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Retailing and spot
Edited by Rodney C. Runyan
Introduction
Today, celebrity endorsement has become one of the most popular forms of retail advertising ([10] Choi and Rifon, 2007). Flipping through the television channels, consumers will find endorsements ranging from Tyra Banks for retailer Victoria's Secret to Garth Brooks for Wal-Mart and LeAnn Rimes for JC Penny to Trading Spaces' Paige Davis for Home Depot. In fact, about 25 percent of all television commercials are now using celebrity endorsers to promote brands ([13] Erdogan et al. , 2001), and about 10 percent of advertisers' budgets are being used to pay for these endorsers ([1] Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995). In 2006, US retailers spent an estimated two to three billion dollars on celebrity advertising[1] .
The current popularity of celebrity endorsements can be attributed to the numerous benefits retailers have seen by utilizing this form of advertisement. For instance, celebrities who are featured as endorsers have the ability to grab the audience's attention, giving retailers a better chance of communicating their message to consumers ([10] Choi and Rifon, 2007). This is a particularly important benefit considering the vast amount of advertisements that continually compete for consumers' attention ([30] Till, 1998). In addition to getting consumers to listen to the advertisement, the use of celebrities is also believed to help consumers remember the message of the advertisement and the brand name the celebrity is endorsing ([1] Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995).
Another major advantage to using this form of endorsement is the ability to create the personality of a brand. According to [1] Agrawal and Kamakura (1995), when a celebrity is paired with a brand, her image helps shape the image of that brand in the minds of consumers. Also, by effectively pairing a celebrity with a brand, consumers will be more likely to visit the retailer being endorsed. For instance, Target Corporation's quest to position itself as a cutting edge, contemporary alternative to Wal-Mart was greatly assisted by celebrity endorsers like Carson Kressley and Michael Graves.
While the benefits of using celebrities make these endorsements increasingly appealing to all advertisers, it is not without potential risks. For instance, one of the greatest fears of using celebrities is the possibility of bad publicity arising involving the celebrity endorser. According...