CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

REFERENCE GROUPS & CELEBRITY

ENDORSEMENT
GROUP 8

Sayan Dhara
Manali Mehta
Clariane Brision
Piyush Dugar
Martin Gasperini
INTRODUCTION & DEFINITION
● Social Identity Theory- Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are
based on their group membership(s). Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups
(e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an
important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social
identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.

● Social Power- Why are groups so persuasive?

● Reference Group- A group that significantly influences an individual’s

evaluation, aspirations or behaviour.
 Reference
Groups

Direct Indirect

Primary Secondary Aspirational Nonaspirational

DIRECT GROUPS

● Small informal groups where individuals have face-to-face contact and

membership and a regular interactions

● Influence the buying behaviour of the members

● Are divided into Primary and Secondary Groups

DIRECT GROUPS
Primary Groups Secondary Groups

✓ Persons with high possibility ✓ Occasionally meeting

of a face to face contact ✓ Certain common interest
✓ Cohesion, reciprocity and
lasting
• Family • Shopping groups
• Friends • Brands
• Colleagues communities
• Club
INDIRECT GROUPS
● Groups in which an individual tend to belong or avoid

● Influence the buying behaviour of the Consumers

● Are divided into Aspirational and Nonaspirational Groups

INDIRECT GROUPS
Aspirational Nonaspirational

✓ Positive reference Groups ✓ Negative reference Groups

✓ Groups in which the ✓ Groups in which the customer wants to
consumer wants to belong avoid being identified with

• Celebrities • Political
• Sport Players leaders
• Common Man
BRAND COMMUNITIES
Community formed on the basis of attachment to a product or brand

Create a participatory experience for the customer

Perpetuating the ‘us-them’ relationship

BRAND COMMUNITIES
FAMILY
Provide companionship, security, and opportunities to discuss problems

Socialization process :

Initiators : products, furniture, household appliances => women

Influencers : computer products => children
Decision Makers : according to the will of the family => parents
Purchasers : financial power => men
OPINION LEADERSHIP
● Everyone knows people who are knowledgeable about products & whose
advice others take seriously. These Opinion Leaders are able to influence
attitudes & behaviours of others.
● Opinion leaders are very valuable sources of information & influence because
they yield social power.
● Homophily refers to the degree which a pair of individuals are similar in terms
of their education, social status or beliefs.
● Opinion Leaders are usually first to buy new products & hence absorb much
of the risk
TYPES OF OPINION LEADERSHIP
1. The Expert
2. The Market Maven-
A person who likes to transmit marketplace information of all types because
they enjoy staying on top of what’s happening in the marketplace. Such
people are generalized opinion leaders because they have solid knowledge
of how & where to purchase different products.
3. The Surrogate Consumer-
A third party marketing intermediary who consumers hire/retain to provide
input into purchase decisions. Such people are compensated for the advice.
Ex- Interior decorators, stock brokers, college admission consultants
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
What characteristics do celebrities share:
1) Desirable reputation
2) Well-defined imagery
3) Significant achievements

Celebrity Endoresements:
It is a channel of brand communication in which the celebrity is the face of the brand
and certifies the brand’s claim and position by extending personality, popularity or
expertise in the field to the brand
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
How can these celebrities be used?

1) Brand Launch

2) Brand maintenance

3) Brand revitalisation
FRED Model for celebrities
F- Familiarity (celebrity should have place in the collective hearts and minds of
the audience at large)

R- Relevance (Exploring the brand-celebrity congruence)

E- Esteem ( Reputation and image in the eyes of the public)

D- Differentiation ( While similar to the ‘esteem’ bit, celebrities who can be

differentiated from their cohort are always better options)
TEARS Model for Celebrities
T - Trustworthiness (the property of being perceived as honest & credible)

E - Expertise (specific skills or abilities with respect to the endorsed brand)

A - Physical attractiveness (The trait of being regarded as pleasant to look at in

terms of a particular group’s concept of attractiveness)

R = Respect (quality of being admired or even esteemed due to one’s personal

qualities and accomplishments)

S = Similarity to the target audience (The extent to which an endorser matches

an audience in terms of characteristics)
Takeaways from all the models (The 10
commandments)
As an extension of the famous TEARS model, I suggest 3 more variables.
All of them are measured on a 10-point scale.
1)Brand-celebrity value match (15%)
2)Negative Publicity (15%)
3)Dilution due to overexposure (15%)
4)Trustworthiness (10%)
5)Expertise (15%)
6)Attractiveness (5%)
7)Respect (10%)
8)Similarity with the target audience (15%)
Example: Nike and Serena
 Celebrities for social causes
1. Establishes credibility- especially true in the case of new products
2. Attracts attention - By making the brand and ad more noticable
3. Associated benefit - As the celebrity claiming he benefits from the brand, the
consumers too feel they will benefit from it
4. Psychographic content - Stars are loved and adored by their fans, and the advertisers
use stars to capitalise on these emotions
5. Demographic content - Different stars appeal differently to various demographic
segment
6. Mass appeal - Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good
bet to generate interest among the masses
 Effectiveness of endorsement
1. Credibility - Amir Khan in Titan, shows the watches are as reliable and passionate as
Amir is for his films
2. Attention - Hrithik dancing to the tune of Coca-Cola, helps to draw attention
3. PR Coverage - Celebrity company marriages are covered by media from TV to print
4. Higher Recall - First thing that comes to mind after seeing Santro is Shah Rukh Khan
5. Associated benefit
a. Mitigates a tarnished image - Amir Khan in Coke as ingenious and
fastidious bengali, gets convinced of the product’s purity
b. Gives a demographic connect - Coke using Vijay in TN
c. Provides mass appeal - Tiger Woods for Accenture
d. Rejuvenates a stagnant brand - Amitabh Bacchan with Dabur India
e. Compensates for lack of innovative idea - Dull advertisement for cathcing
punchline
 Endorsement Failure
1. Ineffective endorsement - Choosing celebrity without proper research, force fit
2. Improper positioning - Amitabh Bachhan with Maruti, Larger than life car, can only
stimulate interest
3. Brand-celebrity disconnect - Britney Spears with Toyota for a family car
4. Overexposure of the same celebrity - Amitabh Bacchan in lots of ad, generating clutter
5. Dissatisfaction with product quality/performance - Tendulkar in Fiat Palio
6. Confusion/Skepticism - For competitive brands
 Risks associated with Celebrity Endorsements
1. The reputation of the celebrity may have adverse effect on the brand - Mike Tyson,
Madonna and Michael Jackson for Pepsi
2. The Vampire Effect - A celebrity overshadowing the brand
3. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity - Shane Warne with
Pepsi, 2003
4. Multi-brand endorsements lead to overexposure - Tendulkar with MRF and Myriad
brands
5. Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another - Catherine Zeta Jones with
Sainsbury. Britney Spears with Cola