Celebrity Endorsement’s Effects on Youths’ Cosmetic Buying Behavior: A Study in a Malaysian University

Abstract

The Malaysian cosmetic industry is currently operating in a competitive market. For brands to stand out and gain a competitive advantage over others, marketers are turning towards the use of celebrity endorsement in advertisements. Therefore, it is important for advertisers of cosmetic brands to be aware of the properties in celebrity endorsement that can influence their customer’s buying behavior. The objective of this study is to investigate the significant effects of celebrity credibility, attractiveness and popularity on female youth’s cosmetic buying behavior. This quantitative cross sectional study utilizes data obtained from a personally administered questionnaire. A sample of 253 female youths from a university was chosen using the convenience sampling method. Various statistical analyses were conducted via the SPSS statistical package. The findings indicate that the properties of celebrity attractiveness and popularity had positive and significant effects on consumer buying behavior, however, celebrity credibility did not. This suggests that female youths are more concerned about the physical attractiveness and likeability of the endorsers when making decisions, whilst not concerned about the credibility of the endorser such as expertise and trustworthiness. The study concludes with the discussion and implications as well as limitations and suggestions for future re-search.