ABSTRACT
The proliferation of entertainment media worldwide in recent decades has made celebrities powerful agents of social change. The extensive reach of entertainment media expanded the influence of celebrities across socioeconomic, political, and cultural boundaries (Brown & Singhal, 1999). Although a number of scholars addressed the influence of celebrities on culture from an historical-critical perspective (Boorstin, 1961; Braudy, 1986; Gamson, 1994), very few communication theorists and researchers systematically explored the effects of celebrities on individual and social values, beliefs, and behavior.
