Celebrity Political Endorsement Effects: A Perspective on the Social Distance of Political Parties

Hsuan-Yi Chou

Abstract


This article examines the advertising effects of celebrity political endorsement (CPE) on young Taiwanese voters’ attitudes and voting behaviors. Based on construal-level theory, the moderating effect of consistency between an ad-recommended party and voters’ party preferences on different celebrity endorser types is also explored. Experimental results indicate the following: (1) Political messages delivered by political figures, regular citizens, and idols belong to different construal levels; (2) the preference-consistency party (versus the preference-inconsistency party) reduces voters’ perceived social distance from the party and causes voters to construe party-related information in lower-level construals; (3) CPE effects are greater than non-CPE effects; and (4) voters respond better to political ads that recommend a preference-inconsistency party using political figure endorsements, and voters respond better to political ads that recommend a preference-consistency party using idol endorsements.


Keywords


celebrity political endorsement, advertising effects, construal-level theory, social distance, political party, endorser types construal-level theory; social distance; political party; endorser types

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