Celebrities’ Influence on the Students’ Voting Preferences

Abstract

Celebrities' participation in the election process is essential. One thing that draws the public's attention is their influence. The ideas and behaviors of their favorite celebrities can readily sway the public, which has varying viewpoints when selecting a candidate. This study aims to ascertain the impact of celebrities on students' voting preferences in the May 2022 election. The primary data collection tool for the study was a descriptive-correlational questionnaire. At the University of Cebu-Main Campus, quantitative data were employed to ascertain the celebrities' influence on students' voting preferences. At the Department of the College of Arts and Sciences, 154 individuals responded. Participants in the survey completed an online questionnaire when they were willing to respond to the questions. The primary tool used to collect the data was a survey questionnaire created for the study that had passed pilot testing to determine its reliability. Frequency and count, weighted Mean, and the chi-square test were employed for data analysis. Statistically, there is no sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis, which means there is no significant correlation between the respondent profile measured by age and year level and the Degree of celebrity influence on voting choices. However, the null hypothesis is rejected because there is a significant relationship between the respondents' sex and program enrollment profiles and the Degree of celebrity influence over voting preferences. The four groups of respondents said they would instead support a politician who has worked on humanitarian efforts vis-à-vis the Celebrity. The level of influence of celebrities during the May 2022 election is significantly influential.