Consumers once found themselves flipping through a magazine to find the hottest new trends. Now, people’s biggest shopping influence often comes from photos posted online. Although celebrities may not walk into the limelight intending to have such an influence on public opinion, they must be more thoughtful about what they support or showcase due to the platform they hold and the responsibility that comes with immense popularity. From Taylor Swift’s engagement photos causing her pictured outfit, a black-and-white striped Polo Ralph Lauren dress, to sell out on every website, to Harry Styles wearing Adidas Sambas on stage, causing a 2,638% sales increase of the shoes in 2023; celebrities largely influence consumer trends and public behavior, whether they intend to or not.
Celebrities possess an authority over millions of people across the globe, which in turn shapes trends, opinions and consumer behavior. With a simple Instagram story or TikTok rant, celebrities have the immense power to affect how consumers view the world and its many evolving aspects. For example, celebrities’ political endorsements in the 2024 presidential election influenced the result of the polls more than one may think. According to a YouGov poll conducted in November of 2024, “About one in 10 Americans (11%) say a celebrity has ever caused them to reconsider their stance on a political issue, while 7% say they have supported a political candidate because of a celebrity endorsement.” People tend to look to celebrities as inspirations or even sources of hope through rough times. With a celebrity’s increased power comes a higher responsibility, meaning stars should think critically about what they are saying, posting or publicly supporting. Choosing to endorse a political party, stand with or against a certain social group or even simply making an offhand comment about their new favorite product can and most likely will shape the public’s perception of these topics.
Celebrities’ actions can drive people to make critical lifestyle decisions, such as how and what they spend their money on, all based on what’s “in.” The ultimate face behind the intensity of each social fad is the support and promotion of celebrities. In recent times, this effect has evolved into a more intensified craze with celebrity lifestyles. In our modern era, many now closely follow celebrity lifestyles, which, in turn, pushes more crazy or radical forms of celebrity influence into average consumers’ daily lives. The most common result of the public eye watching and obsessing over celebrity lifestyles is the development of unrealistic expectations, with a great example including modern-day weddings.
As wedding trends have come and gone throughout the decades, it is clear that weddings have had an increase in prioritizing showing off wealth, or the illusion of it, to copy celebrity standards. While some people have tried harder and harder to push an average lifestyle to fit the stakes raised by celebrities, these efforts have, in turn, caused the deeper running issue of overconsumption, which is shown by the increase of outlandish wedding decorations and the rise of videographer hirings to capture and post the special day. The more celebrities post about their lavish lifestyles, the more the average follower begins to feel their own life is inadequate, often resulting in making unnecessary purchases in an attempt to fill the void of a celebrity’s over-glamorized impression. As celebrities’ weddings have become ludicrously expensive and arguably overconsumptive, the average person, in turn, has felt a higher pressure to follow suit and blindly follow their lead without thinking about whether it is what they truly want, or if it is a false image they want the internet to see instead.
Overall, celebrities have fallen into the position of setting the standard for the average person’s life, which, as a result, has unfortunately led to a dramatic rise in overconsumption. With the average person watching celebrities make choices on their lifestyles, beliefs and practices, many people fall down the rabbit hole of overconsumption, never truly satisfied with what they already have. Celebrities should continue to be more mindful of what they choose to promote, endorse and showcase to the world, as they will have a larger impact than they may realize before they click and post.
Emily Mitton, FCRH ‘29, is a journalism major from Lisbon, New Hampshire.
