Perception of advertisements with celebrity endorsement among mature consumers

With aging societies, the mature consumer market brings new opportunities and challenges. How shall marketers communicate with this market segment effectively through advertising? A qualitative study was conducted to investigate how mature adults perceive advertising with celebrity endorsement. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 38 Chinese retired and in-employment adults aged 50 to 64 in Hong Kong. Interviewees recalled their most memorable celebrity-endorsed advertisements and explained the attributes that made the advertisements memorable. They were also asked to identify factors that marketers would consider in engaging a celebrity endorser and articulate the perceived effects of advertisements with celebrity endorsers. The source attractiveness and celebrity-brand fit theoretical models are able to explain interviewees’ recall of their most memorable celebrity endorsers. Advertising frequency also plays an important factor in advertising recall, which could be attributed to depreciation in cognitive ability and memory. However, when interviewees imagine themselves as brand marketers, a celebrity’s public moral image and civic responsibility become prevalent factors in selecting celebrity endorsers. Interviewees perceive that the effect of celebrity endorsement is mainly cognitive, and that they are more resistant to persuasion by celebrity endorsers than young people. Marketing implications are drawn from the study.