MUSICAL CELEBRITIES AS A POLITICAL ENDORSER IN THE NEW NORMAL DURING THE 2022 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Celebrity endorsement is an emerging marketing tool for the presentation and promotion of goods and services for greater appeal and patronage among consumers. Musical Celebrities are well known musical icons who are hired for political advertising tools in the presentation and promotion of political office seekers during electioneering campaigns. Existing studies on political communication and strategies in the promotion of candidates for elective positions among voters have focused on the influence of party manifestoes, candidates' persuasive communication skills and track records of performance as some of the political factors of the endorsement on the campaign rallies with little attention paid to the endorsement potential of musical Celebrities among voting population. This paper therefore was to examine the roles of Musical Celebrities as political influencers and endorsers in the new normal on the campaign trails during the 2022 gubernatorial election in Osun State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was employed, with Source Credibility Model as framework. The voters in the three senatorial districts of Osun State with the total of 3, 416, 959 of residents as the study population. 400 voters formed the sample size using Taro Yamane formular while Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the participants for the study. Copies of questionnaire were administered to gather quantitative data which were analyzed through descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages. Findings revealed that most of the respondents were not influenced into voting for any of the candidates because it was difficult for voting population to distinguish between Celebrities who were famous for their musical skills and those who are popular for their notoriety. It was further revealed that candidates manifestoes, credibility and popular acceptability determined the voters' decision in 2022 gubernatorial election in Osun State. It is recommended that voters decisions at elections should be based on issues affecting the well-being of voters and not on musical Celebrities.