Celebrity Endorsement: Why It Becomes a Trend in Food and Beverages Industry

What is perception definition? How perception can influence the society to believe to consume products? Is it because of their belief on certain human being that we call them celebrities is endorsed with certain product? Why do they belief to the celebrities? Is it the celebrities portray the qualities the society look for associated with the product they endorsed with? Well, by referring to the topic we will discuss further by defining what is perception? According to Lindsay, P. , & Norman, D. A. , 1977, perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world.

Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or skin. Perception, on the other hand, better describes one’s ultimate experience of the world and typically involves further processing of sensory input. In practice, sensation and perception are virtually impossible to separate, because they are part of one continuous process. Thus, perception in humans describes the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience.

Furthermore they also mentioned that experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Relations found between various types of stimulation (e. g. , light waves and sound waves) and their associated percepts suggest inferences that can be made about the properties of the perceptual process; theories of perceiving then can be developed on the basis of these inferences. Because the perceptual process is not itself public or directly observable (except to the perceiver himself, whose percepts are given directly in experience), the validity of perceptual theories can be checked only indirectly.

Marshal, P. D. (2006) stated that Celebrity, in its elevation of particular personalities to public acclaim and recognition, has relied on a relatively stable media system to circulate its images and stories. Thus, even a decade ago one could confidently write about how industries such as film, television and popular music patterned the production of celebrities. To be sure, celebrity, in its focus on the extra-textual dimensions of the public persona, has always had elements that were out of control of an industry, an apparatus or a system of production.

In addition Marshal, P. D. (2006) mentioned audiences were organized carefully and discretely around an array of celebrities and closely connected to cultural commodities. Celebrities themselves were also highly organized as commodities even when they exited the world of cultural commodities and only existed in the tabloid press. ” Nowadays, people tend to believe celebrities, more than ‘average people’. Big corporation spend millions using these type of marketing. Moreover, people tend to listen to these influential commercials.

Celebrity endorsement is a kind of ‘association’. Having a popular name is important if you want to sell food and beverages because when you admire on particular celebrity then you also respect him, meaning you might just run out to buy the food and beverages he endorses. Celebrity Cruises, 2010 supported that celebrity is a famous person. They have an aura that can attract audients to believe what they would like to say or endorses. A food and beverages endorsement is a form of testimonial from someone which indicates that they like on the product.

Food and beverages endorsement are solicited from people who are socially prominent. It’s hard to have a food and beverages endorsement on product packaging and in advertisements. Modern food and beverages endorsements can come without contracts worth substantial amounts of money. For example, Mawi, the pop star participates in Marry Brown food and beverages endorsement campaigns. Mawi will donate the proceeds to charities they support. Ask about objective of using celebrity in an advertisement and most admen will talk about making an impact on the bottom line.

They believe stars endorsements have several benefits, key among them being building credibility, fostering trust and drawing attention, any or all of which can translate into higher brand sales. But why Mawi? Let us look backward during his participation in Akademi Fantasia season 3 (AF3). The societies at that time adore him because of his religious image. Besides of his religious background he is from Felda Taib Andak that most of the AF3 viewers were Malays and from Feldas. Astro’s Malays viewers increased after they introduced AF in 2003 and most of the Malays who lives in the city are from those areas.

So Mawi actually represents most of them at that time. They do belief Mawi is everything at that time. Food and beverages endorsement do not necessarily mean that products are good. It just means that the company managed to work its public relations connection to get a bigger and popular brand name. Many companies use photographs of famous people on their food and beverages packaging to create a visual connection between the endorser and the product; which is why Chef Wan appear on Corn Flakes box. Jerome, 2009 added that celebrity endorsement is in promotion of advertising, extolling the virtue of some product.

This kind of promotion benefits the food and beverages industry and rate up their value of sale due to the trend of celebrity promotion. In Malaysia situation today, the use of celebrity advertising for food and beverages industry companies has become a trend. Associating a brand with a top celebrity can do more than extra brand recall. It can create linkages with the stars appeal. In a world filled with faces, how many do you remember? Is this the one of the faces you’d turn to look at? Brands have been influence celebrity appearance for a long time.

Across categories, whether in products or services, many brands are investing on the bunch appeal of celebrities locally and also internationally. Once a new face enters the popularity charts, advertisers’ line up to have it marked all over. The benefit of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the following advantages by using celebrities on the overall brand. First benefit is Establishment of Credibility. In establishment of credibility, approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products.

Again as mentioned earlier, we have the Corneto Walls ice cream campaign. At launch, Akim and Stacy endorsed Corneto ice cream to share with the loves ones and this ensured that brand awareness was created in a market, to people which did not even know the brand. Secondly, Ensured Attention which ccelebrities make sure the attention of the target group by dividing the confusion of advertisements and making the advertisement and the brand more visible and understandable. Furthermore, PR coverage is one of the advantages for using celebrities.

Managers perceive celebrities as current and up to date, which create high public relation coverage. A good example Rosyam Nor who have not only appeared in advertisements for Power Root, but also in product launching and PR events. In reality, celebrity-company events or movies production are covered by most media from television to newspapers due to endorsing to the Power Root brand. Lastly, Associative Benefit which a celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.

Nevertheless, the disadvantages and the risks of a celebrity endorsing a brand are comprises of 3 factors, the reputation of the celebrity may tarnish after he/she has endorsed the product: Pepsi suffered with three tarnished celebrities for example, Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Since the behavior of the celebrities reflects on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at times become responsibility to the brands they endorse. In addition, Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the brand which celebrities are visible as a certain persona for the audience.

It is importance that there is a matching between the persona of the celebrity and the image of the brand. Each celebrity represents a broad range of meanings, involving a specific personality and lifestyle. Maya Karin, for example, is perceived as a pleasant, intense and modern women associated with the lower middle class associated with Prune Inner Shine brand. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to overexposure referring to the novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he does too many advertisements. This may be termed as commoditization of celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big bucks.

Example, Power Root was among the early sponsors of Mawi. But now Mawi endorses a numerous brands and the novelty of the Power Root campaign has scaled down. ‘Celebrity as brands’ is a concept-selling challenge. It is about selecting celebrity whose characteristics are fitting with brand image. Celebrity endorsements are very expensive. Therefore, their use in advertising should be justified. In other words, the message strategy for a brand should strongly warrant the use of known face in an idea sadly. Very often the celebrity is hired first and an idea is then weaved around his presence.

In 2010 a famous face can translate into millions in brand sales. Perhaps that’s why the companies all over the world have been using celebrities to endorse on everything, from food to food chains, from soft and hot drinks to health drinks. Moreover signing up stars for endorsements is a time-tested strategy and has been effectively used by some of the top brands in world including Pepsi. In Malaysia, Quaker Oat has used singer and actress, Amy Mastura to support their products. Chef Zam, Mila, Shila OIAM are some of the other celebrities that give their support to certain products..

And who can forget M. Rajoli, Kopi Lasindah? Celebrity endorsements are capable of manifesting both favorable and adverse affects for the brands with which they associate. If the stars represent a good behavior in front of public the brand that they endorse also will have a good reputation among consumer. Acceptance of the message depends on ‘Expertness’ and Trustworthiness’ of the source. Expertness is defined as the perceived ability of the source to make valid assertions. Trustworthiness is defined as the perceived willingness of the source to make valid assertions.

Audience acceptance increases with the expertness of the source and the ability of the audience to evaluate the product. (Source Credibility Theory5). Marketers now seek to adopt 360 degree brand stewardship in which the food and beverages brands see no limits on the number of contact points possible with target consumers. Celebrity endorsements decisions are made through these strategic motives. One of the most successful celebrity endorsements campaigns which reflect the fit between the brand and the 360 degree fit is Shahir and Innershine.

According to Charbonneau and Garland (2005) “celebrity endorsers break through media clutter and hold viewers attention”. This approach becomes quite significant regarding the positioning of a product aiming the target market keeping in mind that now a day’s people are bombarded by hundreds of advertisements on every form of media that they come across. Viewers ignore most of advertisements because it is not possible to pay attention on any body and every body in the crowd unless there is someone different from others.

Charbonneau and Garland (2005) further cite Kamins (1989) and Ohanian (1990) to state that “celebrities contribute to brand name recognition, create positive associations transferring qualities such as physical appeal and likability, and assist in the development of distinct and credible brand personalities”. Thus the main goal of using a celebrity to endorse a product seems to increase the sales by capturing the target market’s attention. Sometime the celebrity attitude really matches with the food and beverages product they endorse.

For example, even though Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan is an old actor, but due to his health conditions which are still in good perceptions therefore one of the rice companies takes him as the ambassador. The company is Beras Super 5. More examples of compatible celebrity product that match with celebrity brand attributes get transferred to the brand are of Mallaika Arora & Freshizza from Pizza Hut. In addition bad attitude or incidents related to celebrities will affect the brand image. For instance, Salman Khan and the controversy in which he crushed a man to death with his Pajero when he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Also, any act on the part of the endorser that gives him a negative image among the audience and goes on to affect the brands endorsed. The brand, in most instances, takes a bashing. (Neha T. ). Celebrity Brand association like Cornetto endorsed Stacy & Akim, get much brand recall. Tinge has had increased popularity and share of voice due to the endorsement of the brand through Shila OIAM. R. Madhavan endorsing Pepsi in southern India or Sachin Tendulkar endorsing in India are few examples of how celebrities are chosen to reach out to target audiences for brands in regional markets. (Neha T. . John Abraham endorsing Wrangler examples which portray the celebrity’s physical attractiveness that helps create an impact.

The most important aspect and reason for celebrity endorsement is credibility. In a research carried out among 43 ad agencies, most experts believed that the most important dimensions of credibility are trustworthiness and prowess with regard to the recommended food and beverages product (Miciak and Shanklin, 2002), one of the most obvious reasons of neither Rosyam Nor endorsing Power Root is the credibility of the celebrity and his recognition across consumers.

The case of multiple endorsements, both in terms of a single brand hiring multiple celebrities and that of a single celebrity endorsing multiple brands, is often debated. At times, consumers do get confused about the brand endorsed when a single celebrity endorses numerous brands. The recall then gets reduced and reduces the popularity of the brand. Not many people can remember all the brands that a celebrity endorses and the chances of losing brand recall increases if the celebrity endorses multiple brands. For example, in case of Sachin Tendulkar people recall Pepsi, TVS Victor and MRF, but might not remember brands like Britannia and Fiat.

Similarly, for Amitabh Bachchan, consumers remember ICICI, Pepsi, Parker Pens, Pulse Polio and BPL. They might get confused in the endorsement of Nerolac or Asian Paints. Thus, for multiple endorsements where the same celebrity endorses several brands, it boils down to the strength of the brand and the advertising content. (Neha T. ) The basis of effectiveness of celebrity-endorsed advertising can be linked to Kelman’s processes of social influence as discussed by Friedman. According to Kelman, There are three processes of social influence. The reason why certain endorser is being chosen is being listed:

1. Da’I Bachtiar (Indonesian star) – resilient, professional, charismatic unassuming 2. Mawi (Malaysian star)- youth icon, stylish, successful 3. Irwandi (Thailand star)- excellence, determination faith hard work 4. Rani Mukherjee (Indian star)- youthful, enthusiastic To conclude, brand personality being potent tool needs to be leveraged to achieve key objectives for existing & new brands of food and beverages products. Consistency is also important. Celebrity endorsement should support and strengthen brand personality of food and beverages products.