The case of the green vampire: eco-celebrity, Twitter and youth engagement

Abstract

This paper considers the intersection of the material practices of fame and environmental narrative in relation to the US actor Ian Somerhalder. Somerhalder is presently starring in the internationally distributed young adult (YA) CW network television show The Vampire Diaries, and is also a prominent 'eco-celebrity'. It examines Somerhalder's active mobilisation of his Vampire Diaries celebrity in relation to environmentalism, and the answering enthusiastic participation of at least a proportion of his fan base. Somerhalder's youth engagement, in particular via Twitter, is explored. The paper considers the balance of marketing-led versus values-led communication strategies therein (which can be understood to promote smaller behaviour changes versus broader vision changes respectively) (Bortree 2012), and the potential influence of Somerhalder on mobilising participatory environmental action, politics and consciousness amongst his youthful fan demographic. The paper takes a critically optimist view of Somerhalder's co-created 'green vampire' celebrity-fan articulations, and their collaborative potential to perform material ethics, that is, to effect change with and amongst his young fans.

The Synergy in Green Persuasion, Green Celebrity Endorsers in Green Advertising: A Study of Brand - Endorser Congruence Effects in Green Advertising

“…Star endorsers may succeed, as they are entertaining, attention-grasping, and can encourage green behaviours (Alexander, 2013;Minton & Rose, 1997), yet by looking at green ads more attentively, green consumers may study a celebrity's brand suitability more critically, while non-green consumers may fail to do so. This study firstly strives to determine if green ads profit from green celebrity endorsers.…”

“…Most green ad strategies work best on green consumers, since they actively use provided ad information (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014;Matthes & Wonneberger, 2014). Clearly, not every consumer is truly green, yet society needs a greener, sustainable consumer culture (Alexander, 2013;Kong & Zhang, 2013).…”

“…To create a green brand image, the endorser should thus have a proenvironmental image (Minton & Rose, 1997). An eco-celebritya star using fame for green purposes, promoting green values, consumption, or causes (Alexander, 2013;Winge, 2008)may be the most congruent endorser choice for green goods. Research suggested, but did not empirically assess, stars like Cate Blanchett or Harrison Ford as prime endorsers for green products, due to their environmental activities and publicity (Kong & Zhang, 2013;Spry et al, 2011).…”

Celebrity Ecologies: Introduction

“…Indeed, in celebrity biopolitics, as Boykoff and Olsen (2013) detail in this issue, there are celebrities who wish to act as 'non-change-agents'-as they discuss, in the form of oilindustry supported, climate change sceptics-as much as there are those who wish to be, act and produce themselves as 'change-agents' working in the service of green politics and progressive social change through 'awareness raising' activities as described in the papers by Anderson (2013), McCurdy (2013 and Alexander (2013). Boykoff and Olson (2013) explore the ways that a powerfully funded but extremely small and scientifically-marginalised group of climate sceptics have become media celebrities in their own right.…”

Audiences for stardom and celebrity

“…Indeed, it would be difficult to write an overview of the place of 'audiences' within star and celebrity studies without paying attention to the burgeoning body of work on Twitter (Muntean and Peterson 2009, Marwick and boyd 2011, Alexander 2013, Thomas 2014, which has contributed to debates about the apparently changing relationships between 'media, celebrity and audiences' who no longer spend 'most of their time doing the "looking" or listening' (Stevenson 2005, p. 159) (a debate that also takes in reality TV and YouTube fame). What is emphasised in particular here is the shift from a 'traditional understanding of "celebrity management" which is highly controlled and institutionalised, to one in which performers and personalities actively address and interact with fans' (Marwick and boyd 2011, p. 140), even if they do so on unequal terms (2011, p. 155).…”