THE HALO EFFECT: CELEBRITY
INFLUENCE WITHIN POPULAR
CULTURE
BY: HOWARD WILSON III
SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY
INTRODUCTION
• Popular culture is defined as the sum of thoughts, points of view, states of mind,
pictures, and other wonders that are inside the standard of a given culture, particularly
Western culture of the right on time to mid-twentieth century and the developing
worldwide standard of the late twentieth and mid-21st century. The Halo Effect is the
thing that influences a client or consumer to purchase that specific item when a big
name is appended to the mindfulness stage. The research has also been broken down
into 4 sections that will help support the research question posed above. These
sections include celebrity influence, consumer attitudes, past and current trends of
advertising, as well as pop culture and branding itself. This research will shed light on:
• Why consumers enable certain products and services to trend above others due to
influences within pop-culture and even culture itself.
• How a consumer moderate a negative vs. a positive association with a celebrity in
regards to brand endorsements?
• What impact does a high profile endorsement have on a business/ brand and is it
powerful enough “revive” a dying business?
• In efforts to achieve high volume sales, how do brands determine what endorser to
seek and can they gauge consumer approval?
MAJOR KEYS
• The end result of this research is expected to show the dominance of
popular culture’s influence on the average consumer when making a
purchasing decision.
• Keywords: Corporate Credibility, Popular Culture, Consumer Trends,
Celebrity, Diversity, and Consumer Attitudes.
LITERATURE REVIEW
• Celebrities are assuming an ever more prominent part in advanced society and
utilization designs, serving as referees of taste, style and general conclusion of the
world over. Their support and imaginative info empowers them to bring
consideration, believability and other immaterial advantages to a brand in a way
that no other sort of promoting can. Presently, in spite of the potential advantages
got from big name supports, they expand an advertiser's danger manifolds and
should be treated with full consideration and inclination. A brand ought to be wary
while utilizing famous people to guarantee trustworthiness and conveyance of the
proposed impact.
• The developing significance of legendary characters as famous people and their
influence over the objective fragments are plentiful confirmation of open interest for
symbols to gaze upward to. As the superstars cross from a minor business nearness to
open welfare message supports, a radical new measurement is added to this
procedure and helps us in accomplishing a comprehensive perspective of the
effect which big names produce in each circle and fragment through their
knowledgeable supports.
RESPECT THE EFFECT
Conceptual Framework
Consumer
Trends
Pop-Culture
Element
Consumer/
Celebrity
Brand
Association
Diverse Groups
Endorser
Appears w/ the
Brand
Consumer
Need for SelfActualization
Selective (Target)
Purchasing
Brand Loyalty
Due To Overall
Halo Effect
FIG. 1: RESPECT THE EFFECT
• This figure is divided into three phases and is backed by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Within the model you
have consumer trends developing within the ideal market. You then look to see what celebrity is influential
within the realm of your market in hopes of enticing satisfying already loyal customer while obtaining new
business and more awareness by utilizing the impact of the endorser on the brand. The endorser then appears
with the brand which triggers the implication that in order to “solidify my status or in order to standout I must
buy this [Product], because [Celebrity Name] was wearing, using, playing, or watching it”. The consumer feels
this way because of their need for societal fulfillment and self-actualization. Showing that they can keep up
with the trends that pop-culture icons set forth. Self-actualization within the consumer is found to be the driving
force within the overall purchasing decision. A high profile celebrity showing the commitment to the brand will
in turn solidify in the market the need for the product as well as the worth or value depending on of course the
product or service itself resulting in brand loyalty due to the Halo Effect.
CASE STUDIES
• Look at the effect of Tiger Woods' competition execution on the embracing
company's esteem ensuing to the agreement marking. We do not discover a
relationship between Tiger's competition arrangement and the abundance returns of
Fortune Brands, parent of Titlist. This is likely because of Titlist being a little donor to the
aggregate market estimation of Fortune Brands. We likewise neglect to locate a
critical relationship for American Express proposing the market does not see a golfer
embracing budgetary administrations as valid. “We do, in any case, locate a positive
and noteworthy effect of Tiger's execution on Nike's abundance returns
recommending that the market values the extra reputation that Nike gets when Tiger
is in conflict to win. (Farell, 2000)”
• Classification assurance and item configuration are what draws in buyers and clients
be that as it may, by simply taking a gander at an item a client or customer knows
whether they like the item or not. In any case, the shopper or client are taking a
gander at the way the item is outlined; for instance, you're an overnight stocker at
Walmart and one thing you notice is that Rachel Ray's puppy nourishment wasn't
offering that much in view of the cost and how the sixteen-pound sack looked, for
about a month she has another pack and the canine sustenance is making benefit.
CONCLUSION
• In conclusion celebrity influence plays a major role in consumer purchasing
decisions. When celebrities transcend their peers within their own realms of
entertainment they breakout and become popular culture icons. Stars from
the past to the present such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Rachel Ray,
Michael Jackson, Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, and a host of other celebrities
have chosen or have been asked to endorse the products that we use in our
everyday lives. During the mid-90s we have seen the increasing role that
celebrity influences play within the younger generation. They help mold and
shape their early thought processes which trigger influence or reasons to
buy. People who are admirable for achieving great fame and acclaim tend
to generate higher interest and demand. They are embraced by us and
businesses alike in order to market their product to the desired audience.
The consumer, the business, and the celebrity can all enjoy being involved
with a product that is globally shared.
CONCLUSION CONT.
• I learned that by inquiring about the effectiveness and impact of the Halo
Effect, that the average consumer keeps up with the celebrities by buying
what they buy, wearing what they wear all in hopes of achieving that status
or at least appearing to have done so. It is brilliant to capitalize off positive
celebrity endorsements when seeking to elevate the status and view of your
brand. Attachment is powerful and with notable faces that infiltrate our
societal homes and communities. With the use of the internet, television,
music, and cinema, it would be ill-advised not to take advantage of
potential customers that today’s celebrities draw and with social media
expanding it is not hard to see the markets rising due to Person to Person
influence or rather The Halo Effect.
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