I received a copy of Youth Markets Alert in the mail after giving them a quote for their January issue and found a study from Do Something mentioned about which celebs inspire teens to do "good," i.e. motivate activism/volunteering. This was probably on the wires a while back, but I thought it was pretty interesting. According to the article:
- Oprah is the celebrity most liked by teens and has more sway than other celebs to encourage them to volunteer or lend a hand.
- Teens say Al Gore has the most influence on getting them to take action, however he has a mediocre likability ranking that lowers his overall score.
- Kids know more about U2's charity work than their music
- Teens don't particularly like Bill Clinton, but a sizable number (21%) are inspired to take action because of him.
- George Clooney is well liked -- ranking 5th on the list of 20 -- but his inspirational abilities are low. Only one in 10 ( 10 percent) say Clooney motivates them to get involved in youth activism.
- John Mayer ranked as one of the more influential celebs inspiring teens to get involved, yet many say they don't know what charities or issues he cares about.
- Teens aren't that keen on Tyra Banks since she scored 15th out of 20 on likability, but one in seven (14 percent) are influenced by her charitable acts.
- Cameron Diaz, despite her youth and commitment to environmental issues, did not receive a single vote in the inspirational ranking. Nicole Kidman and Madonna each received only two votes.
The rankings (from most inspirational to least):
Oprah
Al Gore
Lance Armstrong
Angelina Jolie
U2 and Bono
Brad Pitt
Bill Clinton
Leonardo DiCaprio
Ellen Degeneres
Will Smith
George Clooney
Tiger Woods
Tyra Banks
John Mayer
Jennifer Aniston
Sheryl Crow
Hilary Duff
Shakira
Dr. Phil
Jessica Simpson
P.S. From an email - "Dell and Microsoft will offer customers a simple way to make a difference in the fight against AIDS in Africa through the purchase of unique (PRODUCT) RED branded personal computers and a printer. All Dell (PRODUCT) RED PCs feature Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED. Dell is the exclusive PC and peripheral partner of (PRODUCT) RED." For each PC purchased, $80 goes to providing AIDS drugs in Africa...
Posted by anastasia
Marketing
Comments
Was George W. Bush on the list?
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | January 23, 2008 1:39 PM
As a gen yer, I agree with the findings of the Youth Markets Alert. I just want to add that there is a huge distinction between celebrities that we like because they entertain us, and celebrities we like because of their personalities. I actually have a clear distinction in my mind with celebrities who I like for their personality and who I just like to be entertained by and I think that most of my friends would have the same list.
I wish that companies would take this into consideration when picking spokespeople for products or campaigns. Always, always pick a 'personality' celeb over an entertaining celeb to endorse a product. For example, I care what perfume Sarah Jessica Parker wears because I love her personality and personal life, yet I would not care what Queen Latifah wears because I find her entertaining but would not necessarily want to know if she has a boyfriend.
Posted by: Vanessa Van Petten | January 23, 2008 2:29 PM
Was there a pre-set list of celebrities for this study? I'm assuming so because of costs in upcoding responses.
If this list of 20 was a pre-set list than I wonder who isn't on it that should be, that just doesn't fly high enough on adult radar to make the survey.
Posted by: zak | January 23, 2008 3:20 PM
Hi Andrea - the teens were surveyed on 52 selected stars. Eric, the article did not mention if George Bush was one of them.
Posted by: Anastasia | January 23, 2008 3:31 PM