Celebrity Endorsement: An Analysis on Television Commercials in India
Indian Culture: India is a country which has a very strong culture. The culture is been shaped through long history. Though India is diverse in cultural practices, languages, customs, but it is traditionally very strong and strict. Cultural values that prevail in India are joint family, dependence on parents, respect elders; arrange marriages, male dominance, devotion, religion, etc. Indian Celebrities: {draw:frame} India has a huge industry called Bollywood which is named by a newspaper writer to the Bombay Hindi Film Industry. Bollywood comprises of many stars and it churns out 10 thousand movies in a year. Celebrities in India don’t only mean bollywood stars; the other industry which is giving a strong competition in popularity is television industry. It has become as popular as bollywood. These celebrities are seen and noticed by everyone. Television stars are seen many times in a week as the daily soap has become the part of life style for every Indian. The sports world is not to be forgotten. As cricket is the passion for every Indian, the cricketers are given loads of importance in India. Crickets learn quite lot of money through commercials. The cricketer who performs well in one match becomes a face of some or the other products. All these celebrities are worshiped, given respect and trusted. So marketers know that they are very influential on consumers. Impact of Celebrities on Brands: Celebrities are people who are publicly recognized by a large share of a certain group of people. The attributes by which they are associated are attractive, talented, extraordinary lifestyle, etc. (Taleja,2008 ) Whereas McCracken's (1989) defined a celebrity endorser as, _“any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement (marcoms), is useful, because when celebrities are depicted in marcoms, they bring their own culturally related meanings, _thereto, irrespective of the required promotional role.” All over the world celebrities are given loads of importance. Every company in the modern era of marketing uses celebrities to promote their product as it is evident that the prevalence of the appeal is persuasive communication. In USA, UK, Japan, India and many other places, the use of celebrity has increased from 25 to 60 percent. Hsu & Mcdonald (2002) stated that marketers spend huge amount of money on celebrity endorsement contracts as they believe that celebrities are efficient representative for their product or brand.
Shalini Shankar’s Advertising Diversity presents an astute ethnographic study of the construction and production of Asian American identities by the American advertising industry. The book encompasses a detailed structured analysis of the processes involved in the creation of advertising content targeted at Asian American consumers, from the initial idea – the pitch to planning and creative direction to the essential act of production and circulation in media. Through participant observation and interviews with advertising professionals in niche/multicultural as well as general market agencies in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, Shankar attempts to chart the rising significance of ethnic and racial representation – ‘diversity’ in the
Celebrity endorsements can make or break a product and even a company. Especially in today’s world many teens will buy a product just predominantly based on who endorses it. For example, Beyoncé promotes both Pepsi and H&M. She is a great representative for both because she is a really big celebrity and she is very well known. She also has a lot of influence. Young girls would love to dress like her and with H&M endorsing her they get that demographic. Pepsi made a good choice because she, like the previous celebrities they endorsement deals with, is a very public figure with a very big name. Many teens and young ...
He believes that celebrity culture has been more prevalent due to the corporations, advertisers, and the media. He also states that, “The more distant and impersonal corporations become, the more they rely on other people’s faces to connect them to their customers.” (The Guardian, George Monbiot). This statement I think can be taken two different ways. In one way, yes, it is true when corporations become more distant they tend to rely on the celebrities that we are more familiar with to attract us to certain products of that hey advertise. However, in a way they do bring us closer because since we know these celebrities on some superficial level and thus are more likely to purchase their products. He goes on to say that celebrities that we see the most often are the ones that endorse the most remunerative products because they will provide the most benefit for the celebrity. He also, mentions how most of our attention are in these few celebrities we see often in advertisements and commercials. This constant exposure of certain celebrities builds a false sense of relationships with them, however its his relationship that will often cause consumers to purchase products. Monbiot mentions, studies that show celebrities reputations and cultural attention increasing from 17 percent in the early 1900’s to 37 percent by 2010( The Guardian, George Monbiot). This
Endorsements are a manifestation of promoting that uses well known identities or big names who summon a high level of recognition, trust, and appreciation or mindfulness among the people. Such individuals promote for an item loaning their names or pictures to advertise an item or organization. Sponsors and customers trust such support, or underwriting by a celebrity, will impact purchasers positively. There are many risks in using celebrity endorsements but group research for Nike has proven that the rewards outweigh the risks. This type of advertising connects more with the people that the company is selling to. Ordinary people won’t have much of an impact on a product. Celebrities are famous and people admire them. These ads will work well for aspiration of a brand. Therefore the more famous the endorser, the more expensive the product will be.
According to Epstein, a celebrity is something or someone who can be talented and full of achievements and yet wish to broadcast ones fame further through the careful cultivation of celebrity, while one can be the total opposite of achievements and be less talented and yet still be made seem otherwise through the mechanics and dynamics of celebrity creation (Epstein2). Celebrity culture today is epidemic; some might agree that it is sweeping up America in a harmful way, while one might argue that it is beneficial to our society. Over the last few decades, celebrity and fame has changed dramatically, from Alexander the Great to Kim Kardashian. Talent and achievements no longer play a huge role when it comes to celebrities. “Much modern celebrity seems the result of careful promotion or great good looks or something besides talent and achievement” (Epstein2) with that being said celebrity-creation has blossomed into an industry of its own.... ...
Thus, the author reduces the consumers as naive and vulnerable to endorsed advertisements. For Example, most of it is common sense, consumers immediately know that Katy Perry doesn’t truly use Covergirl cosmetics in her everyday makeup routine, considering the amount of money she makes. Therefore, consumers are aware of this. They will still continue to buy the product because they enjoy the product, not simply for the celebrity endorsing it. Likewise, an advertisements intent are not meant to mislead but to promote their item. To survive in such a competitive market a company has to use certain methods to stand out. Therefore, using a celebrity is the most efficient and effective method of advertising. The celebrity is merely to be there to be the eye-catcher, once the consumer is drawn in, then their attention is turned towards the product. For Example, as a pro, when Serena Williams is promoting a new racquet from a company, she utilizes it in a way that highlights its best features. Thus, making the advertisement about the product, the celebrity is only an addition to make the advertisement complete. Finally, since most consumers already know the intentions and methods of advertisements, it is
Mukherjee, J. (2004). Celebrity, media and politics: An indian perspective. Parliamentary Affairs, 57(1), 80-92. Retrieved from http://pa.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.bond.edu.au/content/57/1/80.full.pdf html
The celebrity only looks as good as the picture on the screen because about 80.8 percent of media news come from the radio and approximately 56.7 percent comes from television (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2001). Viewers and fans are listening to other people and agreeing with the judgements, whereas readers get the full story and make his or her own
As mentioned before, unrealistic media images are very prevalent. This creates the illusion that females who match the ideal seem like the norm rather than the exception. These perceptions and the constant comparisons lead to the cultivation theory which is known as the contributions media exposure makes to the viewer’s perceptions of social reality (Von Vonderen and Kinnally 53). The repetitiveness of these images influences the individual’s ability to understand that the images are unrealistic. Over time the nearly impossible standard of beauty is adopted and perceived as “reality.” People who watch heavy amounts of TV are more likely to see the real world according to what they have watched. Viewers often seek out programming that reinforces their beliefs, further strengthening their attitudes. If a woman has low self-esteem and views media that portrays emaciated models as beautiful, those negative attitudes will only be reinforced. A person’s level of awareness of the characteristics portrayed by the media is an indicator on how they will internalize these images. Females that are more aware of the media’s effects are more likely to be resilient to body image concerns and females that are unaware are more likely to show symptoms of body disturbance (Serdar). Therefore, if a woman is unable to determine that the media is unrealistic she will be more likely to internalize the images and be more prone to body dissatisfaction.
As a marketer you need to be aware of the social norms of what is and is not accepted in different cultures. It would not be wise to think that the same T.V. ad used in America would be ok to use in India. When you understand what different cultures value you can use it toward your advantage when marketing. The Whirlpool ad used in India took fourteen months of research to find that the Indian homemakers prize hygiene and purity. Once they realized this they came up with a T.V. ad that shows a girl standing out from the crowd in white “thanks to whirlpool”. When you create an advertising campaign that really makes people not hesitate about whether or not to by your product, you have put yourself in a really good position to succeed. Marketing mix adaptation is necessary when selling in other countries. People who live in India are mainly Hindu and don’t believe in eating meat. Companies like McDonalds get around this by offering chicken, fish, and vegetable burgers.
In an article called Cultural Factor Highly Influences On Consumers & Their Buying Behavior – In Indian Context, the basic characteristics of culture are described:
Across America in homes, schools, and businesses, sits advertisers' mass marketing tool, the television, usurping freedoms from children and their parents and changing American culture. Virtually an entire nation has surrendered itself wholesale to a medium for selling. Advertisers, within the constraints of the law, use their thirty-second commercials to target America's youth to be the decision-makers, convincing their parents to buy the advertised toys, foods, drinks, clothes, and other products. Inherent in this targeting, especially of the very young, are the advertisers; fostering the youth's loyalty to brands, creating among the children a loss of individuality and self-sufficiency, denying them the ability to explore and create but instead often encouraging poor health habits. The children demanding advertiser's products are influencing economic hardships in many families today. These children, targeted by advertisers, are so vulnerable to trickery, are so mentally and emotionally unable to understand reality because they lack the cognitive reasoning skills needed to be skeptical of advertisements. Children spend thousands of hours captivated by various advertising tactics and do not understand their subtleties.
Saikat Banerjee, (2008) “Dimensions of Indian culture, core cultural Values and marketing implications. An analysis”, cross cultural management: An Internationa Journal.
Have you ever think about the influences of celebrities that affect in people life. Celebrity is a kind of pop-culture that combines between interpersonal communication and media, and it creates desires from the people assumption or expectation. Celebrities are the important tools to attract audiences. The media scholars produce the celebrity content from what people expect from life. Celebrities may drive the directions of living such as habits, tastes, attention and ambition among people (Turnere). Nowadays, celebrities are all around us. They are one of the important people who can influence the media such as movies, drama, music magazines, news or even represent the nation. According to the William’s note celebrities are one part which
The mass media is a great power in modern culture, particularly in America. Sociologists refer to this as a cultural mediator in which the media portray and create culture. Communities and individuals are constantly bombarded with messages from a variety of sources including TV, billboards, and magazines, to name a few. These messages encourage not only the product, but feelings, attitudes, and sense of what is and is not important. The press allows the concept of celebrity: without the ability of films, magazines, and news media to reach across thousands of miles, can not be a famous person. In fact, only political leaders and business, as well as little-known criminals, known in the past. Only in recent years have actors, singers, and other