K-pop Fans Research Articles

Gender Construction in the Chinese Fandom of Korean Pop Culture: A Case Study of BTS and BLACKPINK Fans

This research delves into the influence exerted by BTS and BLACKPINK, prominent K-pop idol groups, on Chinese K-pop fans’ perceptions of gender, gender equality, and inclusivity. Employing data collected through a comprehensive survey distributed among a diverse cohort of fans (35 young Chinese K- pop fans), the study examines the impact of these musical phenomena’s image and temperament on their Chinese followers’ conceptualization of gender constructs and roles. A transformation from traditional binary notions of gender is revealed, that is, most respondents ascribe gender to a complex interplay of biological sex and social constructs. Besides, Fans’ enthusiasm for gender temperaments, in particular, exhibits subtle patterns that resonate with K-pop’s acceptance of a variety of gender presentations. Overall, this study substantiates the pivotal role of popular music acts in shaping Chinese K-pop fans’ contemporary conceptions of gender and fostering a climate of inclusivity, as well as underscoring the vital importance of taking cultural context into account when interpreting gender representations in K-pop.

A Raciosemiotics of Appropriation: Transnational Performance of Raciogender among Mexican K-Pop Fans

A Raciosemiotics of Appropriation: Transnational Performance of Raciogender among Mexican K-Pop Fans

The Phenomenon of Social Disintegration Through Fanwar Between K-Popers Among College Students (A Case Study at Students Who is K-Pop Fans on Twitter)

The Phenomenon of Social Disintegration Through Fanwar Between K-Popers Among College Students (A Case Study at Students Who is K-Pop Fans on Twitter)

Communication Network Analysis K-Pop Fans Through the WhatsApp Group Application

Korea Pop (K-Pop) is a music industry originating in South Korea. Its existence is currently one of the largest music industries in the world. Talking about K-Pop is inseparable from the reality of its fans. The presence of passionate fans makes K-Pop even more popular. Fans have various ways to worship the idols they like, one of which is a shipper. Activities, issues, or rumors concerning their idols are always discussed by shippers through discussion rooms, such as the WhatsApp Group, to exchange opinions or equalize opinions. This study aims to find out what the mapping of the communication network structure looks like in a Jenlisa Universe WhatsApp Group. Jenlisa Universe is a shipper community that pairs Blackpink members Jennie and Lisa, known as Jenlisa, in a relationship. Shippers are K-Pop fans who pair their idols with other idols in a pairing relationship, which can be romantic, romantic, friendship, family, and emotional. They always connect the activities of each idol as if they have a relationship with one another. Currently, Jenlisa's shipper is included in the top 5 shippers worldwide. This is why Jenlisa's shipper was chosen as the subject of this study. The theory needed is an opinion leader, namely a figure or leader who influences a community. The approach in this study is descriptive quantitative. The method used is Communication Network Analysis with the Chat Stats WhatsApp Statistics application, Ucinet, and interviews conducted with participants in the group. The results of this study show that Jenlisa Universe, as a WhatsApp Fanbase Group, has 13 famous actors who act as opinion leaders who serve as discussion guides for rumors, cases, or Jenlisa activities in a WhatsApp Group network.

“Female empowerment is being commercialized”: online reception of girl crush trend among feminist K-pop fans

ABSTRACT This paper critically analyses the newly emerging girl crush concept in the K-pop scene, exploring how this new claimed female-empowering trend interplays with K-pop fans’ perception of feminism and empowerment. Discourse analysis reveals that K-pop fans perceive the girl crush concept as a highly commodified form of feminism that essentially safeguards the patriarchal status quo and underlying gender power relations of the K-pop industry. Although few fans celebrate this girl group concept as potentially empowering, several fans indulge in counter-discourses critically reflecting on the presence of internalized Misogyny among K-pop fandoms while also calling for a need to embrace feminist values to achieve changes within the K-pop music industry.

PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING ON CELEBRITY WORSHIP LEVELS IN EARLY ADULT KOREAN POP (K-POP) FANS

Many K-Pop fans in Indonesia, especially early adults, could lead them to celebrity worship. Celebrity worship is the worship that fans do to their idol celebrity. One of the factors that cause celebrity worship behavior is the low level of psychological well-being. Psychological well-being (PWB) is individuals’ positive attitudes towards themselves and their social environment. This research is a quantitative study with simple linear regression analysis that aims to determine the effect of PWB on celebrity worship. This study used instruments the Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales and the Celebrity Attitude Scales distributed through Google Form. The participants in this study were 378 members who joined one of the K-Pop groups on social media. The results showed that the significance value was 0,208>0,0005 (p>0,0005), so there was no significant effect between PWB on celebrity worship in early adults who like K-Pop. It concluded that the PWB does not affect the level of celebrity worship

“This Is How We Support K-pop Stars”: From Unilateral Support to Mutually Inspired Partnership

Over twenty-five years have elapsed since Korean popular music (K-pop) has become popular outside South Korea. As it has become a global cultural phenomenon, the way K-pop fans support K-pop has also changed. K-pop fans unilaterally supported their music in the 1990s. However, K-pop fandom today forms a mutually inspired and admiring partnership with their favorite stars. This paper examines the evolution of K-pop fandom from the 1990s to the present by focusing on how it transforms from an example of a para-social interaction as proposed by Horton and Wohl to an example of Partha Chatterjee’s civil society. Furthermore, the author suggests that K-pop fandom today can be understood as an example of what Michael Warner refers to as a public.

Roleplayer World: Identitas Roleplayer, Relasi, dan Komunikasi

Indonesia is one of the countries with a fairly large number of K-pop fans, which is also supported by a significant number of social media users. These two aspects create a phenomenon that is popular among fans who are active on social media, named roleplayers. Roleplayer is a term that refers to K-pop fans who create a fictional figure through a new identity on social media and live their lives and roles through such identity while keeping their true identity a secret. This article focuses on the virtual communication method that roleplayer has improved from K-pop fans.
 This study was conducted between March and July 2022, involving 18 informants who were interviewed through Zoom Meeting and Goggle Meet. Virtual participant observation was also carried through Twitter as one of the most dynamic and crowd social media with the researcher being a roleplayer and observing the uploads of roleplayer accounts and being directly involved in their communication.
 The roleplay performed by K-pop fans on social media Twitter is a fictional figure with a new identity called a roleplayer. Roleplayers live a double life with different identities, one as a roleplayer who "lives" in a virtual space and the other is a real self who lives in an actual space. Their lives in the actual world with real identities are called real life, while the roleplayer world is a "space" where they "live" with a fictional identity. Roleplayer identity and real identity must be strictly separated so that life in the roleplayer world and real life do not intersect with each other. In an effort to develop identity, roleplayers create story lines, namely a series of essays of events/stories made by roleplayers, so that it is as if the essay is a "journey of life" for them. In addition, roleplayers also establish relationships with other roleplayers, both personally and in groups. Communication is needed in carrying out these relationships. However, because the existence of roleplayers only revolves around Twitter and closes themselves to direct interaction, their method of communication is limited to text by utilizing Twitter features. However, roleplayers strive to be able to communicate as much as possible by improvising their communication methods through the use of special terms and abbreviations, imagining through text, and visualizing the text through images or videos. Basically, all identities attached to roleplayers are just fantasy or fictitious being transferred to a virtual space. But all the affection felt by the roleplayers is real, especially when a roleplayer is in a relationship with other roleplayer. Therefore, the fantasy that exists in the relationship becomes a "common property" fantasy that is connected to each other.

Between universes: Fan positionalities in the transnational circulation of K-pop

Transnational fans of South Korean pop music (K-pop) are known for their cosmopolitan sense of belonging and community beyond geocultural boundaries. Academics who are also fans (i.e. aca-fans) and who have conducted recent ethnographic studies have developed a favorable perspective on the potential of global K-pop fandom. While acknowledging the alternative force generated by the grassroots K-pop universe, this article suggests that transnational fans do not constitute a homogeneous group; rather, they inevitably have to negotiate their own positionalities, such as race and gender, when engaging with K-pop’s virtual fan universe. Drawing on qualitative interviews with K-pop fans in Canada, this study comparatively analyzes how young people of White and Asian backgrounds experience K-pop as an emerging cultural genre whose meaning is not yet clearly situated in their local contexts. The study suggests that transnational fans’ experiences reveal the gap between the socially divided real universe and the cosmopolitan virtual K-pop universe.

Hubungan Tingkat Kontrol Diri dengan Perilaku Konsumtif pada Remaja Penggemar Kpop di Komunitas ONCE Medan

This study was intended to find out the relationship between self-control and Consumtive behavior in teenagers k-pop fans in the ONCE community Medan. The research subject used in this study were 100 teenagers k-pop fans in the ONCE community at medan using purposive sampling technique. This study used quantitative method, data collection used 40-item of self-control scale and 40-item of psychological consumtive behavior scale. The assumption test consisted of normality test and linearity test. The data were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment correlation test with the SPSS version 25.0 for Windows. The data analysis showed a negative correlation between between self-control and consumtive behavior in teenagers k-pop fans in the ONCE community Medan with pearson product moment coefficient of correlation r= -0,384 dan sig sebesar 0,000 (p <0,05). These results indicate that the research hypothesis is accepted. Meanwhile, the effective contribution of self-control in influencing consumptive behavior is 14.7 percent. From these results, it is concluded that the hypothesis, which stated that there is a negative relationship between selfcontrol and consumtive behavior is acceptable.

Indonesian K-Pop fans: The relationship between ARMY-BTS identity and their demographic

This article analysed the fans’ identity among K-Pop fans in Indonesia, especially BTS fans. The study aimed to explore how these fans express their identity as fans both internally and externally despite negative stereotyping of loyal K-Pop fans. Using a quantitative method through online surveys based on the fans-identity scale approach, the research surveyed a total of 243 BTS fans in Indonesia. Results showed that BTS fans had a positive tendency toward overall fan characteristics. None of the characteristics showed a negative score. It indicated that there was a high loyalty among the fans. Almost all six-behaviour dimensions observed correlated with all seven fans-identity characters. “Specific social media accounts followed” showed no correlation with “enjoyment” and “identity” respectively. However, high loyalty and a large number of fan-based did not translate into monetization for official merchandise. Results showed a low number of purchases for official merchandise and global membership package.

PERILAKU PEMBELIAN IMPULSIF MERCHANDISE K-POP PADA REMAJA WANITA KOMUNITAS STAY DITINJAU DARI GAYA HIDUP

K-pop fans have a habit of buying popular idol merchandise. Merchandise purchases become impulsive if done continuously, spontaneously, and suddenly. One of the factors influencing this impulsive purchase is lifestyle. The purpose of this study is to find out the relationship between lifestyle and K-pop merchandise impulsive purchase behavior in adolescents’ women of STAY community in Surabaya. The subjects in the study involved 102 adolescents’ women joining the STAY community in Surabaya and a population of 138. Sampling retrieval techniques use purposive sampling techniques with quantitative research designs. Hypothesis testing using the product moment correlation test obtained a score of 0.654 with significance p = 0,000 (P<0,01) indicating that there is a significant positive relationship between lifestyle and impulsive buying behavior of K-pop merchandise in female adolescents of the STAY community in Surabaya. So, it can be interpreted that the higher one's lifestyle, the higher the impulsive buying behavior of K-pop merchandise in adolescents’ women of STAY community in Surabaya.

Pengaruh Nct Dream sebagai Brand Ambassador dan Brand Image terhadap Perilaku Impulse Buying pada Produk Mie Instan Lemonilo


 
 The use of brand ambassadors has recently become a trend and is widely used in various products. Popular culture from South Korea brings new impacts to the business world, one of which is in product promotion or marketing. This study aims to determine: (1) the effect of NCT Dream as a brand ambassador on impulse buying behavior on instant noodle products lemonilo, (2) influence of brand image on impulse buying behavior lemonilo instant noodle products. (3) the influence of the NCT Dream brand ambassador and brand image together on impulse buying on Lemonilo instant noodle products. This study is a quantitative study using survey methods so that the population in this study are K-pop fans who live in Yogyakarta who know about NCT Dream and Lemonilo products. In taking samples using purposive sampling technique. Data collection uses a questionnaire method that has been tested for validity and reliability. This study uses a sampling technique by distributing questionnaires to take a sample of 75 people so that they can be tested for validity and reliability. With a 95% confidence level, the findings of this study indicate that brand ambassadors have a significant effect on impulse buying and brand image has a significant effect on impulse buying, and brand ambassadors and brand image have a joint effect on impulse buying behavior. This finding has implications for lemonilo products that the use of brand ambassadors can improve brand image and affect impulse buying behavior.
 Keywords: Brand Ambassadors; Brand Image; Impulse Buying Behavior

The Influence of Fanaticism and Consumptive Behavior Towards Financial Literacy in K-Pop Fans: A Study In An Entrepreneurship-Based University

This study aim to examine the effect of fanaticism and consumptive behaviour on financial literacy among K-pop fans. This study uses a quantitative approach with multiple linear regression and sample of 243 respondents from population of 563 people was collected through questionnaires. The result of this study is fanaticism affects financial literacy in a significant positive way, but consumptive behaviour does not affect financial literacy in K-pop fans, which is an interesting finding from this study because the research sample is student who study at entrepreneurship-based-universities.

PENGARUH KOREAN WAVE, PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIP, DAN BRAND AMBASSADOR TERHADAP BRAND LOYALTY

Hallyu or commonly known as the Korean wave includes Korean traditional culture which is then combined with various fields, such as in music there is K-Pop, in the field of food K-Food, in the field of fashion known as K-Style, and also in the field of film or drama better known as K-Movie or K-Drama. K-Pop fans are said to be loyal fans because of the parasocial relationship that occurs between fans and idol characters. Therefore, fans will enthusiastically buy or use products advertised by idol characters. This study aims to identify the effect of Korean wave, parasocial relationship, and brand ambassador on the loyalty of Shopee users in Malang. This is explanatory research, which explains the relationships between variables being studied. The data of this research was harvested from online questionnaires through Google Forms, distributed to 100 Shopee users in Malang as the sample. Here multiple linear regression analysis was conducted in IBM SPSS 28.0. this study finds that Korean wave does not significantly influence the brand loyalty of Shopee users in Malang city, that parasocial relationship does not significantly affects the brand loyalty of Shopee users in Malang city, and that brand ambassador positively and significantly influences the brand loyalty of Shopee users in Malang city.

Korean-popular Facebook fan page analytics in Thailand

<span lang="EN-US">The purpose of this study was to gather, analyze, and elaborate big data on Facebook’s essential information, with a specific focus on the information obtained from Korean-popular (K-Pop) fan pages on the social networking site. For this analysis, a total of 3,531,736 comments by Korean-pop fans were gathered from various K-pop Facebook pages. In order to interpret how 11 extremely popular Facebook pages shape Thai fans’ enthusiasm for the South Korean music industry, descriptive statistics and visualization analysis were employed. Finally, data analytics and correlation analysis were used to evaluate the essential understanding of the Facebook pages. The research revealed three key findings: i) K-pop fan pages provide more opportunities for Thai fans to express their support for K-pop artists and advocate for causes, ii) K-pop fan pages provide more opportunities for Thai fans to communicate with K-pop artists, and iii) K-pop fan pages build opportunities for Thai fans to establish a more glamorous online presence despite limitations concerning financial resources, foreign language skills, and opportunities. In the future, the research outcomes may be valuable for academic studies and practice.</span>

Building Online Social Identity and Fandom Activities of K-pop Fans on Twitter

K-pop fans are widely known to use social media as a platform for their activities. Over the years, they have built online communities, which are called fandoms. K-pop fandoms are zealous in fandom activities that some abused were detected, such as spreading false news and provocating fandom wars. These could potentially lead to cyberbullying and damage the quality of online social interaction. The fans are not careful about their actions as they are using the online social identity. Thus their real identity is saved. Hence, the purposes of this study are to analyse the online social identity of K-pop fandom members, how they were introduced to the K-pop world and the purpose(s) of the fandom activities. A total of 30 participants were interviewed online for this study. Thematic analysis of the interview was done based on three stages of Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory (1979) which is (1) characteristic, (2) social identification, and (3) social comparison, and Bennett’s Four Areas of Fandom (2014) which are (1) communication, (2) creativity, (3) knowledge and (4) civic power and organisation. The findings of this research revealed six characteristics of the fans’ online social identity as K-pop fans, the influential factors that introduced them to K-pop, and details on their fandom activities. This study provides insights into the online social identity of K-pop fans and fandom activities on Twitter. Further research is recommended to explore the language used by the K-pop community for inter- and intra-group communications, which will further enrich the understanding of this online social community. Keywords : Social Identity; K-pop; Fandom; Areas of Fandom; fandom wars

MULTILINGUALISM IN SOCIAL MEDIA: INDONESIAN K-POP FANS LANGUAGE CHOICES ON TWITTER

This research paper aims to identify multilingualism and language choice by looking at types of code-switching and code-mixing techniques practiced by Indonesian K-Pop fans on Twitter. Also, it examines the rationales and functions of such practice, especially as it is done in Indonesian context. Two data collection methods are used in this research. First, data were taken from several Indonesian K-pop fanbase accounts on Twitter from September 2020 to May 2021. Additionally, we also obtained data through an open-ended questionnaire participated by Indonesian K-pop fans. Our research shows that Indonesian K-Pop fans frequently implement code-switching and code-mixing techniques by combining Indonesian, English, Korean, and Japanese into their tweets. Words, phrases, and clauses from multiple languages are used. The results also show that fans practice code- switching and code-mixing in order to project a more globalized impression, create a friendly conversation, synchronize perceptions, boost language skills, and form identity.

Public reception of young K-pop fans in Vietnam, 2011–19

"Water buffalo youth," "mixed-race," and "out of control" are notable mainstream terms publicly used to refer to Korean popular music (hereafter "K-pop") fans in Vietnam. In a de-Westernization of fandom studies via a Vietnamese case study of the complicated relationship between nationalistic discourses and transcultural fandom, a cultural frame surrounding mainstream online news representations and public reception of young K-pop fans may be constructed, specifically the dominant shift in the mainstream narrative about Vietnamese K-pop fans between 2011 and 2019 in relation to politicized notions of shame and pride. These findings reveal and complicate various cultural, political, and ideological subjectivities of contemporary Vietnam that are similar to China's ambiguous reception of the Korean Wave. Studying a global and transcultural phenomenon like K-pop in different national contexts remains relevant and important.

Homeland vs. Korean idols: Cyber-nationalism in Chinese K-Pop Fandom

Cyber-nationalism in China which has become more salient over the last decade is a major factor that contributes to increasing anti-Korean sentiments in China. By interviewing 20 Chinese K-Pop fans, this study explores how Chinese K-Pop fandoms display and construct their nationalism and how they negotiate their love for Korean idols and their homeland China. Once criticized as unpatriotic, K-pop fandoms declare their hated towards Korea and stay vigilant about Korean stars’ political speech to rationalize their fanship of Korean stars. This phenomenon reflects strong nationalism of Chinese fans that mediate their consumption of K-Pop.