Media Blog #5 - "Gossip Sells the Goods"

Retailers who have celebrities who shop in their stores regularly can have a huge advantage. By being associated with celebrities, the companies are getting a lot more publicity and interest from consumers like us. People are interested in what kinds of things celebrities are using, and for some reason want to be just like them and think that by having the same things, they are somehow a better, cooler person. This is why stores are often trying to get celebrities to endorse their stores, which is even better than just shopping there because then they are actually going to get paid, so they will go out and wear and promote the product. Some people have issues with celebrities being used to sell or promote certain products or retailers because the retailers may try and enhance the way celebrities use their products or the extent to which they are used. There is also cases of companies who try and claim that people were endorsing their products, when in reality they were just using them. Celebrity endorsements help boost retail sales because they can spark an interest into a particular product that no one noticed or cared about before. Celebrities' faces or names grab people's attention, and when we see that they are attached to a particular product, it makes us notice and become more interested in the product. Like, "If Paris Hilton wears it, it has to be awesome. I want to be just like Paris Hilton so I am going to wear the clothes that she endorses, even though I've never heard of or seen them before, she's a trendsetter so it must be cool." According to the article, celebrities have become a part of the "business plan and business model" because where they go and what the do has a huge impact on places' business. By getting a celebrity on board with your business from day one, it will guarantee it to he a more successful place, with lots of interest. This means that if you are trying to start a business, having a celebrity involved will create interest because people follow the celebrity, and if they're at your place then your place will be recognized in the media. As far as I know, gossip doesn't have an impact on my habits as a consumer. At least, not celebrity gossip and not consciously. I know that just because I see someone famous using a particular brand or shopping or eating at a certain place, does not mean that I will run out and do the same. Subconsciously though, we all do it to an extent. Everyone in this room all fits into a mould that has been created by the media. We all want to be accepted, and yet we all want to express ourselves, as long as we are doing so in a way that is still socially acceptable. People follow trends, cut their hair a certain way, buy certain clothes, because that is what we see in the media. It might not be specific things endorsed by specific celebrities for some people, but because of whats available to us as consumers most people, I know I do, we follow along with whats current and what we see in the stores, the streets, the magazines, TV, and the movies.