Endorsements’ Effects of one Branded Service on Attitude, Purchase Intention and Intention of Recommendation Towards the Service Category

Abstract The study focuses on the effectiveness of endorsement strategies in the beauty service industry. We refer an effective endorsement strategy as a strategy where the endorser is perceived as trustful and we assume that trustworthiness leads to an attitudinal or behavioural change. This quantitative research aims to identify the changes in attitude, purchase intention and intention of recommendation based on the perceived credibility derived from three different sources of endorsement - celebrities, experts and typical satisfied consumers. 426 subjects participated on an online survey. Their attitudes and intentions related to the service category were measured before and after they were exposed to an ad layout for one branded service. All the tracked changes were significant, leading endorsement to make positive changes in purchase and recommendation intentions, but negative changes in attitude. Differences between consumers and nonconsumers and between males and females were analysed.