Abstract:
Purpose: Celebrity endorsement has been investigated in prior studies regarding various
behavioural and cognitive aspects about consumer purchasing behaviour, it is not clear whether
principles findings in the general celebrity literature can be directly applied to the service context.
This study examines the effects of different attributes associated with celebrities on purchasing
behaviour of life insurance policy in Sri Lanka.
Design: The study used a deductive approach and quantitative research design. Data were
collected from 150 life insurance policy holders who representing four insurance companies in Sri
Lanka. A self-administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The step-wise
multiple regression and regression-based path analysis were employed to test the hypotheses.
Findings: The study finds that celebrity attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise have
significant influence over purchasing behaviour and however the influence is not strong. Further,
celebrity trustworthiness has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between celebrity
expertise and buying behaviour.
Originality: Despite the role of celebrity attributes in influencing the buying behaviour of tangible
products, limited studies have been conducted specifically on intangible products and also, the
literature is not clear whether principle findings in the general celebrity can be directly applied to
the intangible product or service context. This study has addressed that empirical gap.
