Celebrity endorsement, brand recognition, over-endorsement, multiple endorsement, over-shadowing
The use of celebrities such as movie stars, sports heroes, entertainers, music experts and all the likes as endorsers by marketers in promoting brand awareness, recognition, and preferences, has become the order of the day in advertising practices both in developed and developing economies. It therefore behooves on marketing professionals to design possible techniques to enhance its effective use by companies. This instigated the researchers to theoretically examine what celebrity endorsement is all about, celebrity-worship relationship and endorser effects, risks associated with the use of celebrity endorsement and celebrity endorsement selection criteria. A critical review of extant literature revealed that celebrity endorsement makes advertisement more memorable and the company in the short-run generates high brand awareness as well as an increase in market share. There are certain risks associated with celebrity endorsement such as negative publicity, overshadowing, multiple endorsement, over-endorsement, extinction and cost implications. The study indicated that, successful celebrity endorsement is a combination of attributes such as trustworthiness, expertise, similarity, familiarity, likeability, and a match between the celebrity and the message (brand,). To ensure the effective use of celebrity endorsement, the paper highlighted some strategic options.
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