Exploring Demand toward Celebrity Memorabilia: Do Celebrities Never Really Die?

Abstract

Celebrities always seem larger than life; it is when they die that we remember they are only human. With the emergence of the Internet and social networking sites, consumers are able to follow the daily activities of their favorite celebrities. After a celebrity’s death, consumers exhibit a stronger interest in the lives of these celebrities and demand for celebrity-related products increases sharply. The aim of the present study is to examine young consumers’ responses to celebrity deaths and explore the major factors that lead to increased demand for celebrity memorabilia and merchandise. Specifically, this research will attempt to present why young consumers exhibit such a sudden and strong interest in celebrity-related products after their death and why these products are cherished so greatly. Factor analysis is applied and the results indicate that a celebrity’s death increases young consumers’ demand for memorabilia due to five major factors. These factors include immortality of the celebrity, keepsake value & deep-felt love as well as uniqueness of the celebrity, prestige and financial value attached with the product and wide availability & increased media promotion. Based on these factors, it can be argued that consumption of celebrity merchandise is motivated by the attachment and significance of the celebrity to the young consumer before death. These results are important for marketers to grasp the effect of death on the consumption of celebrity merchandise. Online and traditional retailers need to understand the major factors attracting consumers to celebrity memorabilia and merchandise so that they can respond quickly and efficiently to sudden demand fluctuations.