As information — and misinformation — flooded the internet in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, celebrity influencers were essential in shaping public attitudes and contributing to the information ecosystem.
In a study published online July 30 in the Atlantic Journal of Communication, Dr. Kathryn Lookadoo, clinical assistant professor of organizations, strategy and international management in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas, examined how celebrities talked about COVID-19 in social media posts and how they used these platforms to motivate followers to respond to the virus.
“People form attachments, also known as parasocial relationships, with celebrities and feel a connection with them,” said Lookadoo, lead author of the study. “That bond promotes trust and makes it feel like a friend is recommending something to you, whether it is a product or a health-related action. Understanding that influence helps researchers and health communicators be more effective in health messaging.”
Lookadoo said the COVID-19 pandemic gave researchers the opportunity to look at multiple celebrities talking about the same health issue at once and examine specifically how they encouraged health actions.
The exploratory, qualitative study builds on research about how influencers communicate health messages and use health disclosures to inform, inspire and motivate action.
The Influencers
Using a constant comparative method, in which information is coded and compared across categories to identify patterns, the researchers analyzed Instagram posts from 20 celebrity influencers from March 12, 2020, to May 12, 2020. Influencers were chosen based on the number of their followers to ensure that the public had viewed their content.
One set consisted of posts from the 10 most-followed celebrities, including Ariana Grande, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kylie Jenner. The second set were from the 10 most-followed celebs who had disclosed that they tested positive for COVID-19, including Madonna, Tom Hanks and Pink.
The researchers found that at the beginning of the pandemic, celebrities modeled guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and used their platforms to normalize suggested health behaviors. Celebrities motivated followers’ actions by specifically talking about staying home, practicing healthy hand hygiene and helping frontline workers.
“They modeled ‘We’re all in this together,’ instead of just saying it and posting for their followers to see,” Lookadoo said.
Celebs and Health Messaging
With so much information and misinformation surrounding COVID-19, celebrities can be helpful — or harmful — in getting messages out to followers.
Celebrities draw attention but are underutilized when it comes to health communication, Lookadoo said. If health communicators can get celebrities to give correct and appropriate health information to their followers and model proper behaviors, it could positively influence the followers to do the same.
“This is why the Biden administration had Olivia Rodrigo come to the White House and talk about youth vaccinations,” she said. “It draws so much attention to the issue, and the singer has a lot of influence, especially with younger people.”
“Understanding that influence helps researchers and health communicators be more effective in health messaging.”
Dr. Kathryn Lookadoo, clinical assistant professor of organizations, strategy and international management in the Naveen Jindal School of Management
The pandemic was not the first time that celebrity health disclosures motivated the public.
For example, when TV journalist Katie Couric had an on-air colonoscopy in 2000 after her husband died from colon cancer, it inspired viewers to get screenings, Lookadoo said. Actress Angelina Jolie had a similar effect in 2013 when she disclosed that she underwent a double mastectomy after she was tested for the cancer-causing BRCA gene mutations.
The study’s findings have implications for two theories used in psychology, Lookadoo said.
Social cognitive theory focuses on how people learn information from others and how this information can affect people’s beliefs and behaviors. Cultivation theory looks at how television is a cultural storyteller and how people who are heavy viewers can be influenced by the stories told on TV. Cultivation scholars are starting to research how this works in social media.
Limitations of the study — the chosen time period and how the influencers were selected — meant that the celebrities and their messaging were similar, Lookadoo said.
“If I were collecting data now, we’d get a lot of different messages because there are so many differing perspectives on masks, vaccinations and COVID-19 in general,” she said. “If we were running the study again, I’d be very interested in conspiracy messaging and health misinformation. When we ran the original study, there wasn’t much like that out there among celebrities.”
Lookadoo cautions that celebrities are not health experts. Ideally, people should get their information from medical professionals.
“But even if we tell the public not to listen to celebrities, I don’t think that will stop their influence,” she said. “The same goes for blogs or Reddit posts that are not supported with facts. People choose whose advice they listen to. If health communicators can work with celebrities to bring awareness to appropriate health actions to take, that would be what to aim for.”
Co-authors included graduate student Caleb Hubbard and Dr. Norman Wong, associate professor of health communication, at the University of Oklahoma; and Dr. Gwendelyn Nisbett, associate professor in the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas.