The Most Appealing Celebrity in America is____?

by Steve Levitt

Fill in the celebrity of your choice and you are probably way off target!

Could it be Oprah, Kim K., Sofia V., Clooney, Julia?????

Actually, it's Betty White!!  Believe it or not.  She achieved the highest Q Score in our most recent study of 1800 celebrities released in March 2012.  To be fair, however, she tied with Tom Hanks who has been at or near the top for 10 years running.

Betty White demonstrates remarkable staying power with high awareness, averaging nearly 70% recognition among all Americans since 2004.  As seen below, she has grown significantly in her appeal over the past 8 years.

		2004	2007	2010	2012
		%	%	%	%
Positive Q Score		27	30	40	51
Negative Q Score		14	13	10	9

To say she is adored in her "Hot in Cleveland" role and other guest TV appearances during this time frame is clearly an understatement.

Paul McCartney More Appealing than John Lennon

by Steve Levitt

While on the surface it may seem like an “apples to oranges” comparison, the Q Scores methodology provides the basis for a fair evaluation of living vs. deceased performers. Since both Performer Q and Dead Q use the same methodology including our “Favorites” rating scale, a head-to-head comparison is clearly valid.

Paul McCartney achieved a positive Q Score of 36 in the Summer 2010 Performer Q study of 1,800 performers, while John Lennon’s positive Q Score was 30 in the Fall 2009 Dead Q study of 150 Performers of the Past. It should be noted that this comparison reflects the opinions of adults 50+ over and not the total adult population.

Interestingly, Ringo Starr (23) was much less appealing than McCartney (36), while George Harrison (26) scored only somewhat below Lennon (30). And, on the negative side, Ringo Starr displayed the highest negative Q Score of the four Beatles.

In a before-and-after scenario, George Harrison rated better in death than he did while alive. His positive Q Score rose from 14 to 26 while his negative Q Score dropped from 23 to 12. It can be noted that Michael Jackson also displayed substantially higher positives and much lower negatives after his death.