Communication surrounds us constantly, and we often don’t take
notice as it part of our everyday life. With monotonous television
advertisements, advertisers need something that will capture the audience’s
attention. This annotated bibliography will analyse celebrity endorsement,
using three mediums of an online column, news article and blog, surrounding an online
journal.
The authors of the European Journal of Marketing are Amanda
Spry, Ravi Pappu and T. Battina Cornwall. All are associated with universities
in Melbourne, Australia, Brisbane, Australia, or Michigan, America. With university
connections to their name, the labels are considered high-class and their
credibility is already solid. The journal researches impact of celebrity
endorsement of a product and how the credibility of a celebrity can have an
effect. Research found “endorser credibility has an indirect impact on brand
equity,” (Spry, Pappu, Cornwell, 2011) and the piece continues to explain how
this research was performed. This is where celebrity endorsement seems to pay
off, as “even a moderately low credibility endorser proved to be able to build
the brand.” (Spry, Pappu, Cornwell, 2011) In explaining what was done to find
results, the authors were quite specific about the process. This is to ensure
the audience can follow exactly how the information was gathered, and to trust
that the findings have a backbone. Analysed below are three different pieces also
relating to celebrity endorsement. All pieces are attempting to evaluate
endorsement within advertising, with some more credible than others.
Chris Philpott, author of Celebrity Endorsements: Do They
Work?, is a regular blogger from New Zealand. Although himself he does not hold
much credibility, he has done his research and has statistics and quotes from
people with high reputations. Philpott refers to Brian Edwards, whose company “teaches
people how to interact with the media and manage their public persona.”
(Philpott, 2012) He quotes “Brian’s Law of Endorsement means that the less you
have to lose in terms of reputation, the less you will lose.” (Philpott, 2012) This
is explaining how the more famous a celebrity, the less likely they will be to
endorse a product. Celebrities are offered more money the more their face is
worth, which is discussed in Rahul Parikh’s blog. Philpott refers to two
studies, conducted by Ace Matrix and Journal of Advertising Research, who both
hold high ethos and any type of formal research makes a credible point. With evolving
media and news outlets, bloggers are now considered a worthy source when news
is breaking. They are often the majority of sites that appear when a situation
is typed into Google. Able to access news everywhere, bloggers can combine
information to create a worthy news source.
Rahul Parikh, author of Proactiv’s Celebrity Shell Game, is
a weekly online columnist, focusing mainly on health. The reason celebrity
endorsement has been recognised is the use of it within Proactiv
advertisements. “It’s annual sales, $1.5 billion tower over the rest of the
acne treatment industry.” (Parikh, 2011) With Proactiv winning in the skincare
range, it introduces the point of celebrities as a positive promotion. Parikh
refers to published author Robert Cialdini’s principles, in particular “how
easy it is for someone we don’t know but think we like – a celebrity for
example” (Parikh, 2012) to influence an audience. This seems to pay off, with
Justin Bieber “getting paid $3 million for two years.” (Parikh, 2012) Using dollar
amounts, Parikh is cementing his theory of how celebrity endorsement pays high,
both in the bank and out. An article from Brisbane Times suggests witnessing
companies like Proactiv cash in with celebrities, other companies may begin to
do the same.
Julianne Dowling’s article, The Power of Celebrity
Endorsement, similarly addresses the cost of a famous endorsement. The Brisbane
Times is a highly respected news source and prides itself on reporting the
facts. With new media replacing traditional media, in particular newspapers,
Brisbane Times use an internet site to manage the news. The mentioned author
may not have had high credibility alone, but publishing with Brisbane Times
creates much higher credibility. However, this piece isn’t much of a hard
hitting story, proving how newsworthiness has evolved. This article was created
because the public has a curiosity and Brisbane Times could help that. Public interest
is a key factor for what is published – after all, the audience will not read
it if they don’t care. Although this is mainly a human interest article,
research was still done to make the point credible. Half of the article is full
of quotes of credible people in the field of celebrities. The article ends with
a “Pros and Cons of Celebrity Endorsements” (Dowling, 2009) list, possibly to
ensure there is no bias message being taken and to prove Dowling can see both
sides of the issue.
It is obvious celebrity endorsement creates a buzz for any
business. The audience the products want are generally interest in celebrities
and although we may not buy the product immediately, it holds more significance
because a celebrity has been involved. A topic that is quite light-hearted is
still in the news, and Chris Philpott, Rahul Parikh, and Julianne Dowling have
all analysed this with both opinions and facts from people who are highly credible.
While all articles follow the European Journal of Marketing piece, the academic
journal carries the highest credibility with the authors doing their own
primary research. That’s what good journalism is – digging deep so you have
original breaking news.
Reference List
Spry, A., Pappu, R., Cornwell, T. B., (2011) Celebrity Endorsement, Brand Credibility, and Brand Equity, 45,
882-909. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/journals.htm?articleid=1926001&show=html
