From Pop Icons to Political Icons: The Impact of Celebrity Politicians on Youth Political Participation
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2024-07-24
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en
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This thesis builds on the concept of celebrity politicians, celebrity endorsement theory, and parasocial relationships theory to examine how popular culture and celebrities in particular are able to stimulate youth political participation. Whereas previous research solely focuses on popular culture products, the framework of this thesis incorporates celebrities, as well as their fans’ perspective, to illustrate how youth political participation emerges. As celebrities have gained powerful positions in societies over the last decades, they have become prominent and influential figures that are able to affect their audiences’ behavior and attitudes. With youth political participation declining, and the youth searching for other avenues to participate outside of formal, electoral politics, celebrities might be the key actors to engage them. Especially informal types of participation are stimulated by these celebrities, which include, amongst other examples, activism or fundraising. This thesis introduces the case study of the South Korean band BTS and their fans ARMY in order to illustrate the mechanisms through which the influence of popular culture and celebrities can affect youth political participation.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen