Celebrity Endorsers in Government Communication: A Plausible Option amidst Uncertainty and Declining Public Trust
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper examines the harness of celebrity endorsers by government organizations as a strategy of political public relations. The purpose of this study was to broaden understanding of how celebrity endorsers and key opinion leaders work in the political realm, notably in supporting government policy. This descriptive-qualitative research uses a single case study on the promulgate efforts of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program using celebrity endorsements. Literature research and social media material from a celebrity endorser were used as data collection techniques. To discover propaganda techniques, content analysis was performed on Raffi Ahmad’s social media posts. Next, a group discussion with six key informants was held to confirm the findings. Given the context and focus of this study lies on government organizations, we offer a different approach in examining celebrity endorsements by using propaganda theories and concepts. Kahneman’s dual-system theory of fast and slow thinking was also fruitful to rationalize the work of endorsement and relevant to propaganda and other persuasion theories. We found that the key messages that Raffi Ahmad published on his social media contained propaganda elements that had the potential to influence public opinion before making a decision. Therefore, the use of celebrity endorsements by government organizations is likely to be effective in influencing public behavior, or at least in raising awareness of government policies. We conclude that celebrity endorsement can be a plausible option to be implemented in the government communication strategy to achieve certain objectives.
Article Details
Authors who publish with Jurnal Komunikasi Ikatan Sarjana Komunikasi Indonesia agrees to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
References
Ahmad, N. (2021). Presidential rhetoric in the COVID-19 pandemic era: Jokowi’s Aristotelian rhetorical leadership models before and after implementation of semi-lock down policy. Jurnal Komunikasi Ikatan Sarjana Komunikasi Indonesia, 6(1), 72-85. https://doi.org/10.25008/jkiski.v6i1.538
Aljasir, S. (2019). Are classic theories of celebrity endorsements applicable to new media used by Arabs? A qualitative investigation of Saudi social media users. Journal of Creative Communications, 14(1), 15-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973258618822608
Agustiansyah, Z. & Mardhiyah, D. (2020). The influence of endorser credibility, brand credibility, and brand equity on the purchase intention in online shopping: The Instagram phenomenon (In R. Hurriyati, B. Tjahjono, A. G. Abdullah, Sulastri, & Lisnawati. (Eds.). Advances in business, management and entrepreneurship: Proceedings of the 4th global conference on business management & entrepreneurship (GC-BME 4), 8 August 2019, Bandung, Indonesia. CRC Press.
Ayuni, D. M., & Prasetyawati, Y. R. (2020). The influence of celebrity endorsement and the advertisement message towards Telkomsel's product awareness and its impact on the purchase intention. Petra International Journal of Business Studies, 3(2), 110-119. https://doi.org/10.9744/ijbs.3.2.110-119
Badan Pusat Statistik. (2021, Januari 21). Hasil Sensus Penduduk 2020. Diunduh dari https://www.bps.go.id/pressrelease/2021/01/21/1854/hasil-sensus-penduduk-2020.html
Bayuni, E. (2020 March 13). COVID-19: Mr. President, you need professional help. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/03/13/covid-19-communication-president-jokowi-you-need-professional-help.html
Davies, C., & Hobbs, M. (2020). Irresistible possibilities: Examining the uses and consequences of social media influencers for contemporary public relations. Public Relations Review, 46(5), 101983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2020.101983
Dhani, R. (2018). Political public relations in Indonesia under the Yudhoyono presidency: Past developments and new formations (Doctoral dissertation). Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. Retrieved from https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/42838/
Enke, N., & Borchers, N. S. (2019). Social media influencers in strategic communication: A conceptual framework for strategic social media influencer communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(4), 261-277. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118x.2019.1620234
Farisa, F. C. & Galih, B. (2020 April 6). LP3ES catat ada 37 pernyataan blunder pemerintah soal Covid-19. Kompas.com. Retrieved from https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/04/06/17522121/lp3es-catat-ada-37-pernyataan-blunder-pemerintah-soal-covid-19?page=all
Frankish, K. (2010). Dual-process and dual-system theories of reasoning. Philosophy Compass, 5(10), 914-926. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2010.00330.x
How to Detect Propaganda. (1938). Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors (1915-1955), 24(1), 49–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40219502
Joko Widodo [@jokowi]. ((2021 January 13). Tekanan darah saya diukur…[Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-E6m6BG0W/
Jowett, G., & O’Donnell, V. (2015). Propaganda and persuasion (6th ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (4th ed). Sage Publications Inc.
Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2021). Practical research: Planning and design. Pearson Education Limited.
Kemp, S. (2021, February 11). Digital 2021: Indonesia. Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-indonesia
McCracken, G. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(3), 310-321. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2489512
Mookda, R., Khan, S. W., Intasuwan, S., & Chotchoung, S. (2020). The effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer purchase intention: The mediating role of brand loyalty. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), 10(06), 1016-1021. https://doi.org/10.29322/ijsrp.10.06.2020.p102123
Moloney, K. (2006). Rethinking public relations: PR propaganda and democracy. Routledge
Nabila, M. (2021). Indonesia COVID-19 task force statement framing in September – November 2020. Jurnal Komunikasi Ikatan Sarjana Komunikasi Indonesia, 6(1), 149-160. https://doi.org/10.25008/jkiski.v6i1.505
O’Regan, V. R. (2014). The celebrity influence: Do people really care what they think? Celebrity Studies, 5(4), 469-483. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2014.925408
Pangestika, D. (2020, March 14). ‘We don’t want people to panic’: Jokowi says on lack of transparency about COVID cases. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/13/we-dont-want-people-to-panic-jokowi-says-on-lack-of-transparency-about-covid-cases.html.
Penney, J. (2018). Young people as political influencers on social media. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1145/3217804.3217944
Pusparisa, Y. & Mutia, A. (2018, June 28). Masyarakat Indonesia paling banyak akses berita dari media daring [Indonesian people have the most access to news from online media]. Katadata.com. Retrieved from https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2021/06/28/masyarakat-indonesia-paling-banyak-akses-berita-dari-media-daring
Ramadhan, A. & Meiliana, D. (2020 August 20). ICW catat pemerintah telah belanjakan Rp 1,29 triliun untuk aktivitas digital, termasuk bayar ‘influencer’. Kompas.com. Retrieved from https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/08/20/14204811/icw-catat-pemerintah-telah-belanjakan-rp-129-triliun-untuk-aktivitas-digital?page=2
Raffi Ahmad [@raffinagita1717]. (2021a, January 13). Bismillah [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-B5HDsOE3/
Raffi Ahmad [@raffinagita1717]. (2021b, January 13). Alhamdulillah vaksin [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-7lWbnDqV/
Raffi Ahmad [@raffinagita1717]. (2021c, January 13). Alhamdulillah hari ini Vaksin Perdana bersama Pa @jokowi [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-O0H_M8T5/
Raffi Ahmad [@raffinagita1717]. (2021d, January 13). Raffi with TNI commander and Chief of Police [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-HYkosNLO/
Raffi Ahmad [@raffinagita1717]. (2021e, January 27). Alhamdulillah Vaksin Tahap 2 sudah berjalan lancar [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKiGWpSsBeU/
Rans Entertainment (2021a, January 13). Ini rasanya vaksin COVID 19 bareng pak presiden [Video]. You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5hUXSp-eYU
Rans Entertainment (2021b, January 23). Raffi Ahmad disuntik vaksin [Video]. You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbj26_DZjtQ
Rans Entertainment (2021c, January 27). Raffi dipanggil pak Jokowi dan vaksin ke 2!! [Video]. You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-0YM7A2g_I&t=136s
Riefky, Hutasoit, I. R., Nopiyanto, A. M., Nugrahani, H. S., & Zulkarnain, R. A. (2021). Growing public distrust towards the Indonesian government for lack of response to COVID-19 outbreak. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 716(1), 012072. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/716/1/012072
Sanders, K. (2020). Government communication and political public relations. In J. Strömbäck & S. Kiousis (Eds.). Political Public Relations Concepts, Principles, and Applications. Routledge.
Sari, H. P. & Meiliana, D. (2020 February 26). Pemerintah anggarkan Rp 72 Miliar untuk influencer, Fadli Zon: Ini cara-cara amatiran. Kompas.com. Retrieved from https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/02/26/18234821/pemerintah-anggarkan-rp-72-miliar-untuk-influencer-fadli-zon-ini-cara-cara
Schimmelpfennig, C., & Hunt, J. B. (2019). Fifty years of celebrity endorser research: Support for a comprehensive celebrity endorsement strategy framework. Psychology & Marketing, 37(3), 488-505. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21315
Salahudin, Nurmandi, A., Sulistyaningsih, T., Lutfi, M., & Sihidi, I., T. (2020). Analysis of government official twitters during Covid-19 crisis in Indonesia. Talent Development & Excellence 12(1), 3899-3815. Retrieved from https://iratde.com/index.php/jtde/article/view/1343
Setiawana, A., Nurmandi, A., Purnomo, E. P., & Muhammad, A. (2021). Disinformation and miscommunication in government communication in handling COVID-19 pandemic. Webology, 18(1), 203-218, doi: 10.14704/WEB/V18I1/WEB18084
Strömbäck, J. & Kiousis, S. (Eds.) (2020). Political public relations: Concepts, principles, and applications (2nd Edition). Routledge.
Viswanathan, V., & Jain, V. (2013). A dual-system approach to understanding “Generation Y” decision making. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(6), 484-492. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm-07-2013-0649
Windarsih, A. (2021). Public communication conflicts between the central government and the DKI Jakarta government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the International Conference on Social Science, Political Science, and Humanities (ICoSPOLHUM 2020). https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210125.012