Celebrity Endorsement And Political Brand Image: The Moderating Effect Of Gender

Abstract

The nature of politics in Ghana has been shaped by the democratic processes that characterize the electoral process. This new dimension in politics has brought healthy competition into the political environment, mounting pressure on political parties to employ marketing strategies that enable them to stay competitive. One major marketing strategy that has found itself in the political environment, is celebrity endorsement. In recent times, celebrities are widely employed to support political campaigns through advocacy and endorsement. This study sought to establish the impact of celebrity characteristics on political brand image and to ascertain the moderation effect of gender on relationships. The researcher employed a survey approach in collecting primary data for the study. The participants were 270 students of the University of Ghana who are registered voters in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency. The quantitative research approach was employed using the “Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)” for the data analysis. The findings suggest that the attractiveness of a celebrity influences voters’ perception of a political party. The results also revealed that the credibility of a celebrity is crucial in the endorsement process. In addition, the findings point out that gender has no influence on voter perception about a political party image when the “credibility and attractiveness of the celebrity” is the center of discussion. The researcher concludes that the credibility and attractiveness of celebrities constitute value to the voter as it is believed that the reliance on the message of the celebrity leads the voter to make a good choices between contending political parties. It is recommended that political parties should continue to adore celebrity endorsement as a political strategy and in doing so, they should consider the physical characteristics of the celebrity endorser. Keywords and Terms: Advocacy, Celebrities, Endorsement, Political Brand image, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)