Журнал массовых коммуникаций и журналистики

Influence of Celebrity Endorsement of Advertisement on Students’ Purchase Intention

Abstract

Adeyanju Apejoye

Celebrity endorsement is one of the advertising techniques companies use to create awareness and gain favourable responses about their products and services. This expectation is often not realised as negative image about a celebrity endorser, incongruity of a celebrity endorser with the product being endorsed are all capable of inducing bad responses towards the product rather than the other way round. This study therefore examined the influence of celebrity endorsed advertisement on students’ purchase intention employing quasi-experiment as the method of study. Two Pepsi Cola commercials were used with one featuring Osaze Odenwingie as the endorser while the second commercial did not feature any celebrity. Findings of the research suggested that celebrityendorsed advert has a significant influence on students’ purchase intention. The study therefore recommends that the various elements involved in producing both celebrity endorsed and non- celebrity endorsed adverts should be carefully mixed together in order to achieve desired results. Likewise, the image of a celebrity before the public should be scrutinized before such a celebrity endorses an advert in order not to cast the product in negative light.