Celebrity endorsement and firm performance: The mediation of consumer buying behaviour

Abstract

Irrespective of the quality of a product, consumers have to be aware of it before it can attract their attention; this is the very essence of celebrity endorsement (CE). This study investigated CE and firm profitability in the Nigerian telecommunication sector using mobile telecommunication network (MTN) as its focus. The design was a cross-sectional survey of 341 respondents and a questionnaire, administered online through Google Forms, served as the data collection instrument. The data elicited from the respondents were analysed with the path diagram technique of the structural equation model. The results show that CE; consisting of celebrity match-up, celebrity credibility and celebrity attractiveness have significant relationships with consumer buying behaviour. In addition, consumer buying behaviour fully mediates the relationship between CE and firm profitability. The implication for managers is that beyond the celebrity’s attractiveness, they should be concerned about the celebrity’s credibility and match-up. The study makes theoretical and empirical contributions and departs significantly from the findings of previous studies with the successful mediation of consumer buying behaviour.