The effects of using traditional celebrity and social media celebrity in integrated marketing communication activities on consumer behaviour

In a world where communication gets easier and easier, consumer behaviours are also changing and developing in parallel. Brands that want to keep up with this change benefit from celebrities in integrated marketing communication activities in order to become prominent in fierce competition environment. With the intent of attracting consumers' attention, creating a brand image or maintaining the existing image and increasing memorability, communication messages are being conveyed to the consumers by the celebrities in order to influence consumer behaviours. Celebrities are categorized as traditional and social media celebrities. Celebrities must be chosen in accordance with the values of the target group. For that reason, celebrities to be chosen might vary depending on the product or brand. In this dissertation, the aim is to analyse the effects and differences of the use of traditional and social media celebrities in integrated marketing communication activities on consumer behaviours. For this purpose, the study was conducted in Manisa Celal Bayar University with 200 participants, using three surveys including three different cases. The study focuses on endorser credibility as well as the attractiveness, reliability and mastery of the celebrity, celebrity – product fit, consumer-celebrity attachment, likeability of the celebrity and trust upon the endorsement of the celebrity. Data were tested through chi square, independent t test, one-way analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. Results of the analyses revealed that the reliability of influencing and likeability of the celebrity and the congruence between the product and the celebrity have a positive effect on the intention to buy and word of mouth marketing whereas levels of attractiveness, reliability and mastery differ depending on the celebrity types. Furthermore, when the results regarding the celebrity types are analysed, it has been observed that the traditional celebrity used in the study is more influential than the social media celebrity and there are significant differences between male and female participants. Keywords: Integrated Marketing Communication, Celebrity, Traditional Celebrity, Social Media Celebrity, Consumer Behaviour