IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 3 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 417 A study of the celebrity attributes that influence consumers in social advertisements Ajit Kumar Nanda, Doctoral Research Student, Faculty of Commerce and Management, Sri Sri University, Cuttack, ajit.n2014ds@srisriuniversity.edu.in Dr. Pushpendra Khandelwal, Associate Professor, , Faculty of Commerce and Management, Sri Sri University, Cuttack ABSTRACT The objective of the present study is to analyse the attributes of the celebrities that influence the consumers in advertisement. The present study is descriptive in nature. The sample size was 790. The respondents belong to the state of Odisha, India. Primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire for the present study. Scale used is 5 point Likert scale i.e. 1 as lowest and 5 being highest. The secondary data sources are journal articles, books, and websites etc. Statistical tools such as frequency distribution, percentage, cross tabulation, mean, and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Statistical Package used was SPSS 23. The sample includes respondents from all classes of the society. It was found that, celebrity attributes like, popularity and attractiveness are more influencing in comparison with others. However, respondents are least concerned with product / message – celebrity match up as well as expertise of the celebrity. Keywords: Celebrity, attributes, influence, popularity, attractiveness 1. Introduction Celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising where the company uses a well-known person using their popularity to help promote a product, service or brand. It used to be more on the TV and print media but nowadays it has expanded to social media. (Business Dictionary).Besides celebrity endorsement other words to describe this type of marketing is called influencer marketing. When you do influence marketing you find someone who is good at what they do, have a fan base (followers), they are respected and have the same values as your company or the organisation they represent. Influencers are usually very active on all type of media and they can be referred to as brand advocates or niche promoters. (Kissmetrics, 2013). Celebrity endorsement is not to be mixed with influencer marketing and sponsoring. Celebrity endorsement and influencer marketing have been traditionally used pretty interchangeably. However there is a difference. The difference between the two is that influencers don‘t have to be celebrities. They are more like specialists with a certain type of follower on media, for example mommy blogs or YouTube beauty gurus. (Affirm 2017). The difference between a sponsorship and celebrity endorsement is where the payoff is mutual. In sponsorships someone gives you the money to do something in return for something else. In endorsement the celebrity shows its support for a brand or product. In sponsorships it is vital for the