Celebrity endorsement consists of a written or spoken statement from a publicly known person, proclaiming the benefits of some product or service. Previous research on celebrity endorsement has proved it very successful in promoting brands or companies. Even though many marketing strategies exist, it can be especially effective for newly started ventures to apply celebrity endorsement in their approach. While celebrity endorsement may be a good way to overcome weaknesses, such as liability of newness and lack of legitimacy, new ventures often cannot afford to implement this strategy. Therefore, an option to this might be local celebrity endorsement. This thesis investigates the impact of local and well-known celebrity endorsement on communication effectiveness. Through a quantitative study, the authors have concluded that local celebrity endorsers are perceived more trustworthy and emotionally involved in the endorsement process than well-known celebrity endorsers. Local celebrities and well-known celebrities are perceived equally expert, attractive and capable of transferring meaning to the endorsed product. Local celebrity endorsement is overall more effective than well-known celebrity endorsement in communicating the endorsement message. It can therefore be a suitable tool for newly started ventures that cannot afford to employ more expensive, well-known celebrity endorsement in their quest for gaining quick reputational capital.

Background – Celebrity endorsement has been researched to a great extent, however the main focus of the previous research has been about the effectiveness and the neg-ative/positive information about the celebrity and the brand. Additionally, previous studies on gender differences have been conducted; however it has not been done in consideration with celebrity endorsement in the fashion industry. Purpose – This study aims to examine if there is a difference between how men and women perceive celebrity endorsement in the fashion industry. The purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of factors that affects how genders perceive celebrity endorsement, and lastly to research if the celebrity endorsement has a positive or negative effect on the brand endorsed. Method – The theoretical framework was tested through focus groups conducted with students from Jönköping University. It was also researched through an online questionnaire that was spread to the author’s personal networks via social media. The questions have been designed according to the AIDA-framework to help address im-portant steps that the consumer goes through. Conclusion – The findings suggests that there is a difference between how men and women perceive celebrity endorsement. The women analyze different cues to a greater extent and tend to be more skeptical, while the men focus mostly on the prominent cues. Moreover, the findings show that both men and women are more at-tentive to a male celebrity endorser than a female celebrity endorser.

<p>Celebrity endorsement consists of a written or spoken statement from a publicly known person, proclaiming the benefits of some product or service. Previous research on celebrity endorsement has proved it very successful in promoting brands or companies. Even though many marketing strategies exist, it can be especially effective for newly started ventures to apply celebrity endorsement in their approach. While celebrity endorsement may be a good way to overcome weaknesses, such as liability of newness and lack of legitimacy, new ventures often cannot afford to implement this strategy. Therefore, an option to this might be <em>local</em> celebrity endorsement.</p><p>This thesis investigates the impact of local and well-known celebrity endorsement on communication effectiveness.</p><p>Through a quantitative study, the authors have concluded that local celebrity endorsers are perceived more trustworthy and emotionally involved in the endorsement process than well-known celebrity endorsers. Local celebrities and well-known celebrities are perceived equally expert, attractive and capable of transferring meaning to the endorsed product. Local celebrity endorsement is overall more effective than well-known celebrity endorsement in communicating the endorsement message. It can therefore be a suitable tool for newly started ventures that cannot afford to employ more expensive, well-known celebrity endorsement in their quest for gaining quick reputational capital.</p>

The use of celebrity endorsers is a popular marketing strategy in many countries. Typically, many marketers believe that using celebrities is a viable marketing strategy for attracting customers, increasing market share and improving sales for their market offerings. The celebrity endorsement strategy using local celebrities is increasing in South Africa. Many South African marketers are now using popular local black celebrities in an attempt to attract the prosperous black emerging middle class, known as Black Diamonds. Black Generation Y students offer great promise to marketers in the South African market as their tertiary education is likely to lead to higher future earning potential and subsequent entry into the already prosperous black emerging middle class segment. Given the increased use of local black celebrities and the market potential of the black Generation Y cohort in South Africa, it is important to investigate whether this marketing strategy may be effective when used in this segment. Celebrity endorsement may work effectively if the correct celebrity is chosen to promote a product but may have costly results if an inappropriate celebrity is chosen. Ohanian (1990) developed a scale to facilitate the selection of celebrity endorsers. The scale is based on the source credibility model that includes the source attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise model. This study set out to determine whether the black Generation Y students have positive perceptions of local black celebrity endorsers using the celebrity endorsers‟ credibility scale developed by Ohanian (1990). Furthermore, the scale was validated using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling in order to ascertain whether the scale remains applicable when used in the South African context. A non-probability convenience sample of 880 (440 per institution) black students aged between 18 and 24 years was taken in 2012 from the two registered public higher education institutions in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Following a top-of-the-mind-awareness test, four local black celebrities were identified, namely Connie Ferguson, Black Coffee, DJ Sbu and Zahara. In a second top-of-the-mind-awareness test to determine which product types each celebrity is considered to most suitable to endorse, Connie Ferguson was linked to cosmetics, Black Coffee to hot beverages, DJ Sbu to men’s clothing and Zahara to traditional African clothes and jewellery. The relevant primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that had four versions – one per identified celebrity. Lecturers at the two public HEIs were contacted and asked if they would distribute the questionnaires (four versions) to their students to complete during lecture periods. The questionnaires were hand delivered to the relevant lecturers and those completed were immediately collected. The questionnaire requested respondents to indicate on a six-point Likert scale their perceptions of the four selected celebrities‟ attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise in endorsing their selected product types. In addition, respondents were asked to provide certain demographic data. Findings from the study indicated that black Generation Y students have positive perceptions of the selected local black celebrity endorsers‟ attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise in endorsing their selected product types. In addition, the results of both the confirmatory factor analysis and the structural equation modelling suggest that the scale developed by Ohanian (1990) to be a valid measure for selecting celebrity endorsers when applied in South Africa. Insights gained from this study will assist both marketing academics and practitioners understand the perceptions of the black Generation Y students towards the use of local black celebrities in product promotions in the South African market. / MCom, Marketing Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This Diploma Thesis deals with the issue of Prague musicals celebrity marketing, which is a significant characteristics of the contemporary Prague musical scene. The theoretical part of this thesis introduces the basic theories of celebrity studies and the specifics of marketing mix of musicals, in which celebrities play a significant role. On the margine, the thesis is also focused on current overproduction of musicals and related problems in marketing activities of musical productions. The main part of this thesis is the own research, which was realized by analyzing the promotional materials of the greatest musical productions in Prague, as well as questionnaire survey among the visitors of musical shows. The aim of this research was to assess the contemporary celebrities of the Prague musicals and to assess the influence of celebrities on the decision to go to see some musical.

Background: With increased scrutiny of celebrities by the Chinese government, more and more celebrities are being exposed to being caught in various scandals. This leads to the challenge of how companies respond to such celebrity endorsements followed by scandals to incorporate the intentions of independent, socially conscious China’s Generation-Y. Therefore, companies need to understand the factors that influence abandonment intentions and thus take more action on preventive celebrity endorsement management. Purpose: This dissertation aims to examine China’s Generation-Y's intention to abandon brands following a celebrity endorsement followed by a scandal. A theory of planned behavior incorporating tax evasion scandals forms the theoretical basis for examining which factors most impact abandonment intention. Method: To achieve the purpose of this thesis, the researcher conducted a quantitative study through an interpretive research method with a sample of 246 Chinese respondents. In addition to demographic questions and two modules on celebrity endorsement and scandal context, the questionnaire consisted of eight modules derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The researcher used descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regressions to analyze the data to investigate the relationship between the variables better and determine if the hypotheses set by the study were supported. Finally, demographic factors were combined to explore the intrinsic link with the variables further. Conclusion: This research provides evidence that the factors influencing the intention of China’s Generation-Y to use a brand change after a scandal concerning a celebrity who had endorsed the brand in question. The main finding concerns the increased importance of subjective norms and the decreased comparative importance of attitude towards intention to use/abandon said brand after the scandal. However, in contrast with previous studies, the results of this study showed no significant influence of perceived behavioral control before or after the scandal. Furthermore, the researchers found that while before a scandal there was a significant difference in the influence of subjective norms between men and women, that difference disappeared after a scandal. Those results allowed the researchers to draw conclusions, make managerial implications, and suggest further possible research opportunities.

Celebrity gossip blogs have quickly established themselves as a new media phenomenon that is transforming celebrity culture. This dissertation is an examination of the impact of the technological and textual shifts engendered by new media on the use of gossip as a form of everyday cultural production. Broadly, I investigate the historical role of gossip media texts in celebrity culture and explore how celebrity gossip blogs have reconfigured audience engagements with celebrity culture. Following Gamson’s (1994) approach to celebrity as a cultural phenomenon, I separate celebrity gossip blogs into three elements—texts, producers, and audiences—and examine the interplay between them using ethnographic methods adapted to the new media setting. I begin with an investigation of what is being said about celebrity on gossip blogs, supported by my five–week online fieldwork observation of six heavily–trafficked, commercially–supported celebrity gossip blogs. I focus on visual images and blogger commentary as the key elements of gossip blogs as media texts. I supplement these observations with oral interviews of the producers of these texts, the gossip bloggers. I argue that the blogger, as the primary author of the site, retains authority as a cultural producer of these texts. The final component of this study focuses on the reading and cultural production practices of celebrity gossip blog audiences using data gathered online and through a qualitative survey. I examine the various ways these practices support the emergence of community within these virtual spaces. While I claim that gossip is an active engagement with celebrity culture well suited to new media's emphasis on immediacy and interactivity, I conclude that an active audience is necessarily a resistant one. Blogs can be seen as a space for intervention into celebrity culture that allows bloggers and readers to challenge the power of the media industry to define celebrity culture. However, gossip blogs often uphold oppressive norms, particularly around questions of gender, race, and sexuality. Gossip is an important area of inquiry because it reveals the way women, the predominant audience for and participants on gossip blogs, may be implicated in the normative ideologies forwarded by the celebrity media.

This thesis examines the role of authenticity, its elements and manifestations in the process of developing a relationship between micro-celebrities and their fans. The issue is demonstrated by the example of YouTube, the most important video-sharing site. Part of the issue is whether the YouTube content creators and their subscribers develop parasocial relationships as defined by Horton and Wohl (1956), and authenticity as an element that sets the relationship between micro-celebrities and their fans apart from the relationship between traditional celebrities and their fans. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with concepts that are associated with development of the micro-celebrity phenomenon, discusses the concepts of micro-celebrity and authenticity themselves, and expounds the parasocial relationships theory. Analysis of the role of authenticity in the process of developing the relationship between micro-celebrities and their fans is based on qualitative research that draws from interviews with micro-celebrities and their fans and the analysis of videos and comments by which viewers respond to them.

This dissertation addresses the industrial history of American-based celebrity gossip over century, beginning with the first Hollywood stars in the 1910s and reaching into “celebrified” culture of the 2010s. Gossip, broadly defined as discourse about a public figure produced and distributed for profit, can operate within the star’s good graces or completely outside of the Hollywood machine; it can be published in “old media” print and broadcast forms or online and on a phone. Regardless of form, tone, and content, gossip remains a crucial component of the ways in which star images are produced and consumed. The dissertation thus asks: how has the relationship between the gossip industry and Hollywood in general changed over the last century? And what implications do those changes have for stars, those who exploit their images, and media industries at large? / Not available / text

Uppsatsen syfte är att analysera vad det är för skillnader med att marknadsföra en produkt eller tjänst med eller utan Celebrity Endorsement. Jag har även analyserat hur varumärket framställs genom att använda Celebrity Endorsement metoden. För att förtydliga min analys har jag granskat två reklamfilmer av Viktväktarna. För denna uppsats har jag valt hermeneutik som vetenskapsteoretisk utgångspunkt.  Mina frågeställningar är: På vilket sätt använder sig Viktväktarna av Celebrity Endorsement? Hur framställs Viktväktarna som varumärke i reklamfilmerna? På vilket sätt skiljer sig de två reklamfilmerna? Finns det gemensamma faktorer mellan reklamfilmerna? Reklamfilmerna är från två olika kampanjer men båda har som syfte att skapa efterfrågan på Viktväktarnas tjänster. Den ena reklamfilmen presenterar Leila Lindholm och Shirley Clamp som nya ambassadörer för Viktväktarna. Den andra reklamfilmen föreställer en ung kvinna som berättar sin personliga erfarenhet med Viktväktarna. För att genomföra undersökningen har jag bland annat använt mig av teorier som aspirationsgrupp, identifikation, symbolisk interaktionism och psykologiska övertalningsprinciper. I relation till teorierna har det empiriska materialet analyserats med två kvalitativa metoder: narrativ filmanalys och kritisk diskursanalys. För att kunna se potentiella skillnader har jag applicerat narrativ filmanalys och kritisk diskursanalys på båda reklamfilmerna och jämfört resultatet. Resultatet av studien visar att användandet av Celebrity Endorsement har påverkat Viktväktarnas sätt att presentera deras varumärke och tjänst. I reklamfilmen som använder Celebrity Endorsement har utseende en central roll och varumärket framställs som ytligt. Reklamfilmen utan Celebrity Endorsement fokuserar mer på produktinformation och framställs som ett hjälpsamt, behagligt och effektivt varumärke.