Figure 1. Conceptual Framework: (Ahmed et al., 2015)
Celebrities are exceedingly persuasive people whose whereabouts and verdicts are watched and often emulated by followers in wide range. Many celebrities use this fame and recognition to appear in a prominent social standing, to offer medical advice or to endorse healthcare products. The aim of the study is to examine the role of celebrity endorsement on brand image in the healthcare industry. We conducted quantitative study and used questionnaires to collect data from general public who are healthcare consumers. We aimed to target 175 participants through the convenience sampling, although 120 participants agreed to participate in the study. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version was used to analyze and evaluate the data congregated from 20 participants. Trustworthiness and credibility of celebrities are the most persuading features on the brand. It has been identified that endorsement of celebrity creates a positive image and gives a huge exposure to the healthcare brand increasing its consumers. This study recommends that the endorser or assenter should be attractive to the target audience in certain facets like bodily appearance, knowledgeable capabilities, athletic competence, and lifestyle. It has been evidenced that associate endorser seems to be an enticing feature of a bigger likelihood of enhancing the customer's memory of the whole brand that he or she endorses.
Celebrity endorsement has been found as one of the broadly acknowledged brand building system with regards to various items and markets according to the accurate confirmations found in numerous examinations. Pakistan has additionally been arranged as one of the bottomless user of VIP supports at a critical level over the businesses. It alludes that superstar underwriting practice in Pakistan has been a developing pattern according to the training related confirmations found in various items and administrative divisions. As per the examinations found in Sri Lanka, the general effect of big name underwriting towards embracing brands was researched with various brand related practices (Rollins & Bhutada, 2014). In the interim, it has eluded that Sri Lankan situation of big name supports was conspicuously overwhelmed by don division identities, especially cricketers. The centrality of the business practices for VIP promotion has been looked in changed investigations by finishing up benefit segment marks noticeably utilize superstars to create mark related exhibitions (Rollins & Bhutada, 2014).
Celebrity support is ordered as a type of brand or publicizing effort that uses their notoriety as a tool to advance an item or administration. In short, VIP has been guaranteed as name which is made by related news (Van der Waldt et al., 2009), celebrity endorsement related to reference group (Akpoyomare et al., 2012) and, a few examinations said that superstars are dependable spokespersons or supposition specialists who submit for the supported brands (Hung, 2014). Further, it has alluded that big name as one who follows acknowledgment from the general public in accordance with the identity of big name (Choi & Berger, 2010). Big name support in medicinal services crusades is a type of advertising methodology which includes famous people or prominent figures utilizing their societal position to help advance an item, administration or bring issues to light on ecological, social, or well being matters. Similarly, big name has been clarified in wording diverse ideas as said in the audit aforementioned. In the mean time, the application insight into the past of superstar support practices of Sri Lanka has been inspected in the investigations (Dissanayake, 2015; Dissanayake & Ismail, 2015).
This research thinking has multiple sources, which are practical in guaranteeing further inquiries into how completed supports or various impacts trigger evaluation brand-related practices. (Chapman & Leask, 2001). In the interim, the impact produced by big name attributes and factors identified with big name rehearses on the supported message is alluded as viability of celebrity endorsements of healthcare products (Seno & Lukas, 2007). It reflects big name viability as a component of big name attributes related variables asserted as sourcebased elements and the VIP administrations related elements. In like manner, the thought of adequacy of big name support has been said in numerous examinations to allude the impact made by source-based and administration based components (Amos et al., 2008).
Healthcare industry is one of the fastest growing industries, it's ever changing evolutionary progress and increase demand among customer makes it difficult to keep the pace according to the market with similar mediocre approaches. From the standpoint of marketing communication, organizations design such strategies that offer competitive differential advantage for the organization or its product (Erdogan, 1999). In order to impose positive impact on the minds of customers, marketing communication (marcom) works on strategies related to marketing mix such as product design, branding, packaging, pricing, and place decisions. Use of celebrity endorsement is one of the renowned promotional strategies in marcom (Biswas et al., 2006).
Since, healthcare industry has higher rate of brand switchers, therefore to retain position in market by attracting new customers and preserving current customers, it requires effective approaches to win the hearts of more customers (Koththagoda & Weerasiri, 2015). Celebrity endorsement is considered as conventional marketing instrument used by marketers since ages, it is being used since late nineteenth century, the earliest example of CE (Celebrity Endorsement) includes Cadbury's Cocoa's endorsement by Queen Victoria (Erdogan, 1999).
It has been witnessed that CE has risen over time markedly. (Choi & Rifon, 2007). There is a contract signed between celebrities and companies in anticipation of benefitting them in standing out from the clutter and create an extraordinary position in the minds of customers (Temperley & Tangen, 2006). Celebrities under contract then pretense to be the voice of the company to endorse the company's products, services or ideas (Freeman & Chen, 2015). As the advertisements are flooding the world of marketing, it is becoming difficult to get noticed and fascinate viewers. As indicated by Kambitssis et al., (2002), this has prompted not just the expanded utilization of famous people in promoting methodologies, yet in addition their utilization in progressively modern and convoluted ways. Huge amount of money is being paid to celebrities who have more followers and are adored, valued and respected by target audiences and who will favorably influence consumers' attitudes and behavior (Shimp & Andrews, 2013). Today, almost all of the topmost celebrities have high-class endorsement agreements.
Petty et al. (1983) asserted that differentiating to obscure endorsers, CE increases the value of the procedure of impression transmission; it additionally helps in persisting brand correspondence and in this way accomplishing a larger amount of consideration and review. Farhat and Khan (2011) also highlighted that CE ultimately influences purchase intentions. Temperley and Tangen (2006) argued that a considerable quantity of research has been carried out in Canada, Hong Kong, India, UK, U.S and Taiwan, which suggests that “Under conditions of low involvement, consumers' attitudes change through the peripheral route to persuasion. Messages sent by means of the fringe course are not handled psychologically. In such cases, buyers are more inclined to be affected by superstar support". However, if the celebrity faces undesirable publicity endorsement correlation can be altered and may turn sour and acuities can also change (White et al., 2009). Since, character–related factors are averred as a sourcebased aspect that ensures the notch of effectiveness of the endorsed message. So, viewers take the luminary as an exemplar and in turn these personalities sway their lives (Temperley & Tangen, 2006).
Numerous investigations of VIP support develop a 'endorser impact' in light of the qualities of endorser. These endorsers attribute the influence of the correspondence passed on to the intended interest group. Shimp and Andrews (2013) expressed that the endorser impact has two general qualities, validity and allure, which adds to an endorser's viability, and that each comprises of further unmistakable sub characteristics. The acronym TEARS is utilized to speak for five discrete qualities: trustworthiness and expertise are two measurements of believability; while physical attractiveness, respect and similarity (to the intended interest group) are parts of the general idea of allure.
In accordance with the exploration issue and the specialty of the examination question, this paper means to address the accompanying examination targets.
To identify the overall impact of Celebrity Endorsement through TEARS model on perceived effectiveness of healthcare products/services.
To identify the comparative importance of the factors, it determine the perceived effectiveness of celebrity endorsement on patients' buying behavior towards healthcare products/services.
To hypothesize administrative ramifications to make sense of compelling big name underwriting related practices need to be fabricate the apparent brand adequacy in healthcare industry.
As per the destinations of the examination and the specialty of the exploration question expressed, it has tried the accompanying theories in accordance with the variable connections found in the applied structure.
H1: There is a significant association between perceived trustworthiness of the celebrity and the perceived effectiveness of healthcare products.
H2: There is a significant association between perceived expertise of the celebrity and perceived effectiveness of healthcare products.
H3: There is a significant association between perceived attractiveness of the celebrity and perceived effectiveness of healthcare products.
H4: There is a significant association between perceived respect related to celebrity and perceived effectiveness of healthcare products.
H5: There is a significant association between perceived similarity of the celebrity and perceived effectiveness of healthcare products.
The study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan for which a sample size of 175 participants were aimed to target from the population of educated males and females with minimum education matric to maximum education postgraduation and those who have access to view ads. However, 120 participants provided consent to participate in the study.
All the participants were well aware of the details regarding the study and a written informed consent has got signed by each participant. Also the study protocols were got approved by the concerned authority in the Institute of Business Management (IoBM), Karachi.
The study was based on the TEARS model to measure the five traits for endorser marketing. Terence A Shimp in 2003 composed that there are two general traits, which are considered essential parts in making simple and viable correspondences, and they are validity and allure. These characteristics are likewise critical for choosing how viable an endorser can be. Shimp and Andrews (2013) state that, the main credit validity allude is the inclination to accept or confide in somebody. When an endorser is recognizable as tenable, the disposition of the customer seems to change through a mental procedure called disguise. At the point, when the beneficiary trusts the endorser's view on an issue as his or her own, the procedure happens. He developed this model consisting of five components T= Trustworthiness, The property of being seen as legit, credible, reliable as somebody who can be trusted yet not a specialist. E= Expertise, the normal for having particular aptitudes, learning, or capacities concerning the supported brand. A= Physical attractiveness, the attribute of being viewed as wonderful to take a gander regarding a specific gathering's idea of allure. R= Respect, the nature of being appreciated or even regarded by someone close to home characteristics and achievements. S= Similarity (to the focused viewers), the degree to which an endorser coordinates a crowd of people as far as qualities applicable to the support relationship (age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and so forth). A structured questionnaire was utilized as a information accumulation instrument since it chose study strategy as the exploration approach.
Data analysis was upheld by graphic and inferential measurable sources. Discoveries have been introduced towards the end of the paper alongside the administrative ramifications. We utilized SPSS-22 programming bundle to help in information examination and graphs were utilized to show the information. Descriptive statistics have been done for the calculation of mean, standard deviation for the independent and dependent variables. The correlation test was applied to determine the association between the perceived effectiveness of products/services in healthcare industry in Pakistan and the traits of the celebrity endorsement according to the TEARS model.
Figure 1 represents the information of different factors, for example trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, respect and similarity. These all factors impacting on the purchase of health care products/services. These independent factors greatly impact on buyer's behavior for the purchase of services which is a dependent factor.
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework: (Ahmed et al., 2015)
The reliability test was done for the factors and the outcomes are given in the Table below. It demonstrates that Cronbach's alpha esteems are more than 0.7 in every factor, which would either be autonomous or subordinate. Along these lines, there is a consistency in the reactions found in date set.
Table 1 represents the reliability test upon different variables measured via Cronbach's alpha tool.
Table 1. Reliability Test
Gender: Test joins an extent of 52% of male respondents and 48% of the total illustration were females. Perhaps this can be cleared up as folks are negligibly more revealed than females about genius bolsters happening at the present time.
Education: In terms of the education levels of selected sample, 9% of people were holding post-graduate degrees, 48% of the example populace were graduates and 29% were undergraduates. Just 4% were having education just up to matriculation or O/Levels and 10% of them were qualified in intermediate or A/Levels.
It has organized the mean estimations of the independent and dependent variables to approach a thought on how information has been found around the focal propensity. As it demonstrates in the summarized table, every one of the factors are found to be arrived at the midpoint of level in the five point Likert scale while a remarkable mean esteem is found in the dependent variable (perceived effectiveness of healthcare product/service). Trustworthiness has been found as most critical variable regarding mean esteem contrasted with whatever is left of four independent factors.
Table 2 represents the different variables and their descriptive statistics which are the mean and standard deviation.
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics
H1: There is a significant association between Perceived Trustworthiness of the celebrity endorsement and the Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products. (Dissanayake & Weerasiri, 2017)
Hypothesis 1- Table 3 shows the relationship of Trustworthiness and Perceived effectiveness.
Table 3. H1 Correlation
As indicated by the correlation coefficient found as 0.661 amongst Trustworthiness and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Product/Service, it signifies that H1 is upheld at 90% certainty level. In this way, it reasons that Trustworthiness and Perceived Effectiveness by the patients or customers are essentially correlated having significant association.
H2: There is a significant association between perceived expertise of the celebrity endorsement and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products.
Table 4 shows the relationship of Expertise and Perceived effectiveness.
Table 4. H2 Correlation
Concurring the correlation coefficient found amongst Expertise and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Product/Services, It could finish up H2 as bolstered to acknowledge. The coefficient value of 0.643 shows that the importance of indicating the relationship between those two variables. Consequently, H2 is acknowledged at 90% certainty level.
H3: There is a significant association between Perceived Attractiveness of the celebrity endorsement and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products.
Table 5 shows the relationship between Expertise and Perceived effectiveness.
Table 5. H3 Correlation
It signifies that the association between Attractiveness And Perceived Effectiveness of Health care Products/Service is not noteworthy since the coefficient value is 0.446. In terms of requirements, it has recorded a coefficient of 0.446 at the 90% confidence level. Accordingly, H3 is not upheld since it has theorized as "Significant". It does not mean that there is no association; however the level of the association is not critical (Tzoumaka et al., 2016).
H4: There is a significant association between Perceived Respect related to celebrity and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products.
The Table 6 shows the relationship of Respect and Perceived Effectiveness.
Table 6. H4 Correlation
The mean coefficient estimation of 0.748 demonstrates that the association among Respect and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products/Services is significant. This is the most noteworthy esteem found among the five correlation values in tried speculations in this investigation. The speculations number 4 is finished up as fundamentally bolstered at 90% certainty level.
H5: There is a significant association between Perceived. Similarity of the celebrity endorsement and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products.
Table 7 shows the relationship of Similarity and Perceived Effectiveness.
Table 7. H5 Correlation
The association between the Similarity and Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products/Services could be supported as slightly significant contrasted with other correlation coefficients found in this study at noteworthy levels. Along these lines, H5 is found as upheld according to the coefficient estimation of 0.506 at 90% confidence level. It appears that the level of association is not so promising, however concluded as supported relying upon the slight recommendations of the coefficient value came about.
As per the extent of investigation, the association between Celebrity characteristics pertaining to Celebrity Endorsement against Perceived Effectiveness of Healthcare Products/Services has been identified. According to the outcomes discovered, Respect, Trustworthiness and Expertise have demonstrated noteworthy associations with brand image and its effectiveness perception in healthcare industry, while the similarity of VIPs indicates how they are reliable with the statistic profiles of gathering people is observed to be at adequate level of relationship. It does not seem to be very important, since it is discovered that the definite level of relationship is 90% certainty level (2-tailed test). The consequences of the study demonstrate that Attractiveness, which is depicted through how the group of onlookers think about the identity and appearance of the superstars in their given field, does not discover significant relationship with the dependent variable. Hence, it appears that the buyers are not much enthused about appearance viewpoints rather qualities which are identified with big names' human points of view.
According to the outcome being talked about in this paper, Pakistani marketers specifically related to health industry could benefit experts and consider the learning knowledge of this investigation into their image building systems when utilizing big name celebrities. It gives a route to build up the brand limited time messages and requests alongside Trustworthiness, Expertise and Respect substance of the VIPs invigorated through the superstar qualities. It might additionally consider the idea of "Similarity" in planning big name advances when the brand target incorporates numerous fragments which covers the market scope with various statistic profiles. The famous people's execution related limited time message is by all accounts less attractive contrasted with Respect, Trustworthiness, and Expertise claims. In this way, the execution related message bids adjusted to "Appearance" ought to be precisely overseen staying away from superfluous hints in healthcare advertising campaigns.
It is deliberately essential to arrange the thing personality and the character of the VIP to make the underwriting fruitful (Ahmed et al., 2015). At that point, it proposes to regulate the source-based components to make the all-encompassing adequacy of celebrity endorsement constructing mark identity through the far reaching practicality of whiz endorsing to gather item/benefit quality in human services showcase. Future research works are encouraged to measure the combined effect of administration based factors and combination or provide a guaranteeing effect to choose obvious sufficiency of enormous name bolster (Hung et al., 2011). This is to refine the unconcluded contention of how finished support influences the general viability of the underwriting (Zahaf & Anderson, 2008). Additionally, we recommend researching the role celebrity-consumer psychological bond in designing customers' reactions on embraced message to assess brands prompting brand related practices.