After the 2024 presidential debate in September, pop star Taylor Swift posted a public endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Other celebrities, from Elon Musk to Beyoncé, have also publicly spoken out about the candidates they’re voting for. The debate over whether this could affect Bowling Green State University voters is coming to the forefront.
Katie Klein, an ACS doctoral student at BGSU who taught the “American Fandom: Taylor Swift” course, explained why Swift has such an impact on young voters.
“Taylor Swift, in particular, seems to have a cultural influence on us right now. Everything she does, what she wears, and the brands she wears and what she’s seen with, all commands attention. I think it fits into the larger concept of people wanting to imitate celebrities,” Klein said.
Dr. David Jackson, a political science professor at BGSU, also spoke about what makes Swift’s endorsement different from other celebrities.
“She has all the characteristics necessary for a successful celebrity endorsement. First, she is extremely popular and well known,” Jackson said. “And how deeply attached her fans are to her. When you have a name in your fanbase, you know that passion is important. People feel like they can trust her and like her.”
Klein noted that Taylor Swift’s fans may follow her political views, especially if they haven’t done their own research.
“I think they’re just going to follow her. We’ve seen that. We’ve seen it in 2020, and I think that’s what I want her to do because her support means so much.” We are seeing it now. We can talk about whether we should do it or not, but the fact is we should do it,” she said.
Mr. Jackson discussed the research done on celebrity endorsements and the impact they have during elections.
“Most of my research shows that if a political position is already popular within a group, celebrity endorsement can make it even more popular. If the position is unpopular, It also wears off,” Jackson said. “In terms of vote choice, we’ve definitely seen evidence that celebrities can influence people’s level of support for candidates.”
Celebrity endorsements can also be seen as a way for people to spend less time researching candidates and instead follow the activities of their favorite celebrities.
“People use shortcuts all the time to make their decisions…The same goes for newspaper endorsements, the same goes for endorsements among other candidates, the same goes for interest group and union endorsements,” Jackson said. “All of this gives people a shortcut to choosing who to support and who to support without having to do a year-long research project.”
Klein spoke about the importance of celebrities using their platforms to speak out about the current election.
“I think as people have platforms, especially on the scale of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, it’s even more important that they do their research and hopefully support inclusive causes,” she said. Ta.
The rise of social media could influence how young people decide to vote and the extent to which celebrity endorsements influence their choices.
“I think it has a lot to do with social media and the world we’ve come into. We now have so much access to celebrities through social media that we’re like, ‘What are they doing?’ It’s so easy to put it away.’ You don’t have to make a decision right now… you can change a lot of that pressure,” Klein said.
Jackson explained that it may depend more on social media usage than voters’ age.
“People who are more connected to social media are probably more likely to be influenced by celebrities. Young people are clearly very connected to social media. It’s not just about being young, it’s about media preferences. or by choice,” Jackson said.
Grace Biro, a communications major at BGSU, said the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements can depend on a person’s interest in pop culture.
“It’s up to the celebrities. Personally, I follow politics a lot, so I don’t necessarily need celebrities to tell me who to vote for. I don’t think they sway me as much as some of my colleagues. “I don’t think so,” she said.
Biro also explained that people who have done their own research on a candidate may not need celebrity endorsement to change their opinion.
“If they’re very pop-culture oriented, yes, but if they already pay attention to politics, then probably not,” Biro said. “I don’t know if it’s going to have much of an effect. It really depends on whether people care about pop culture.”
She explained that misinformation posted on social media is difficult to eliminate and can influence how people vote.
“With the rise of social media, there is a huge amount of misinformation out there. With so much information, it is difficult to quickly check the facts. There is a lot of misinformation that people believe is not actually true. It will remain there for a while until I tell you,” Biro said. “If there’s a lot of misinformation out there, people will form opinions based on that.”
Jackson explained that there are many ways students can do their own research in time to vote in the next election.
“People have more information and more opportunities to make choices than in any previous generation.”
