CONSTRUCTING OPERATIONAL DIMENSIONS FOR EFFECTIVE CELEBRITY ADVERTS IN THE NIGERIAN CULTURAL CONTEXT: A FACTOR ANALYSIS OF SELF-CONSTRUAL

Abstract

Unlike independence that prevails in western societies, interdependence rules Africans’ perception of the world. That is why Africans’ behaviour is contingent on their dependence on one another relative to their diverse communal experiences.  Within the framework of Markus and Kitayama’s self-construal theory, a factor analysis of self-construal was explored in this study to invoke the dimensions that could determine Nigerians’ appreciation of celebrity endorsement adverts.  The problem of this study was formulated on the backdrop of an earlier research finding that indicates ineffectiveness of celebrity adverts in the Nigerian multicultural society.  From the cross-cultural view, it is argued   that integrating cultural orientation of the audience into advertising messages would create path to achieving persuasion effectiveness. With the use of stratified proportional sampling technique, data were garnered from 361 respondents belonging to the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Singelis’ Self Construal Scale (SCS) developed from the self-construal theory was used to obtain the data. The analysis of the Self-Construal Rotated Component Matrix generated three components. They are group relationship/loyalty, self-valued or self-uniqueness, and maintaining group harmony. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed in the conclusion.