Factors shaping attitude of voters about celebrity politicians: Direct and indirect effects

Abstract

There is a scarcity of empirical work to explore different factors instrumental in shaping voters’ attitudes about celebrity politicians. This paper investigates the direct and indirect effects of perceived attributes, benefits, and images of celebrity politicians and voter’s political product involvement in shaping voter’s attitudes about celebrity politicians. The result shows that attributes of celebrity politicians have a direct significant positive influence to frame attitude of voters about celebrity politicians. Political product involvement of voters has a direct significant positive impact on shaping their attitude. Among indirect effects, both perceived image and perceived benefit mediates the relationship between political product involvement and attitude about celebrity politician. Hence higher the political involvement of the voters, higher is the impact of perceived image and perceived benefits of celebrity politician on attitude. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of the factors forming voters’ attitude may help political parties to chart their road-map before roping in celebrities.