Influence of celebrity endorsements on young consumers’ brand recall behaviour in Kenya : a case of Nairobi County

Paper presented at IAABD Conference, 2015Celebrity endorsement has become a major form of advertising and Kenyan companies are increasingly using it to promote and position their brands targeting different market segments. The purpose of this study was to examine the Influence of Celebrity Endorsements on Young Consumers’ Brand recall behaviour in Kenya. Researcher-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of 167 youth drawn from Nairobi County. A multi-stage non-probability sampling was employed and the data analyzed using descriptive and factor analysis. The main findings revealed that celebrity endorsement generally influenced young consumers’ brand recall behaviour. When used as endorsers, celebrities were found to add an appeal to the endorsed brand making it easier for consumers to correctly remember it as having been previously seen or heard in the crowded market. The findings will provide guidance to marketing and advertising practitioners on how to improve the effectiveness of celebrity-based advertising by way of aligning their brand with a celebrity that resonates with the target market. To future researchers, this study will act as a catalyst and help them in defining future research agendas. Replication of this study using larger samples, different age groups and in different geographic settings is suggested for cross-validation purposes