A study says that when keeping up with the Joneses is the motivation behind spending, celebrity ads are not as effective as those using ordinary folk to sell products.
University of Bath in the United Kingdom and University of St. Gallen in Switzerland studied 298 students. Researchers showed the participants ads for a camera; one ad used a fictionalized student, another ad used a celebrity. Students were then surveyed to find out whether they bought products to impress others. Those who said this was their main motivation were much more likely to be influenced by the ad using the student than the one starring the celebrity.
Professor Brett Martin of the University of Bath says, “They like to make sure their product is fashionable and trendy among people who resemble them, rather than approved of by celebrities like David Beckham, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt or Scarlett Johansson. So they are more influenced by an endorsement from an ordinary person like them.”
Here are some of the study’s findings:
• Fifty-six percent of those who admitted to buying products to impress others said they were influenced by the testimonial from the fictionalized student ad.
• Only 20 percent of those who said they were interested in impressing others reported being influenced by the celebrity ad.
• Only 5 percent of those who said they did not buy to impress were influenced by the student ad.
• Only 49 percent of those who said they buy to impress say they were influenced by the technical details of the product, whereas 78 percent of those who do not buy to impress were influenced by the technical details.
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