Favorite Celebrity Research Articles

The interpersonal beginnings of fandom: The relation between attachment style, trust, and the admiration of celebrities

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between people’s attraction to celebrities and their interpersonal trust and attachment style. Previous research suggests that individuals with different attachment styles are differentially attracted to celebrities. We predicted that securely attached participants who mistrust, rather than trust, others tend to have higher levels of benign celebrity attraction. We found only partial support for our hypothesis. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between different attachment styles on either of the two measures of celebrity admiration. These findings contribute to the literature on trust and celebrity worship by providing new information about how different attachment styles may (or may not) affect the relationships that people have with their favorite celebrity.

What's fame got to do with it? Clarifying links among celebrity attitudes, fame appeal, and narcissistic subtypes

The present survey study (n = 208) examined whether young adults who experience social and/or emotional connections to a favorite celebrity (Celebrity Attitude Scale, CAS; McCutcheon, Lange, & Houran, 2002) also find fame per se appealing (Fame Appeal Scale, FAS; Greenwood, Long, & Dal Cin, 2013). We further assessed the extent to which grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and imagined audience daydream frequency (Lapsley, Fitzgerald, Rice, & Jackson, 1989) were associated with celebrity attitudes, general celebrity interest, and fame appeal. Correlational analyses showed significant associations among most but not all study variables; in particular, the Visibility subscale of fame appeal (e.g., wanting to be on the cover of a magazine) was correlated with all other celebrity variables. Regression analyses predicting overall CAS and FAS scores revealed that a general interest in celebrities and frequency of imagined audience daydreams were each positively associated with both FAS and CAS when entered among other predictors. However, grandiose narcissism predicted fame appeal, whereas vulnerable narcissism predicted celebrity attitudes. Findings clarify links between fame and celebrity engagement and underscore the utility in distinguishing grandiose from vulnerable narcissism.

Multinational Company Marketing Strategy: An Emphasis on Cement Industry Bangladesh

The main objective of this study is to know the multinational cement companies’ marketing strategies those are currently operating their business in Bangladesh. For doing this report, the data is basically collected from several authentic sources like journal articles, paper, governmental reports and several online sites. The study shows that the development of the cement industry of Bangladesh is not too long, so the expansion of the multinational companies’ business in the cement industry in Bangladesh is also comparatively new. As the people of Bangladesh are already inclined to build a permanent house, so in recent few decades the demand for cement has increased in Bangladesh. Currently along with local cement companies, there are also so many multinational cement companies are operating their business in Bangladesh. The study shows that the market share of foreign cement factories in Bangladesh is not more than 30 percent and the recognized foreign cement brands are facing very tough competition with local cement companies. Foreign entrepreneurs have been shrinking as local entrepreneurs come forward to produce international quality cement. Advertising is considered as the great tool of multinational cement companies for increasing sales growth in Bangladesh. All of the companies have their own slogan and this is effective in Bangladesh as it helps to make the products popular by giving unique identity. Many multinational cement companies offer bundle pricing and most of the cement brands in Bangladesh use the touch of a celebrity. Since people are already devoted to them so they will for sure buy the product, and most of the people don’t even think about the quality and rely totally on the ad and their favorite celebrity. Based on the study it has been recommended that multinational cement companies in Bangladesh should take the loss leader strategy, and although the traditional advertisement will continue in future, but they should focus more on the digital media and social media as a part of their marketing strategy.

An investigation of demographic correlates of the Celebrity Attitude Scale

The Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) has been widely used in the last 15 years, but little is known about how ethnicity and socioeconomic status relate to scores on this scale. In the first of two studies, we showed that a sample of African-American college students had more favorable attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than a sample of White college students. However, there was no control for the possibility that the two samples were unequal with respect to socioeconomic status. The second study controlled for that possibility, and added samples of Hispanic and Asian college students. Results showed that African-American participants again had more favorable attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than Whites did, with Hispanic and Asian-American participants falling in between the two extremes. Socioeconomic status was unrelated to CAS scores. African-Americans tended to select African-American celebrities as their favorites, and Whites tended to choose Whites, with Hispanic and Asian-Americans showing no ethnic preferences. Strength of identification with one’s ethnic group was unrelated to ethnic concordance in choosing a favorite celebrity, but strength of identification with one’s ethnic group decreased as favorable attitudes toward one’s favorite celebrity increased. We discussed why African-American participants might report more attachment to their favorite celebrities than White participants.

Do Religious Skeptics Differ from Religious Believers in their Interest in Celebrities?

Given the prejudice directed toward religious skeptics, it is imperative that we learn as much as we can about this minority group. We administered the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), and some brief additional measures of attitudes about celebrities to a sample of 91 religious believers and 92 skeptics recruited throughout the US from Mechanical Turk. We predicted that skeptics would have less favorable attitudes toward celebrities in general and feel less strongly attached to their own favorite celebrity, as compared to the believers. The first prediction was confirmed but not the second. We also compared believers with skeptics on choices of an “entertainer” vs. “non-entertainer” favorite celebrity, and found no significant difference. The results are discussed in light of current research on religious skeptics and celebrity worshipers.

Exploring Demand toward Celebrity Memorabilia: Do Celebrities Never Really Die?

<p>Celebrities always seem larger than life; it is when they die that we remember they are only human. With the emergence of the Internet and social networking sites, consumers are able to follow the daily activities of their favorite celebrities. After a celebrity’s death, consumers exhibit a stronger interest in the lives of these celebrities and demand for celebrity-related products increases sharply. The aim of the present study is to examine young consumers’ responses to celebrity deaths and explore the major factors that lead to increased demand for celebrity memorabilia and merchandise. Specifically, this research will attempt to present why young consumers exhibit such a sudden and strong interest in celebrity-related products after their death and why these products are cherished so greatly. Factor analysis is applied and the results indicate that a celebrity’s death increases young consumers’ demand for memorabilia due to five major factors. These factors include immortality of the celebrity, keepsake value & deep-felt love as well as uniqueness of the celebrity, prestige and financial value attached with the product and wide availability & increased media promotion. Based on these factors, it can be argued that consumption of celebrity merchandise is motivated by the attachment and significance of the celebrity to the young consumer before death. These results are important for marketers to grasp the effect of death on the consumption of celebrity merchandise. Online and traditional retailers need to understand the major factors attracting consumers to celebrity memorabilia and merchandise so that they can respond quickly and efficiently to sudden demand fluctuations.</p>

Associations between attitudes toward cosmetic surgery, celebrity worship, and body image among South Korean and US female college students

AbstractVery little information is known regarding the level of psychological attachment to celebrities needed to influence one’s desire to engage in cosmetic surgery in consumers. More importantly, no previous research examined this in relation to attitudes toward cosmetic surgery and level of body satisfaction in cross-cultural contexts. The present study aimed to examine associations between attitudes toward cosmetic surgery, celebrity worship, and body image among South Korean and US female college students. A total of 370 female undergraduates were recruited for survey from a central university in Seoul, South Korea (n = 196) and a mid-Atlantic university in the US (n = 174). The South Korean participants showed greater acceptance toward cosmetic surgery than did the US participants, whereas the US participants showed more positive attitudes toward their favorite celebrities than did the South Korean participants. For the US participants, the level of body dissatisfaction was negatively associated with acceptance for cosmetic surgery while attitudes toward favorite celebrities was positively associated with acceptance for cosmetic surgery. Findings suggest that cultural contexts affect factors influencing the likelihood of having cosmetic surgery.

Transforming celebrities through social media: the role of authenticity and emotional attachment

Purpose Social media platforms are changing the way consumers and celebrities engage. This research aims to better understand how and why consumers use social media to engage with celebrities, and identify the potential antecedents and outcomes, which may result from these online connections. Design/methodology/approach Both qualitative (two focus groups) and quantitative (survey) methods were used to explore consumer engagement with celebrities on social media. A structural model from the survey data was developed and analyzed. Findings Textual analysis of the focus groups revealed that consumers follow celebrities on social media to obtain career and personal information about the celebrity. Further, authenticity and emotional attachment were identified as favorable aspects of following celebrities on social media. An empirical study confirmed that the constructs of authenticity and emotional attachment positively influence the outcomes of word-of-mouth and purchase likelihood. Research limitations/implications The study was limited by the self-identification of a favorite celebrity and social media site. Future research should include empirical testing of specific celebrities featured on a specific social media site and the development of the constructs identified in the focus groups. Practical implications This research sheds light on the antecedents and outcomes associated with consumer–celebrity engagement on social media. The implications for marketers and advertisers include a better understanding of how celebrities transform themselves and engage with consumers on social media. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need to study authenticity and emotional attachment as they relate to celebrities and consumers’ engagements on social media.

Televisión y metacognición: los menores ante las celebridades / Television and metacognition: minors exposed to celebrities

El control de la televisión para menores está justificado en cuanto a, como se evidencia en este artículo, la importancia que las celebridades y personajes de ficción tienen en su desarrollo evolutivo y en sus niveles de autoestima y de metacognición. Como es sabido, estas celebridades y personajes de ficción representan modelos de conducta a seguir que, especialmente los preadolescentes, pueden llegar a adoptar en el momento en que se produce la fase de desarollo cognitivo en la que se des-idealiza a los padres para idealizar al propio sujeto elegido como modelo a imitar, en la contínua búsqueda de sus propias habilidades y competencias. En la televisión, los valores comunes a todas las culturas (poder, logro, estimulación, hedonismo, autodirección, universalismo, benevolencia, tradición, conformidad y seguridad), están representados por los personajes y celebridades que en sus espacios aparecen, indicando al preadolescente aquellos valores que otorgan prestigio social y aquellos que en absoluto lo hacen, siendo estos, los menores, los que deberán decidir cuáles representan los suyos propios. A lo largo de esta investigación se demuestra cómo interactúan los preadolescentes con sus celebridades favoritas y cuál es el rol de esos personajes en su día a día.

Book Review: Parasocial Politics: Audiences, Pop Culture, and Politics by Jason Zenor, ed

Parasocial Politics: Audiences, Pop Culture, and Politics. Jason Zenor, ed. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2014. 204 pp. $80 hbk. $79.99 ebk.Originally described by Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl in 1956, parasocial relationships are one-sided relations that consumers have with television characters. This phenomenon has been studied from an array of different perspectives with regard to different relationship types, but until now, the research had not entered the political arena. Jason Zenor's collection of work on the subject closes that gap in our knowledge.Beginning with a wonderfully stated and illustrative introduction, Zenor explains that reception studies have historically been interested in the ?role that mass media plays in determining an audience's political reality.? He then goes on to describe that in our media-saturated world, it is nearly impossible for a consumer to separate entertainment from information, and in the political landscape, such a distinction may be detrimental. Perhaps more importantly, Zenor then makes the connection between ?citizen? and ?fan?-they both follow their favorite celebrity figures carefully, endorse them to other people, measure them against each other, and ultimately reach informed conclusions and judgments. If this book needed to justify its existence, this discussion alone could do it.Here, decades of media studies, and social learning theory in particular, have demonstrated that consumers learn from the media. Learning about politics is no different. Adding the parasocial lens to this subject, Zenor explains that consumers can also form attachments to political figures. It is this phenomenon that Zenor refers to as ?parasocial politics.?As the backbone of this discussion, the book presents a collection of empirical studies that show how consumers create meaning about political issues through this unique consumer-character/political figure relationship. The studies included in the text are methodologically diverse (surveys, experiments, focus groups, mixed methods, etc.) and are divided into three sections.The first section focuses on how audiences create meaning about government and politics based on the media depictions of these institutions. For example, Zenor uses The West Wing as an artifact and looks at how consumers adhering to different political ideologies responded to the show.The second section of the collection is specifically concerned with the impact of fantasy texts on politics and culture. Entries in this section include investigations into ?Trekkies? and their level of governmental trust and the impact of Batman comics on the prevailing negative feelings toward Islam since the introduction of a Muslim superhero. …

Who Are the True Fans? Evidence from an Event-Related Potential Study

Fans of celebrities commonly exist in modern society. Researchers from social science have been concerned with this problem for years. Furthermore, such researchers have attempted to measure people’s involvement with celebrities in various ways. However, no study measured the degree of addiction to a specific celebrity at the neurological level. Therefore, the current study employed visually evoked event related potentials (ERPs) to examine people’s attitude toward celebrities by comparing different brain activities of fans and non-fans when they were shown a set of photos. These photos include a specific celebrity, a familiar person, a stranger and a butterfly. Furthermore, to examine the validity of the detected neural index, we also investigated the correlation between brain activity and the score of the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), which was a questionnaire used to explore people’s attitude toward celebrities at behavioral level. Two groups of subjects were asked to complete an implicit task, i.e., to press a button when a picture of a butterfly appeared. Results revealed that fans showed significant positive N2 and P300 deflection when viewing the photos of their favorite celebrity, whereas in the non-fan group, the subjects only showed larger P300 amplitude as a response to the celebrity’s photos. Furthermore, a positive correlation between P300 amplitude elicited by the stimuli of a celebrity face and CAS scores was also observed. These findings indicated fan attitude to a specific celebrity can also be observed at the neurological level and suggested the potential utility of using ERP component as an index of fandom involvement.

Parasocial relationships with audiences’ favorite celebrities: The role of audience and celebrity characteristics in a representative Flemish sample

AbstractThis article provides insight into one form of audience involvement with celebrities: parasocial relationships (PSR). To address several shortcomings in PSR research – focus on TV, confusion between PSI (parasocial interaction) and PSR, use of student samples, neglect of socio-demographic variables – a representative online survey was conducted with 1000 Flemish adults who indicated 382 celebrities as favorites. A new scale reveals that PSR contain two important elements: emotional connections and an analogy with social relationships. Confirming previous research, most favorite celebrities are male, and cultural proximity is especially important for older respondents. In one combined model, respondents’ and celebrities’ (socio-demographic) characteristics are included as potential PSR predictors. This model nuances previous research and reveals that people who are male, older, more lowly-educated, and interested in celebrity news have stronger PSR. Further, stronger PSR are found for local and religious, political, sports, and music celebrities than for film celebrities.

Body Image and Celebrity Worship

We surveyed college students to determine the relationship between body image and celebrity admiration. We administered the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (SOQ), the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), and a slightly modified version of the (ESS,) to 279 participants from three universities and one college. We hypothesized that, as the tendency to worship celebrities increased, so would self-objectification, enjoyment of sexualization, and eating pathology. We thought that this would be particularly true for women and those whose favorite celebrity was perceived as being physically attractive. Results confirmed that men (but not women) who tend to worship celebrities are more likely to show eating disorders and enjoy being sexualized. Our modified version of the ESS has good reliability, and we showed that men are just as likely to enjoy being sexualized as women are. Further, the correlation between ESS and EAT scores was stronger for men than for women. Implications for the further study of attitudes toward celebrities and the need to include males in research on enjoyment of being sexualized were discussed.

I don’t believe it! Belief perseverance in attitudes toward celebrities.

The persistence of beliefs and feelings regarding a favorite celebrity were investigated. Source credibility was not expected to influence belief perseverance and emotional belief (feelings) perseverance toward favorite celebrities. Also, when asked to consider reasons why others would not like the celebrity, perseverance of beliefs and feelings were expected to decrease. Participants (N 201) from a Southern California private university completed an online survey. Contrary to the hypotheses, participants were more likely to believe the information when the media caught the celebrity and when the celebrity displayed the behavior. Also, using the consider-the-opposite strategy did not change beliefs or feelings. However, as predicted, perseverance of feelings about celebrities did vary by the source of information. The practical implications are that, although difficult, changing beliefs may be possible depending on the source of information. Limitations in the study are also discussed.

Should We Hire David Beckham to Endorse our Brand? Contextual Interference and Consumer Memory for Brands in a Celebrity's Endorsement Portfolio

Imagine that you are browsing through a magazine, and you see one of your favorite celebrities in an advertisement. Then, a bit further into the magazine you see that same celebrity in an ad for a different product. A few hours later, you think of the celebrity again and try to remember the products s/he was endorsing, but what will you actually recall? This paper examines consumer memory for celebrity advertising under conditions where a single celebrity advertises for more than one brand. Using contextual interference as the theoretical lens, the current research posits and demonstrates how brands in a celebrity's “endorsement portfolio” compete with one another when consumers use the celebrity as retrieval cue for information that was contained in the ads. The findings of the laboratory experiment reveal that brands sharing either a high or low match with the celebrity win the battle during retrieval and inhibit consumers’ ability to accurately recall ad information for brands sharing a more moderate match with the celebrity. The theoretical practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Impact of celebrity endorsements on youth purchase decisions: A study on Indian youth

The youth of a country are conscious of self and the products and services they consume. They do everything to stay in the limelight. Originality may come packed with some risks and thus take an easy tested route as already tried out by their favorite celebrities. The youth of today are influenced by a lot of factors and specially the fancy world around them. Celebrities from films and sports specially play a role in the life of these youth. The youth look upto these celebrities as their role models and closely follow them. Whether it is following their dressing style or their look or whether it is emulating their hairstyle or repeating their statements, the celebrities globally have been able to attract the attention of the youth. The celebrities are the part of the so called popular culture of a country and India is no exception. The marketers are trying to capitalize this and hence are using celebrity endorsements to attract the attention of customers towards their offerings.Attraction, attention, interest and a lot more these celebrities have the power to induce this and much more in the product they endorse. Celebrities when endorse a product or a brand tend to give that value cushion to the overall perception of the product/brand in the mind of the customer. Does the image of the celebrity have any impact on the image of the product? Do Multiple product endorsements lead to confusions in the mind of the customers are some questions the This paper tries to study if celebrity endorsements have any impact on Youth purchase decisions. This also aims to study if characteristics of the product/services and the characteristics of the endorsing celebrity should have any connection.

The Skinny on Celebrities

Much research demonstrates that exposure to thin media ideals has a negative effect on women’s body image. The present research suggests a notable and important exception to this rule. The authors propose the parasocial relationship-moderation hypothesis—that parasocial, or one-sided, relationships (PSRs) moderate the effects of thin media figures on body image. Specifically, the authors propose that having a PSR with a media figure increases the likelihood of assimilating, rather than contrasting, the PSR’s body to the self. Study 1 found that women who perceived similarity with a thin model felt better about their bodies than those who did not perceive similarity. Study 2 found that women were more satisfied with their bodies after exposure to a favorite celebrity they perceived as thin than a control celebrity they perceived as thin. Finally, Study 3 suggests that assimilation was the underlying mechanism of increased body satisfaction after exposure to a thin favorite celebrity.

Celebrity Worship Among University Students in Malaysia

The present study examined conceptual issues surrounding celebrity worship in a Malay-speaking population. In total, 512 Malay and 269 Chinese participants from Malaysia indicated who their favorite celebrity was and completed the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) as well as a range of demographic items. Results showed that the majority of Malay and Chinese participants selected pop stars and movie stars as their favourite celebrities, mirroring findings in Western settings. In addition, exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution of the CAS that was consistent with previous studies conducted in the West. Structural equation modeling further revealed that participant’s age was negatively associated with celebrity worship and that self-rated attractiveness was positively associated with celebrity worship. Overall, the present results suggest that celebrity worship in Malaysia may be driven by market and media forces, and future research may well be guided by use of the CAS.

The Celebrity Appeal Questionnaire: Sex, Entertainment, or Leadership

The Celebrity Appeal Questionnaire was constructed to operationalize constructs related to why fans are attracted to their favorite celebrities and was developed for use with fan bases for specific celebrities. This revised version asked fans of a specific celebrity to rank order three roles they might see the target celebrity playing in society with an option to not rank them at all. Of 409 respondents attending Josh Groban fan club meetings, 75% said Groban's most important role in society was as a leader and role model in trying to make the world a better place. A factor analysis of correlations of Likert-type scale ratings and an analysis relating those factors back to the rank orderings support the internal reliability and validity of the questionnaire.

Parasocial relationships and self‐discrepancies: Faux relationships have benefits for low self‐esteem individuals

AbstractThe current research proposes that low self‐esteem people can use parasocial relationships to experience movement toward the ideal self, a benefit they may miss in real relationships. In Study 1, low self‐esteem undergraduate psychology students at a public university in the United States felt closest to celebrities who were similar to their ideal self. In Study 2, low self‐esteem college students primed with their favorite celebrity became more similar to their ideal selves. In Study 3, low self‐esteem college students primed with their favorite celebrity, but not a close relationship partner, became more similar to their ideal selves. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for parasocial relationships, self‐esteem, and the flexibility of the need to belong.