Question

Celebrity endorsements

Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers, researchers have discovered that this does not seem to be the case. British and Swiss researchers carried out a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.

In a sample of 298 students, researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed (为…做广告宣传) by a fictional student claiming the camera was “hot” and his “preferred choice”. The same advertisement was shown to other students, but with a difference: The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany.

While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial, the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases (购买). More than half of the students, who admitted purchasing products that would impress others, said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement. Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision.

Professor Brett Martin of the University of Bath’s School of Management, explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany, but in other countries as well. “ Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products,” said Prof Martin.“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow student. This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy.”

1.Some companies think the celebrities endorsement          ．

A．is popular with the consumers

B．can pull all the consumers into the shops

C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing

D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people

2.Which of the following ads would be more effective to common consumers, according to

the experiment?

An ad featuring lovely pandas.

An ad made by David Beckham.

An ad made by fictional common people.

An ad with beautiful natural scenery.

3.The underlined words “the Jones” in the last paragragh refer to“     ”．

A．someone called Jones                    B．common people

C．the Jones family                         D．celebrities

4.We can infer from the passage that       ．

A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement

B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement

C．the student’s ads are more reliable than those made by celebrities

D．companies needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement

5.We can probably read the article in       ．

A．a local newspaper                       B．a science report

C．an academic journal                     D．a textbook

Answer

1.C

2.C

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述的是在销售行业中的名人效应其实效果并不大，用普通人做的广告，也许效果会更好。

1.C 细节题。根据文章第一句Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers,可知很多公司都认为名人效应可以让人们多购买有关的产品。故C正确。

2.C 推理题。根据第一段最后一句British and Swiss researchers carried out a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.可知普通人做的广告可能更有说服力。故C项正确。

3.B 推理题。根据This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy.”可知这里的the Jones中使用“the+姓的复数形式”表示某某一家人。故B正确。

4.D 推断题。推理题。根据文章第一段最后一句British and Swiss researchers carried out a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.可知普通人做的广告可能更有说服力。那么公司没有必要去邀请名人做广告的，故D正确。

5.A 推理题。本文讲述的是一项社会现象的调查报告的结果，不是科学研究，也不是医学研究更不会出现在教科书里，最可能的是在报纸上出现。故A正确。

考点：考查社会现象类短文阅读