http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/economy_finances/report-79659.html 

Research conducted at the University of Bath, UK, and University of St Gallen, Switzerland showed that many corporations are wasting millions of dollars by offering contracts to celebrities to appear in advertisements for their products.  The study showed that the use of ordinary people in advertisements is more effective than high profile, global superstars such as David Beckham.  When 298 students were shown two testimonials, one by a fellow student and the other allegedly by a celebrity, the subjects were more likely to be influenced by their peer’s statements than the celebrity’s, particularly when they had expressed the desire to impress others with the products they buy.   Essentially, people want to buy products that will be deemed cool or fashionable in their own social circle and with ordinary people like themselves.  Additionally, those who weren’t interested in gaining peer approval completely disregarded endorsements, and looked only to the quality of the product. 

 Early in the course we discussed some of the shortfalls of using graphs as representations of different types of networks.  In the case of celebrity endorsements, it can be said that the lack of a weight system causes corporations to overestimate the degree to which a celebrity’s star power influences ordinary people’s day to day buying decisions.  The fact that those around us, even people we can’t name or do not have any connection to, often have more “power” over what we choose to buy, wear, consume, and how we behave, than the likes of David Beckham do, is not an obvious conclusion that can be drawn from the extensive global name-recognition network of such superstars.   

What this study shows is that there is some intrinsic property of human behavior that causes what I would call, The Power of Proximity.  In any given social network, where people are represented by nodes, and their physical proximity is reflected in the graph, there is a gradation of power, or influence, that any node has over the nodes around it, that is independent of the presence of edges between them, and depends on the physical distance between the two people.  In other words, Madonna might decide to wear a space helmet to her next album signing.  And while I know who Madonna is, and while millions of people may agree that she is a legend, it is highly unlikely that I would wear a space helmet to the library as a result of her fashion statement.  The reason is that those who would be around me at the library, such a peers, staff, and professors, would probably make fun of me if I did.  Although I may not have any ties, weak or strong, to any of the dozens of people at Libe Café, when I am sitting there, doing work, their presence alone is something that I must consider when deciding what is appropriate attire and behavior.  The same can’t be said for Madonna or any other high profile celebrity.