The Hindu Business Line : Celebrity endorsement has little influence on decisions to buy

Chennai, April 7 Though companies often scramble to have the most popular celebrities endorse their products, a study reveals that while a celebrity endorsement may enhance the brand recall of a product, it does not for the most part influence the customer’s decision to buy.

The study conducted by IPAN-IMRB surveyed males and females in the 16 to 45 age-band in SEC B and C.

The study was conducted across the four metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai) and a sample of mid-sized (Indore, Lucknow and Chennai) and small-sized (Ajmer, Madurai, Ranchi, Mahbubnagar and Cuttack) cities.

Eighty-six per cent of the respondents said that the most prominent ad they remembered had a celebrity in it, but only 3 per cent felt that the celebrity endorser affected their buying decision.

According to an official statement, even in the South where celebrities are revered, 58 per cent said they may remember an ad because of the presence of a celebrity but only 2 per cent considered the celebrities while buying the product.

Quality, price uppermost

For the major chunk of 84 per cent of respondents in South India, quality followed by price were the most important factors taken into consideration while making a decision to buy. Though the presence of a celebrity was considered a major reason for an ad to be prominent, only about 24 per cent of respondents in the South said a celebrity endorsement affected their decisions.

On an all-India basis, 78 per cent of the respondents felt that ‘quality of the product’ was the most important factor while buying a product, whereas only 3 per cent considered celebrity an important factor, the statement said.

The survey reveals that celebrity endorsements help in breaking the clutter. However, with most ads having celebrities; differentiating between the ads was becoming more difficult.

More than eight out of 10 people said that the most prominent ad they remembered today has a celebrity in it; however, there was a clutter in celebrity endorsement.

Brand ambassadors

Shah Rukh Khan is the most recalled brand ambassador for 17 per cent of the masses, followed by Amitabh Bachchan (enjoying brand recall by 10 per cent). Aishwarya Rai topped among female celebrities, enjoying recall among 6 per cent of the sample size.

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