Title: Ohanian's celebrity endorsers' credibility scale: evaluation and validation in the context of an emerging economy

Authors: Sanjaya Singh Gaur; Shalini Pathak Tiwari; Hanoku Bathula

Addresses: Faculty of Business and Law, AUT School of Business, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand ' National Insurance Academy, 25, Balewadi, Baner Road, Pune 411 045, India ' Department of International Business, AIS St. Helens, 28a, Linwood Avenue, Mt. Albert, Auckland 1025, New Zealand

Abstract: This study is designed to validate Ohanian's (1990) celebrity endorsers' credibility scale in the context of an emerging economy. We used two Indian celebrities as stimuli and collected data from a sample of young Indians who are relatively more susceptible to celebrities' influence. The results support both convergent and discriminant validity for the scale after dropping two of the observed variables. The convergent and discriminant validity of the modified scale was established from a variety of methods, and robust support was found for the same. This study shows that the modified scale can be used in an Indian context as well as in countries similar to India for identifying the most suited celebrity endorser.

Keywords: Roobina Ohanian; celebrity endorsement; celebrities; measurement scales; scale validation; emerging economies; celebrity endorsers; credibility scales; Amitabh Bachchan; Aishwarya Rai; actresses; films; actors; celebrity influence; young people; convergent validity; discriminant validity; observed variables; modified scales; India; Indian culture; business management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2012.045642

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2012 Vol.5 No.2, pp.152 - 161

Published online: 20 Dec 2014 *

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