Politicizing for the idol: China’s idol fandom nationalism in pandemic

Wang, Yan; Luo, Ting

doi:10.1080/1369118x.2022.2161827

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Even during the amendment protests of "Draft Hong Kong Extradition Ordinance" in 2019 and during the Covid-19 epidemic, female fan groups in China used their organised management experience and familiarity with social media platforms to successfully mobilise two large-scale cyber-nationalist actions. Constructing the country as an idol, they used digital Internet technology to form a powerful unorganised organisational force by accessing blocked foreign social networking sites and attacking posts critical of the Chinese government therein, making a significant contribution to defending the image and interests of the country as an idol [41,42].…”

Section: Female Fansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Manifestations of Para-social Interactions between Female Fans and Male Idols in China

2024

IJEH

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This study aims to reveal the gendered manifestations of para-social interactions between female fans and male idols in social media platforms in China, to clarify in which aspects they serve to reinforce the traditional gender order and in which aspects they deviate from the traditional gender norms, with a view to contributing positively to the optimisation of the relationship between female fans and male idols. Digital ethnography approach is used in this work, based on the Sina Weibo platform, to conduct a 15-day online observational study of seven Chinese male idols, namely Ma Jiaqi, Liu Yaowen, Song Yaxuan, Deng Jiaxin, Tang Yuzhe, Zhu Yilong, and Yang Yang, as well as their female fans. The blind consumption and unpaid labour of Chinese female fans for their male idols, as well as the polygamous "courtly love" relationship between the two, reaffirm and reinforce the traditional gender order. At the same time, the transformation of Chinese female fans from erotic objects to erotic subjects, their love for multiple male idols, their concern for ambiguous relationships between male idols, and their adherence to self-principle and subjectivity have rebelled against and even subverted traditional gender norms. However, the power to counteract the traditional gender order is not strong enough, and is still limited by factors such as exclusivity within the fan community, heterosexual hegemony, and idolatry that is as crazy and irrational as religious beliefs.

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Section: Female Fansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Manifestations of Para-social Interactions between Female Fans and Male Idols in China

2024

IJEH

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“…For instance, Wang (2020) conducted a case study about Luo Tianyi, a Chinese virtual idol, to analyze the power of virtual idols in communication strategy. The survey study mentioned that the popularity of Luo Tianyi suggested a shift in discourse power from enterprises to audiences and indicated that Luo Tianyi enjoyed a high level of consumer recognition and satisfaction when she was used in product endorsements (Wang, 2020). However, are virtual idols as effective as traditional celebrities and online influencers in product endorsements?…”

Section: Types Of Celebrity Endorsers In Advertising Their Characteri...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual idols vs online influencers vs traditional celebrities: how young consumers respond to their endorsement advertising

Fan,

Fu,

Jiang

2023

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Purpose This study aims to examine how young consumers perceive the advertising effectiveness of endorsements by virtual idols and how endorsements by virtual idols differ from endorsements by real human celebrities such as traditional celebrities and online influencers. Design/methodology/approach An experimental study was conducted with 400 randomly selected young respondents in China in December 2022. A 3 × 2 factorial design was used to test how the type of celebrity endorser and level of product involvement influence the persuasiveness of advertising aimed at young adults. Among 400 respondents, the average age was 21.5 years. A total of 193 male and 207 female respondents participated in the experiment. Findings Young consumers find virtual idols, online influencers and traditional celebrities attractive. Although virtual idols are the least credible among the three types of celebrity endorsers, young consumers tend to be more convinced by their endorsements of products with low levels of consumer involvement than those with high levels of involvement. Among the three types of celebrity endorsements, young consumers find traditional celebrities the most effective. In addition, young consumers’ attitudes toward celebrity endorsers mediate the impact of celebrity endorsers’ attractiveness and credibility on their attitudes toward the advertisements. The perceived level of product involvement moderates the transfer of meaning from the attitude toward the celebrity endorsers to the attitude toward the advertisement. Practical implications First, when choosing celebrity endorsers to advertise products targeting young consumers, marketing communication practitioners should give priority to the endorsers’ perceived credibility, as young consumers have a variety of views about them that can significantly affect their attitudes toward the advertisement. Second, real human celebrity endorsers are more effective than virtual idols in celebrity endorsements. However, virtual idols may be suited for use in advertisements to promote products with low involvement levels, such as soft drinks. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first experimental study to attempt to analyze the effectiveness of virtual idols in advertising aimed at young consumers. This is also the first comparative study to introduce virtual idols as celebrity endorsers in product advertising and to compare their effectiveness with that of the two other types of commonly discussed celebrity endorsers, traditional celebrities and online influencers.

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“…This shift has allowed fandoms to push far beyond organized appreciation of an artist or art and into highly efficacious political activity (Dean, 2017;Petersen et al, 2023). Studies in this vein have described how fandoms influence online and real-life events, such as helping enforce censorship and disseminating talking points of the state (Luo & Li, 2022;Wang & Luo, 2023).…”

Section: Fandomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…K-Pop fandoms have emerged as a unique and influential force in the global entertainment industry, with a massive and engaged fanbase that extends beyond entertainment consumption (Wang & Luo, 2023).…”

Section: K-pop and Btsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The BTS Effect: How K-Pop Fandoms Reshape Sociopolitical Messaging on Twitter

Regla-Vargas,

Alvero,

Kao

2023

Preprint

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K-Pop Boy Group BTS’s tweet in support of #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate was the most retweeted tweet of 2021, spawning a million retweets and 2.4 million likes. Using an original dataset of 2.5 million tweets, we utilize Structural Topic Modeling and Word-Shift Graphs to examine how the quantity and content of tweets changed from before to after BTS’s tweet in March 2021. Our original dataset of tweets includes a sample of tweets from the week prior to the Atlanta murders that prompted BTS’s tweet to the week after BTS’s tweet. Following BTS’ tweet, we found a 21% increase in tweets containing the #StopAAPI and #StopAsianHate hashtags. Beyond the hashtags, we also found that the content of the tweets shifted from more passive, descriptive language to action-oriented language. Specific words that were used more frequently included "stand", "BTS", and "discrimination." Similarly, we found that topics about "Standing against Asian hate", "BTS ARMY against Asian hate", and "Stop Asian hate" became more prevalent. Finally, the tweets shifted from the local (LA, Atlanta, US) to the global (“world” and “worldwide”). Combined, these results highlight the influential role of cultural icons in amplifying social messages and carry significant implications for understanding the evolving nature of collective mobilization in the digital era.

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Politicizing for the idol: China’s idol fandom nationalism in pandemic

Cited by 6 publications

References 40 publications

Gendered Manifestations of Para-social Interactions between Female Fans and Male Idols in China

Gendered Manifestations of Para-social Interactions between Female Fans and Male Idols in China

Virtual idols vs online influencers vs traditional celebrities: how young consumers respond to their endorsement advertising

The BTS Effect: How K-Pop Fandoms Reshape Sociopolitical Messaging on Twitter

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