A Consumer Typology Based on Celebrity Endorsement Factors

Abstract

Celebrity endorsement is one of the most prominent advertising and promotional strategies used by organizations to seek consumer attention. It has been examined extensively by academicians in the last few decades. Still, existing studies have not focused much on understanding the typology of shoppers related to specific celebrity-related factors. This study endeavours to segment the consumer market and develop corresponding profiles based on shoppers’ importance to various celebrity factors. Survey-based research was undertaken using the mall-intercept technique, and data were collected from shoppers in India. Cluster and correspondence analysis techniques were used on the responses received from 232 survey participants. The results suggested the presence of three distinct clusters, namely ‘Indifferent-to-celebrity Buyer’, ‘Fascinated Buyer’ and ‘Star Power Buyer’. The findings suggest the clusters—fascinated buyers and star power buyers—are influenced by different components related to celebrity endorsement. The present study contributes to the marketing and celebrity endorsement literature by offering an insight into the need of identifying the differences among the consumers with respect to their propensity of acceptance of a celebrity endorser. These results would help managers in mapping them to target consumer segments with an appropriate celebrity effectively.