Influence of celebrity source credibility and celebrity fan relationship on fans attitude towards social cause

Abstract

Celebrities hold a special place in popular imagination. Their power to inspire fashion, choice of vacation, dictate food preferences and a host of other services is an interesting field of study. Over the years, celebrity endorsement has appeared as a leading advertisement format in developing newlinesuccessful brand campaigns. Celebrity endorsements are grounded on a common belief that endorsers can increase advertisement credibility thereby increasing brand image, awareness, and purchase behaviour. newlineUnderstanding the nature of celebrities as sources in advertisements and promotions is a widely researched topic. There is an abundance of literature on the use of celebrities in commercial advertising with the end goal being sales and profits realised through intermediate outcomes such as brand newlineimage, attitude change, brand awareness and many others. Several celebrities across the world have endorsed social cause campaigns sponsored by governments and not-for-profit organizations. However, the impact of the newlinecelebrity in such campaigns is an under-studied topic. Furthermore, celebrity newlineendorsement studies in the past have largely focused on celebrity endorsement mechanisms related to celebrity s characteristics and the outcomes related to the brand. Not much is being mentioned about fans. This study introduces a new audience-related factor the celebrity-fan para social relationship newlinemeasured using celebrity attitude scale (CAS). Thus, this study extends its context beyond commercial products and positions in the backdrop of social marketing. To achieve the purpose of the study and answer the research questions, the National Anti-Tobacco Campaign endorsed by former cricketer, newlineRahul Dravid was considered for the study. The chosen campaign had high visibility with the social advertisement being aired in movie halls and television channels across several Indian languages. The study focused on newlineunderstanding the influence of source credibility factors on attitude towards newlinesocial cause.