As the recent conspiracy theories surrounding Abercrombie & Fitchs hijacking of Barack Obamas concession speech continue to do the rounds on the internet (see here, here and here for some coverage), a new survey by national news website NEWS.com.au casts some doubt as to how effective celebrity endorsements are anyway.

The survey reports that almost 60 percent of consumers are not influenced by celebrity endorsements, and a further 45 percent of respondents stated a preference for real/unknown people to be used in advertising as they were more relatable.

Of the respondents who have admitted to being influenced by celebrity endorsements, Australian celebrities appear to be the most influential. The face of Myer Jennifer Hawkins was the female celebrity most would likely purchase a product/service from. Nicole Kidman came second while the new face of David Jones, old face of Portmans and Victoria Secret beauty Miranda Kerr was third.

In terms of male celebrities, multi-million dollar soccer player David Beckham was the male celebrity most would likely purchase a product/service from followed by Justin Timberlake. Australians Pat Rafter and Eric Bana followed respectively.

NEWS.com.au conducted a survey in partnership with CoreData to gauge consumer sentiment on celebrities, advertising and entertainment. The survey was completed by 906 respondents.

Sigrid Kirk, group publisher, NEWS.com.au Kirk said:

“Entertainment stories are continually amongst the most read stories on NEWS.com.au. But very few people consciously buy products because they are endorsed by famous people. Our readers are telling us that it is the advertisements that they are truly able to relate to – whether it be the use of a non-celebrity or an Australian celebrity – that they are most likely to respond to.”

Ms Kirk said the new NEWS.com.au entertainment site was re-launched in response to advertiser demand for engaging integrated advertising opportunities.