Celebrity endorsement and its impact on purchase intention of luxurious brands

Abstract

Celebrity endorsement is a persuasion strategy in which customers identify with the person featured in an advertisement. Celebrities promote services and products in ways that serve to increase brand awareness and credibility. Celebrity endorsement boosts trust, familiarity, and awareness of a product by endorsing it and advertising it, all of which are important elements in a consumer's purchasing decision. When defining purchase intention, it is described as the intention to purchase or obtain a product or a service, thus reflecting the customer’s desire to purchase a specific product from a specific brand. Meanwhile, a luxury brand and its products are associated with exclusivity, status, and superior quality. This research aims to examine whether celebrity endorsement influences the purchase intention of luxury products or not. A survey was conducted and answered by a sample size of 145 respondents. Data were analyzed to test the hypothesis through regression analysis, factor analysis, and reliability tests. Research findings indicate that celebrity endorsement does have an impact on the purchase intention of luxurious brands, especially when measuring the aspects of celebrity endorsement, which are celebrity credibility, celebrity expertise, product-celebrity match-up, physical attractiveness, and trustworthiness. However, the analysis showed that trustworthiness has the most significant impact, whereas celebrity expertise is partially significant.