Purpose: Celebrity endorsement is a preferred marketing communication strategy adopted by business firms. The present study suggests theoretical underpinnings for investigating the effect of celebrity endorsement on individual investors' intentions to invest in the shares of companies. The study integrates marketing communication and behavioural finance theories to understand investor behaviour in the stock market. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a questionnaire based on a conjoint analysis technique. The retail investors from India filled out the questionnaire. The authors developed an orthogonal design to generate retail investors' investment intentions and applied the full-profile conjoint method. Findings: The results reveal that investors prefer to invest in technology-related firms when they employ entertainment celebrities to endorse their products. Investors prefer that entertainment celebrities' personalities match the single brand only they are endorsing. Further, investors choose to invest during corrective market trends in emerging economies, such as India. Originality/value: The study offers practical implications for corporate entities and marketing professionals by analysing retail investors' investment intentions in financial markets. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.