It's rarely if ever been a selling point on its own, but it can often nudge someone who's on the fence.
For instance, I was starting to fall off with Pixar movies around the time Inside Out came out and was dragging my feet over seeing it, but the thought of Lewis Black playing the literal personification of Anger was definitely a motivating factor that ultimately convinced me to watch it.
That's....actually pretty fair.Lewis Black being a Voice in Inside Out was 100% the lone reason I watched it.
I saw a trailer for Paw Patrol, and all it did the entire time was talk about all of the celebrities they got to voice act.
It didn't even show the main characters.
Names draw attention. I agree that it shouldn't be the main selling point like it was for that one Daisy Ridley-voiced game from a few years back, but celebrities get more media attention which means more consumers hear about the product and re-hear about it, which reinforces the liklihood of seeing or playing or listening to something.
Same for directors or companies or musicians or what have you. If you like someone's work, even if it's just their acting ability, voice or otherwise, you're more likely to consume it than something entirely new by parties you've never heard of.
Jackie Chan dubbing Jackie Chan gets me in there.
Names draw attention. I agree that it shouldn't be the main selling point like it was for that one Daisy Ridley-voiced game from a few years back, but celebrities get more media attention which means more consumers hear about the product and re-hear about it, which reinforces the liklihood of seeing or playing or listening to something.
Same for directors or companies or musicians or what have you. If you like someone's work, even if it's just their acting ability, voice or otherwise, you're more likely to consume it than something entirely new by parties you've never heard of.
Like, I get the idea behind it. But how many butts in seats does simply a celebrity's voice get? Not as much as actually seeing the celebrity perform, I imagine. It only really works when a character is MADE for that celebrity like Robin Williams' Genie.