Cash Lady

This advert for fast cash loans company ‘Cash Lady’ aims to use the high status admirer altercast to persuade their audience. However, the clear problem here is that their ‘star’ is Kerry Katona.

Research by Silvera and Austad (2004) shows that participants attitude towards a product was predicted by inferences of about the endorser’s liking for the product and attitudes towards the endorser. Participants were given a black and white copy of an advert in which Cindy Crawford endorsed a watch by Omega. They were administered a questionnaire that included measures of correspondent inferences, attitude toward the advertisement, attitude towards the product and attitude towards the celebrity endorser. They used the results to develop a model predicting participants attitudes to an endorsed product by their attitude towards the endorser and their attributions about the endorsers liking for the product. Cash Lady have done the opposite of this by clearly associating their company with a tabloid star who is frequently receives bad press. 

Furthermore, any credibility the company thought she would have in persuading their audience is loss. The star has been declared bankrupt at least once and reportedly, still has very irresponsible spending habits. She is hardly someone who an audience would want to turn to for financial advice and has been heavily criticised for endorsing a company which encourages irresponsible borrowing which had lead to more negative than positive promotion for Cash Lady.

Silvera, D. H., & Austad, B. (2004). Factors predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement advertisements. European Journal of Marketing, 38(11), 1509-1526.