Television personalities, musicians, movie stars, fashion models, athletes, and other entertainers have become shared experiences, which we can use in various ways. Strangers and casual acquaintances use celebrities, like the weather, as a comfortable and easy way to break the ice in conversations. Friends use celebrities as topics of conversation, arguing about the merits of their favorite stars or sharing their favorite moments from a movie or television program. Because they are shared, celebrities can serve as a point of reference in commercial transactions as well. Because everyone knows what Dorothy Hamill or Princess Di looks like, they can be models for haircuts.
Stars also contribute directly to the efficient functioning of markets.
For example, Tiger Woods is too busy playing golf to learn much about most of the products he endorses. Fans thus know they can expect a product of a certain kind when they see Woods's endorsement. The company, Woods, and the fans are all better off, as a result of this voluntary exchange. The world of fame does more than lubricate the market mechanism. It also satisfies the expressive dimension of the human psyche.