Abstract:
While the method of celebrity endorsement has been in use since decades, popular brands are now also venturing into the arena of non-celebrity endorsements. Each of these techniques has its own pros and cons and it is yet to be seen which has a more profound influential effect on the consumers. This dissertation aims at drawing comparison between the impact that celebrity endorsement has on consumer purchase intention and the impact that non-celebrity endorsement on driving a consumer’s intent to purchase. The research studies these two contrasting techniques with reference to two popular soap brands belonging to the parent company of Unilever i-e LUX that employs celebrity endorsement and DOVE that employs non-celebrity endorsement. The study explores the extent of impact each technique has on consumers by dissecting them into sub-dimensions and individually studying the impact of each sub-dimension. A qualitative research was conducted to thoroughly understand consumers’ perception of the two marketing techniques under study. A total of 15 participants were selected for the purpose of this study out of which 5 participated in in-depth interviews while 10 were made the subjects of a focus group session. The participants were selected on the basis of convenience, judgment and snowball sampling techniques. Themes were developed and analyzed on the basis of data collection. Results found that while DOVE’s non-celebrity endorsed campaigns are considered to be emotionally charged, relatable and product focused, the endorsers fail to build trust and break the beauty-standard ideals set forth by beauty brands worldwide. LUX’s advertisements driven by the raw power of celebrities proved to be more successful in exerting a positive influence on the consumers’ purchase intention as compared to non-celebrity endorsement owing to the supreme factors of trust that consumers put in these celebrities and their physical attractiveness which is perceived to be better suited for beauty products. KEY WORDS: Celebrity Endorsement, Non-Celebrity Endorsement, Purchase Intention, Source Credibility Model, Source Attractiveness Model
