Swayed by fame? How celebs influence young voters

By Carly Gist >>

On Aug. 20, Taylor Swift drew over 90,000 people to Wembley Stadium for the final show of the European leg of her tour. Three weeks later, she drew over 400,000 people to a voter registration website.

Following the presidential debate on Sept. 10, Swift took to Instagram to announce to her 284 million followers that she would be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming election. She also encouraged people to register to vote, and her corresponding story shared a link to vote.gov which directs users to their state-specific election websites. The website is managed by the General Services Administration, whose spokesperson announced 405,999 users had visited through Swift’s link in the 24 hours after she posted it, according to CBS News.

As the presidential candidates prepare for their biggest performance on Nov. 5, many celebrities have rallied in the wings. From singer Billie Eilish announcing her support for Harris on Instagram to WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan calling former President Donald Trump a hero at the Republican National Convention, the entertainment industry’s biggest stars have been speaking up for what they believe in.

But can celebrity endorsements really influence the outcome of this election?

John Shaw, director of Southern Illinois University’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said it’s a double-edged sword.

“Celebrities, they can, as I say, generate interest, raise money, do events, hold fundraising events,” Shaw said. “So I think, as a candidate, if you can get a celebrity endorsement, it’s good, [but] you got to be a little careful, because some of them are not always hewing to the script.”

He said celebrities can often say things that do not follow the message a politician is promoting, and many are controversial.

“I think the bottom line is, if you can get celebrity endorsements, I think it’s good,” he said. “They can be helpful. But I don’t think you should base your campaign on or, you know, devote an extraordinary amount of time and energy trying to corral celebrity endorsements.”

Sakshi Bhati, professor of public relations and leadership in communication studies at SIU, said endorsements from celebrities can go awry quickly.

“There’s this one big con that if this celebrity has a bad rep in the media today, something that they did in recent past that has changed their image and how people see them, and they have done endorsements in the recent past, that can also negatively impact the endorsement,” she said.

Bhati pointed to the recent arrests of rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. Since Combs was arrested on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, his past political connections have resurfaced. An article from USA Today highlighted interactions from both presidential candidates, including a 2012 video from a reality game show, in which Trump called Combs a “good friend” and “good guy,” and a 2020  tweet from Harris, in which she thanked Combs for hosting a town hall on racial inequities and health disparities.

Bhati said the candidates have “really good PR teams,” however.

“They know how to get through such hard times when the celebrity endorsements can go south,” she said. “They know how to handle it, and they’re well prepared for handling such situations.”

Survey shows little impact

The Daily Egyptian surveyed 41 people who self-identified as students, staff, alumni or community members to see what impact they believe celebrity endorsements have on themselves and their communities.

Linda Flowers, president of the Carbondale branch of the NAACP, said the organization has been visiting college and high school campuses because “We keep hearing that the young people are going to decide this election.”

Of the 41 participants, 87.8% self-identified as between the ages of 18 and 24.

Participants were asked how likely they are to change their vote due to a celebrity they like endorsing a candidate they do not like, as well as how likely they are to change their vote due to a celebrity they dislike endorsing a candidate they like. In both instances, over 85% of participants ages 18-24 said they were very unlikely to change their opinion. Yet Ava Steffens, secretary of SIU’s chapter of the  Public Relations Student Society of America, said she believes celebrity endorsements can have an impact on those who are not leaning toward a specific candidate.

“I think if there’s someone who doesn’t really have, like, established views, they’re kind of just more in the middle, has like a combination of both right-wing and left-wing views, I think they would be a little bit more easily influenced by a PR strategy,” she said.

Additionally, the survey asked respondents if they trust celebrity endorsements more, less or the same as endorsements from activists and other political figures. Three-quarters of participants ages 18 to 24 said they trusted celebrities less, while approximately 22% said they trusted them the same, and less than 3% said they trusted them more.

Shaw said celebrity endorsements can sometimes send out “a message of elitism and exclusion.”

“For maybe people in middle America, they might be seen as part of this kind of elite culture, you know, wealthy and kind of self-indulgent, which is very distant from our needs,” he said. “It can almost be a little alienating.”

Are celebrities more trustworthy?

Hannah Connolly, who serves as student trustee for the SIU Board of Trustees, offered a different perspective.

“People don’t like to trust politicians or activists, because there’s always an agenda,” she said. “Whereas with a celebrity, everything is put out on social media, and you feel like you know them. Even though it’s very superficial…you’re more likely to trust them because [they] don’t feel like a politician who’s gonna make a decision that might hurt you in the end.”

Survey participants were also asked how strongly they agree or disagree with the following statement: Celebrities should remain neutral when it comes to elections and politics. Only 29% of survey respondents agreed, while nearly half disagreed.

“I think it is a good thing for artists to, in my personal view, talk about political and social issues, because they do have such a wide audience, and they do have such a wide influence,” Steffens said, adding that doing so can make artists “seem a little bit more in touch.”

Flowers said she thinks everyone should speak up for what they believe in, regardless of social status.

“I think it’s important for all of us because ‘I’m a celebrity,’ for instance, does that mean I lose my right as an American citizen who feels the election is important, that I lose my right to speak out?” she said.

She said the NAACP believes it is our duty as citizens to be involved.

“We’re not concerned with registering if you’re Democrat, Republican, who you’re going to vote for, but we think it’s important that we all get involved, because it’s our civic responsibility,” she said.

Endorsements won’t sway election

In terms of impact, Shaw said he believes it is unlikely that celebrity endorsements will sway the outcome of the election.

“I don’t think it’s going to have a huge impact. It’s not going to shift the polls dramatically,” he said. “It could energize some young voters. Could give some people a little bit more interest in politics.”

He emphasized that endorsements “might be more important during primaries, in which you have candidates who are not that different,” calling back to 2008, when television personality Oprah Winfrey endorsed former President Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

“When she waded in and endorsed Obama, that was seen as a big moment,” he said. “There have been several very rigorous  studies  of this, and they tend to believe that… Oprah’s endorsement might have given him a million votes in the Democratic primaries,” he said.

But the 2024 election has something past ones did not: an increase in social media usage. According to the digital marketing company Backlinko, use of social media has grown by 4.44% in the past year. The company estimates that 239 million Americans are active on social media, including 84% of Americans ages 18 to 29.

Flowers mentioned that it has become common for many citizens, not just younger generations, to get their news from social media. Therefore, she thinks it will play an important role in the election.

“You’ll have more people getting some news that they wouldn’t get from traditional news outlets, like TV or newspapers,” she said.

Connolly pointed out how accessible social media has become as well.

“We have immediate access to technology and the platforms of candidates,” she said. “And I feel like a lot of students, even if they are first-time voters, do take that into consideration.”

Though Connolly acknowledged the influence celebrities’ endorsements can have on young people, she doesn’t see this as a threat to their independent opinions.

“Our generation is media literate enough that we’ll come to our own decision on our own terms, not necessarily because someone said so,” she said.

Connolly said that at the end of the day, when people find themselves in the voting booth, she doesn’t think celebrities will be on their minds.

“I think it’s more of a decision coming from you and what your interests are and what your priorities are,” she said.

Connolly, Flowers, Shaw, Bhati and Steffens all offered a similar sentiment to those who are voting in this upcoming election: Do your research and stay informed.

“There is very, very good information out there, but you need to find it,” Shaw said. “ …So go to a trusted source… and as you evaluate candidates, make sure what you know is actually truthful.”

Carly Gist is a second-year student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale double-majoring in journalism (news editorial) and social work. Gist is currently the  news editor for the Daily Egyptian, SIUC’s student-run newspaper. Gist is also a fiction editor for Grassroots Magazine.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally written for the Daily Egyptian but reworked for Gateway Journalism Review.

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