Celebrity endorsement has become a common tool in environmental conservation to communicate messages, promote sustainable lifestyles and influence behaviour. However, the evidence supporting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement in achieving conservation objectives remains limited. The use of celebrities has become particularly popular in efforts to influence consumption of illegally traded wildlife in East and Southeast Asia, with numerous celebrity campaigns being implemented in China, Vietnam, Thailand, among other countries in the last decade. Illegal wildlife trade threatens many species worldwide. China and Vietnam have been identified as prominent end-markets where vast quantities of high-profile wildlife products are destined for use and consumption. One group of species threatened by illegal trade and consumption in this region is pangolins. Trade data suggests declines in two of the species native to East and Southeast Asia, the Sunda (Manis javanica) and Chinese pangolins (M. pentadactyla) has resulted from the advent of illegal trade in pangolins in East and Southeast Asia. In this thesis, I aim to explore the use of celebrities as messengers for demand reduction interventions in the illegal wildlife trade space, focusing on a case study to reduce consumption of wild meat, inclusive of pangolin meat, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The first half of my thesis creates a knowledge base on the use of celebrities in conservation campaigns, identifying research gaps in the use of celebrity endorsement in the field, and builds evidence and understanding on consumption of pangolin meat and wild meat in my study site. I find that the use of celebrities in this field has been poorly evidenced and there is currently no proof that celebrity endorsement is effective in achieving conservation objectives. My results indicate there is active pangolin consumption in Ho Chi Minh City and suggest that the prevalence of this consumption is likely higher than previously reported. I report a prevalence for pangolin meat consumption at 7.1%, at 10.1% for scales and 6.5% for pangolin wine – all from a representative sample of the city. Additionally, I find more heterogeneity among consumers of wild meat in the city than what has been described in existing studies, specifically in regards to income, age, education and profession. In the second half, I explore the application of celebrity endorsement to influence behaviour in my case study, combining behavioural and celebrity influence models and theory. I find that an evidence-based selected celebrity could have the potential to influence the behaviour of consumers of wild meat in the city. In addition, I present a decision-making guide for the design of future celebrity-endorsed conservation interventions. Lastly, I test a novel approach on my case study to propose an intervention concept to reduce consumption of wild meat in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This thesis makes analytical, conceptual and empirical contributions to the biodiversity conservation field; in particular to knowledge of the use of celebrities in conservation and remaining gaps, the consumption of pangolin meat and wild meat in Vietnam, and efforts to design celebrity-endorsed interventions to achieve conservation objectives
