CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES

This study examined the influence of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying behaviour towards telecommunication services. It sought to determine the influences of celebrity credibility, celebrity attractiveness and celebrity popularity on consumer buying behaviour towards telecommunication services. Exploratory research design was adopted. Primary data were obtained from 133 telecommunication service subscribers using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression was adopted for hypotheses testing. The study found that celebrity popularity (? = .430; p-value = 0.000 < 0.05) had the highest significant positive influence on consumer buying behaviour towards telecommunication services, followed by celebrity credibility (? = .357; p-value = 0.000 < 0.05) and celebrity attractiveness (? = .215; p-value = 0.002 < 0.05). Therefore, it was concluded that celebrity endorsement has a significant positive influence on consumer buying behaviour in the context of telecommunication services. Consequently, pertinent recommendations were made for possible implementation by industry practitioners. Keywords: Celebrity Endorsement, Consumer Buying Behaviour, Telecommunications, Consumer Persuasion Model