Abstract:
Brands always used celebrity endorsers for the promotions of their products and services. But due to recent advancements and changes in the technological world such as rapid increase in the usage of internet and social media had completely changed the role of celebrities in promotional campaigns. Marketers shifted their focus from celebrities to social media influencers such as Instagram models, vloggers and bloggers. The present research study examined the influence of endorser type (celebrity versus influencers) and their disclosure (non-disclosure) on consumer purchase intention. Experimental research method had been employed to test the premise of this study. A 2(endorser type: celebrity vs. influencer) × 2(disclosure: disclosure vs. non-disclosure) full factorial design had been used to collect the data. Data has been collected through convenience sampling from 357 users of Instagram who were also the consumers of perfumes and deodorants in Pakistan. Frequency distribution tests, reliability tests, validity tests, regression tests and multivariate ANOVA have been performed in SPSS for the analysis of data. Our statistical results from a 2(endorser type: celebrity vs. influencer) × 2(disclosure: disclosure vs. non-disclosure) online experiment showed that celebrity endorsements and their non-disclosure can lead to higher purchase intention. On the other side, influencer endorsements and their disclosure can lead to higher purchase intention. Brands should avoid non-disclosure of social media influencers and disclosure of celebrities in their promotional campaigns because it can negatively decrease purchase intention and brand attitude. Results also confirmed that source credibility and opinion leadership mediated the interaction effect of endorser type and disclosure. The essential findings of present research for practice, policy and theory have been discussed. Keywords: Sponsorship disclosure (non-disclosure), endorser type, source credibility, opinion leadership, purchase intention and brand attitude.
