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To focus on new and emerging areas of research and education, Centres of Excellence have been established within the Institute. These ‘virtual' centres draw on resources from its stakeholders, and interact with them to enhance core competencies

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Faculty members at IIMB generate knowledge through cutting-edge research in all functional areas of management that would benefit public and private sector companies, and government and society in general.

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IIMB Management Review

Journal of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

IIM Bangalore offers Degree-Granting Programmes, a Diploma Programme, Certificate Programmes and Executive Education Programmes and specialised courses in areas such as entrepreneurship and public policy.

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About IIMB

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) believes in building leaders through holistic, transformative and innovative education

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THE MEDIATING ROLE OF BRAND CREDIBILITY ON CELEBRITY CREDIBILITY IN BUILDING BRAND EQUITY AND IMMUTABLE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

The objective of this study is to examine how celebrity credibility  affects  customer-based brand equity and relationship continuity expectation. Brand credibility is examined as a mediator, and the number of years of usage i.e., past experience with the product (a smartphone), is taken as a moderator, to test whether there is any significance difference between a new and an old customer of the  product. Age and gender are considered as  control variables in the study. In the present study, the smartphone is used as a stimulus.  Brand credibility acts as a mediator as the stimulus  is a physical product. 

The participants of the study were selected from 10 major mobile phone retail outlets and two shopping malls with the highest footfalls, in a major city of West Bengal. The retail outlets and shopping malls were visited on  weekends over a period of three months. The sample consisted of adult individuals ( 18 years and above) with smart phones or planning to purchase one within a month’s time, and who were  exposed to celebrity endorsed advertisements in print, electronic, and/or digital media. The data were collected using  systematic sampling with mall-intercept. A total of 376 participants were surveyed. 

The result of the study supports the positive direct relationship between celebrity credibility with both, brand equity and relationship continuity expectation. Brand credibility positively and partially mediates the celebrity credibility relationship with brand equity and relationship continuity expectation. It implies that there is a joint positive effect of both celebrity credibility and brand credibility on brand equity and relationship continuity expectation. The results suggest that the role of celebrity credibility is almost double in low-experience users in building a stronger relationship with the brand than in long-term users of a smartphone. This supports the position that  new users are more influenced by celebrity credibility than  experienced  ones. The result of the present study implies that a credible celebrity aids in developing  improved brand equity and supports in establishing a strong, unceasing relationship with the brand.