MEDIATING ROLE OF CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT BETWEEN CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND CONSUMER EVALUATION: COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HIGH AND LOW INVOLVEMENT PRODUCT

Celebrity endorsement has been an important area of study from the perspectives of marketers as well as consumers. This research aims at developing and testing a model of celebrity endorsement with celebrity-product congruence and attractiveness as predictor variables, with consumer involvement affecting a consumer assessment of the brand and purchase intention. The research has been guided by current attention being given to the significance of celebrities for endorsing products. However, the same has not been duly explored in the context of celebrity endorsement, with consumer involvement as a mediating variable, and further its impact on consumers' evaluation. The present research discusses the relationship effect of celebrity endorsement on consumers' evaluation of the communication done through the celebrity endorsing the brand. The study highlights mediating role of consumer involvement for both high and low involvement products in formation of attitude towards advertisement and buying intention. Using mall intercept method, the data was collected from 246 respondents. Structural equation modelling was used for analysing the data using AMOS 22.0. The results indicate that consumer responses are maximised when endorser attractiveness and consumer involvement interact with each other. Also, it is observed that consumer involvement has maximum impact on attitude toward advertisement. The paper closes with theoretical and managerial implication.