THE INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSERS TO PROMOTE JALAN TUNJUNGAN AS LOCAL DESTINATION IN SURABAYA

: Celebrity endorsers are part of today's marketing strategy. Many brands or tourist objects employ them to influence and increase sales. However, there is a limitation of study on the impact of celebrity endorsers. This study examines the profound influence of celebrity endorsements on consumer behavior, encompassing emotions, preferences, and perceived utility. Drawing upon a case study of Jalan Tunjungan, empirically, the research demonstrates the significant impact of celebrity endorsements in this specific context. The research highlights that celebrity endorsements evoke emotional responses, enhance product preferences, and amplify perceived utility, ultimately driving consumer engagement. While the Tunjungan case provides compelling evidence, further investigation is warranted to comprehend celebrity endorsements' enduring effects, particularly in consumer decision to visit Tunjungan. This study underscores the need for a more comprehensive understanding of how celebrity endorsements shape long-term consumer behavior, offering valuable insights for marketing strategies and brand management in diverse contexts.


Introduction
Celebrity endorsers are integral to the culture (Tran et al., 2019).They are shaping the current trend.Celebrity endorsers will have their image shaped through their posts, social media strategy, personal branding etc.Through their persona, people will follow them and believe in their expertise even though their expertise would be questioned or irrational.However, what matters is that people believe in their specific capabilities.This will lead industrial actors to want to build partnerships with them and ask them for endorsement.Endorsement in the industrial context is defined as suggesting or approving certain products or arguments (K.Chan & Fan, 2022; T.-J.Chan et al., 2021;Schouten et al., 2020).For example, in the food industry, healthy food producers will invite athletes to endorse their products, and athletes will claim publicly that this food has certain nutrients and will help people gain some benefits.Later, the context of endorsement would not be limited only to athletes but also influencers who actively share things on their social media, such as TikTok or Instagram.They might not have certification or might be training in the field.Nonetheless, people believe in their competencies and will put their trust in them.This trust is essential for industrial actors or investors since they think it will affect sales and satisfaction.When endorsement is discussed, there are various forms of endorsement.The oral one through comments and video or other suggestive forms is among them.However, the meaning of endorsement has changed.Nowadays, the endorsement could be anything.For example, Brazilian football player Pele used to get a contract from Puma just by lacing his shoes.At that time, TV was the leading mass media.Through TV, people would gain information, entertainment, and influence.Pele laced his shoes on TV in the World Cup football match.At that time, TV cameras would zoom in on his shoes, and people learned he wore Puma shoes.The viewers would believe that wearing Puma's would make them as good as Pele.Pele would not say the message, but through Pele's actions, people start to believe in things that is not a subtle message but somehow stick in people's mind.This is the impact of endorsement.Today's main issue is measuring the impacts of endorsements (Silva et al., 2020;Weismueller et al., 2020).Companies are paying hundreds of millions of Rupiah for approval.Based on HopperQ report, the value of endorsement ranges from a hundred thousand Rupiah, which is standard on local selebgrams ( the term for local celebrities who rise to fame through Instagram), to billions of Rupiah achieved by Raditya Dika, who get paid 1,6 billion Rupiah only for endorsing a product.The endorsement's impact would be accurate but unmeasurable to some degree if not for how Air Jordan sold a billion pairs of shoes.If they do not believe in the power of endorsement, Adidas/ Nike will have much of their expenditures from paying contracts for superstar athletes and a list of A stars.The real question is how to measure the impact.This research will focus on how to measure the impact of endorsement.The study will be conducted on a cross-sectional approach.The main object is the impact of endorsement in Tunjungan Plaza Surabaya.Tunjungan is the biggest tourist attraction in Surabaya and has many objects that are easy to sell to tourists or people in general.The research will analyze how people are impacted by endorsement.For this research, the focus would be on consumer behavior approaches.The three fundamental theories that will be applied are the theory of utility, the theory of preferential, and the theory of emotional decisions.Through these theories, the research approaches to understand how people decide to spend their time in Tunjungan and the reason behind this decision.Those theories will later be developed to understand how celebrities' endorsements affect youths' decision-making.Those three progress theories are hatched into problem recognition, information search, and evaluation alternatives.The research will be conducted by surveying Millennials and Gen-Z in Surabaya.The survey will be conducted online, and several interviews will be conducted to research objects to help explanation their behavior.By conducting the research, There are two objectives: (1) to understand how endorsement works in the industry and ( 2) to what extent endorsement affects selling.Is it worth doing?Would it push people to revisit some of existing business models?

Literature Review
There are two groups in this study, which are Gen Z and Millennials.In this section these two groups will be discussed and defined according to experts.Generation Z is often referred to as digital natives because they were born and raised in an era of a rapidly evolving digital world.According to Schroth (Schroth, 2019), Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012.They consider social media a significant part of their lives, representing their identity and self-expression.They do not just use social media for communication; Generation Z utilizes various social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter as tools for self-expression, creating a new culture where visuals and short texts play a crucial role (Giray, 2022).
The development of social media has crucial impacts and implications for Generation Z.The use of social media can psychologically influence Generation Z.They define themselves based on the content they consume daily, which sets new standards, including the fear of missing out (FOMO) culture, where they feel the need to consume a product to avoid missing out on what others are doing.Building on this discovery, Vargo et al. (2020) state that the significant impact of social media on the psychology of Generation Z, especially the creation of FOMO culture, can be harnessed for various purposes, including marketing.According to Vargo et al. (2020), social media marketing strategies are highly effective for targeting Generation Z as potential consumers for producers.People, in general, are more comfortable with things close to them.It is a psychological theory.Racism happens because people are unfamiliar with some racial groups or have different norms.Indians will shake their head to say yes; meanwhile, people from other cultures will nod.This is an example of how preference will make a difference.Some celebrities are representative and belong to some cultural groups.For example, Denzel Washington as the representative of the black-American community.Since he has an essential position in his community, his opinion matters, and he will own the voice to promote products targeting the black community, for example.Celebrity endorsement theoretically will affect them, and they can be affected in the framework of preferential theory.In the preferential theory, who speaks and how they speak are essential in the endorsement perspective (Intany et al., 2023;Majeed et al., 2023;Nadja & Halimah, 2023;Pranata & Rahmayati, 2023;Senda et al., 2023).Various elements are essential in deciding how endorsements work and are influential in selling products.First is the Endorser-Consumer Fit; Consumers tend to have specific endorser preferences based on demographics, lifestyle, values, and interests.When an endorser aligns well with the target audience, it increases the likelihood of a positive response.Secondly, the factor is the source credibility; the endorser's credibility massively influences consumer preference for an endorser.Factors like expertise, trustworthiness, and perceived authority can impact this preference.For example, a famous traveler will have his or her opinion weighed because he or she has been going to many places.If they say that Tunjungan is the most beautiful street in the world, he or she has the credibility to say it, and people who follow him or her will trust him/her.Thirdly, Similarity and Relatability.As I mentioned previously, the existence of similarity will make Consumers more likely to prefer endorsers they perceive as being similar to themselves or relatable in some way.The relations could be anything from race, religion, or similar age or background.In the preferential theories, those things are matter.In Hollywood now there are a lot of Asian faces becoming endorsers for world-class products.This situation occurred more or less because the East Asia market is promising and gets more proportion progressively.This similarity creates a sense of connection and trust.Fourth, the main factor is Brand-Endorser Congruence.The fit or congruence between the endorser and the endorsed product or brand is crucial.Consumers prefer endorsers who are logically related to the product or the objects.people will not put a doctor to promote Jalan Tunjungan, for example.

Millennials
Millennials, often called Generation Y, represent a demographic cohort born roughly between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s, although specific dates can vary slightly depending on sources (Brant & Castro, 2019).This generation witnessed the rapid advancement of technology, including the widespread adoption of the Internet and the proliferation of digital communication.They came of age during significant social, economic, and cultural change (Galdames & Guihen, 2022).
Millennials are characterized by their adaptability to technology, which has shaped their communication styles, work habits, and leisure activities.They tend to be socially conscious, valuing inclusivity, diversity, and environmental sustainability.Additionally, millennials have faced unique challenges, such as navigating the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, student loan debt, and evolving employment landscapes.This generation is often credited with fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, advocating for work-life balance, and pushing for innovation in various industries.In the theory of utility framework, the celebrity endorsement impacts on Millennials can be seen from the utility theory.The theory of utility perceives consumers as logical people who will see a product based on their utility values (Parker, 2021).In this theory, the consumers are making decision by explaining the values of things and how something can help customers in many ways and suit their needs.In marketing, it is famous as the term of promotion 2.0.The thing that separates Promotion 2.0 and Promotion 1.0 is how to sell the values (Kurniah, 2023;Susilo, 2023;Wibowo, 2023).Promotion 1.0 is only focused on convincing customers that the products are the best, that there is no competition for the products, and why people should choose this product among other products.In this context, people are merely suggested to buy the product just because the product is the best.In this approach, promotion 1.0 is criticized as not a customer-centric approach.It puts products in the spotlight but not what customers need.Promotion 2.0 has a different approach since it puts customers first.The meaning of putting customers' needs first means that promotion 2.0 will discuss values in more comprehensive ways.The question would not be how to make this product become the number one.The question will instead be asking how this product works for customers.How does this product help customers build a more leisurely life?This is a more integral approach rather than making things number one.The thing about the theory of utility is that the approach is back to the basics of economic laws.It is the theory of supply and demand.How does the product create more demand if it does not rely on values that customer needs?If the product suits customers, then it will be demanded more by customers.Customers would agree to pay more.This is how the theory of utility explains how customers choose a product.From the perspective of celebrity endorsers, the research focuses on how an endorser can convince customers that products are valuable.This is an essential matter.To explain the celebrity endorsement impacts, there are two theories employed.However, in the end, the theory of emotion that pushes someone to sell or buy something.Buying is an emotional decision (Chukwu et al., 2019;Qazzafi, 2019;Zhao et al., 2021).There is even a phenomenon called people buying because of their emotions, but they try to validate through their logic.Several research studies explain that buying has a relaxing effect on people.Psychologically, people who travel and visit some places will fulfill their emotional desires.Several examples show how buying or consuming something will impact your emotions.Therefore, dynamic factors are valid for predicting someone's behavior in sales and other business forms.One explanation is that you will have positive emotions when you buy something.The positive emotion results from the on-and-off switch mechanism(Billore & Anisimova, 2021).Going to Tunjungan will trigger memories and dreams in young people's minds.They watch social media posts and feel it is a good idea to go to Tunjungan.From this emotional feeling, they decide to go to Tunjungan and enjoy what exists there.Secondly, it is about memory and an important thing for customers.The important things do not need to be values; they can be as simple as memory.For example, a group of family has been shown walking around Tunjungan, which shows the value of family, and people who have an emotional connection to Tunjungan will feel related to this kind of memory.They will go to Tunjungan to enjoy the memory.Visiting Tunjungan can also result from fear of missing out (FOMO).There is peer pressure, the third part of the emotional aspects of the theory of emotional decision (Lee et al., 2020).People are affected by peer pressure and want to visit Tunjungan due to the need to be there to be accepted socially.Fourth, when emotional aspects are on discussion, the discussion will be centred on engagement.There is a social construction that you are not part of Surabaya if somebody are not visiting Tunjungan yet.This mindset is indeed not logical.However, it has similarities for people in Jogja who do not feel they belong to Jogja if they have not visited Malioboro.Alternatively, in other cases, they feel like they are not part of the people of Jakarta if they have not visited Monas yet.This is how emotional aspects influence especially younglings who want to be there and be associated with some valuable tourist objects that must be at the top of people's minds.
The endorser is the one who brings that feeling.Endorsers can be associated emotionally in people's minds, and it is influential for young people to follow in the footsteps of their idols.Therefore, they would love to be part of the trends and will do the same things as their idol.Based on this description, the research's dependent and independent factors are discussed.The dependent factors are listed here are:

Problem Recognition
In deciding to consume, people will identify problems starting from basic needs such as water, food, and shelter (Qazzafi, 2019).During this identification phase, consumers are not only seeking needs but also satisfying their desires.For example, when someone is hungry, they are not just looking for food but also delicious food that can satisfy their desire for a filling and tasty meal.In this recognition phase, consumers are influenced not only by internal stimuli but also by external factors that provide stimuli such as advertising and word-of-mouth reviews.In today's increasingly mature world, stimuli from social media and endorsements can influence the problem recognition of potential consumers.This is related to utility theories that will work heavily on millennials but, at the same time, will affect Gen Z.However, in the context of Gen Z, the needs will be more about psychological terms and not merely actual needs.Gen Z needs emotional support to embrace, and notwithstanding, they need their psychological sides to be fulfilled.

Information Search
Later, the subjects will be on the stage where they search for information and justify their buying decision (Panwar et al., 2019;Varghese & Agrawal, 2021).Information search is when consumers are motivated to acquire information about a product they have encountered (Engel et al., 1995).During this stage, consumers attempt to assess their financial conditions about the value offered by a product based on further information they gather (Darmawan & Gatheru, 2021;McNeill & Venter, 2019).Consumers perceive this information search as facilitating product selection and reducing consumption risks.If a consumer is interested in a product, they will be more motivated and willing to spend more time searching for information about that product.Previous research by Gursoy (2018) found that this information search phase significantly impacts consumer purchasing decisions, with one of the most substantial influencing factors being information disseminated on social media.further reinforces Gursoy's findings, stating that social presence, especially by influencers or celebrities providing information about a product, significantly increases the likelihood of people engaging in consumption.

Evaluation of Alternative
Alternative evaluation is one of the crucial stages when consumers go through the decisionmaking process for consumption.This process involves individuals comparing one product with other alternatives before making a consumption choice.Meanwhile, numerous research also states that alternative evaluation considers numerous factors such as price, quality, brand, features, and other product attributes (Arfah, 2022).One significant factor influencing alternative evaluation in the modern era is social media.The public's widespread use of social media has shifted how people evaluate their choices and alternatives.It is not uncommon for product or service providers to leverage social media to make their offerings more appealing to consumers.
Visiting/ Decision to Buy/ Loyalty as the dependent factor Decision to buy is the final variable and in this study will be the decision to visit.The visitors visit Jalan Tunjungan due to factors influencing them.In this case, the utility, the preference, and the emotional decision make them go and visit Tunjungan.Based on the data this is important to measure how celebrity endorsers would impact selling and financial productivity of the tourist objects.In this research.The conceptual After the independent factors are decided, and what is the dependent factor, there will be a diagram to explain the relationship between the independent and dependent factors.Here is the diagram as can be seen here:

Population
The population on this research will be based on students from top 5 high schools in Surabaya based on their popularity.They are SMA Katolik St. Louis, SMAN 5 Surabaya, SMAS Santa Maria, SMAN 15 Surabaya and SMAN 2 (30 SMA Terbaik Dan Favorit Di Surabaya Untuk Referensi PPDB 2023, n.d.).From the people, I decided to take a sample who visited Jalan Tunjungan in the last three months.The people are around 1000 as the representation of Gen-Z.Some interviews are conducted to find out why limited people often visit Tunjungan.The reason why they do not visit Tunjungan is divided into three groups.Some groups are more comfortable visiting other places, and some groups choose to spend more time at home due to school workload demands, and the rest do not reveal their reason.For Millenials, offline research is conducted by applying random stage sampling in Jalan Tunjungan and online through social media.Based on the data of parking lot and visitors reported by stall there, the total number in the weekend can reach 10,000 visitors (Hidupkan Kembali Jalan Tunjungan, Pemkot Surabaya Mulai Siapkan Lahan Parkir -Tribunjatim.Com, n.d.).However, people who can be categorized as Millenials are around 3,000 on the weekend.Only 2,000 visit Jalan Tunjungan frequently, and people who get the information from endorsers consist of 1,000 people.The total population is 1,300.Based on the Slovin formula, a sample, decided, is 298.Some of the data are extreme and out of context; therefore, the cleaning data process is conducted, there are 250 people choosen as samples.• n is the sample size you want to determine.
• N is the population size.
• e is the margin of error (expressed as a decimal).
Hypothesis: H1: Problem recognition significantly impact the visit Jalan Tunjungan as result of celebrity endorser on social media H2: Informational search significantly impact the visit Jalan Tunjungan as a result of celebrity endoser of social media H3: Evaluation of alternatives significantly impact the visit Jalan Tunjungan due to celebrity endowed on social media.

Method
The method of research will be quantitative based on a cross-sectional approach.The population of this research is the students from the top five universities in Surabaya who frequently visit Tunjungan and professional workers under 30 who admitted that they visit Jalan Tunjungan four times a week.The questionnaire will be based on independent factors (problem recognition, information research, and evaluation alternative) with the dependent factor is the visits to Jalan Tunjungan.

Result and Discussions
Based on the data collection results, it was found that there are more female respondents compared to male respondents, with a total of 300 respondents.The difference in the number of male and female respondents in this study is attributed to differences in social media consumption patterns among each gender.The data collection found that male children consume more automotive and sports-related content than celebrity, influencer, and travel accounts, as detailed in the table below: From the data distribution, it is also found that students who were respondents, mostly 17 years old and in the 3rd year of high school, dominated compared to students in the 2nd year of high school (16 years old) and students in the 1st year of high school (15 years old).This result provides an overview of the respondents' explanations that 17-year-olds have more opportunities for tourism because they already can use motorized vehicles and have connections they can invite to tour the Tunjungan Street Area.Meanwhile, those under 17 years old access content such as Giveaways, Korean dramas, and various other content they can experience the effects of without needing to leave their homes.The details of the number of respondents based on age can be seen in the table below: Based on the calculation results, the R Square value of 0.913 indicates that the selected variables in this study can explain 91.3% of the phenomena that occur.Meanwhile, the explanation regarding the endorsement effect phenomenon, the remaining 8.7%, is explained by variables outside of this study.These results indicate that the endorsement phenomenon in the digital era truly influences product promotion, including tourist destinations.In the Anova test results, it was found that the significance value is 0.000.With a value of 0.000 < 0.05, it can be concluded that the regression method can be used to predict the influence of endorsement on the promotion of the Tunjungan Street Area.Based on the results of the statistical analysis, it can be seen that the Problem Recognition (X1), Information Search (X2), and Evaluation of Alternative (X3) variables have a significant influence on Tourists' decision to visit Jalan Tunjungan with a significance value of 0.000 < 0.05.With these results, it can be concluded that the endorsement used to promote Tunjungan Street tourism significantly impacts consumer loyalty.
In the first variable (X1), it is shown that celebrity and influencer endorsements can influence the problem recognition of respondents.The endorsement content on social media can manipulate the needs of the respondents to visit the Jalan Tunjungan area.Celebrity endorsements can convince respondents that the Jalan Tunjungan area can be their choice to solve their tourism-related needs.The Information Search variable (X2) indicates that celebrity and influencer endorsements significantly affect tourists' decisions to visit Jalan Tunjungan.Endorsements from celebrities on social media make it easier for respondents to find information about the Jalan Tunjungan area.Additionally, celebrity information is concise but can satisfy respondents' curiosity about the Jalan Tunjungan area.The ease of obtaining information from endorsement content leads respondents to visit the Jalan Tunjungan area.In the last variable (X3), the Evaluation of Alternative variable, it is evident that evaluating alternatives significantly influences tourists' decisions to visit Jalan Tunjungan.This influence is due to the respondents' ease of comparing one tourist destination with another.Moreover, the content presented by celebrities from the right perspective and camera angle facilitates respondents in visually comparing the Jalan Tunjungan area with other tourist destinations.The research suggests that celebrity endorsement wields significant influence.The prevalence of social media and a dearth of alternative references have propelled people to place great trust in celebrities, using their recommendations as a yardstick for decision-making.This trend extends to choices about purchases or visits, often driven by impulsive reactions.For sales teams, cross-sectional research proves invaluable in persuading them to consider celebrity endorsements to bolster long-term sales.Nonetheless, it is imperative to approach these findings with caution, avoiding reliance solely on the results of this particular study.Instead, further research should be conducted to validate and refine the conclusions drawn, ensuring a comprehensive and robust understanding of celebrity endorsements' potential benefits and implications in driving sales.This cautious approach helps to mitigate risks and make well-informed decisions about implementing such strategies.Several research subjects have reported having a unique connection with the celebrity endorsing Jalan Tunjungan.The influence of social media has further strengthened this bond, making it feel even more personal and immediate.Interestingly, these individuals continue to frequent the area despite acknowledging the potential lack of logic behind visiting Jalan Tunjungan based solely on celebrity endorsement.This suggests that the appeal of Jalan Tunjungan transcends mere rationality, drawing visitors through a combination of factors, including the influence of celebrity endorsement.Moreover, some participants explained that they follow celebrities who endorse Jalan Tunjungan because they believe these celebrities genuinely understand and resonate with the essence of the location.This perceived alignment between the celebrity and Jalan Tunjungan places the endorsement within a context that feels authentic and credible to the followers.This phenomenon underscores the significance of perceived authenticity and relatability in celebrity endorsements, as it reinforces trust and encourages engagement with the endorsed product or location.

Conclusions
The research finding suggests that the research has demonstrated the significant influence of celebrity endorsement on people's behavior, encompassing emotions, preferences, and perceived utility.This has been exemplified in the case of Tunjungan.Nevertheless, there remains a need for further investigation into the broader effects of celebrity endorsements, including their impact on individuals' loyalty towards various entities.
To elaborate further, it was suggested and implied in the research that emotion, preference, and utility are three critical aspects affected by celebrity endorsement.When a celebrity endorses a product or service, it can evoke emotions in consumers.Their preference for the endorsed item may also increase due to the association with the celebrity.Furthermore, consumers may perceive enhanced utility or value in the endorsed product.In this case, it shows a proven impact in the case of Tunjungan.The statement implies that the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement has been demonstrated explicitly in the context of Tunjungan.This indicates that using a celebrity to promote something related to Tunjungan (a brand, place, event, etc.) has positively influenced people's behavior.Soon, there is a need for further study.Despite the established impact in the case of Tunjungan, there is a call for additional research.This is because the effects of celebrity endorsements can extend beyond initial reactions.One area requiring more investigation is how celebrity endorsements influence people's loyalty.This pertains to the lasting effect of celebrity endorsements on individuals' commitment and repeated behavior towards a particular brand, product, or entity.It is essential to understand whether celebrity endorsements lead to sustained loyalty or if their influence is more transient.The statement highlights that celebrity endorsements notably influence people's emotions, preferences, and perceived utility.This impact has been substantiated in the case of Tunjungan.However, there is a need for further research to comprehensively comprehend how celebrity endorsements, including their role in shaping loyalty, affect consumer behavior.