endorser with respect to Source Credibility Model (SC) and Source Attractiveness
Model (SA). The results from this study rejected this hypothesis. The above results can be
explained through the following observations. According to the Levene‟s teat for equality of
variances, if the significance level is less than .05, we assume that there is homogeneity in the
two samples taken. Since in the above case, sig < .05, so we assume that the two samples are
homogeneous (Indian husband-wife duo and foreign husband-wife duo). Further according to t-
test for equality of means, we find that the two tailed significance level is less than 0.05.Thus the
null hypothesis (H2A) is rejected and alternate hypothesis(H3B) that there is significant
difference between the attitude of Indian nationals both (husbands and wives) and foreign
nationals (both husbands and wives) towards celebrity endorser, is accepted.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
This particular study examined attitudes of two nationals (Indian national and foreign national)
and the attitude between wives and husband towards the celebrity endorser. Though there wasn‟t
Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df
Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Total of
Source
credibility and
source
attractiveness
Equal
variances
assumed 6.186 .014 1.991 254 .048 1.3543 .68006 .01499 2.69352
Equal
variances
not
assumed
2.093 251.008 .037 1.3543 .64692 .08017 2.62833
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any significant difference between the attitude of husbands and wives in both nationals, there
was a significant difference between the attitudes of Indian nationals and foreign nationals
towards the celebrity endorser. This difference might have occurred because of various reasons.
Cultural factor might be an important factor. Culture is the totality of socially transmitted
behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.
These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a class, community,
population.
The other factor might include the laws and regulations governing a particular region are
different from others. These governing bodies which regulate the advertisement exposures and
type of advertisements to be seen by individuals also differ from one country to another. These
might have resulted in the difference in attitude towards the celebrity endorser endorsing in
different countries.
Type of the endorsed product category and the endorser category also influences the attitude
between individuals. Restrictions on the number of endorsements for a particular category of
endorser might be different for different regions .Restrictions in the category of advertisements
also causes a substantial difference in the attitude of individuals towards the celebrity endorsing
in the advertisement.
At the beginning of this paper the hypotheses set up said that there is a significant difference
between the attitude of husbands and wives towards celebrity endorsers considering the husband-
wife duo were Indian nationals and foreign nationals. But the analysis suggested that no such
significant difference was found between their attitudes. Further, it was assumed that there is
significant difference between the attitude of Indian nationals both (husbands and wives) and
foreign nationals (both husbands and wives) towards celebrity endorser. The analysis approved
the hypothesis.
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