Article Summary
Applying models that influence consumers’ behavior is a significant focus of every company. Organizations are utilizing various opportunities such as strategic marketing models to inspire customer-purchasing behavior and cultures. The growth of social media, electronic marketing, and payments platform realigns conventional marketing principles with customer-buying trends. Contemporary marketing is hiring influential politicians, musicians, footballers, and legendary designers, to influence consumers’ interests and purchasing decision. Although advertisement approaches, such as product branding, effective pricing, and quality/value positioning influence behavior, celebrity marketing stimulates consumer-purchasing behavior and hence improve sales and comparative advantage.
Consumers have affiliations to celebrities that advance their interest. Hani, Marwan, and Andre demonstrate how celebrity marketing influences consumer behaviors and leads to improved product sales and enhanced services (191). The authors maintain that product promotion has become a fundamental principle in every business and hence enhances competitive advantage (191). Therefore, to improve purchasing behavior, cultures, intentions, and disposition, organizations are soliciting celebrities as a tool for marketing. Hani et al. point to the significance of the celebrity endorsement strategy in this case (191). Celebrities have an influence on their followers thus utilizing them as a marketing tool has a positive impact on the business.
Marketing models influence consumers’ buying behavior. The approaches employ persuasion as a tool to compel customers to buy a sponsored brand. The celebrity endorsement strategy uses ads, hosted on various platforms, to create an appeal to the targeted consumer (Hani et al. 192). Hani et al. illustrate that celebrity’s products validation creates a perception of brands and has the propensity to induce preference and create the willingness to buy (192). Such attitudes can have various inclinations, such as environmental, fashion oriented, and religious-based appeals, depending on the cultures of the targeted consumers. Although several factors influence the choice of celebrity for the product to endorse, Hani et al. aver that level of fame, area, or recognition, and targeted consumers are significant factors when identifying a brand celebrity (192). The authors also confirm that attractiveness of a celebrity, regarding cultural viewpoints are based on attributes, such as intelligence, charisma, and physical allure (192). Employing celebrity endorsements strategy is a progressive tool that influences consumer-purchasing behavior and can target clients from any age, social class, religious affiliations, and interests.
Luxury brands, such as jewelry, bags, wearable, phones, and other high-end products fetch high prices in the market. The study by Hani et al. employs the match-up theory to explain the correlation between celebrity endorser and consumer behavioral traits (192). The authors describe that the attractiveness and credibility of endorser has a direct connection with a customer recalling the ad viewed on a marketing platform and the purchase decision for products (192). Jewelry products are expensive in the Lebanon market, which leads to a passive willingness to buy. Strategies have been employed to ensure adjustment to market rates and to facilitate improved sales. However, consumer interests have remained low due to pricing perceptions. According to Hani et al., when the celebrity endorsement model was applied to the jewelry market, the consumer appeal to products was enhanced leading to accelerated sales (194). Celebrity endorsement invokes feelings, arouses connections, and influences purchase decisions irrespective of product prices.
The Lebanese jewelry industry is fast adopting celebrity validation strategy. Hani et al. reveal that consumers are sensitive to product price irrespective of the endorsements applied. However, the study confirms that women aged between 20 and 50 years are more influenced by digital marketing models. Hani et al. recommend that “The celebrity endorser fame and esteem incites the consumers’ willingness to buy the promoted jewelry brand” (194). It implies that utilizing influential person in marketing could enhance more sales. Therefore, the strategy has a significant influence on consumer behavior and stimulates purchasing decision leading to comparative advantage.
Analysis
The process of consumer behavior is employed to create interest or persuasions to products. Goods that effectively respond to needs can influence customers’ consumption and purchasing trends. Due to competition levels in the market, companies attempt to focus on the internal desires, external needs, and interest of consumers to establish products that satisfy them (Toncre 3). By creating a mixture of products, clients are given varieties to choose from. However, the availability of several brands in the market obligates organization to apply celebrity marketing to influence purchasing trends. Local and international celebrities have an impact on their followers, hence using them as brand ambassador can influence consumer perception to products. The ethnography of consumer connects consumer-purchasing trends to artifacts that inspire (Toncre 6). Therefore, customer-buying trends are highly influenced by celebrities’ interest in the products they advertise.
Changing global cultures respond differently to products in the market. Businesses are defined by cultural values, which continue to shift, based on the interest of the consumer (Juliana and Ketelaar 87). According to Del and Mothersbaugh, recent US studies indicate that people place greater significance in excitement and fun and are oriented towards stimulations, thrills, and pleasurable life (6). Exploiting celebrity endorsement in marketing responds to the values of environmental protection, sensual gratification, and other-oriented value depending on the type of personality used.
The environment has become a significant focus of the business world. The marketing interests are shifting towards greener trends. Products manufactured under limited waste and with positive impacts on the environment access better market compared to traditional ones (Del and Mothersbaugh, 15). Eco celebrity star endorsements have been utilized for green products, such as vehicles and cosmetic products since they influence and change perceptions of the customers (Juliana and Ketelaar 87). Other celebrity products that respond to different cultural traits are judged as either contemporary or conservative depending on media used and how presentable the celebrity is. Hence, cultures play an essential role in managing communications and influence trends of products consumption.
Conclusion
Several attributes in the market determine purchasing decisions. Culture is vital in influencing consumer trends. Marketing management focuses on product branding, quality, and adequate pricing, which affect the buying decision of advertised brands. However, celebrity marketing stimulates consumer-purchasing intentions by influencing their decision and appeal to products, leading to a comparative advantage. Products that meet social standards are purchased more compared to those that appeal to a wider communal interest. Therefore, organizations that utilize models such as celebrity endorsement to appeal to cultures and certain behavioral traits stimulate buying trends. Besides, fashion celebrities appeal effectively to classy products while environmentalist and conservationist experts are paid to market green technology products. Accordingly, managing consumer perceptions determine the success or failure of products in the market. Therefore, it is important that companies utilize principles and approaches that integrate various cultures and behavioral traits to market their products to the target consumers using methods such as celebrity endorsement for comparative advantage.