Young Malaysian Consumers’ Attitude and Intention to Imitate Korean Celebrity Endorsements
DOI 10.14707/ajbr.190065
Wan Roazha Wan Mat
Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Hyung Jun Kim
College of Economics and Management, Chungnam National University, South Korea
Ahmad Azaini Abdul Manaf
Faculty of Applied and Creative Arts, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Malaysia
Grace Phang Ing
Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Azaze-Azizi Abdul Adis
Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Abstract
This study addressed the issue of young Malaysian consumers’ intention to imitate Korean celebrities’ endorsement in advertisements. The researchers specifically focused on the impact of Korean celebrity characteristics and the consumer’s individual characteristics on the latter’s attitude towards imitating celebrity endorsements and the consumer’s intention to imitate. 602 young Malaysian consumers in the Klang Valley participated in this study. The results pointed to celebrity characteristics namely attractiveness and trustworthiness as directly and indirectly significant, whilst credibility and expertise were directly and indirectly not significant predictors on consumer attitude toward imitating celebrity endorsements. In addition, individual characteristics namely self-satisfaction and expression of power were directly and indirectly significant predictors on consumer attitude towards imitating celebrity endorsements. There was also a significant effect on attitude towards imitating celebrity endorsements on intention to imitate. Suggestions for future research are discussed at the end of this paper.
Keywords: Korean Wave, Celebrity Characteristics; Individual Characteristics; Attitude toward Imitating Celebrity
Endorsement; Intention to Imitate