Abstract
BackgroundCelebrities are highly influential people whose actions and decisions are watched and often emulated by wide audiences. Many celebrities have used their prominent social standing to offer medical advice or endorse health products, a trend that is expected to increase. However, the extent of the impact that celebrities have in shaping the public’s health-related knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and status is unclear. This systematic review seeks to answer the following questions: (1) Which health-related outcomes are influenced by celebrities? (2) How large of an impact do celebrities actually have on these health-related outcomes? (3) Under what circumstances do celebrities produce either beneficial or harmful impacts?MethodsTen databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Communication Complete, Sociological s, Social Sciences Citation Index, Journals @ Scholars Portal, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. Two reviewers conducted title and abstract screening and full-text screening to identify primary studies that employed empirical methods (either quantitative or qualitative) to examine celebrities’ impact on health-related knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, or status outcomes.DiscussionThe results of this review will contribute to our understanding of celebrity influences and how to design positive evidence-based celebrity health promotion activities. In addition, these findings can help inform the development of media reporting guidelines pertaining to celebrity health news and provide guidance to public health authorities on whether and how to respond to or work with celebrities.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42015019268
Highlights
Celebrities are highly influential people whose actions and decisions are watched and often emulated by wide audiences
By encompassing a wide range of quantitative and qualitative evidence in our review, we aim to produce meaningful effect sizes to enhance our understanding of the present celebrity-health phenomenon and guide policymakers in facilitating significant and positive public health initiatives
Study registration We will conduct this systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression analysis adhering to the following protocol and will report any changes to the protocol that arise as we proceed
Summary
Celebrities are highly influential people whose actions and decisions are watched and often emulated by wide audiences. Many celebrities have used their prominent social standing to offer medical advice or endorse health products, a trend that is expected to increase. The extent of the impact that celebrities have in shaping the public’s health-related knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and status is unclear. This systematic review seeks to answer the following questions: (1) Which health-related outcomes are influenced by celebrities? (2) How large of an impact do celebrities have on these health-related outcomes? Celebrities can have a tremendous influence on the knowledge we retain, the attitudes we adopt, and the decisions we make, including those that affect our health [1,2,3,4]. Celebrities activate people’s natural tendency to make decisions based on how others have acted in similar situations.
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