• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.559-575
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• 2021

The popularity of K-pop, the development of diverse media and communications, and rapid globalization are increasing consumers' attachment to celebrities. These celebrities, called "Human brand", have a growing impact on consumers. However, research on idol celebrities has been conducted mainly on teenagers. Furthermore, there are limits to the studies on consumers' attachment to idol celebrities who do not advertise specific products and intention to purchase products which are not advertised but related to the idol human brand. Therefore, this study has been conducted on 301 out of 400 adult women in their twenties to forties in Korea to examine the relationship between the characteristics of the idol human brand, attachment to the idol human brand, desire to imitate the idol human brand, desire to identify with the idol human brand and its fandom community, and the effect on purchase intention. For the statistical analysis, SPSS and AMOS were used. The study found that the characteristics of the idol human brand which are trust, professionality, social attractiveness, and physical attractiveness positively influenced attachment to the idol human brand. The attachment to the idol human brand positively affected the imitation desire toward the idol human brand, and the identification desire with the idol human brand, and to identify with its fandom community. Additionally, the desire to imitate and to identify with the idol human brand and its fandom community positively affected the intention. Furthermore, the relationships between all variables were found to have a significant mediating effect.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.605-616
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• 2022

Given that the current Idol fandom has been enormously affected by the development of digital technology such as the Internet, mobile or social media, this study explored how generational fandom culture has been shifted depending on the fandom's use of differential online platforms and services, i.e., online community vs. social network services. The survey results indicate that 3^rd generation fandom showed significantly greater intimacy, greater attachment/worship, greater similarity toward Idol stars as well as greater fandom loyalty and greater fandom identity than 1^st and 2^nd generation fandom. Similarly, compared to online community centered fandom, social network centered fandom showed greater intimacy, greater attachment/worship, greater similarity as well as greater fandom loyalty and identity than community-centered fandom.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1601-1612
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• 2022

As human brands, Idols, the central members of K-pop, are actively engaging in various industries based on the support of their fandoms, greatly impacting the national economy. In particular, due to the development of digital devices and technologies, they are active both online and offline, and idol avatars are a significant part of their activities across diverse contexts. Therefore, this study aims to categorize avatars used in various contexts and explore fandoms' perceptions according to each type. Based on case studies and literature review, idol avatar usage was categorized into products, supplier-led content, and interactive content, and accordingly, surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted. As a result, regardless of category, fandom showed a negative perception of idol avatar usage, as shown in the order of interactive content, supplier-led content, and products. Regarding human brand characteristics of idol avatars, attractiveness was evaluated higher than intimacy and likeability. However, the attachment to real-life idols showed a higher correlation with the characteristics of intimacy and likeability than attractiveness. This study is significant as it looked at the future directions of idol avatar usage by analyzing the fandoms' perception of avatar usage in the K-pop industry from a human brand perspective.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1-13
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• 2018

Idol goods refer to products such as cups and towels, or mementos or souvenirs that are manufactured to gratify the desires of fandom and may include the facial images of a star. The objective of this research was to explore the purchase behaviors of K-pop idol goods. Two hundred and sixty female idol goods purchasers in their twenties participated in an online survey. Cheering tools were the most often purchased idol goods, followed by idol slogans and dolls. To investigate the difference in idol goods' attributes they considered when shopping, respondents were divided into three purchase groups based on their annual total expense for purchasing idol goods. There were significant differences among light, medium and heavy purchasers in terms of goods' price, practical features, and scarcity. The light shopper group was majorly guided by price and practical features as compared to the other two groups, and heavy shopper group was majorly guided by scarcity attribute than in the other two shopper groups. The more they identified their favorite idols, the more they worked hard, the higher their income, the higher the expenses of investing in idol products, the more likely they were to repurchase idol goods. In term of post-purchase behavior of idol goods, most idol goods purchase by fans were stored rather than used, and few indicated that they purchase two identical idol goods for use and storage.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.68-75
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• 2023

In this study, I would like to conduct a study on the design of chat UX between fandom and idol. The 1:多 form of message exposure method between idols and fandom was studied and the optimal exposure form and speed were tested. Based on the results of the experiment, 30 sentences were selected per second among various options, and based on this, the results were applied to the actual Universe platform to facilitate communication between idols and fans.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.291-302
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• 2020

Korean popular music industry, which is lead by "Idol group", has forsaken their fandom all over the world. Therefore, idol groups has become not only an artist but also the most influential people in the Korean economy. A global idol group with a strong fandom can earn more than a trillion-dollar by attracting their global fan's interest in Korea. In other words, it is considerably important to carry the idol to a successful conclusion. This study tries to expect whether the idols can be survived or not at a certain point after their debut by ANN, Decision Tree, Random Forest. We decide that certain point as the three-year and eight-year after their debut, because it is their break-even point year and the year after their average renewal of the contract. In addition, this study also explains which feature is the most important to their survival by feature importance and Logistic regression. In conclusion, features like the number of idol competitors, the number of debut members and the number of the genre are significant. These results shed light on the efficient management of K-Pop idol to improve industrial competitiveness.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.158-168
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• 2020

This paper analyzed the process of text generation of the fan-made works in Korean idol. The subjects of the study adopted the fan-made works of 'BTS' and 'EXO'. This is applied the concepts of 'Apparatus-Operator' and 'Technical form' in Vilém Flusser. Idol contents build a database of fan-made works and create the storyworld through separation and integration of fan's interpretations. By decontextualizing and recontextualizing the idol contents, fans reinforce and extend the original texts.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.221-232
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• 2019

The uniqueness of the K-Pop 'idol' culture, which is a key area of its success, can be found not only through the acceptance of diverse cultures and the strengthening of the performance capacity, but also by the effective utilization of new technological environment. As a result, the Korean idol system, which is distinguished from the Japanese idol system, is established. And these systems are evolving with new technological environments. This paper examines the process of evolution of the Korean idol system that adapts to the technical environment through the case of the idol girl group 'IZ*ONE'. 'IZ*ONE' not only achieved rapid success by actively utilizing SNS and new media and producing interactive narratives, but also establishing stable expansion and homogeneity of fandom through interactive rituals. By comparing the evolution and achievement of such a system with the Japanese idol system, we will be able to present the factors of K-Pop success more clearly.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.259-268
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• 2020

The purpose of our study is to conduct a general·quantitative analysis of fandom activities and verify their organization types and effects. The results are as follows. With regard to the comparison of effect size, the variable related to the social and economic field showed the greatest effect size, which was followed by individual behavior and individual mentality. In terms of influential factors of fandom activities, the effect size of positive variables was intermediate level while the effect size of negative variables was low level. In addition, the effect size of fandom supporting idol groups was the greatest, which was followed by of fandoms supporting sports stars, and actors. In terms of the effect size with regard to the influence on fandom among the objects of study, the effect size of university students was the greatest, which was followed by the whole, adult, middle and high school student, and middle school student. Meanwhile, the result of the analysis according to the classification by country showed that China had the greatest effect size, and the US also showed quite a big effect size. On the other hand, South Korea showed a low level of effect size.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.80
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• pp.115-142
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• 2016

This study aims to reveal the content of and logic behind a recent negative public sentiment toward female idols with the example of a debate over songstress IU's fourth album that was released late last year. While previous studies on fandom have focused on the identification process towards entertainers and making community, a recent phenomenon of "anti-fandom" or "malicious comments" implies that more research is needed on negative emotions such as hostility or schadenfreude (feelings of pleasure from others' misfortunes). Schadenfreude is a social sentiment that originated in modern liberalism, which features contradictions between public equality and private ownership, and that has been intensified in neoliberalism, which features a maximization of this contradiction centering on a meritocracy. Celebrities in Korea often become the targets of schadenfreude, which is associated with the suspicion that they gain popularity not from their abilities but from "just being popular." It should also be noted that this kind of schadenfreude operates differently between male and female entertainers. Specifically, the acquisition of money and fame by modern women whose presence used to be located in the private possessions of males is considered to be due to their unjustified use of sexuality. This is also the background of the recent online misogyny culture in Korea. In this context, IU, who had been successful at building a differentiated image of "sister-like idol artist," became a valid target. Although accusing IU of utilizing pedophilia reflects a stalemate that a current politics of sexual violence faces, it rather damages the name of an individual than attracts public attention to the structural causes of childsexualabuse. This is why I see the way that pedophilia was used in the debate over IU as a schadenfreude. Consequently, the term pedophilia here contributes to an expansion of the entertainment economy that is sustained by rises and falls of the celebrities' stock prices.