Atiku Abubakar

By Daha Tijjani, PhD

Celebrity endorsement is a technique in advertising that possesses persuasive power to influence consumers’ decisions and target audiences. As a result, it remains a popular way for marketers to promote their brands, products, and services.

In political communication, it is one of the tools used to project the image of political parties and candidates in the minds of electorates and ultimately influence voters’ decisions.

However, numerous studies have found that several products have failed to attract customers’ attention despite being endorsed by celebrities.

Several researchers have investigated the effect of celebrity endorsement on products. However, few studies have looked at the impact of celebrity endorsement on political parties and their candidates. Also, little is known about the effects of celebrity endorsement and branding of political parties when it comes to developing economies.

Thus, knowing the effects of celebrity endorsement and branding of political parties and their candidates will give valuable insights to the party leadership on what strategy they should adopt when embracing a celebrity to help their brand.

As a result of this perceived lacuna, a group of researchers from universities in Nigeria, Ghana, Malaysia, and Germany examined the effects of celebrity endorsements of political parties using the Nigerian 2019 Presidential elections as a case study. The study report was published by Technium Social Science vol 22 (2021): A new decade for social change. 

The study investigated and discerned the factors motivating eligible voters in Nigeria to vote, using the predictors (Endorser Credibility, Political Brand Credibility, Political Brand Equity, and Voting Intention). The study also examined the mediating role of Political Brand Credibility (PBC) and Political Brand Equity (PBE) towards Voting Intention (VI).

The data for the study was collected in 2019 from 320 eligible respondents with Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) from the cluster of 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory.

The study has found that the endorsement of celebrities alone does not necessarily influence electorates to vote for political candidates. Instead, the credibility of the party and its equity play a pivotal role in the voting intention of voters.

Despite being credible with attributes such as Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Expertise, the study further revealed that the celebrity endorser is not a good predictor of positive voting intentions. Likewise, the findings revealed that a credible endorser would not have a positive and significant effect on a political party’s brand equity.

Taken collectively, the new empirical findings in this study would provide a new understanding of this new political marketing strategy in the Nigerian context. Furthermore, the insights gained from this study may assist the political parties to focus and invest more effort, resources, and energy in branding their parties with meaningful manifestos that would touch the lives of the electorates.

How to Cite: Abdurrahaman, D. T., Owusu, A., Bakare, A. S., Apejoye, A., Ibrahim, M. M., & Ahmad, T. H. (2021). Assessing the effects of Celebrity Endorsements of Political Parties: An empirical study of Nigerian 2019 Presidential Elections. Technium Social Sciences Journal, 22(1), 676–699.Retrieved from https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/4266

Note: The corresponding author can be reached via dahatijjani@gamil.com or Twitter handle @dahatijjani.

By Adamu Bello Mai-Bodi

The wedding Fatiha of Yusuf Buhari and the daughter of Sarkin Bichi was held with pomp and pageantry. All roads led to Bichi on Friday, 18 August 2021. As many as 80 aircraft brought guests to kano to witness the first son’s tying the knot to a Bayero descendent princess. To the amazement of many, the guests were dignitaries and politicians of different persuasions from across the country, who, albeit their differences, gathered to bless the occasion while they wine, dine, and exchange banters with each other. 

The sportsmanship they exhibited was awe-inspiring and outlandish for Nigerian politicians. It may be unintentional, but it should be an eye-opener to Nigerians at the bottom of the ladder. It sent a strong message to the youths, especially bootlickers, sycophants and the so-called media warriors who are ever ready to insult, blackmail, curse, condemn, disrespect and assassinate the characters of their bosses’ supposed political enemies at the expense of their self-esteem. There is no point in attacking and counterattacking one another in defence of these pretenders who only follow their aggrandisements without definite ideology whatsoever.

On Friday, the cliche about “no permanent friend or enemy in politics” was in full gear at Bichi Emir’s palace. Buhari, Atiku and Jonathan were present. Many former and serving Ministers, Governors, Senators Representatives and many other shot callers bundled themselves in Bichi palace with no regard to PDP, APC, South, North or East etc. Everyone was eventually their brothers’ keepers. Most notable was the unexpected comradeship between the former Aviation Minister Femi Fani Kayode and Malam Isah Pantami, the current Minister of Communication and Digital Economy. Given the hostility shown by the former towards the latter, many people were shocked.

If these old guys can forget their bitter differences and mingle to celebrate and or commiserate with one another depending on the situation, I think the downtrodden, especially youth are in a better position to embrace the culture of tolerance and to desist from being the tool for political attacks between these dissemblers who would be at each other’s throats only when their whims and caprices differ and would befriend themselves when their path crosses.

Hopefully, many discerning minds would heed this event and free themselves from unnecessary hatred, criticism, and resentment. Let love, mutual respect and fair play lead the way in all endeavours regardless of affiliations, be it political, regional or religious. “Experience,” they say, “is the best teacher”. May we be guided.

Adamu Bello Mai-Bodi writes from Gidado Bombiyo residence, K/kaji Azare.