Endorsement Attributes: its implication in buying intention Essay

MARKETING RESEARCH We envision Saint Louis University as an excellent missionary and transformative educational institution zealous in the formation human resources who are imbued with the Christian Spirit and who are creative, competent and socially involved. SCHOOL OF ACOUNTANCY AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY PHILIPPINES October 2013 Endorsement Attributes: Its Implication to Buying Intention† Jonand Ray Estabillo, Deaniel Soriano, Raiza NerissaVeridiano, Gian Carlo Villoso and Zenedith P. Monang Abstract The research aimed to determine the level of effectiveness and the buying intention of the consumers based on the attributes of endorsers; Physical Attractiveness, Popularity, Source Credibility, Brand Congruency and Lineage/ Bloodline/ Heredity. Specifically, the study ought to answer the questions: what is the profile of the respondents in terms of their gender, occupation, hometown and nationality? Moreover, the study also sought to answer the question: how effective is the endorser and on what level is the consumer’s intention to buy. The researchers made use of a descriptive method of research, and questionnaires were utilized in collecting data. The respondents of the research were consumers from rural and urban places who are either a student or a young professional. Finally, the results of the study proves that consumer buying intention have a significant effect to the demographic and endorsement attributes such as physical attractiveness, popularity, source credibility, brand congruence and lineage/bloodline/hereditary. Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Buying Intention, Endorsement Attributes Introduction Companies of today spend a significant amount of their budget on hiring endorsers to advertise their products. These companies aim to have a sufficient return on investment with the expectation that these endorsers will be able to attract the attention of the customers, raise customers interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits, convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs, and later on lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing. Every Advertisement aims to create awareness and arouse interest in the minds of customers. To do so advertisers employ several of marketing techniques. Celebrity Endorsement is one of these power toolsby which advertisers try to leverage the image and identification of the celebrity to promote a product or company (Atkin& Block, 1983). This not only makes the advertisement lively, attractive, interesting, but attention getting as well (Ohanian 1991, Kamins 1990). So happens because audience takes the celebrity as a role model and in turn these celebrities impact their lives. Celebrity endorsement has been in application from a long time (Kaikati 1987), in fact not too late when advertisement techniques were taking on new forms because advertisers realized soon that by using publicly renowned personalities in advertisements they will be able to align brands personalities with that of the celebrity’s. That is why advertisers go for a careful selection of celebrities because if any micro aspect may go wrong in celebrity endorsement selection process, whole of the celebrity endorsed advertisement campaign may collapse. This will ultimately show brand the way back to pavilion (Kaikati 1987, Till and Shimp 1995). This study aims 1. ) To identify the endorsement attributes in purchasing/buying intention of the consumers 2. ) To analyzed the effectiveness of its attributes such as itsPhysical Attractiveness, Popularity, Source Credibility, Brand Congruence and Bloodline/Heredity/Lineage. Literature Review Marketing tends to take a new and unique way of advertising as advertisers are exploring different ways to make the advertisement effective and influential. One of these is the use of endorsers. Endorser is one important considerable literature on this topic exists. The need for endorsers has been described in various ways. According to Erdogan, Baker and Tagg (2001), a spokesperson’s role is tomake the advertisement stand out from the clutter, arrest potential customers, add value to the brand, and lastly, build a lasting impression to encourage the consumer to make a purchase. Lane and Russell (2000),argue that â€Å"one of the primary challenges for advertising is to provide a tangible and differentiating element to the marketing of services†. Stafford, Stafford and Day (2002) refer to ‘tangibility’ as â€Å"the visualization of a service’s benefits or qualities, the association with an extrinsic product, person, event, place or object, the physical representations of the service, and documentation such as facts or figures explaining the characteristics of a service†. The use of an endorser is one of the methods of enhancing the tangibility of the advertisement and differentiating it from others. The Endorser An endorser is a person who makes a ‘testimonial’, or a written or a spoken statement, extolling the virtue of some product. This person could be a public figure or a private citizen. A testimonial usually applies to sales pitches attributed to ordinary citizens whereas endorsement usually applies to pitches by celebrities (Liu, Huang, & Jiang, 2007). This study focuses on two (2) types of spokespersons – celebrity and anonymous. Celebrity Endorsers The use of celebrities to promote commercial goods and services is not new to advertisers. Companies envision that endorsers who are attractive and likeable will transfer such qualities to their brands and products. In addition, as celebrities are constantly in the media, they serve to constantly remind consumers of the brands that they endorse. Indeed, the use of celebrity endorsers has been gaining in popularity over time. Specifically, celebrity endorsers are effective in generating increased attention and enhanced image of the brand. However, their effectiveness in influencing purchase intention is more limited. †Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition by a large share of certain Group of people. † And the term ‘Celebrity endorsement’ as defined by McCracken: â€Å"Any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement. †(McCracken 1989) Advertisers go for celebrity endorsement because of its greater benefits and immense possible influence. There are certain potential advantages of celebrity endorsement, celebrities endorsed advertisements draw more attention as compared to those of non-celebrity ones, helps the company in re-positioning its product/brand and finally empowers the company when it’s new in the market or plans to go global. However celebrity endorsement doesn’t hold sole key to success. It also presents the company with potential hazards. These might include, overshadowing, overexposure, and controversy (Erdogan 1999). Lay endorsers or anonymous models Lay endorsers are unknown individuals who are chosen based on the target market demographics. These anonymous individuals offer association with the target audience for a less expensive price. They are usuallypackaged as the ‘typical person’ that the consumers can identify with (McCracken, 1989). Celebrity Endorsers vs. Non Celebrity Endorsers According to Seno & Lukas (2007), Celebrities are very much helpful than other type of endorsers such as the company manager, distinctive consumer and the qualified expert etc. On the opposing, companies clutch imperfect control over the celebrity endorsers, since they have created their public character themselves over the years. Previous research on celebrity endorsement reveals that celebrity endorsers produced more constructive attitude towards advertising and superior purchase intentions than a non-celebrity endorser (Atkin and Block 1983; Petty et al. 1983; Ohanian 1991). On the contrary, Mehta (1994) argue that there were no statistically major difference in attitudes towards advertising, brand and purchase intention on endorsed brand among celebrity and non-celebrity endorsements. But, differences were found in cognitive responses generated by respondents. Endorsement Attributes Physical Attractiveness Physically attractive communicators are more successful in changing beliefs than are unattractive communicators (Chaiken, 1979). In today’s society, people tend to place a heavy emphasis on attractiveness, and most advertisements feature attractive models. In a sense, the physical attractiveness of the endorser rubs off on the product, enhancing the product’s image and resulting in positive attitude change (Kahle and Homer, 1985). This points to the importance of â€Å"matching up† the image of the celebrity with the characteristics of the product. The â€Å"match up† notion suggests that the image of the product and the celebrity should come together, with the relevant attributes of the product being consistent with the characteristics of the endorser to gain positive impact with increased memorability and recall (Misra and Beatty, 1990). This effort to represent product and service imagery in ways that insinuate them into the consumer’s perceived needs and interests has always been the primary task of marketing. A clear understanding of what consumers expect in gender role endorsements can help marketers in the evaluation and planning of the portrayal of product characteristics in different markets. Popularity This has been taken to heart by advertisers. The use of celebrities to advertise aproduct is based on the assumption thatgetting famous personalities to represent abrand will result to a higher degree ofadvertising appeal, believability, and recall ascompared to anonymous models. Numerous studies have indicated the link between celebrity attractiveness and attitude changes toward issues, product, and advertising evaluations (Caballero and Pride, 1984; Chaiken 1979; Kahle and Homer, 1985). Others have suggested that when a celebrity’s physical attractiveness â€Å"matches up† or is congruent with the presence and degree to which the product or service advertised enhances attractiveness (i. e. , attractive celebrity linked with an attractiveness- related product) there would be a positive impact upon product/service and advertisement evaluations (Kahle and Homer 1985). Source Credibility Source credibility suggests that the effectiveness of a message depends on the â€Å"expertness† and â€Å"trustworthiness† of the source (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953; Sternthal, Dholakia, and Leavitt 1978). In general, a message source with higher credibility tends to be more effective than one with less credibility (Sternthal, Phillips, and Dholakia 1978). Since higher levels of source credibility tend to be associated with more positive attitudes toward the message and lead to behavioral changes (Craig and McCann, 1978; Woodside and Davenport, 1974), advertisers will opt to use celebrities if they think that they have a high level of credibility. Researchers have identified three components as making up the credibility construct: knowledgeor expertise, trustworthiness, and appearance or attractiveness (Baker and Churchill, 1977; Joseph, 1982; Kahle and Homer, 1985; Maddox and Rogers, 1980). Attempts to measure the impact credibility on consumers’ intentions to purchase indicate that only â€Å"expertise† had any significant influence on intentions to purchase. There also seems to be a direct correlation between believability and overall advertisement effectiveness, as measured by purchase intentions (Kamins, Brand, Hoeke, and Moe 1989). Credible spokespersons are perceived to be moresocially and intellectually competent, andhave higher levels of integrity which makesthem more persuasive (Till &Busler, 1998). Brand Congruence The term â€Å"congruence† is used in several research areas, particularly brand extension, co-branding, sponsoring, and endorsement. In all these cases, the aim is to assess the fit between a brand and another entity. A variety of terms have been used (congruence, fit, link, â€Å"match up effect†, etc. ) but the general concept is the same. In the field of celebrity spokespersons, congruence was not really defined as such until Misra and Beatty’s work (1990, p. 161). They deduced that it consisted of the factâ€Å"that the highly relevant characteristics of the spokesperson are consistent with the highly relevant attributes of the brand†. A number of authors have studied specific aspects of celebrity, such as gender and skin color (Huston, d’Ouville and Willis, 2003) or physical attractiveness (Kamins, 1990), but few have analyzed congruence in the broader sense. Purchase/ Buying Intention Endorsers who are liked, perceived to be trustworthy, expert, and attractive, are said to have more positive influences on advertisement believability and brand image,which can contribute to purchase intentions. They possess the ability to arrest and lure readers to an advertisement, thus making the communication more effective. Goldsmith et al. (2000) claimed thatcredible endorsers have been shown to have amore positive effect on consumer’s attitude towards the advertisement. Crediblespokespersons are perceived to be moresocially and intellectually competent, andhave higher levels of integrity which makesthem more persuasive (Till &Busler, 1998). These credible endorsers have the ability tosignificantly increase purchase intentions(Liu et al. , 2007; Pornpitakpan, 2003;Erdogan, et al. , 2001). Past researches suggest that messagesource characteristics affect the consumer’sattitude towards the advertisement which inturn affects their attitude towards the brand(Goldsmith et al. , 2000; Shimp& Gresham, 1985). Emotions and attitudes formedtowards an advertisement predict brand attitudes (Yoo&MacInnis, 2005). In addition, Brown and Stayman (1992) claimed that there is a consistent relationship betweenattitude towards the advertisement andattitude towards the brand and purchaseintentions. McKenzie et al. (1986) stated thatconsumers are said to have a tendency topurchase products from brands where theydevelop positive attitudes (Goldsmith et al. ,2000). There is a consistent pattern showingthe effect of attitude towards the brand on purchase intentions. Lineage/Bloodline/Heredity Advertising literature also emphasizes the influence of cultural variables in advertising effectiveness (McCracken, 1989; Paek, 2005). McCracken (1989) argued that â€Å"the success of celebrity-endorsed advertisements depends on whether the endorser is meaningful within a culture’s consumer values and norms†. In McCracken’s Meaning Transfer Model, he claims that celebrity endorsers contain a broad range of meanings such as demographics, personality, and lifestyle. These meanings are transferred from the endorser to the product, and afterwards, from the product to the consumer. It is important for advertisers to understand the culture of their market for them to be successful. This is because â€Å"consumers respond to advertising messages that are congruent with their culture, thereby rewarding advertisers who understand that culture, and who tailor advertisements to reflect its values† (Paek, 2005). Hofstede (1984) describes spokespersons as ‘cultural heroes’ because they serve as role models, and they possess characteristics that are looked upon by society. Typically marketers are defined to have the ability to control the behaviors of customers, but actually they have neither power nor information for that. Marketer may influence their buying behavior but not control. Several individual and not individual affect consumer behaviors. Motives, perceptions, attitudes, experiences, self concept, values can be considered as individual factors. And not individual factors can be expressed as, culture, profession, family, reference groups. Culture Culture is the complex of beliefs of human societies, their roles, their behavior, their values, traditions, customs and traditions. Culture is an extremely important concept to understand consumer behavior and that needs to be examined. Culture is the sum of a shared purpose among members of society, customs, norms and traditions. The basic reason of person’s desire or determination is culture. Geographical regions and religions are essential in the formation of sub-culture. The preference of individuals who live very close to each other can be different. Individuals belonging to different have different sub-culture values, attitudes and social structures of the members of other sub-culture. These differences, sub-cultural segmentation of the market activity has made an important variable. It is important to know thecharacteristics of the sub-culture in creating the marketing mix price, brand name identification, promotionalactivities and product positioning. Social groups, although they don’t show in a formal process of similar lifestyle shows are groups formed by individuals. There are several features of social class. First, the behavior of members of the social class structure, education levels, attitudes, values and communication styles are similar, and these characteristics are different from other social class members. Second, individuals’ status is determined according to their societies. Third, social classes are determined not by according only one variable, also by such variables like education, income, living area, activities and values. Demographics Endorsement Attributes †¢ Physical Attractiveness †¢ Popularity †¢ Source Credibility †¢ Brand Congruence †¢ Bloodline/Heredity/ Lineage Buying Intention H2 H1 Figure 1. Research Framework H1: There are no significant differences in the level of effectiveness of endorsement attributes when respondents are grouped according to demographics. H2: Endorsement attributes significantly contribute to buying intention. Methodology Research Design The research was conducted to know the effectiveness of endorsement attributes and its impact to consumer buying intention. The study used Descriptive Diagnostic Method to determine the endorsement attributes and its impact on consumer buying intention. Descriptive research (Kothari,2004) is used for studies that are concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular group, whereas Diagnostic research determines the frequency with which something occurs to its association with something else. The data had been carefully studied and statistically interpreted as what they implied. The collection of data was in the form of questionnaires that were floated to the individual respondents. These questionnaires contained specific set of questions in order to obtain useful data that would lead the researchers to meet the goals and objectives that were set for the study. Respondents Majority of the respondents were randomly selected when the researchers floated the questionnaires. There were 200 respondents for the study. The respondents in this survey consisted of 101(50. 5%) males and 99(49. 5%) females. About 127 (63. 5%) young professional and 73(36. 5%) students. It was discovered that respondents 105(52. 5%) are from the urban area and 95(47. 5) of them come from the rural area. The majority of the respondents’ nationalities were Filipino with the total number of 109 (54. 5%) respondents followed by the foreigners with the number of 91 or a 45. 5 %. Data Gathering Tool Relevant information, researches, and data were gathered through primary and secondary sources. Primary information and data were generated with the use of questionnaires made and floated by the researchers. These questionnaires were sent out to the consumers who are particularly students and young professional. Part of the questionnaire included direct questions regarding the buying intention of consumers on several factors on the effectiveness of the advertisement. Secondary sources of data came from published materials like journals, theses, books that were obtained from Saint Louis University Library and other sources found from reliable websites in the internet. Instrumentation The questionnaire consisted in two blocks. The first block of the questionnaire focuses on the demographic profile of the respondents. The second block of the questionnaire is divided into five parts, with each measuring the physical attractiveness, popularity, source credibility, brand congruency and lineage/bloodline/heredity. On the left, focuses on the level of effectiveness and on the right focuses on the intention to buy. The Likert scale have been used to examine the level of its effectiveness of the endorsement if it is highly effective (4) or highly ineffective (1) and how consumers affect their buying intention where (1) indicates will not buy to (4) will surely buy. Reliability and Validity The questionnaire were tested through a pre-float, given to 25 individuals, conducted at New Lucban, Baguio City and was proven to be reliable. Cronbach’s alpha was used to prove the internal and reliability of the questionnaire. It is commonly used when Likert wanted to determine the reliability of multiple questions in a survey. Reliability Statistic for the questionnaire was conducted with a result of . 863 Cronbach’s alpha ratefor the level of effectiveness and . 877 for the intention to buy with an overall rate of . 901 which indicates a high level of consistency and reliability for the level of the effectiveness of a questionnaire. An item-total statistics was also conducted, which means the importance of the question in a survey and with Cronbach’s alpha rate of . 851. Therefore, the questions have the high level of consistency and reliability and it is valid to use in the survey. Results and Discussion This study aims to identify the endorsement attributes that influence the purchasing/buying intention of the consumers. Endorsement Attributes Table 1. Level of Effectiveness of Endorsement Attributes Indicators Mean SD Sig 1. Physical Attractiveness 2. 8795 .40254 .000 2. Popularity 2. 6075 .30141 .000 3. Source Credibility 3. 1040 .46763 .000 4. Brand Congruency 3. 1550 .61332 .000 5. Lineage/Bloodline/Hereditary 2. 7795 .53980 .000 Physical Attractiveness The overall results revealed that the physical attractiveness of the endorser has a mean average of 2. 8795 (? = 0. 01) has an effect to the consumer on how they endorse clothing. When purchasing clothing, most consumers look into how endorser would feel comfort and look presentable to them. Physical Attractiveness is one important attribute. As consumers wants a product to satisfy certain specific needs. The benefit is also a factor that consumers have in mind when purchasing clothing. Many researches in advertising and communication suggested that physical attractiveness was an important cue in how an individual judge another person at first 30 sights. It is because beauty usually made a better first impression. Because of increasing use of celebrity endorsement, attractiveness became an important dimension of source credibility (Ohanian, 1991). Popularity Popularity was measured using 12 items; an overall mean score of 2. 6075 (? = 0. 01) found out that there is a moderate effect with the popularity of the endorser regarding its effectiveness. Items regarding politicians and musicians endorsing had results, which are only slightly effective. This implies that choosing someone who will endorse a certain product also has an effect to the consumer. Leventhal (1994 in Miller 1994) suggests that celebrity endorsements are always a high-risk, high-reward situation and there is always a human element that you never know, and you have to weigh the potential risks vs. the potential rewards. McCracken (1989) suggests that endorsement is successful, when the properties of the celebrity are made the properties of the endorsed product. However, the study by Walker et al. (1992) found that the endorser, which may have certain attributes that are desirable for endorsing the product, then again, he or she might also have other, even more closely associated attributes that are inappropriate for a specific product. Source Credibility Respondents indicate their level of effectiveness when an endorser possesses trustworthiness and expertise. Source Credibility items was measured with an overall mean score of 3. 1040 (? = 0. 01) and found out that it is moderately effective. An honest/sincere person endorses food scored a highest mean of 3. 4400 (? = 0. 01) while a dependable/reliable individual endorses food items score the lowest mean of 2. 8450 (? = 0. 01). This implies that the personality of the consumers is moderately effective as the influential of the endorser through its knowledge or expertise. Source credibility was the degree to which the receiver would believe the source has certain degree of relevant knowledge and/or expertise and they choose to believe the information offered by the source (Ohanian, 1990). At first, source credibility simply meant endorser’s credibility in an advertisement (Aronson, Turner and Carlsmith, 1963). Eventually it was considered as an important factor which might affect consumers’ purchase intentions and attitudes toward advertising (Lutz, MacKenzie, and Belch, 1983). Brand Congruency An overall average mean of 3. 1550 (? = 0. 01) found out that endorsement on this items are moderately effective. Endorsing gadgets by an individual person that matches his character have an effect towards the consumer. With an overall mean result of 3. 3650 (? = 0. 01) ranked the highest by the respondents. While on the other hand, an individual that endorses food items that matches his lifestyle got the mean of 2. 9500 (? = 0. 01) being the lowest in terms of brand congruency. The term â€Å"congruence† is used in several research areas, particularly brand extension, co-branding, sponsoring, and endorsement. In all these cases, the aim is to assess the fit between a brand and another entity (a new product category, another brand, an event, or an individual) (Fleck and Quester, 2007). A variety of terms have been used (congruence, fit, link, â€Å"match up effect†, etc. ) but the general concept is the same. Lineage/Bloodline/ Hereditary Respondents indicated that the mean for that of an individual with an alien foreign citizenship who endorses gadgets 2. 7795 (. 03817) revealed that it is slightly effective in relation with their lineage/bloodline/heredity. The overall results revealed that the lineage/bloodline/heredity of the endorser has a mean average of 2. 7795 (. 03817) has an effect to the consumer on how they endorse gadgets. This implies that most consumers tend to buy gadgets which are endorsed by aliens who have a foreign citizenship. Consumer Buying Intention Table 2. Intention to Buy based on the Endorsement Attributes Indicators Mean SD Sig 1. Physical Attractiveness 2. 7215 .29872 .000 2. Popularity 2. 3820 .57176 .000 3. Source Credibility 2. 9005 .34793 .000 4. Brand Congruency 2. 9450 .42494 .000 5. Lineage/Bloodline/Hereditary 2. 4885 .43677 .000 Physical Attractiveness Respondents indicated their intention to buy when an endorser is physically attractive and was measured with an overall mean score of 2. 721 (? = 0. 01) An elegant person who endorses gadgets has the highest mean of 2. 5850 (? = 0. 01) while a sexy individual who endorses food items score the lowest mean of 2. 6350 (? = 0. 01) This indicates that the decision of the consumers is that they most likely will not buy as the influence of the endorser with regards through his/her physical attractiveness. Popularity Popularity was measured using 12 items; an overall mean score of 2. 3820 (? = 0. 01) revealed that consumers will most likely not to buy in relation with the popularity of the endorser regarding consumer’s buying intention. Athletes endorsing food items rated a mean of 2. 9000 (? = 0. 01) which is the highest rate among the 12 items. A politician who endorses clothing has the lowest rate with a rated mean of 1. 7500 (? = 0. 01). This implies that athletes who endorse food items have a great influence in a consumer’s intention to buy goods. Hence, a politician endorsing clothing is not influential as compared to the latter. Food Products especially Cereals has used top-notch athletes to grace the cover of their box for decades. Now, more than ever, the use of celebrity athletes to endorse food products is mainstream advertising. Michael Phelps and Frosted Flakes. Eli and Peyton Manning promoting Double-Stuff-Oreos. No doubt, these celebrity athletes can sell the goods. Source Credibility Respondents indicate their intention to buy when an endorser possess trustworthiness and expertise. Source Credibility items were measured with an overall mean score of 2. 9005 (? = 0. 01) and found out that they will most likely buy. Results of this study found that, honesty and sincerity was significantly associated with buying intention, in addition, this result coincides with study’s result of (Yoon, et al,. 1998) as they found that three dimensions of endorser credibility have normal significant with buying intention. A number of empirical studies have found that credible endorsers positively influence consumer attitudes toward brand, advertisement, and consumers’ purchase intentions (Agrawal& Kamakura, 1995; Kelman 2006; Amos et al. , 2008). Brand Congruency An overall average mean of 2. 9450 (? = 0. 01) found out that the intention of consumers are most likely to buy as there is brand congruency. Endorsing gadgets by an individual person that matches his character have an effect towards the consumer. With an overall mean result of 3. 0250 (? = 0. 01) ranked the highest by the respondents. It is similar based on the nationwide survey under Solar, where 57 percent of selfies said their priorities for the next two years would be to acquire gadgets while 49 percent also cited having a car/vehicle. While regarded as the â€Å"me, me, me† generation, the Sun Life study suggested that these selfies also aspired to be financially independent by having a business and properties while waiting to start their own families. This may be because respondents come from the so-called â€Å"selfie† generation—a new breed of young adults without financial dependents who form a growing consumer powerhouse in this country. Their typical two-year priority is to splurge on lifestyle-related consumer items like gadgets and cars. (Dumlao, 2013) Lineage/Bloodline/Hereditary The overall results revealed that the lineage/bloodline/heredity of the endorser has a mean average of 2. 2885 (? = 0. 01) this implies that most consumers will most likely not to buy. However, for food items endorsed by either an individual with alien foreign citizenship or a natural born Filipino, the consumers are most likely to buy. This may be because of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs where food belongs to the Biological and Physiological needs which must be satisfied first while fashion and gadgets on higher levels like Social Needs and Self-esteem needs. Demographics and Endorsement Attributes Table 3. Demographics and Endorsement Attributes Indicators Demographics Mean SD Sig Physical Attractiveness Filipino 3. 0156 .41481 .000 Foreigner 2. 7165 .32016 Popularity Rural 2. 5705 .25552 .002 Urban 2. 6410 .33532 Source Credibility Male 3. 0703 .59170 .000 Female 3. 1384 .29057 Student 3. 3671 .45858 .001 Young Professional 2. 9528 .40254 Rural 3. 1179 .29499 .000 Urban 3. 0914 .58262 Filipino 3. 1991 .61002 .000 Foreigner 2. 9901 .11358 Brand Congruency Male 3. 2475 .73900 .000 Female 3. 0606 .43444 Student 3. 3356 .49367 .000 Young Professional 3. 0512 .65196 Rural 3. 0084 .38028 .000 Urban 3. 2876 .74275 Filipino 3. 3771 .67311 .000 Foreigner 2. 8890 .39594 Lineage/Bloodline/Hereditary Rural 2. 7011 .42011 .000 Urban 2. 8505 .62236 Filipino 2. 7055 .64000 .000 Foreigner 2. 8681 .37175 Physical Attractiveness In the first of Table 3, it shows that physical attractiveness of an endorser is significant and it has an effect in terms of its nationality. It implies that it is important for an endorser to have the physical qualities of a person whether Filipino or foreign to make the advertisement effective. Bers and Rodin (1984) pointed out that children increasingly focus their comparisons on attributes they regard as personally important as they grow older, with physical attractivene