Celebrity Endorsement and Consumer Brand Preference of Hero Larger Beer in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

There is no doubt that Nigerian advertisers like their counterparts across the globe have always prioritized innovation and creativity in order to gain competitive advantages. Over the years, celebrity endorsement of products and services has remained one of the most efficacious ways of winning the patronage of the Nigerian consumers/ customers. For over a decade now, people have associated the high patronage of Hero Larger Beer in South-East, Nigeria to fact that its advertisement is anchored on the struggle for self-determination by the Igbos. Incidentally, late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu symbolically represents this struggle; and for the Igbos, he remains a “Hero”. The need to provide empirical backing to this claim that Ojukwu is a big celebrity endorsement to Hero Larger Beer has necessitated the study. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the level of influence of late Ojukwu celebrity personality on consumer patronage of Hero Large Beer in Ebonyi State and to determine the extent to which the desire to always associate with the symbolic values of Ojukwu celebrity endorsement is sustaining patronage for Hero Larger Beer in Ebonyi State. The study was anchored on the cultivation theory. It adopted descriptive research method, as such, copies of questionnaire were administered on 390 respondents. The findings of the study suggest that the Ojukwu celebrity personality has significant influence on consumers’ patronage of Hero Larger Beer in Ebonyi State and that the symbolic value of Ojukwu is significantly sustaining brand loyalty for Hero Larger Beer in Ebonyi State. Consequently, the study recommended that SABmiller- the producer and advertiser of Hero Larger Beer should use radio and television dramas, quizzes and talk-shows to educate and sensitize the less educated consumers of Hero Larger Beer, particularly, in the rural communities about the Ojukwu symbol, value and representation of the Hero Larger Beer branding.