The Contribution of Celebrity Endorsement to University student’s buying behavior in developing countries: A case study of Zimbabwean university students.

This study focused on evaluating the contribution of celebrity endorsement to University student’s buying behaviour in developing countries and this was achieved through the phenomenological philosophy and a case study design. The sample was made up of 100 respondents. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to collect data from the respondents. The results obtained from the study show that celebrity endorsement has a positive influence on university student’s buying behaviour. Results from the study also show that celebrities hold power to influence consumer perception and life style choices. Furthermore, it was established that celebrity endorsement positively contributes to sales, brand awareness of the brand. The study findings also show that domestic celebrities from Zimbabwe are not trusted by consumers due to their bad behaviour such as drug abuse. Hence, it was concluded that celebrity endorsement is a powerful advertising tool which positively contributes to consumer buying behaviour but however in implementing celebrity endorsement in developing countries careful evaluation of the endorser has to be taken before the strategy is fully implemented. Therefore, the study recommends that the match up hypothesis model approach and international celebrities should be used by companies in developing countries in order to enhance their marketing skills and sales Keywords : celebrity, endorsement, consumer perception, brand awareness, consumer buying behavior,      marketing, domestic celebrity DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/72-06 Publication date: October 31 st 2020