Abstract:

In Nigeria a number of firms are using celebrities to position their brands in the market space. Competition for space in the market has been a critical issue and positioning is one of the main tools that the companies are using to increase their market share. Since the mobile telecommunication industry deregulation began in the late 1980’s, there has been substantial increase in competition among brands. Despite their contribution to economic development, they are still faced with myriad of problems affecting brand awareness. Descriptive research design was adopted to obtain the opinion of customers. The study population consists of students in the three tertiary institutions selected in Lagos State. A multiple sampling technique was adopted and a structured questionnaire was developed to collect quantitative data from four hundred (400) subscribers of MTN, Globacom, and Airtel brands. Data was analyzed using the PROCESS macro Version 3. Results from a parallel mediation analysis indicated that celebrity credibility is indirectly related to brand awareness through its relationship with price positioning strategy. The results pointed that celebrity credibility is a significant predictor of price positioning strategy β = .290, SE = .495, p < .05, and that price positioning strategy is an important predictor of brand awareness, β = .181, SE = .040 p < .05. These findings corroborate the mediational hypothesis that celebrity credibility is a significant predictor of brand awareness after controlling for the price positioning strategy (total effect β = .1171, SE = .0418)