Para-kin relationship between fans and you will idols: an effective qualitative research away from admirers’ motivations for buying idol-dolls

Mission

The reason for this research is to examine how “mommy admirers” affect the present models of parasocial dating between admirers and you may idols and gain better knowledge with the motives fundamental brand new purchase of idol dolls. Likewise, of the like the feel and you may viewpoints of men idol fans, the study aims in order to broaden new understanding of lover behavior and increase understanding of brand new motives riding idol-toy use.

Design/methodology/method

Delivering idol-doll consumers due to the fact research things, this research held textual data plus-depth interviews to explore fans’ reasons for buying idol dolls.

Results

Idol toy purchases are passionate by the kirgizistani kvinnor mental connection, such as for example among mother admirers which seek to present a sense of manage and maintain a mother or father–child matchmaking. At exactly the same time, to buy idol dolls may also act as an effective disguise to own girlfriend fans to full cover up their personal goals about their idols. Moreover, idol dolls serve as semiotic identifiers, drawing such as for instance-oriented admirers and you will wearing community identification. It needs to be listed one male idol fans, who’re noticed deviant from the masculine normative, deal with scrutiny within the feminine-dominated groups, searching for subsequent evidence of authenticity.

Important implications

This study promotes understanding the motives at the rear of idol-toy instructions and certainly will let advertisers inside the providing toward emotional needs out of fans, instance mother fans, because of the creating and you may sale dolls that resonate the help of its wanted sense of accessory.

Personal ramifications

Because of the recognizing and focusing on the good regions of fan items, this study causes the fresh constant procedure of de–demonization and normalization out-of fandom. Additionally, this research including tries in order to contribute to a very full wisdom of your own battles and emotional requires of one’s Chinese more youthful age bracket.

Originality/really worth

This research examines the fresh new lower than-researched mom-fan group’s emotional need as well as their motivations of shopping for idol-dolls. In addition, it understands the new line of point of views and you may knowledge out of male idol admirers, bringing a brand new and you will novel thoughts towards idol-toy practices.

step 1 Addition

“ tabindex=“0″> centered on celebrities’ appearances was in fact sold because a different sort of form to own Chinese admirers to share with you its solid love because of their beloved idols, ultimately causing the manufacture of a different Chinese fandom community. Toward Weibo (one of the most popular social media platforms into the China), the web based society to have idol-doll-creators, consumers, and idol fans is now offering built-up more 460,000 followers that will be very feminine-reigned over. About program, it’s quite common for fans, who has a massive type of idol dolls, to share adorable images and express its event for the putting on a costume and you may applying make-up on the “newborns.” With regards to the newest consumer statement, among the idol-doll players, the latest post-2000 generation is short for the best proportion, getting together with 43 %, with the new blog post-1995 generation ranks 2nd, having a proportion in the twenty six % (“2021 Cotton Doll Members Belief Statement” 2021). Therefore, Generation Z, people, individuals born between the later 1990s and also the very early 2010s (Priporas et al. 2020), positively engages having idol-doll requests by way of interactive social networking platforms.

On point in time of participatory fandom and you can lover discount, fans’ consumption tastes and their sensed experience of idols are particularly subjects away from instructional search. Ways admirers relate to famous people might have been defined as parasocial interaction-this new nonreciprocal, imaginary telecommunications anywhere between fans and you can news personae (Liebers and you will Schramm 2019; Yan and you can Yang 2021). In recent years, fans positively entering the fresh parasocial dating fantasize regarding a close kinship with idols, provided that they could manage, or at least have an evident standard of impact on the idols. Toward Chinese social network, there can be a trend where fans, specifically lady, refer to on their own because the idols’ parents, aunts, or siblings. When you are past research has commonly checked-out parasocial relationships predicated on heterosexual norms and you will fans’ close ambitions in the idols (i.age., “girlfriend/partner fans” of idols), little might have been known on “mommy admirers”,“Mother fans,” relate to admirers (generally feminine admirers) who will be co-fostering idols/superstars as his or her senior female loved ones. They claim on their own once the mother of your own idol and they are indulgent to help you idols, getting them while the cute, simple kids who are in need of its special care (Yan and you can Yang 2021).