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Psychological Factors of Fandoms Engagement in the East Asian Pop Idol Group
Culture

Conference Paper · September 2020

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Running Head: PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE
EAST ASIAN POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Psychological Factors of Fandoms Engagement in the East Asian Pop Idol Group Culture

Yanru Jiang

University of Southern California

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 2
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Abstract
The existence of fandoms derives from the need to construct self-identity and acquire
social capital. The fandom psychology of pop idol groups can be explained by the engagement,
belongingness, companionship, familiarity, and controllability that fans perceive in the
idolization. This research attempted to identify psychological factors that determine pop idol
groups’ likability. The study conducted content analysis to analyze the audience’s engagement as
well as the familiarity and controllability perceived by fans in fan communities.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 3
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Psychological Factors of Fandoms Engagement in the East Asian Pop Idol Group Culture

The pop idol group is a cultural phenomenon and popular business model in the 21st

century (Kim, 2011). Entertainment companies fully pay for the training and accommodation

expenses of pre-idol trainees with the expectation of branding them in groups for their

performances to generate revenue (Leung, 2017). Teenagers who wish to become idols drop out

of high school and are intensively trained in singing, dancing, acting, English, and other skills

that are essential for them to become idols (Leung, 2017). These pre-idol trainees are competing

with their peers to receive votes from fans and get the chance to form pop idol groups

(Siriyuvasak & Hyunjoon, 2007). The market for pop idol groups is expected to reach over 100

billion RMB (17 billion dollars) in China by 2020. Roughly 20% to 40% of fans have spent

money on supporting their favorite pop idol groups’ debuts and performances (Oh & Park,

2012).

Fans are members of a target audience who share interests in the same cultural object,

which could be a film, a band, or an idol (McCudden, 2011). They engage in fan activities and

form fan communities to support their favorite idols and exchange information about their

favorite objects (McCudden, 2011). The existence of fandom comes from the need of self-

identity construction and social capital acquisition (Leiser, 2018; Seregina & Schouten, 2017).

Seregina and Schouten (2017) explained that self-identity construction in fans appears because

fans support idols who have similar or admirable personalities, which affects fans’

conceptualization and realization of their own identities. Fans acquire social capital when they

become part of fan communities, which keep them integrated into society and help them gain a

sense of belonging (Seregina & Schouten, 2017). The prevalence of the Internet and social media

makes it easy for fans to engage in online fan activities, such as watching idols’ videos and
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 4
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

commenting on idols’ performance, which further enhances their feelings of camaraderie with

both idols and fan communities (Hirt & Clarkson, 2011; McCudden, 2011).

The psychology of fans of pop idol groups can be explained using three factors, which

include engagement, familiarity, and controllability that fans perceive through the idolization

(Zhang & Negus, 2020; Jia, Hung, & Zhang, 2020; Reysen & Branscom, 2010; Yamamoto,

2019). These three factors determine the likability and the popularity of a pop idol group (Yoon,

2017; Zhang & Negus, 2020). Fans experience high levels of engagement during the social

capital acquisition process by exchanging and generating information about idols (McCudden,

2011). For pop idol group fans, this information exchange process is actively conducted by

reading and writing comments about their idols’ performance videos and reality shows

(Teslenko, 2016). Fans’ perception of familiarity increases during their self-identity construction

process because fans tend to favor idols or idol groups that have personalities similar to their

own (Leiser, 2018). In the pop idol group culture, the audience perceives even higher levels of

familiarity because most idols have normal teenager lives and did not have any talents before

they were intensively trained by entertainment companies (Seregina & Schouten, 2017). Positive

controllability comes from the unique business model of pop idol groups (Leiser, 2018).

Specifically, fans’ votes and voices are determinant factors when companies decide which

trainees should make debuts and become idols (Oh & Park, 2012).

Considerable research related to East Asian pop idol groups has focused on the business

model and social media exposure of such groups (Leiser, 2018). However, fandom—an

inalienable element of the culture surrounding pop idol groups—has been neglected in the

literature to date (McCudden, 2011). This study fills the gap in previous research by considering

psychological factors related to fandom in East Asian pop idol group culture. The content
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 5
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

analysis method has been adopted by previous media psychology researchers for its advantages

in analyzing both quantitative and quantitative data (Riffe, Lacy, Watson, & Fico, 2019). A

content analysis was conducted to investigate engagement, familiarity, and controllability as

perceived by audiences and fans on social media platforms and how these factors affect the

likability of pop idol groups. This study addressed the following questions:

RQ1: How are engagement, familiarity, and controllability perceived by audiences and

fans, and do they have different effects on the likability of pop idol groups?

RQ2: To what extent do the behaviors of pop idol groups’ fans confirm the self-identity

construction and social capital acquisition theories in explaining fandom activities?

Literature Review

Previous literature and empirical research have emphasized the influential elements in

fandom psychology. McCudden (2011) conducted in-depth interviews and naturalistic

observations of fans from the Comic Con Convention to discuss the change in authentic fandom

when fan activities transform from offline events to online media platforms. The researcher

utilized content analysis to code and analyze participants’ interviews and categorized participants

from big fans to casual fans (McCudden, 2011). The internet-based fan communities allow fans

to participate in fan discussion and collect knowledge about their idols more easily (McCudden,

2011). With the advent of the Internet and social media, fans have begun to experience the

disappearance of hierarchy in fandom and the increase in the authenticity of idols (McCudden,

2011).

The Internet also promotes fans’ perception in global citizenship (Plante, Roberts,

Reysen, & Gerbasi, 2014). Plante, Roberts, Reysen, and Gerbasi (2014) introduced the concept

of global citizenship, which is when fans identify themselves as belonging to global communities
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 6
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

instead of being restricted by geographical differences. The researchers (2014) founded fans

often feel more strongly that they belong to global communities when they interact with other

fans and participant in fan activities on social media platforms (Plante, Roberts, Reysen, &

Gerbasi, 2014).

Similarly, Nikunen (2014) agreed with the enhancement in global citizenship

identification through fandom participation. This researcher conducted twelves interviews on

Finnish websites as well as a participatory observation of Finnish online fan meetings (Nikunen,

2014). This study concluded that fans experienced inclusion that was not bounded by time and

space online (Nikunen, 2014). The cross-border online fan communities increase fans’

perceptions of deterritorialization (Nikunen, 2014). However, in addition to the research of

Plante, Roberts, Reysen, and Gerbasi on global citizenship, Nikunen (2014) discussed fans’

interests in face-to-face meet-ups with other fans. The number of these meetings increases when

fans attempt to make a distinction between their social lives online and in reality (Nikunen,

2014).

Raviv, Bar-Tal, Raviv, and Ben-Horin (1996) discussed adolescent fanship and

idolization as a subcategory of fandom. Questionnaires completed by students at elementary and

middle schools showed that younger children are more likely to engage in worship and modeling

of pop idols (Raviv, Bar-Tal, Raviv & Ben-Horin, 1996). The process of actively collecting

information and imitating their idols enhanced their confidence by distinguishing them from their

parents (Raviv, Bar-Tal, Raviv & Ben-Horin, 1996). He (2006) also sent out thousands of

questionnaires in China to study how children worship pop idols. According to He’s (2006)

research, 77.3% of children had worshipped public figures in their process of growth. Most

children worship pop idols because they consider pop idols more real, vivid, and tangible than
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 7
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

the impeccable and flawless type of traditional idols (He, 2006). Pop idols effectively serve as

references for children to plan their own lives as they grow up (He, 2006). Both Raviv, Bar-Tal,

Raviv, and Ben-Horin (1996) and He (2006) concluded that adolescent idolization significantly

decreases with age, especially when teenagers go to high schools.

Different from previous studies, Seregina and Schouten (2017) investigated fans’

psychology needs when they participate in fan activities. The researchers collected fifteen stories

about fans to analyze how idolization in the social media age generates a flat learning culture that

allows fans to easily gain information from idols for imitation (Seregina & Schouten, 2017).

Some fans seek to accumulate social capital in online fan communities when they lack a sense of

belonging in their inherited places (Seregina & Schouten, 2017). Reysen and Branscom (2010)

also researched fan psychology among sports fans. They conducted a survey by asking sport fans

how they perceived positive attributes, such as collective happiness, shared values, self-

identification, and emotional connection in fan participation (Branscom, 2010). Sport fans rated

fan communities higher in all four categories when compared with their neighborhoods

(Branscom, 2010). Both Seregina and Schouten (2017) and Branscom (2010) concluded that fans

perceive positive psychological factors when they participate in fan activities.

A discussion of self-identity construction also appeared in Yamamoto’s (2019) recent

research on Japanese female pop idol identities. In that study, the author stated that the identity

construction process is enhanced when entertainment companies manifest, commercialize, or

even exaggerate the uniqueness and characteristics of each pop idol (Yamamoto, 2019). Pop idol

group fans become loyal to one or multiple constructed idol identities from idol groups, either

because these are the identities they find more familiar or because these identities represent the

ideal types that fans admire (Yamamoto, 2019).

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 8
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Two groups of Chinese fandom researchers—Jia, Hung, and Zhang (2020) and Zhang

and Negus (2020)—emphasized the cooperative roles of fans in the pop idol group business in

China. Zhang and Negus (2020) focused on “data fan” activities that online fans organized in

teams through groups on WeChat (the Chinese version of WhatsApp) and other forums to

generate large volumes of data and demonstrate the popularity of their idols. Such collective

team strategies allow fan communities to directly involve themselves in the co-production and

co-creation processes of pop idol groups by voting for debut members, determining performing

positions, and selecting songs for their favorite idols and groups (Zhang & Negus, 2020). In

comparison, Jia, Hung, and Zhang (2020) described fans of pop idol groups as marketing

partners of idols and groups, as fans create idol memes, GIFs, and photos and participate in fan

communities. These cooperative features of fan communities lead to a new level of engagement

and controllability as perceived by fans, enhancing their loyalty to specific idols and groups (Jia,

Hung, & Zhang, 2020; Zhang & Negus, 2020).

Based on a literature review of fandom psychology, this study generated the following

hypotheses:

H1: Engagement, familiarity, and controllability as perceived by both fans and audiences

will have a positive impact on the likability of pop idol groups.

H2: Both self-identity construction and social capital acquisition will be observed in pop

idol group fandom activities.

Method

Sample

The sample included 172 comments on Producer 101, a reality show in China that

closely reveals the day-to-day lives of pre-idol trainees on a Chinese social media platform,
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 9
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Tencent Video Channel. The comments were obtained from audiences on the Tencent Video

Channel. The first 15 comments on each episode were coded. The dates of the reviews spanned

from May 2018 to November 2018.

Producer 101 was selected for sampling because it was syndicated from the leading

Korean audition show Producer 101 series. More importantly, the show, released in 2018, was

the first and most popular audition show about the pop idol group business in China, receiving

4.3 billion views in its first season (Pandaily, 2018). A Chinese pop idol group show was also

selected for content analysis due to the researcher’s language limitations. Moreover, China has

been considered an emerging market for pop idol group business since 2018 compared to K-pop

and J-pop (Zhang & Negus, 2020).

Overall, 300 comments were content-coded due to limited labor resources, as only one

coder was involved in this study. Comments containing less than 20 Chinese characters were

excluded from this research, as the content analysis aimed to code likability, familiarity, and

controllability themes for each comment and comments with more than 20 characters were

deemed more likely to contain these themes. After filtering all 300 comments, the researcher

identified 172 published comments that met the word count requirement.

Procedure

The comments were rated by graduate students. The rater was trained in the

operationalization of variables and in the coding procedures. A total of seven variables were

coded. The first of these variables, Positivity, was defined as how the audience liked the pop idol

group created by Producer 101. The second variable coded was Target and was defined as

comments referring to the group or the idol. This variable lists the targets that could be

mentioned by the audience. Examples of the targets included the entire group, the specific idol or
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 10
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

idols from the group, both the group and specific idols, and neither the group nor specific idols.

The third variable coded was Number of Words in one comment. The fourth variable was

Number of Likes received by one comment, and the fifth variable was Number of Dislikes

received by one comment. The sixth variable coded was Familiarity and was defined as whether

the audience mentioned specific experiences or features of idols that were similar to what

happens in the real world. The last variable was Controllability, which refers to how the audience

members perceived their ability to influence idols’ destiny from this reality show. The coding

samples and a full codebook can be found in the Appendix.

Researcher Role and Reflexivity

Since content analysis involves a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis, it

is important to disclose relevant background information about the coder that may lead to

cultural biases in coding the latent variables of likability, familiarity, and controllability. The

coder grew up in China and has studied at a Western university for five years. As a native

Chinese speaker, the coder has adequate language and cultural knowledge to understand Chinese

comments. The coder was also able to maintain minimal cultural or ideological bias by having

exposure to both Western and Eastern cultures and educational contexts. The coder is a fan of a

popular K-pop idol group and has participated in some fandom activities, such as going to

concerts, but has not engaged in other kinds of fandom activities, such as sharing on social

media. The majority of comments analyzed were expressed using simple language and did not

contain any satirical, conflicting, or complex messages, which increased the inter-codability of

the published comments.

Results
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 11
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Frequency analysis revealed that among all comments, specific idols (72.7%) were

mentioned the most frequently, followed by mentioning the entire idol group (23.3%) and

mentioning neither a group nor an idol (4.1%). Among all comments, the negative comments

(38.7%) appeared the most frequently, followed by the positive comments (36.3%) and the

neutral comments (25.0%).

A series of one-sample t tests were conducted to determine which characteristics received

higher scores by comparing comments to the midpoint neutral value of 3.0. Comments on

Tencent video channel in general received a high score for the positivity of a comment (M =

3.01, SD = 1.24), users’ perception of the controllability (M = 3.20, SD = 1.34) and users’

perception of the familiarity (M = 3.80, SD = 1.10). Only the familiarity was positively perceived

by users with the mean value significantly different from the midpoint (neutral) value of 3.0:

t(159) = 9.22, p < .001, d = .73 indicating the audience perceived positive familiarity when they

watch the show about the pop idol group. Both the positivity t(167) = .12, p = .901, d = .01 and

the controllability t(157) = 1.84, p = .067, d = .15 indicating the audience neither significantly

expressed nor not express the positivity and the controllability when they watch the show.

A series of independent sample t tests were conducted to test whether commenting on the

entire idol group or on specific idols from this group would affect the length of a comment and

numbers of likes and dislikes received by a comment, as well as the positivity, familiarity and

controllability indicated by comments. When users commented on specific idols, they were

significantly more likely to write longer comments and receive more likes, but rated lower in

positivity and controllability as compared to users commented on the entire group. The effect

sizes d for both length and the number of likes had classification of d as medium.

Variable Entire group Specific idols t value p value

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 12
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Positivity 3.58 (1.04) 2.84 (1.29) 3.27 .001

Likes 2313.40 (2083.20) 3720.34 (3220.32) -2.59 .010
Dislikes 46.05 (57.88) 99.48 (201.00) -1.66 .100
Length 55.45 (27.84) 79.64 (68.02) -2.19 .030
Familiarity 4.05 (.52) 3.81 (1.17) 1.23 .223
Controllability 3.97 (.98) 2.95 (1.37) 3.90 <.001

A series of one-sample t tests were conducted to determine which characteristics received

higher scores among fans (users with score of positivity higher than neutral value 3.0) by

comparing comments to the midpoint neutral value of 3.0. Fans’ comments on Tencent video

channel in general received a high score for controllability (M = 4.23, SD = .76), and familiarity

(M = 4.40, SD = .60). Both controllability and familiarity were positively perceived by fans with

mean values significantly different from the midpoint (neutral) value of 3.0: controllability t(30)

= 8.96, p < .001, d = 1.61, and familiarity t(34) = 13.72, p < .001, d = 2.32 indicating fans

expressed strong familiarity and controllability when they watch the show of their idols.

The number of likes received by a comment was found to have a significant positive

correlation with dislikes received by a comment (r = .35, p < .001). Comments received more

likes were likely to receive more dislikes from other users.

A series of two correlations were conducted. A non-significant positive correlation was

found between the length of a comment and the number of dislikes received by a comment (r

= .03, p = .707). However, there was a tendency for users who were likely to receive more

dislikes if they wrote a longer comment. No correlation was found between the length of a

comment and the number of likes received by a comment (r = .00, p = .999). The length of a

comment did not affect the number of likes received.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 13
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Multiple regression analysis examined if the number of likes (b = -.01, p = .908) and

dislikes received (b = -.01, p = .804), the length of a comment (b = -.08, p = .876), familiarity

perceived (b = .30, p < .001), and controllability perceived by users (b = .64, p < .001), predicted

the positivity of a comment. These variables significantly predicted the positivity of a comment

F(5, 140) = 45.60, p < .001, R2 = .62. However, only familiarity and controllability perceived by

users were significant predictors.

Discussion

Most audience members are interested in specific idols from pop idol groups, instead of

viewing a group of idols as an integral identity. Pop idol groups are differentiated from

individual idols by bringing more diversity in personalities within a group (Ishii, Ota, Koguchi,

& Koki, 2013). Fans identify with idols with certain personalities they want to associate with

from groups. This association better fulfills the need of fans’ identity constructions (Leiser,

2018).

At the same time, neutral attitudes have been found the least among all comments, which

demonstrates that most audience members express strong feelings about pop idol groups,

whether positively or negatively. Fans of pop idol groups show an extremely high level of

engagement on social media platforms by writing 50 to 80 characters and receiving thousands of

likes on one single comment. The engagement increases even more when fans talk about specific

idols from a group instead of mentioning the group as a whole.

One unique feature determined by the business model of pop idol groups is that fans are

likely to support specific idols within a group and consider other idols’ teammates to be

competing with their favorite idols (Ishii, Ota, Koguchi, & Koki, 2013). This model enhances

fans’ interactivity through defaming other team members and defending their favorite idols
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 14
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

(Ishii, Ota, Koguchi, & Koki, 2013). Various polarized behaviors were observed in the analysis,

such as a user’s receiving more likes and dislikes and writing longer comments (which are also

indicators of higher engagement) when commenting on specific idols rather than the entire

group. This high level of interactivity meets fans’ needs for belongingness and acquiring social

capital by supporting the same idols in the fan community (Seregina & Schouten, 2017).

Pop idol groups are extremely popular in East Asian countries, where one comment on a

social media platform can receive more than 2,000 likes. The number of likes can increase to

more than 3,500 when the comment mentions the entire pop idol group. This phenomenon might

be explained by the fact that, when an audience member makes a comment about an entire group,

fans of specific idols from this group are less likely to object to or disagree with the comment

(Ishii, Ota, Koguchi, & Koki, 2013). Surprisingly, the length of a comment was not related to the

number of likes or dislikes it received based on the finding in this research. However, the number

of likes a comment received was positively correlated with the number of dislikes it received.

Higher numbers of both likes and dislikes were associated with comments that displayed

stronger emotions, and such comments also demonstrated higher interactivity among audiences

(McCudden, 2011; Siriyuvasak & Hyunjoon, 2007). Fans’ engagement level increases and they

become more emotionally attached to fan communities when commenters explicitly express

either positive or negative feelings about idols (McCudden, 2011). This observation also

confirms the social capital acquisition theory in the context of audiences’ participation in fandom

activities.

Both the audience’s perception of the familiarity and the controllability of one pop idol

group positively contribute to the likability and the popularity of a group. Fans perceive more

positive familiarity and controllability than the general audience. These results align with
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 15
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

previous research, which has shown that idols are more likable when audience members consider

pop idols to be more authentic, easier to imitate, and more able to serve as references for fans to

plan their lives (He, 2006).

Multiple linear regression showed that controllability has a greater influence than

familiarity. This difference is also determined by the unique business model of pop idol groups

in the East Asian market (Ishii, Ota, Koguchi, & Koki, 2013). Pop idol group culture is different

from traditional idols because fans feel they are more empowered by voting to determine which

idols will debut and become leaders of teams (Siriyuvasak & Hyunjoon, 2007).

However, the audience perceives high positive familiarity of pop idol groups, whether the

audience expresses positive, neutral, or negative attitudes about idol groups. Additionally, the

familiarity perceived is also unaffected, whether the audience is more interested in specific idols

or the entire group. The results demonstrated that idols from pop idol groups are naturally very

similar to normal teenagers before they leave high school to become pre-idols trainees (Oh &

Park, 2012).

This study highlights the pop idol phenomenon in East Asia and the ways in which fan

psychology and the relationship between fans and idol groups have changed with the

proliferation of social media platforms. The practical implication is that this study provides pop

idol group agencies with a comprehensive understanding of fans, which is helpful to

entertainment companies that conduct marketing and branding business with pre-idol trainees.

The discussion of this research could be generalized to K-pop and J-pop cultures, since

Korea, Japan, and China have established similar pop idol group business models (Jia, Hung, &

Zhang, 2020; Yamamoto, 2019; Zhang & Negus, 2020) and are all familiar with pop idol group

culture. While Southeast Asian countries like Thai, Singapore, and Vietnam have similar pop
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 16
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

idol groups in their local markets, their business models are still premature, and the popularity of

their local idol groups cannot compete at the level of K-pop or J-pop idol groups (Dreisbach,

2018).

At the time that this research was completed, there was not a similar phenomenon or

trend of pop idol group business models in the Western world (Yoon, Min, & Jin, 2020).

However, a surprisingly large number of audience members from Western countries have

emerged since 2018 and have become fans of the top K-pop idol groups (Yoon, Min, & Jin,

2020). While these fans are still seen as K-pop fans, their fandoms’ psychological characteristics

might not be entirely generalizable from this study due to the differences in ideologies across

Western and Eastern cultures (Jin, 2020).

Limitations and Further Research

One limitation of this study is that, since the show Producer 101 was launched in the

summer, more comments might have been written by young adults and teenagers because they

have more time to write comments during their summer breaks, which could result in a skewed

dataset. Collecting comments from a pop idol group’s performance that is not seasonal could

provide a more accurate dataset.

Due to the budget and time constraints of this study, this research did not conduct a

qualitative analysis of the nuances of each psychological characteristic among participants with

different demographics and other determinative traits. Demographic characteristics would be

influential factors in understanding how fans perceive engagement, belongingness,

companionship, familiarity, and controllability (Leiser, 2018). For instance, younger female fans

might perceive more familiarity with female idol groups because fans and idols are more similar

in this context (Leiser, 2018). Male fans are perceived as more polarized on the controllability
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 17
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

characteristic because of the traditional male-dominated ideology of Eastern culture (Miles,

2018). However, due to the limitations of content analysis, demographic data such as age,

gender, income, and occupation were unavailable to the researcher.

This study was not designed to provide a generalizable assumption about the correlation

between idol groups’ likability and fans’ perception of familiarity and companionship toward

idols that would be applicable in a worldwide context. The granularity of understanding different

types of fans’ perceptions could be complemented by qualitative methods such as in-depth

interviews, personal narratives, or case studies.

Another limitation of this research is that it only captures the engagement and perceptions

of audiences and fans who shared their comments and opinions online, specifically on video

channels. However, there are dedicated pop idol group fans who never post or share any

information online. This study excludes this group of “silent fans”. Additionally, substantial

amounts of fandom activities are not generated through video channels but on other social media

channels (Zhang & Negus, 2020).

Since more creative fandom activities—such as creating original fan literature and

producing idol memes, GIFs, and photos—have recently emerged, fans have even come to be

seen as co-producers and marketing partners of pop idol groups (Jia, Hung, & Zhang). The “data

fan” activities that have appeared in the past two years are also new phenomena within online fan

communities (Zhang & Negus, 2020). These two popular types of fan activities are not covered

by the scope of this research, but these more interactive types of engagement in fandom

communities could be an interesting area to explore in future research (Jia, Hung, & Zhang,

2020; Zhang & Negus, 2020).

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 18
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

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Appendix
Coding Samples
Since the historical data of comments in 2018 was irretrievable at the time that this research was
updated (July 2020), I attached some recent comments in 2020 as coding samples for audience of
this research to have a sense of the content coding process in this study.

Sample Comment 1

I have only watched Producer 101 after all these idol group audition shows have been produced. I don’t have
any interest in pop idol groups but I’m interested in Chaoyue Yang (the most controversial team member in the
debut team). I rewatched this show in 2020. I appreciate Villagers’s (the nickname of Chaoyue Yang’s fans)
hard work. So many people don’t understand Villagers, but you substantially contribute to her success.

Sample Comment 2

I still love Producer 101. I will always love you guys. Fight on Zi Ning (a team member). You will always
belong to the Rocket Girls (the team name), and I will always be Honeypot (the nickname of Zi Ning’s fans). I
won’t love any other idol groups. You’re the most special one and no one can replace you.

Sample Comment 3

Congratulation on the graduation of Rocket Girls. This group presents the highest standard of idol group in
China. All eleven girls are fabulous. I wish they could be even better in the future. Rocket Girls have meet
their parents. Goodbye Rocket Girls, [list of idols’ names], I wish you all the best in the future. We will always
support you.

Sample Comment 4

I’m not a fan. I only started to watch this show after Gao Kao (the Chinese standard exam), and they already
formed their debut team. I came to watch this first debut show after I watched their reality show. I didn’t vote
for them [in 2018]. Right now, I never want to see their fans arguing with each other anymore because all team
members are close to each other, and every one of them is excellent. I wish their fans could get alone with each
other as well. Although this team will only exist for two years, their fans will always be there.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 22
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Codebook
Coding comments for pop idol groups’ performance videos (produced by Chinese reality show
Producer 101) from Chinese social media (Tencent Video Channel).

Research Question 1: How engagement, familiarity and controllability perceived by the audience
and fans have different effects on the likability of pop idol groups?
Research Question 2: To what extend would pop idol group fans’ behaviors confirm the self-
identity construction and social capital acquisition theories in explaining the fandom activities?

Latent Variable: How positive is the comment (SPSS variable name: Positive)
Definition:
How audience like the pop idol group created by Producer 101

1 = Very negative
2 = Kind of negative
3 = Neutral
4 = Kind of positive
5 = Very positive

Keywords
Examples of positive comment: like, enjoy, support, positive
Examples of negative comment: negative, hate, dislike, fake

Concrete examples:
Very negative: “Terrible group”
Kind of negative: “I don’t like their performance”
Neutral: “The performance is fine”
Kind of positive: “I like them”
Very positive: “This is the best female idol group”

Manifest Variable: Is audience commenting on the entire idol group or on specific idols
from this group (SPSS variable name: Target)
Definition:
Are comments referring to the group or the idol?

Rating scales
1 = The entire group
2 = Specific idol(s)
3 = Both the group and specific idol(s)
4 = Neither the group nor specific idol(s)

Manifest variable: Number of “likes” received by one comment (SPSS variable name:
Likes)
Definition: Report the number of “likes” received by a specific comment
Scale: any number of scale points
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 23
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Manifest variable: Number of “dislikes” received by one comment (SPSS variable name:
Dislikes)
Definition: Report the number of “dislikes” received by a specific comment
Scale: any number of scale points

Manifest variable: Length of comments (SPSS variable name: Length)

Definition: Count the length of each comment in number of Chinese character
Scale: any number of scale points

Latent Variable: How the audience perceive familiarity with this idol group (SPSS variable
name: Familiar)
Definition:
Audience mentioned specific experience or feature of idols that is similar to what happens in the
real world

1= Strong negative familiarity

2= Negative familiarity
3= Neutral
4= Some positive familiarity
5= Strong positive familiarity

99 = No mention of familiarity

Keywords
Same, girl, familiar, real world, life, usual, different, fake, pretend, acting

Concrete examples:
Strong negative familiarity: “They are totally fake”
Negative familiarity: “My life is very different from theirs”
Neutral: “I don’t have any strong feelings”
Some familiarity: “I also want to become a pre-idol trainee”
Strong familiarity: “I feel these girls are just like us”

Latent Variable: How the audience perceive controllability in this idol group (SPSS
variable name: Control)
Definition:
The audience mention they have power to influence idols’ destiny from this reality show

1= None controllability
2= Limit controllability
3= Neutral
4= Some controllability
5= Strong controllability

99 = No mention of controllability
 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF FANDOMS ENGAGEMENT IN THE EAST ASIAN 24
POP IDOL GROUP CULTURE

Keywords
Vote, spend, money, support, help, result, control

Concrete examples:
None controllability: “I don’t believe in the result”
Limit controllability: “I spend a lot of money but didn’t get the result I want”
Neutral: “I don’t care who would be in the new pop idol group”
Some controllability: “I could give this idol 200 vote tickets”
Strong controllability: “We can decide who we want for the new pop idol group”

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