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Celebrity behaviour has affected holiday taking by young families' more than single people: Couples are more likely to emulate the Beckhams than the Club 18-30 age group.

Celebrity behaviour has affected holiday taking by young families' more than single people: Couples are more likely to emulate the Beckhams than the Club 18-30 age group.
Author: Matthew Allen
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When you choose holidays does celebrity behaviour influence you? Do you read about 'adored' celebrities in lifestyle magazines and in the media and look to emulate them in your own lifestyle? To what extent do your own motives play a part? This paper concerns the effect celebrity behaviour has on the holiday taking of two groups in today's society; couples and the club 18-30 age group.

The first things to consider is are consumers socialised through the experiences of celebrities such as 'The Beckhams'? Consumer socialisation can be described as the process: "By which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace (Bush, 2004 cited in Ward, 1974:1)". Research suggests that celebrities have played a key role in the socialisation of consumers. Elite sportsmen such as Tiger woods, David Beckham, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, are particularly influential towards the lifestyle and behavioural intentions of consumers.

'The Beckhams' are considered very famous through their careers in football (David) and the music industry (Victoria). They possess a powerful 'family brand' i.e. Brand Beckham. The family communicates the brand through relative mediums such as the commercialisation of football, own branded clothing range for younger children, celebrity magazines, and brand and product endorsements.

The Beckhams life's is documented by the media in lifestyle magazines such as 'vogue' and 'cosmopolitan'. When 'the Beckhams' go on holiday they are followed around by the media, who saturate the material to make it suit their clientele, and then feature it in their magazines. The saturation of the media causes a sense of closeness with a celebrity which is artificially produced. Magazines can display linguistic styles which cause consumers to imitate the styles in a ploy to express themselves as individuals. The transferral of images to the public through magazines and television can be termed as a parasocial relationship as the communication only travels one way i.e. from the consumer to Beckham.

Research suggests that consumers 'consume' and live their lives through commodities such as the Beckhams. They attach themselves to other people that are happy, or are perceived to them as being happy, in a ploy to make them happy; however, this rarely becomes fruition.

Beckham can be an important socialisation agent towards children. Children look up to him as a role model and therefore model their behaviour, attitude and skills around him. Adults pass their behavioural values and attitudes on to their children through cultural coding. Research conducted on children's perceptions on 'Beckham' showed that many adults passed the story of the '1998 world cup of when Beckham got sent off and then came back in his career' on to their children which was representative of hard work, perseverance and courage in the face of adversity. Children effect the holiday purchasing decisions of their parents as they have the ability to negotiate with them.

The process of searching for a holiday is mainly down to consumers motives, which are heavily influenced by the media industry and by recommendations from family and friends.

The club 18-30 age group is most commonly associated with young singles taking holidays to party islands such as Ibiza, Crete, and Corfu. The 'sex, sand, and fun' slogan and text and imagery found on the website are particularly representative of young adults. They are also major sports consumers, and entertain themselves through sports, movies and the internet. They show this positive attitude off through the consumption of sport-related products. Research suggests that sports celebrities can also be useful in conveying messages to young adults, because they are more readily to listen to someone whom they respect and admire.

Celebrity advertising where they are endorsing alcohol products is most effective with teenagers. Research revealed that when a celebrity was linked to an alcohol product they were only slightly more likely to enjoy the product, than when it is endorsed by an unfamiliar character. The culture of young people and their views towards alcohol are so heavily embedded in their mind, that other factors such has who endorses the product makes little, or no difference.

In conclusion, young families are more likely to emulate the Beckhams holiday taking because fathers see Beckham as a role model through his appearances most notably on, but also off the pitch, and then pass these attitudes on to their children through cultural coding. Also, children effect the purchasing decisions of their parents; they are an important catalyst, and therefore influence their parents holiday choosing. Thirdly, the process of choosing a holiday rests on the image given off by family and friends, and the media which is saturated by lifestyle magazines. The club 18-30 age group will only emulate 'Brand Beckham' in terms of sport and fashion as the motives of their holiday ideals do not represent those of 'Brand Beckham's behaviour and values, e.g. the consumption of alcohol.

References:

Cashmore, E. (2004) Beckham, 2nd Edition, Polity Press: Cambridge.

Dix, S, Phau, I and Pougnet, S. (2010) ""Bend it like Beckham": the influence of sports celebrities on young adult consumers", Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers, 11 (1) 36-46.

Wicks, P, G, Nairn, A and Griffin, C. (2007) The Role of Commodified Celebrities in Children's Moral Development: The Case of David Beckham, Consumption, Markets and Culture, 10 (4) 401-424.