SPOKANE, Wash. — Oprah Winfrey’s strong push for Barack Obama is likely to send more young people to the polls, but not necessarily to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, according to a new study done at Washington State University.
Celebrity endorsements are most effective in urging people to get involved in the political process by making it look cool, according to the study by members of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.
The survey found that get-out-the-vote pitches by celebrities in the 2004 election cycle helped lead to an 11 percent increase in voting by people between the ages of 18-24, compared to the 2000 election.
“It suggests that we can make use of celebrity culture to get students engaged,” said Erica Austin, a co-author of the study and dean of the school. “They want to be like celebrities.”
But there are limits. Most of the young people did not like being told by celebrities who to vote for, Austin said. And past research has found that being endorsed by a particular celebrity often carries as much potential to turn off some voters as to gain others.
This year has seen the usual spate of high-profile endorsements, including liberals like Barbra Streisand pushing hard for Obama, and Sylvester Stallone and other Hollywood conservatives stumping for Republican John McCain. Republican Mike Huckabee was seen as getting a strong boost from action star Chuck Norris, but ultimately fell short of the nomination.
The paper, to be published in the next issue of “Mass Communications and Society,” was based on surveys of 305 WSU students in Pullman in the week prior to the 2004 general election, Austin said.
The findings mirror a 2004 study by Natalie Wood, an expert on celebrity endorsements in politics at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
“They are not an influence in swaying the vote,” Wood said. “Telling me to vote is one thing, but telling me who to vote for is different.”
“Family and friends have a greater influence on who to vote for,” she added.
One reason is that young people tend to be very media savvy and question the motivations of celebrity endorsers, she said.
The WSU study tried to measure the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement campaigns in lowering complacency among young voters. The research centered on the use of celebrities such as Beyonce Knowles, Christina Aquilera and P. Diddy in “get-out-the-vote” campaigns during the 2004 presidential campaign.
Turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds historically had been lower than that of any other age group, mostly from “skyrocketing apathy and complete preoccupation with self,” the report said, citing numerous studies from the past.
Austin and her colleagues noted that from the mid-1990s to 2000, voting by young people fell to an all-time low. But between 2000 and 2004, the turnout in voters within that age group increased 11 percent. They attributed that in part to a dramatic increase in well-organized celebrity get-out-the-vote promotions. That was based on the finding that the number of young voters grew the most in states that had the most developed get-out-the-vote efforts.
The study did not address whether the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 or other factors might have also increased turnout by young voters.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
