Brand ambassador and customer patronage of FMCGs: mediating effect of advertisement believability

Yusuf Ismaila Mustapha,Binta Oziohu Issa

doi:10.21678/jb.2021.1628

Abstract

The market for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) in the Nigerian food and beverage industry has been inundated with a massive amount of promotional messages. These messages have resulted from intense competition and rivalry among the organizations that market similar products. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a brand ambassador on the patronage of FMCGs. Furthermore, we explore the mediating role of advertisement believability in the relationship between the variables. We use a questionnaire to elicit information from 400 respondents who are members of households in the metropolitan area of Kano that consumed Peak milk. Partial least square algorithms and bootstrapping techniques served as the tools of analysis with the aid of SMART-PLS 3. Our findings indicate that a brand ambassador has an insignificant direct effect on customer patronage and that advertisement believability has no mediating effect on the influence of a brand ambassador on customer patronage. The study recommends that managers of FMCGs should use a hybrid model of a brand ambassador and believable advertising to elicit the desired patronage from their target customers. Further, they should de-emphasis the supposed role of advertisement believability as a mediating factor on the influence of a brand ambassador on customer patronage.

Highlights

Marketers see advertising as a communication tool that they can use to induce customers to patronize specific products
The instrument was separated into four sections: the first section dealt with the profile of the respondents while sections 2-4 dealt with brand ambassador constructs, customer patronage constructs, and advertisement believability constructs
This study was undertaken to examine the influence of a brand ambassador on customer patronage through the mediating role of advertisement believability

Summary

Introduction

Marketers see advertising as a communication tool that they can use to induce customers to patronize specific products. This is despite that some customers still view advertising as a deceptive, unreliable, and misleading approach that attempts to influence their buying behavior, especially when an unknown source is transmitting the advertisement. Garrett (2020) supports this position when he observed that customers were less responsive to mainstream advertisements these days unless they came from a credible and reliable source (endorser). Garrett (2020) further observes that influencers offered a focus ground because they could relate to the customers and help familiarize them with the products. The endorsers’ credibility would eventually lead to increasing purchase intentions by target customers (Mookda, Khan, Intasuwan & Chotchoung, 2020)

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion