A Harvard University study has found that celebrities have “great” power to influence elections and increase voter turnout.
“While some polls have led some to claim that celebrity voices are uninfluenced when it comes to politics, more rigorous evidence shows that these voices are extremely powerful,” says a study conducted by Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. “Nonprofits report higher rates of online voter registration and poll worker registration when celebrities promote these calls to action. This potential influence is why nonprofits, candidates, and elected officials are increasingly looking for ways to engage with celebrities.”
The researchers behind the study analyzed the approaches of 15 managers, publicists, nonprofit partners, philanthropic advisors and celebrities, including some household names such as Hailey Bieber, David Dobrik, Billie Eilish, Trevor Noah, Taylor Swift, Kerry Washington and The Roots co-founder and drummer Questlove.
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A Harvard University study has found that Taylor Swift has the power to influence elections and voter turnout. (Marcelo Endelli/TAS23/Getty Images via TAS Rights Management)
“Celebrities, like all of us, face choices about how to engage in democracy. For example, they can act on behalf of political candidates to help ‘mobilize their base’ and reach new audiences,” the study said, adding that there is also evidence that “celebrities can help candidates raise funds, draw large crowds to political events and volunteer efforts, and attract media attention.”
Overall, the researchers found that celebrities are motivated to become activists not only because of what they believe in, but also because it’s “good for their brand,” which is supported by previous research on the issue.
“It helps your audience stay connected to you. A value-based connection humanizes the artist or celebrity and makes the audience feel like they know you. And when your next movie or album comes out, this audience that’s connected to you will want to show up and support you,” Questlove’s manager, Dawn White, told the researchers.
Pictured from left to right: Joseph Patel, Amir “Questlove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, and Robert Fivolent.
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The study argues that celebrities have a huge influence, citing an Instagram story Swift used in 2018 to encourage her 112 million followers to register to vote on vote.org. That single post led to 65,000 new registrations within 24 hours and 250,000 within 72 hours.
Swift continued to post similar content, and her number of followers more than doubled to 283 million in the same period.
The researchers found that celebrities have a deeper influence on “younger generations” who are harder to reach through traditional “mainstream media and other vote-building efforts.”
“Their control and presence on social media has established them as a centralized source of information that can be leveraged by those seeking to increase voter turnout,” the study said.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (AP/Julia Nickinson/Rick Bowmer)
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But the study also found that celebrities’ influence is limited by a lack of structure — a lack of formal programs that can test and track celebrities’ efforts.
“As a result, there are great opportunities and possibilities to grow, mature and formalize celebrity social engagement efforts, which could have a profound impact on social culture,” the study states. “That said, the available data suggests that some approaches are more effective than others.”
