Para-kin matchmaking between admirers and you can idols: good qualitative research away from admirers’ motivations for buying idol-dolls

Purpose

The goal of this study will be to take a look at how “mom admirers” impact on the present models out-of parasocial relationship anywhere between admirers and you will idols and to obtain better information toward motives hidden brand new purchase of idol dolls. As well, by including the event and perspectives out-of men idol fans, the research tries so you can increase the newest comprehension of enthusiast decisions and you may promote understanding of brand new motives operating idol-doll use.

Design/methodology/means

Getting idol-doll consumers since lookup things, this study presented textual data along with-depth interviews to explore fans’ motivations for buying idol dolls.

Findings

Idol doll instructions is actually inspired by mental accessory, like among mommy admirers which seek to expose a sense of control and keep maintaining a moms and dad–child relationship. At exactly the same time, to purchase idol dolls can also serve as an effective disguise having girlfriend admirers to hide its romantic ambitions about their idols. Additionally, idol dolls act as semiotic identifiers, attracting such-inclined fans and you can wearing community recognition. It must be detailed you to definitely men idol admirers, who are noticed deviant about male normative, face scrutiny inside the female-ruled teams, in need of after that proof of credibility.

Fundamental ramifications

This research encourages knowing the motivations behind idol-toy instructions and certainly will let marketers during the catering into the psychological means out-of admirers, including mom fans, by the designing and you can profit dolls one to resonate the help of its wanted experience of attachment.

Social effects

By accepting and you may emphasizing the good regions of lover situations, this study leads to the constant procedure of de-demonization and you may normalization from fandom. Additionally, this study together with tries to help you join a far more comprehensive expertise of one’s fight and you will emotional requires of the Chinese young age group.

Originality/well worth

This research explores this new significantly less than-explored mother-lover group’s psychological demands and their motivations of purchasing idol-dolls. It also acknowledges the brand new distinctive line of point of views and you will skills of male idol admirers, providing a unique and you will unique opinion on idol-toy practices.

step one Addition

” tabindex=”0″> according to celebrities’ looks have been offered due to the fact an alternate function having Chinese fans to fairly share its solid love because of their dear idols, ultimately causing the production of a different sort of Chinese fandom people. For the Weibo (one of the most prominent social media systems inside Asia), the web people to own idol-doll-founders, consumers, and you may idol fans is now offering accumulated over 460,000 supporters in fact it is highly women-dominated. On this subject platform, it is common enthusiasts, who’s got a huge type of idol dolls, to publish lovable images and display their skills inside dressing and applying cosmetics on the “infants.” With respect to the latest individual declaration, among the many idol-doll users, the newest blog post-2000 age group is short for the highest ratio, reaching 43 %, followed closely by the fresh article-1995 generation ranking second, having a percentage at twenty six % (“2021 Cotton fiber Toy Players Opinion Declaration” 2021). Hence, Age group Z, anyone, people born amongst the later 1990s plus the very early 2010s (Priporas mais aussi al. 2020), positively engages which have idol-toy instructions as a consequence of interactive social networking systems.

On the era away from participatory fandom and you will fan savings, fans’ practices tastes as well as their seen experience of idols are victims off academic browse. Ways fans connect with a-listers could have been identified as parasocial interaction-the newest nonreciprocal, imaginary telecommunications ranging from fans and you can news personae (Liebers and you will Schramm 2019; Yan and you will Yang 2021). Nowadays, admirers positively entering this new parasocial relationship dream in the a virtually kinship having idols, so long as they may control, or at least has actually an apparent degree of influence on their idols. Into Chinese social media, there’s a trend where admirers, specifically females, consider by themselves due to the fact idols’ mothers, aunts, or sisters. While you are early in the day studies have commonly checked parasocial matchmaking considering heterosexual norms and you can fans’ personal aspirations on the idols (we.elizabeth., “girlfriend/partner fans” out-of idols), absolutely nothing could have been recognized on the “mommy fans”,“Mother fans,” refer to admirers (typically women admirers) that happen to vackra brasiliansk kvinnor be co-fostering idols/celebrities as their senior female relatives. They claim by themselves while the mommy of idol and are generally indulgent so you can idols, providing them as attractive, simple kids who want the special care (Yan and you will Yang 2021).