Do celebrity endorsements affect your buying decisions?

The only endorsements that influence me are here, on Gransnet, because you are all real women (and men), and the endorsements are genuine.

I hope

Yes, they put me off buying the product. I find the ones for Over 50's life insurance and dietary supplements particularly annoying.

I totally agree with you FlicketyB I really do not understand why advertising companies think that we are so fickle that we will buy "whatever" because some so called celeb says we should. Does anyone think that possibly the younger generation nowadays is more likely to be swayed by these "celebs"? Also were we the same when we were younger, or are we just older and possibly wiser now?

Oh gosh yes I totally agree about the over 50's insurance and dietary supplements. I can quite often be heard shouting at the television and when I know they have had a "face job" and they want me to use that face cream to look like them, my language occasionally gets a little fruity!!

I don't think it affects me either way. I don't watch much commercial TV and when I do I tend not to watch the ads. I don't buy women's mags either and I simply don't notice the ones on my laptop. Probably wouldn't recognise that they are slebs either!

* Movedalot* I'm the same , I often don't recognise the 'celebrities'. I think that perhaps the younger generations are swayed more easily by the celb. culture.

Those hair colourant ads with the likes of Cheryl Cole and Davina McCall make me laugh. As if they actually colour their hair at home using a packet dye....

Nope!!

The ad that really used to make me mad was the hair colouring one with Davina McCall pretending to have a long telephone conversation with her mother. It was common knowledge that her mother was an alchoholic and they had had no contact for years. How stupid do they think people are?

I did once buy a ravioli tray because Rick Stein said it was one of the few things he'd bought that didn't end up in a drawer. But then it was something he knew about and he wasn't being paid to say it.

No way! Which is due to contempt in which I hold "celebrity culture!"

I buy something because I like it and can afford it, not because some celeb says that I should.
I do not think that they are celebrities. To me they are actors and actresses, using the words loosely.

Absolutely not, especially as the models are all thin and I am most certainly not!!

No

So why do they do it?

I can accept that some youngsters might buy something a celeb endorses, those whose ambition is to be famous and to be a celeb, but I do not thing the majority young people do, they are far too media savvy.

I must say that the only endorsement I take any notice of comes from someone close to me whose judgement I trust like DD or a friend, although I have at least one friend whose endorsements I would generally ignore because much as I like her she has a poor quality endorsement history!!

Anything "endorsed" ie advertised by Parkinson or Vorderman in particular makes me want to run for the hills. Some people will do anything for money, even if they already have quite a lot of it.
AND
This makes me want to puke. I wonder how many other women - sorry "leading ladies" (more puking noises off, sorry) told them to buzz off with their offers of money and the honour of being photographed by Leibovitz.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Britain-E2-80-99s-Leading-Ladies-Preview-Womens/b/3147215031

done it again:

www.marksandspencer.com/Britain-E2-80-99s-Leading-Ladies-Preview-Womens/b/3147215031

I too am much more likely to be influenced in a negative way by a so called 'celebrity'. Oddly enough I do not even have to dislike the person to be put off. I have discounted several products of late just because they were endorsed.

I don't think I've really thought about why I am so against endorsed goods, its quite a knee jerk thing....subconsciously I think I am realising how much of the product price must be tied up in the advertising etc. Either that or I'm just a nasty bigoted person!

I cannot think of anyone I know who buys because of celebrity endorsements. However, somebody must do market research to prove that it is worthwhile. Or do market research companies lie to the companies that pay them?

No!

There is no way I am going to rush out and buy a xxx foot power booster thingy just because Judith Chalmers has endorsed it.

The best one at the moment is that Maks and Spencer think that I would buy something that Tracey Emin wears.

I have never bought anything because it was endorsed by some so called celeb., not even when I was younger. If you could see me when I am shopping you would understand why. I probably go back and look at something several times, check it out on the internet, ask questions of the assistant - and then more than likely decide not to buy!! I took 3 months to decide which laptop to buy - OK so I admit it - I am just miserly!

I do possess a couple of items endorsed by Delia, but only noticed her name on the labels after I had bought them!

'Celebrity' endorsements on television often start a discussion between DH and me on the lines of 'Who is that? Is it someone I should know?' And no, they don't influence me to buy, even when I know who the celebrity is. Also I have a problem remembering what product the commercial is for, even when I'm word perfect on the script!