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Your Say: Does a celebrity endorsement influence your beauty purchases?

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This past year, we’ve seen quite a few big names signed onto beauty brands. The L’Oreal group heads the list with recent celebrity signings of Julia Roberts for Lancome, Aishwarya Rai for L’Oreal hair, Gerard Butler for L’Oreal Men and most recently, Jennifer Lopez as L’Oreal Paris Global Brand Ambassador which means we’ll be seeing her on ads soon.

jennifer lopez l'oreal global ambassador

Estee Lauder has Elizabeth Hurley and Gwyneth Paltrow as longstanding endorsers; and next year, we’ll see Natalie Portman make an appearance for Dior Parfums which includes cosmetics I think.

Receiving all this news, I found myself wondering just what the woman on the street feels about these celebrity endorsements.

Does the face of a particular celebrity encourage you to purchase the product endorsed?

Does it encourage brand recognition for you?

Or maybe you aren’t affected by it?

Personally, I’m not affected by celebrity endorsements. As I have told you many a time, celebrities hit my blind spot. I may recognise the big names and faces – Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Natalie Portman etc. Ok Natalie Portman hits the blind spot a bit – I only ever remember her as Queen Amidala (Star Wars for the uninitiated) with the 2 dots of red on her white cheeks.

Natalie Portman for Miss Dior Cherie Perfume - coming in 2011

But tell me Rachel Weiz or yes, Aishwarya Rai and I have trouble recalling what they look like or even where I have seen them before.

I prefer the brand to rest on the efficacy of their products. Granted that does not make for a very pretty print or tv commercial, but I’m happy with brands using models should they need a human element in their photo.

I’m sure models are cheaper to hire than A-list celebrities – people like Julia Roberts and Jennifer Lopez don’t come cheap – and perhaps that way, we could have great beauty products at more affordable prices, or more research and development into even better and more innovative beauty products.

I might be in the minority here. I am after all not one to chase celebs 🙂 But if you do have a view, pleas share. I’d love to hear what you think of celebrity endorsements and if they affect your purchases 🙂

Paris B

50 Insightful comments ... Read or JOIN THE DISCUSSION

50 comments ... Read or JOIN THE DISCUSSION

  1. It doesn’t influence me at all. Sure, I was a wee bit excited to see Gerald Butler, but then who isn’t? 😀 Having celebs endorsing their products is lost on me coz they were already beautiful/has luscious locks/with long lashes to begin with before endorsing, so I don’t buy the whole ‘My skin is much better after using product X’.

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    • Sigh… yeah I feel the same way you do. Most celebs, by the time they get signed on are already gorgeous so no point telling me how well a product works for them. Also I don’t quite believe that they actually go on the red carpet in Maybelline or L’Oreal makeup. Not all of it anyway 😛

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  2. I’m a rebel and always have issues with authority or being told what to do. So, the more they use a celebrity to endorse it, chances are, I’ll get meh over it and I’ll find faults and scrutinise the product. I’m sick that way. 🙂

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  3. Also, celebrity endorsements are completely NOT impartial. They’re paid to say those words. Why should I believe them? 😛 (see what I mean by that I’m sick that way? yes I know, you still love me. bahahahahhaha)

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    • They are paid A LOT OF MONEY to say something is wonderful. I don’t mind if they endorse colour makeup actually because there’s no real “effect” as it were, and its nice to see a pretty face with pretty makeup. That said, I think models work better for makeup endorsements because then the brands can choose one with pouty lips for lipstick, big eyes for eye makeup and high cheekbones for blush etc.

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  4. depends on the product. when i saw alicia keys as the spokesperson for proactiv i was totally suckered (i love alicia keys and i had really bad acne, so i was itching really badly for proactiv). nowadays though, i always tell myself that these celebs have the moolah to do all the fancy schmancy beauty stuff. you know what i think is probably one of the more ridic endorsements? freida pinto for the lash growth stuff. she’s genetically engineered to have long lashes already!

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    • ROFLOL!! When I first saw the ad with Freida Pinto for the lash serum thing, I said it was silly because she already HAS the lashes. She doesn’t need lash renewal serum. Not like us mortals!

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  5. Not really, no. Those ads only provide me with more eyecandy, or lower my self esteem even though they are highly airbrushed, depending on my mood.

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  6. A great question. I thought I wasn’t affected by celebrity endorsement, but then I am.. Only by Korean actress though! LOL.. Go figure

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  7. Nope, not swayed. The only time i remember myself being sucked into buying something because of the endorsing celeb is when Loreal decided to release that Michelle Reis lipstick! I adore her so I HAD to get one for myself!! Hehehe!! 😀

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  8. Not really, no. What works for them may not work for me. I rather see reviews by people who’ve actually used the product, and is not being paid to do so.

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  9. I’m not positively influenced to purchase the product. The whole celeb culture is getting out of hand and I’ve never (at least to memory) swooned over celebs even in my younger days. I don’t see why I should be another hand in lifting their mortal butts up and elevating them to god/goddesses status. I buy the product if I like it otherwise I couldn’t give two hoots as to who is supposedly using them. I would much rather read beauty blogs written by those who have actually used and tested the products in order to make an informed decision.

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    • “lifting their mortal butts” I like that! Except they’d use plastic surgery or collagen implants to lift their own butts eh? hehe 😉 But I must agree that the celeb culture is taking over the world. They are everywhere, I think many are already numb to their endorsements and presence.

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  10. Not really, I’m much more influenced by swatches in blogs than anything else. And curiously enough, I’m more hooked to the CM background music and visual concept than the celebrities themselves. Maybe I should have studied Marketing. But Architecture is close enough.^^

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    • Ooh you’re an Architect! How cool 😀 But like you, I’m more influenced by what other contemporaries think of a product rather than what a celeb says. Mostly because I don’t even know who they are 😛

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  12. To answer your question: No. And it may or may not have anything to do with my having a psych degree. For example,

    1. I like Anne Hathaway, but I didn’t like the perfume she was paid to endorse (Lancome’s Magnifique) and don’t see myself getting and wearing it anytime soon.

    2. Just like how I’m not a fan of Ms Paltrow per se (just her husband’s band), but I like the bottle of Pure White Linen (Light Breeze) EDP I’ve got. I remember saying to myself that “I’m helping to pay for this woman’s endorsement contract, sheesh” when I was paying for it 😛 Cynic, I am.

    Celebrity endorsements only work on people who know who they are to begin with.

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    • I like the way you think 😀 You’re right. Celeb endorsements don’t work on me because I don’t know who they are, except the big names and even then, Julia Roberts, lovely as she looked in the ad for Teint Miracle, did not cause me to love the product since I turned into an oil slick. Speaking of fragrances, I do like Magnifique but not White Linen … but nothing to do with either celeb 😉

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  13. Wow~ Interesting post here on a Christmas eve!
    Nope. Celebrity endorsement don’t work on me either. However, if it is endorsed by our lovey dovey Paris, I might though! 😀

    Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year everyone here~ Yay~ 😀

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  14. Celebrity endorsement is for suckers. 😀

    They still get airbrushed to death anyway.

    I wear Magnifique, but only because I told the sales lady I liked Miracle Forever and she recommended it.

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  15. I try to steer clear from celebrity endorsed products, especially perfumes. Seems like every multi-hyphenate people have to make their own perfumes . The exception is Chanel, but mostly because I trust the brand and I love their perfumes.

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    • Ohhh! I don’t “get” celebrity perfumes! And I don’t buy them either because they are usually short lived. Chanel perfumes are lovely aren’t they? 🙂 I was eyeing Chance and the bottle is so cute

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  16. I think an endorsement by a person known and trusted is useful for relatively unknown brands. It doesn’t need to be a celebrity per se. When it comes to established brands, I don’t see it as a consideration in my decision making.

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    • I think you have a point Amex! For an up and coming brand, having an endorsement will be a big boost for them. Its like how Oprah features something on her show and next day, its all gone off the shelves 🙂

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  17. No, celeb endorsement don’t influence me at all. They’re paid lots of money to say that something is amazing when they probably haven’t even used it so why should I believe it? Like you, I wish the brands invested their money in creating better products rather than hiring celebs from their ads. It’d be money much better spent especially since more and more people are starting to turn to blogs to see if a product is worth buying or not.

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    • Know what Gio? What’s to stop a brand from buying over a blogger to endorse their products? 😉 I know a brand that’s already doing it but I do wonder what people think of that. Is it a sell out? Or is it business in the blog world? Makes you wonder doesn’t it? 😉

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      • That’s certainly something that makes you wonder. I think that if done properly, it is a great opportunity for the brand to expand their audience and for the blogger to get the recongnition after all the hard work they’ve done. But it only works if the blogger is honest in my opinion. If he/she just raves about everything just because they’re getting paid, readers will soon lose interest or, at least, take what they say with a pinch of salt. 🙂

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        • That’s true. Only problem is, once you’re paid you’re expected to be only saying good things which does make sense. Still, its worth thinking about eh? 😉

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  18. I’m not influenced by celebs’ endorsement. In fact, I would not buy it if it is linked to somebody. Don’t like to use things with other people’s names on it.

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  19. Frankly it does not affect me at all- if any it just kind of jacks up the price of the product as we’re paying to have the celebrity endorse the product! But yeah, while I may be thrilled about being able to see the faces of certain celebrities while shopping around the cosmetics counters *coughjustintimberlakecough*, it doesn’t influence my purchasing choice in any way.

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  20. “I’m sure models are cheaper to hire than A-list celebrities – people like Julia Roberts and Jennifer Lopez don’t come cheap – and perhaps that way, we could have great beauty products at more affordable prices, or more research and development into even better and more innovative beauty products.” – I totally agree with you! I am a believer when it come to science of beauty and R&D for natural ingredients, herbs, etc to be incorporated into the modern beauty products. Yes, celebrities are gorgeous to look at but not necessarily influence me to buy the product. Maybe they will influence me to try a product. I would buy a product immediately if someone I know and trust shows me that it actually does work. That is why I stalk beauty review blogs. Yours included hehe 😉

    Reply

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