Half of Americans Believe Celebrities Make Little or No Positive Difference on Issues...

Half of Americans Believe Celebrities Make Little or No Positive Difference on Issues and Causes They Promote

Half of Americans also say Oprah Winfrey is the Most Effective
Celebrity at Promoting a Cause
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(Business Wire)--
Whether it is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt discussing the orphans
in third world countries, Oprah's school for girls in Africa or Robert
Redford's environmentalism, many celebrities are in the public eye
supporting causes near and dear to them personally. The idea,
presumably, is to use that celebrity status to garner even more
attention to, or raise more money for, that cause or issue. But does
it really make a difference? Americans are pretty divided on that as
just over half (51%) say that these celebrities make little or no
positive difference to the issue they are promoting while just under
half (45%) say they make a large or some positive difference.

The younger one is, the more likely one is to think these
celebrities are making a positive difference. Half (50%) of Echo
Boomers (those aged 18-31) and just under half (48%) of Gen Xers
(those aged 32-43) say celebrities make a large or some difference
compared to 43 percent of Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62) and 38
percent of Matures (those aged 63 and older).

These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,513
U.S. adults surveyed online between March 11 and 18, 2008 by Harris
Interactive(R).

Politically, Democrats are much more likely to think these
celebrities are making a difference than Republicans are. Over half
(55%) of Democrats believe celebrities make a large or some positive
difference compared to just one-third (36%) of Republicans who feel
the same way. Looking at Independents, over half (57%) say celebrities
make little or no difference while 42 percent say they make a large or
some difference to their cause or issue.

One thing Americans say they have not done is support a cause or
gotten more information on one because of something they heard an
actor, singer or other celebrity say or do. Just 15 percent have done
so compared to 85 percent who have not. Again, Matures are the least
likely to be swayed by celebrity as just seven percent of this age
group say they have gotten more information or supported something
because of a celebrity.

Effective Celebrities

Certain celebrities are more effective than others in championing
a cause. Among a list of celebrities who are champions of causes or
issues, half of Americans (49%) say Oprah Winfrey is very effective at
raising awareness of her cause while one-third (32%) say Bono is very
effective. Three in ten (31%) say Angelina Jolie is very effective
while almost one-quarter (23%) cite the father of her children, Brad
Pitt, as very effective. Rounding out the top five is George Clooney
as 22 percent say he is very effective and all others are under 15
percent. While age groups may differ in who is the second and third
most effective, all four generations cite Oprah as the most effective
celebrity.

Celebrities and Presidential Politics

It is not just causes and issues that celebrities get behind. They
also endorse and actively campaign for various candidates. Mike
Huckabee had Chuck Norris while John McCain has Sylvester Stallone. On
the Democratic side, Barack Obama was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey while
Jack Nicholson supports Hillary Clinton. But is this a good or bad
thing? Almost half (47%) of Americans say that this celebrity
involvement is a bad thing and just three in ten (29%) say it is a
good thing while an additional quarter (23%) are not sure.

Perhaps because the more "glamorous" celebrity endorsements seem
to go to Democrats, there is a strong partisan divide on this
question. Two-thirds of Republicans (66%) say that celebrity
involvement in campaigns is a bad thing while almost half of Democrats
(45%) say it is a good thing. Half of Independents (48%) also believe
this involvement is a bad thing.

One reason people may believe celebrities getting involved in
politics is a bad thing is that over half (56%) of Americans believe
that the support of a celebrity changes people's views about which
candidate to support. Just one-third (34%) believe that celebrity
support does not change anyone's views. Politically, partisans are on
the same page with this issue - over half of Republicans (54%),
Democrats (56%) and Independents (59%) all believe celebrities change
people's minds about candidates.

Here, there is also a generational divide. Two-thirds (67%) of
Echo Boomers believe this celebrity involvement in politics changes
people views as do three in five Gen Xers (59%) and over half of Baby
Boomers (55%). Again, Matures are different as just 43 percent of this
generation believe celebrity involvement changes views about a
candidate while 47 percent say it does not change views.

So What?

These findings suggest that some celebrities can sometimes do a
great deal to help the causes or issues they endorse. And, some can do
better than others. The platform of her daily talk show is probably
one of the reasons Oprah Winfrey rises to the top.

-0-
*T
TABLE 1
CELEBRITIES MAKING A DIFFERENCE

"Many times celebrities get involved in various causes, including
domestic and foreign policies, as well as the prevention and
treatment of diseases. How much positive difference do you believe
these celebrities can make to the issue they are promoting?"

Base: All adults
Generation Political Party
------------------------------------------------
Total Echo Baby
Boomers Gen X Boomers Matures Rep. Dem. Ind.
(18-31) (32-43) (44-62) (63+)
-----------------------------------------------------
% % % % % % % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LARGE/SOME
DIFFERENCE (NET) 45 50 48 43 38 36 55 42
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A large
difference 11 13 15 10 7 8 17 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some difference 33 37 33 33 31 28 37 34
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LITTLE/NO
DIFFERENCE (NET) 51 42 47 55 59 59 42 57
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A little
difference 27 28 26 27 27 26 26 32
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No difference
at all 24 14 21 28 33 33 16 25
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not sure 4 8 5 2 2 5 3 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 2
SUPPORTING A CAUSE BECAUSE OF A CELEBRITY

"Have you ever gotten more information or done anything to support a
cause because of something you heard an actor, singer or other
celebrity say or do?"

Base: All adults
Generation
----------------------------------------------
Total Echo Gen X Baby Matures
Boomers (32-43) Boomers (63+)
(18-31) (44-62)
----------------------------------------------------------
% % % % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes 15 17 19 18 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No 85 83 81 82 93
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 3
VERY EFFECTIVE CELEBRITIES

"Among these actors, singers and other celebrities who are currently
active in championing a cause, which ones do you believe have been
very effective in raising awareness of their cause?"

Base: All adults
Generation
--------------------------------
Total Echo Baby Matures
Boomers Gen X Boomers (63+)
(18-31) (32-43) (44-62)
--------------------------------------
% % % % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oprah Winfrey 49 50 47 51 44
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bono 32 38 36 33 19
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Angelina Jolie 31 41 36 27 24
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brad Pitt 23 25 23 25 18
----------------------------------------------------------------------
George Clooney 22 18 28 21 21
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Redford 14 4 15 19 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tiger Woods 14 6 16 14 20
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jane Fonda 11 6 12 14 11
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheryl Crow 10 13 11 9 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Susan Sarandon 10 7 13 10 10
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven Spielberg 9 9 10 9 9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Geldolf 8 3 10 13 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbra Streisand 8 5 7 8 12
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Penn 7 7 9 6 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Other 6 7 6 7 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
None of these 29 28 27 27 36
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 4
CELEBRITIES AND PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

"Besides causes, celebrities have become more and more involved in the
presidential race, endorsing candidates and appearing at events with
them. Do you think this is a good or bad thing?"

Base: All adults
Generation Political Party
------------------------------------------------
Echo Baby
Boomers Gen X Boomers Matures Rep. Dem. Ind.
Total (18-31) (32-43) (44-62) (63+)
-----------------------------------------------------
% % % % % % % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GOOD (NET) 29 31 31 28 27 16 45 26
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Very good 4 3 5 4 4 2 7 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhat good 25 29 25 24 23 15 38 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BAD (NET) 47 35 45 50 60 66 34 48
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhat bad 26 21 25 28 31 34 23 26
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Very bad 21 14 20 22 29 33 11 22
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not sure 23 34 25 22 13 17 21 27
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
*T

-0-
*T
TABLE 5
CELEBRITIES CHANGING POLITICAL VIEWS

"Do you believe that the support of a celebrity changes people's views
about which candidate to support?"

Base: All adults
Generation Political Party
------------------------------------------------
Total Echo Baby
Boomers Gen X Boomers Matures Rep. Dem. Ind.
(18-31) (32-43) (44-62) (63+)
-----------------------------------------------------
% % % % % % % %
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES VIEWS
(NET) 56 67 59 55 43 54 56 59
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely
changes views 8 10 9 9 5 8 8 9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably
changes views 48 57 51 46 38 46 48 50
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DOESN'T CHANGE
VIEWS (NET) 34 20 32 37 47 38 34 32
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably does
not change
views 27 16 23 30 37 28 29 26
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely does
not change
views 7 4 9 7 10 10 5 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not sure 10 14 9 8 10 8 10 9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding
*T

Methodology

This Harris Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States
March 11 and 18, 2008, among 2,513 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures
for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income
were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their
actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was
also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability
sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most
often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error,
coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated
with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting
and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words
"margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated
are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities
for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These
are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this
ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who
have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data
have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population.
Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the
Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error
can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the
National Council on Public Polls.

J33557

Q605, 610, 615, 620, 625

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research.
With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our
science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business
results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North
American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent
market research firms. To become a member of the Harris Poll Online
and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at
www.harrispollonline.com.

Harris Interactive Inc. 4/08

Press:
Harris Interactive
Tracey McNerney, 585-214-7756

Copyright Business Wire 2008