CELEBRITY promotion of charities is ineffective at raising awareness but can make the stars more popular with the public, a study says.

A survey of more than 2,000 people found two thirds could not link any celebrity with a list of seven well-known charities and aid organisations they worked for.

Stars did not support charities for self promotion but this was the unintended outcome of their work, researchers concluded.

The seven organisations mentioned in the survey were Action Aid, Amnesty International, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Save the Children and the Red Cross.

The study was carried out by professors Spencer Henson from the University of Sussex and Dan Brockington from the University of Manchester.

They said: “Our survey found that while awareness of major NGOs (non-governmental organisations) brands was high, awareness of celebrity advocates for those brands was low.

"Instead it was plain from the focus groups that most people supported the charities that they supported because of personal connections in their lives and families.”

"The evidence suggests therefore that the ability of celebrity advocacy to reach people is limited and dominated in Britain by some extremely prominent telethons and the work of a few stars.”