Commercial endorsement

In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whereas the word "" usually applies to pitches by celebrities. Testimonials can be part of communal marketing.

Advertisers have attempted to quantify and qualify the use of celebrities in their marketing campaigns by evaluating the awareness generated, appeal, and relevance to a brand's image and the celebrity's influence on consumer buying behavior.

Social media such as Twitter have become increasingly popular mediums for celebrities to endorse brands and to attempt to influence purchasing behavior. According to Bloomberg News, social-media-ad spending was expected to reach a total of $4.8 billion at the end of 2012 and $9.8 billion by 2016. Advertising and marketing companies sponsor celebrities to tweet and influence thousands (sometimes millions) of their followers to buy brand products. For example, Ryan Seacrest (an American broadcaster) gets paid to promote Ford products. Companies that pay celebs to tweet for them subscribe to the Malcolm Gladwell theory of influence.

Celebrity endorsements have proven very successful in China, where increasing consumerism makes the purchase of an endorsed product into a status symbol. On August 1, 2007, laws were passed banning healthcare professionals and public figures such as movie stars or pop singers from appearing in advertisements for drugs or nutritional supplements. A spokesperson stated, "A celebrity appearing in drug advertising is more likely to mislead consumers, therefore, the state must consider controlling medical advertisements and strengthen the management of national celebrities appearing in medical advertisements."

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Wikipedia