Editing Testimonial (section)

==Celebrity endorsements==
[[File:Lin Chi-Ling (cropped).jpg|thumb|Actress and model [[Lin Chi-ling]] at the [[LG New Chocolate (BL40)]] phone launching event in 2009, [[Hong Kong]]]]
[[Image:Mariani pope.jpg|thumb|[[Pope Leo XIII]] endorses "[[Vin Mariani]]", a [[patent medicine]] containing [[cocaine]]]]
{{Further|Celebrity branding}}

Advertisers have attempted to quantify and qualify the use of [[Celebrity branding|celebrities]] in their [[marketing]] campaigns by evaluating the awareness generated, appeal, and relevance to a brand's image and the [[Celebrity|celebrity's]] influence on [[consumer]] buying behavior.

Social media such as [[Twitter]] have become{{when|date=December 2014}} increasingly{{quantify|date=December 2014}} popular mediums for celebrities to endorse brands and to attempt to influence purchasing behavior. According to a study by Zenith, social media ad spending was $29 billion in 2016 and is expected to rise to $50 billion in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=Social media ads to hit US$50bn in 2019, catching up with newspapers|url=https://www.zenithmedia.com/social-media-ads-hit-us50bn-2019-catching-newspapers/|website=Zenith Media|access-date=22 May 2017}}</ref> Advertising and marketing companies sponsor celebrities to tweet and influence thousands (sometimes millions) of their followers to buy brand products. For example, [[Ryan Seacrest]] (an American broadcaster) gets paid to promote Ford products.<ref name=Business2>{{cite web|last=Roat|first=Olivia|url=http://www.business2community.com/twitter/celebrity-endorsements-and-twitter-do-we-buy-things-when-celebrities-tell-us-to-0229724|title=Celebrity Endorsements and Twitter: Do We Buy Things When Celebrities Tell Us To?|work=Business 2 Community|date=July 24, 2012|access-date=November 27, 2015}}</ref> Companies that pay celebs to tweet for them subscribe to the {{clarify|text=[[Malcolm Gladwell]] theory of influence.|date=December 2015}}{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Celebrity endorsements have proven very successful in [[China]], where increasing [[consumerism]] makes the purchase of an endorsed product into a status symbol. On 1 August 2007, laws were passed banning healthcare professionals and public figures such as movie stars or pop singers from appearing in advertisements for [[medication|drugs]] or [[dietary supplement|nutritional supplements]]. A spokesperson stated, "A celebrity appearing in drug advertising is more likely to mislead consumers, therefore, the state must consider controlling medical advertisements and strengthen the management of national celebrities appearing in medical advertisements."{{Citation needed|date=December 2013}}