How much of an influence do celebrities really have on our choices?

Celebrities do have an influence on fans when it comes to the clothes they wear and the food they buy, but, how much of an input do they really have when it comes to the way people decide to vote?

There are many stars who made sure they had their say when it came to the US midterm elections this week. Although, things did not quite go the way they wanted to for the majority of influencers.

The most famous example was when Taylor Swift finally stated her opinion on which way to vote. The American singer-songwriter posted a picture of her and her mum onto Instagram, standing infront of a billboard campaigning democratic senate candidate Phil Bredesen.

To the happiness of republican supporters, Bredesen lost, even with Swift’s campaign towards her 112M Instagram followers.

This is not the only famous figure who was out of luck on election day.

Even with the backing from the likes of Travis Scott and Beyonce in Texas, Democratic Senate Candidate Beto O’Rourke still lost out to Republican rival Ted Cruz.

Celebrity endorsement has seen to be a successful tactic in past elections.

John F. Kennedy had the support of members of successful jazz band, The Rat Pack in 1960.

In the U.K. similar events have happened. Jeremy Corbyn had a strong backing from JME. The grime MC stated in a interview with Corbyn that it would be his first time voting.

The labour leader had support from a lot of artists in the industry such as Aj Tracey and Stormzy.

Research by the university of Maryland shows that in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary process, Oprah bought Barack Obama over 1,000,000 extra votes.

Although, a study found that family and friends had a bigger impact on young voters than celebrities after the 2004 election.

It is thought that some celebrity opinions even put people off in this years election.

Professor of American Studies at the University of Birmingham,Scott Lucas, told the BBC he wold be more likely to listen to Oprah or George and Amal Clooney because they have more credibility, due to their campaign work in politics.

“I would distinguish that type of celebrity influence from let’s say, listening to [Robert] De Niro because he flips off the president. I think you’ve got to have more of a constructive approach.”

It seems as if celebrities are now losing their influencer power due to people nowadays trusting their own opinions more strongly than 50 years ago.

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