FIIB Today
Stories of Triumphs & Insights
Voice of the Stars - Exploring the Outcomes of Online Celebrity Activism
02,JAN 2024
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FIIB
Faculty Insights
In the past, celebrities were commonly perceived as people who were known to the masses. Their popularity and fame were attributed to their achievements in different areas such as sports, entertainment, or business. Gradually though, the role of celebrities has evolved from merely being ‘individuals who are famous.’ Now celebrities from across the world strive to position themselves as moral actors by engaging in activism. Oxford Dictionary defines activism as ‘the activity of working to achieve political or social change.’ It is common to see celebrities advocating various causes and taking a stand on, often controversial, socio-political issues. Despite the growing visibility of celebrity activism across the globe, existing research does not demonstrate how the public perceives this activist approach of celebrities and how it influences their brand image.
It is therefore important to discern how celebrities’ engagement in activist actions affects their brand value – a crucial driver of their power and reputation as celebrities, and combines different beliefs and perceptions about them. The study integrates the concept of brand activism with celebrity branding and aims to explore the outcomes of online celebrity activism for the celebrity’s brand. The study focuses on online celebrity activism because social media serves as a powerful bridge between celebrities and the masses (Liu et al., 2020). It is expected that the growth of social networking sites fuels the rise of celebrity activism.
The findings support that perception of authenticity and hypocrisy affect attitude towards the celebrity and celebrity brand self-connection, which influences brand loyalty, identification, and intention to purchase the brands endorsed by the celebrity. A negative attitude towards celebrity activism negatively moderates the effect of celebrity brand self-connection on celebrity brand identification.
Practically, the study offers crucial insights for PR and celebrity brand managers. It reasonably establishes an exciting and pertinent context of the role of digital platforms in mobilizing socio-political opinions induced and activated through celebrities. These platforms support a new league of opinionated celebrities actively vocal on a broad spectrum of social and political issues. This natural progression of a celebrity’s role from a spectator to an activist will significantly impact consumers’ attitudes towards the celebrity and the brands they endorse. Consumers today want brands to be empathic and humane, and perhaps using activist celebrities as endorsers can help brands signal a more compassionate side of themselves. Thus, this study will provide a starting point to investigate such celebrities as endorsers and the following outcomes.
Despite the vast online following, brands must acknowledge that celebrities rendering support and voice to issues where they lack knowledge and expertise will fail to translate into sentiment shifts and can be detrimental to the celebrity and the endorsed brand. American pop star Rihanna’s single tweet on the farmer’s protest in India led to a powerful online storm. Many asked her to mind her own business despite having a successful history of supporting humanitarian causes. The study ascertains the role of past celebrity brand authenticity perceptions, which is an outcome of strong celebrity character and past acts of charity and activism. Celebrity brands with this dimension will gather support, mainly when their motives are genuine, innocuous, and trustworthy. This support and connected positive consequences will be missing if the celebrity’s stand is considered unjust or biased or perceived as an ulterior motive. This will further diminish their endorsement power.
The study also importantly builds on the consequence of an individual’s negative attitude towards the act of celebrity activism. It is pertinent to note that not everyone will assess the act as positive. Therefore, no matter how genuine the concern is, a negative attitude will inhibit the possible favorable outcomes for the celebrity brand. Also, it is essential to understand the limitations of a celebrity’s impact as an activist. Using celebrities as activists can make the cause salient, but the celebrity might lack the required strength to propagate the cause further.
