The Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on Purchase Intentions in Sri Lanka’s Fashion Retail Industry: The Mediating Role of Customer Trust

In the contemporary world, celebrities are often regarded as role models. This phenomenon significantly influences purchasing within the retail fashion sector. The current study aims to assess the influence of celebrity endorsements on customer purchasing intentions within Sri Lanka's fashion retail industry. The study employed an online, standardised questionnaire to gather data, which was then analysed using SPSS version 26. The analysis results reveal that celebrity endorsement has a positive influence on customer purchase intention, with customer trust acting as a significant mediating variable in this relationship, and Trustworthiness emerged as the most influential sub-dimension. Although existing literature has explored this relationship, findings have been contentious, and a noticeable gap remains regarding the mediating role of customer trust in the relationship between celebrity endorsement and purchase intention, especially in the Sri Lankan context. The current research can be extended to other industries and contexts by incorporating mediating and moderating factors such as word of mouth (WoM), customer perception, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).