The Beckhams, the Rooneys and the cast of Harry Potter films – Brands like to use celebrities for marketing purposes.

But just how effective are testimonial campaigns? Together with Celebrity Performance we analysed what effect the use of celebrities have on purchase intent, perceived quality and brand affinity. To establish this, we surveyed more than 2.000 people between the ages of 14 and 49 years in an online questionnaire.

The result: celebrity adverts do influence the consumers. If a sports personality is recognised in an advert, the consumers are likely to find the advert more understandable (45% vs. 34%), likeable (36% vs. 25%), memorable (34% vs. 24%) and suitable (34% vs. 24%) than when the person advertising the product is not recognisable.

It is no surprise then that more and more brands are putting their trust in a celebrity cast. However, not all celebrities have the desired effect. Only those who are well-known in their target group can increase the attention for campaigns and can really influence the brand and product awareness within that target group.