Brand Loyalty: A Study of the Prevalent Usage of Celebrity Endorsement in Cosmetics Advertising.

Abstract: The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle their products. Especially in cosmeticsindustry, this tactic is commonplace and often seen in TV advertisements, magazines and othertypes of media. If you flip through the television channels, you can easily find a number ofdifferent celebrity endorsers; from Eva Longoria for L’Oreal to Julia Roberts for Lancôme andeven Nicole Kidman for Schweppes. What do marketers expect from enormous amounts spenton celebrities appearing in their advertisements? Besides returns on the financial aspect andbrand awareness, using celebrities in advertisements can be a shortcut to assisting brands ingaining recognitions. All these efforts may be contributions in creating brand loyalty, which iswhere the marketing battle really begins. The brand loyalty concept has been somewhatoverlooked, in the sense that many studies have only been focused on the “behavioral” aspect.Recent studies actively propose that brand loyalty shall take both behavioral and attitudinalaspects into consideration in order to make it comprehensive. David Aaker (1991) suggested,“The brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity”. Because of theexistence of brand loyalty, it makes the brand choice and brand equity possible. For theseparticular reasons and arguments, the topic was chosen regarding both celebrity endorsement andbrand loyalty in cosmetics advertising, with the aim to probe the relationship between them. Thisstudy concerns celebrity endorsement in cosmetics advertisements and the creation of brandloyalty, thus investigating the use of celebrities in advertising and the effect it has and if and howit contributes to brand loyalty. It is based on customers’ perception of this type of advertisingtechnique in relation to the cosmetics industry, and two different types of brand loyalty,attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty.The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle their products. Especially in cosmeticsindustry, this tactic is commonplace and often seen in TV advertisements, magazines and othertypes of media. If you flip through the television channels, you can easily find a number ofdifferent celebrity endorsers; from Eva Longoria for L’Oreal to Julia Roberts for Lancôme andeven Nicole Kidman for Schweppes. What do marketers expect from enormous amounts spenton celebrities appearing in their advertisements? Besides returns on the financial aspect andbrand awareness, using celebrities in advertisements can be a shortcut to assisting brands ingaining recognitions. All these efforts may be contributions in creating brand loyalty, which iswhere the marketing battle really begins. The brand loyalty concept has been somewhatoverlooked, in the sense that many studies have only been focused on the “behavioral” aspect.Recent studies actively propose that brand loyalty shall take both behavioral and attitudinalaspects into consideration in order to make it comprehensive. David Aaker (1991) suggested,“The brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity”. Because of theexistence of brand loyalty, it makes the brand choice and brand equity possible. For theseparticular reasons and arguments, the topic was chosen regarding both celebrity endorsement andbrand loyalty in cosmetics advertising, with the aim to probe the relationship between them. Thisstudy concerns celebrity endorsement in cosmetics advertisements and the creation of brandloyalty, thus investigating the use of celebrities in advertising and the effect it has and if and howit contributes to brand loyalty. It is based on customers’ perception of this type of advertisingtechnique in relation to the cosmetics industry, and two different types of brand loyalty,attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. The literature and theories used for investigating and supporting this area mainly focused on thetwo most important concepts for this study, celebrity endorsement and brand loyalty. In order toreview these two theories and support the research question, additional concepts concerningendorsement, attitudes, behavior, brands and products were investigated and evaluated. These inturn enabled the creation of a questionnaire, covering the area to be scrutinized.The literature and theories used for investigating and supporting this area mainly focused on thetwo most important concepts for this study, celebrity endorsement and brand loyalty. In order toreview these two theories and support the research question, additional concepts concerningendorsement, attitudes, behavior, brands and products were investigated and evaluated. These inturn enabled the creation of a questionnaire, covering the area to be scrutinized. For the purpose of this quantitative study, a self completion web based questionnaire was carriedout. The survey was sent by email to possible respondents, with a students’ email account atUmeå School of Business. The sampling method used when sending out the web survey was of anon-probability nature.For the purpose of this quantitative study, a self completion web based questionnaire was carriedout. The survey was sent by email to possible respondents, with a students’ email account atUmeå School of Business. The sampling method used when sending out the web survey was of anon-probability nature. The findings led to a conclusion confirming that neither brand loyalty nor attitudinal loyalty isproved to be created by famous endorsers. Although, not bearing brand loyalty in mind, it can beseen that the endorsers help customers to get to know a brand better. The data findings alsosuggest that the costs of using celebrity endorsement are not reasonable in relation to gainingrespondents’ attitudinal loyalty. It is positively confirmed that both behavioural and attitudinalloyalty should be included when measuring actual brand loyalty concerning cosmetics brands.The findings led to a conclusion confirming that neither brand loyalty nor attitudinal loyalty isproved to be created by famous endorsers. Although, not bearing brand loyalty in mind, it can beseen that the endorsers help customers to get to know a brand better. The data findings alsosuggest that the costs of using celebrity endorsement are not reasonable in relation to gainingrespondents’ attitudinal loyalty. It is positively confirmed that both behavioural and attitudinalloyalty should be included when measuring actual brand loyalty concerning cosmetics brands.