The application of celebrity endorsement has been an intensive practise due to head-on brand competitions. It forces companies to depend on celebrities as one of the responsive strategies. However, it is crucial to examine the absolute effectiveness of celebrity endorsement towards the endorsed-brands as to rationalize marketing expenses incurred. This is a critical matter for the industries or sectors where celebrity endorsement takes place quite competitively. Alongside the said preview, this study focused to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of celebrity endorsement on perceived brand personality. Accordingly, it has examined the relationship between celebrity endorsements related dimensions with perceived brand personality to explain how it does make resultsdriven celebrity endorsement. Findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between perceived effectiveness of celebrity endorsement and perceived brand personality. Accordingly, it was noticed that the attractiveness and trustworthiness of celebrity endorsement prominently influence perceived brand personality as reporting significant levels of coefficient values and probability in both cases. Further, expertness of the celebrity is also playing a major role. In line with the findings, this paper contributes for the managerial practices referring how to use effective celebrity endorsement strategies to make effective brand building strategies. This could be used as a decisional guide to companies in managing celebrities to enhance brand performance without tarnishing the respective brand image and brand personality. Finally, it has presented the future research directions as a contribution to knowledge by reviewing the research gaps found in Sri Lankan context.
Research problemAs per the studies found in the domain of celebrity endorsement, it has a clear argument on examining the existing models with different product forms and market contexts to validate the empirical findings of recently held studies. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has been referred as a valid context to further examining the impact of the effectiveness celebrity endorsement [1,2,7]. Those studies have validated the notion of examining effectiveness of celebrity endorsement towards the endorsed brand as a needful in addressing to research gaps in Sri Lankan context. Meanwhile, Becerra and Badrinarayanan [13], Doss and Carstens [14], Tzoumaka et al. [11] and Dissanayake [7] have referred brand-relationship behaviors as a notable concept to be examined with the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement. Further, Aaker [15] referred that brand personality as a concept of brand related property which is perceived to consumers. Meanwhile, the effect of celebrity endorsement into a particular brand has been explained by McCraken [16] introducing "Meaning Transfer Model". It says that the meaning of a celebrity endorsement derived by a celebrity transfers to endorsed brand via three stages of process. Firstly, meaning assorted to endorsement will move to the endorsed brand and then...