The Effect of Social Media Influencer’s Endorsement on Vote Choice

Abstract

“Social media influencer” is an emerging profession since the development of media platforms Social media influencers have not only expressed their opinions on the Internet platform but also become opinion leaders They also exert an advertising effect on businesses In recent years social media influencers have also been involved in political affairs Regardless of running for election or organizing political parties social media influencers have their unique influence on politics In recent elections it has been observed that social media influencers endorse candidates and thus this study adopts the theoretical perspective of celebrity endorsement and applies commercial celebrity endorsement to examine the effect of social media influencer’s political endorsement on individual vote choices By using the original survey data collected immediately after the 2020 presidential election this study finds that (1) social media influencers can indeed affect voters’ voting decisions under certain circumstances; (2) voters’ feelings about social media influencers can also affect their voting decisions and would have a negative effect when they dislike the social media influencer; and (3) the relationship between social media influencer’s political endorsement and individual vote choice depends on voters’ personal characteristics

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Ching-Hsing Wang (Supervisor)