When it comes to helping products sell, almost two in five U.S. adults (37 percent) find business leaders to be the most persuasive endorsers of products in advertising. On the other side of the situation, two in five Americans (39 percent) say they find former political figures to be least persuasive when they endorse a product in an advertisement, according to a new Adweek Media/Harris Poll survey of 2,186 U.S. adults.

 

Looking at other types of celebrities and their persuasiveness, one in five Americans (21 percent) say they find athletes to be most persuasive when they endorse a product, followed by 18 percent who say television or movie stars are most persuasive, 14 percent who say singers or musicians and 10 percent who say former political figures are most persuasive.

 

When it comes to how other celebrities rank in the category of least persuasive, almost one-quarter (23 percent) say television or movie stars are least persuasive, while 14 percent say business leaders are least persuasive. Just over one in ten Americans (13 percent) say when athletes endorse a product they find them least persuasive and 11 percent say singers or musicians are least persuasive.

 

Certain celebrities are seen as more persuasive from the eyes of different age groups. Almost half of those who are aged 55 and older (46 percent) say business leaders are most persuasive compared to only 28 percent of those who are 18-34 years old.  One quarter of those aged 18-34 (23 percent) say television or movie stars are most persuasive while only 15 percent of those aged 55 and older feel the same way.

 

There is also a difference among those who are seen as least persuasive. Almost half of those aged 35-44 (45 percent) say they feel former political figures are least persuasive when they endorse a product compared to one-third of those aged 18-34 years old (33 percent).