Green Advertising: Examining the Role of Celebrity’s Credibility Using SEM Approach

Abstract

Amid rising concern about protecting environment and reducing carbon emission, marketers do not just need to advertise their product to inform and persuade the consumers, rather they are required to convince the consumers that their product is environment friendly and do not cause any harm to the environment. Celebrity Advertising has been very popular among the marketers, as these celebrities help to generate favourable attention towards the product. While choosing an endorser/celebrity, his/her credibility plays a crucial role in persuading and convincing consumers. The present paper attempts to assess the effect of celebrity’s credibility on consumer’s attitude towards advertisement, brand and purchase intention in the context of green advertising. The study was conducted with a 2x2 factorial design (high v/s low) (celebrity’s credibility v/s corporation’s credibility) with an advertisement of a hypothetical company producing environment friendly ACs called, Sora. Data were collected from 252 college students by randomly exposing them in small group, to four different advertisements. The results confirmed a significant impact of celebrity credibility on attitude towards green advertisement. However, it had no direct impact on attitude towards brand or intention to purchase green products. Moreover, the effect of celebrity credibility on purchase intention was reported to be mediated through attitude towards advertisement and attitude towards brand.