• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.523-530
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• 2019

This study examines how global fandom for Korean dramas is formed and maintained by examining the reason and purpose of voluntarily making the subtitles of Korean drama through in-depth email interviews with foreign subtitle producers(fan subber) working on a video site called Viki.com. The research focused on Viki's fan community, which has grown into the most influential Korean Wave platform. Collective intelligence expresses in the fan community produces more than professional results and they are acting as consumers, cultural producers, and second creators of K-content. In order to continue the spread of K-content, it needs to pay more attention to the long-term strategy of global fandom combined with the fan community activities of the new media platform and network effects.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

This study explored the mechanism by which stars and fans build a global fandom community based on social connectivity of social media based on BTS' official Twitter and in-depth interviews with Chinese, American, and Korean fans. Stars and fans use the connectivity of social media to build a pseudo-private relationship that crosses public and private affairs. Even though they won the award, BTS "congratulates" the fan club, ARMY, and organizes a dialogue method so that each fan becomes the subject. From a fan's point of view, it comes to be seen as a personal message to them, which is not just applied to the text composition method. On days when there is no public message such as official activities or anniversaries, a device to communicate without missing a day has been prepared by raising private messages or previous memories. It was found that the sense of constant connection strengthens fans' sense of community toward each other.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.81
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• pp.272-298
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• 2017

This study aims at understanding Korean fans who are also one of the most inquisitive consumers of the Korean pop products. For this purpose, it examines how Korean fandom perceives the procedures of the K-pop's globalization and constructs different perspectives of foreign fans. Firstly, it examines Korean fandom's the national pride as the K-pop expands to the global markets. Secondly, it explores how the Korean fandom rationalizes its possessive instinct while the global fans and markets becomes increasingly important. Finally, it explores how the Korean fandom constructs the different perceptions on foreign fans. In order to observe korean fans' thoughts and activities, it participates in the interactions in the tweeters and an online community. The Korean fans' perspective reflects both on individual tastes and the social dimensions in which fans live through. Through the lens of the Korean fandom, this study attempts to explicate the Korean fans' perception on foreign fans, which reflects another dimension of the K-pop's globalization.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.51-64
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• 2021

Among global K-pop fandoms Chinese fandom is a longtime and very strong consumer power in the K-pop industry due to its adjacent geographical location and low cultural barriers. Yet, there is a significant lack of research on Chinese K-pop fandom; most of what is available is from the producers' points of view. Research that explores the position and experience of Chinese fans, who are both mass audience and consumers, is slow to emerge. Thus, there is a need for systematic and careful study of Chinese K-pop fandom. In this research, we conducted a phenomenological study of the experience of Chinese fans of K-pop culture. We conducted participatory observation and in-depth interviews (including a FGI) with Chinese superintendents and active participants in Chinese K-pop fan clubs and fan pages. We then coded the data, following the theory of fandom developed by scholars such as Fiske (1992), and analyzed the phenomenon of Chinese K-pop fandom from the frame of the overall societal environment. We considered the psychological and behavioral characteristics of Chinese fans and the influences they receive from their turbulent social environments. We also considered the expectations of and opinions on the development of K-pop culture from their perspective. Based on our findings, the significant role and influence of independent fans and interdependent fandom in the development of K-pop culture and industry are identified. Finally, we emphasize that the role as facilitators of K-pop agencies is critical in the establishment of communication and trust between fans, K-pop artists, and the agencies.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.137-144
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• 2022

This study is an empirical study on whether the interval of K-pop content updates and price changes consumer purchasing intentions for domestic fandom commerce platforms that turn their profit structure online and strengthen fandom-based marketing to cope with changes in the digital environment. FGI and a survey was conducted using a conjoint analysis designed to confirm the difference in price elasticity according to the content update interval. As a result, the price elasticity of K-pop content was found to be an inelastic characteristic, and the change in price elasticity according to the content update interval was not statistically significant. This study provides basic data to be used to establish a marketing strategy for the fandom commerce market that will grow in the future.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.13-25
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• 2019

Since reaching the top in the Billboard Main Album Chart 'Billboard 200' with Love Yourself: Tear in May of 2018, BTS once again took first place after just three months in the 'Billboard 200'(September 3, 2018) with the repackaged album Love Yourself: Answer. It opened the doors to the 'Hallyu 4.0' by conquering the main Billboard Chart with a song sung in Korean. BTS rose to the top on the 'Billboard 200' twice, thus being recognized globally for their musical talent(song, dance, promotion, etc.), and took their place in the mainstream music market of the world. BTS moved away from intuitive interaction such as mysticism, abnormality, irregularity, etc. but instead created their own world(BTS Universe) with fans around the world through two-directional communication such as consensus, sharing and co-existence. They are recognized as artists that went beyond being an idol group that simply released a few hit songs that had now elevated popular music to a new form of art. In result, they retained a highly loyal global fan base(A.R.M.Y.) and they are continuously creating good influence with them. This study analyzed the success factors of BTS using the S-M-C-R-E model as follows. ① Sender: BTS'7-person 7-colors fantasy and 'All-in-one storytelling' strategy of producer Bang Shi-hyuk ② Message: Create global consensus of 'you' rather than 'me' ③ Channel: Created real-time common grounds with global fans through social network platforms such as Youtube, Facebook and Instagram ④ Receiver: Formed highly loyal global fandom(A.R.M.Y.) that extends outside of Korea and Asia ⑤ Effect: Created additional economic value and spread good influence

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-14
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• 2020

This study was initiated by the interest in identifying what the characteristics of BTS' preference is in the expanded K-Pop market. For this study, a survey was conducted to Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea where BTS is popular. The results of this study show that Vietnam and Thailand have the most positive perceptions of most of the BTS preferences, and the factors affecting the highest quality were analyzed by the differentiating sense of BTS. BTS' preference is an independent variable consisting of five factors: singers and music, a discriminative sense, global communication, meditative lyrics and Korean sentiment. And it has been shown to have a statistically significant influence on both the fandom star and the fan community at a high level. In particular, the Identification desire for fandom star shows that the discriminative sense and meditative lyrics affect the positive at a high level. Also, the identification desire for the fan community's found that the attraction of singers and music affects the highest level of affection. This study was extended to Southeast Asian and Korean fans through a wide range of survey participants, and it is meaningful that a new perspective on the BTS preference was available. Nonetheless, Failure to take into account the various variables that may affect the fandom effect and the intent to purchase, and the lack of a survey of fans in the U.S. and Europe, which has more fans worldwide, could be a limitation of the study.

• 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.15 no.6
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• pp.24-32
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• 2015

The global success of PSY's Gangnam Style was mediated through combination of YouTube and SNS. PSY's success led into some communication scholars' consideration of new international circulation of Korean pop culture (Korean Trend 2.0). In terms of global circulation of pop culture, it is noticeable how users appropriate YouTube channel beyond mere watching music videos and mere international circulation of Korean pop culture. The mode of fan's activity and appropriation contributes to the expansion of the width and amplification of the volume of Korean popular culture as well. The circulation of pop culture was considered in the level of exchange of tangible commodities such as CD, DVD, and so on until the adoption of digital media and Internet. YouTube has brought new mode in which the international circulation of pop culture is mediated without exchange of tangible commodities but was amplified with the diffusion of network. This study grasps how the mode of users' appropriation contributes to international circulation of pop culture through case studies of some K-pop music videos and international K-pop fans' tribute activities. In terms of theoretical perspective, fandom studies will be examined. In terms of research method, the researcher adopts netnography, a participatory observation on network, to find the feature of fandom and its contribution to the international circulation of pop cultures.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.79-101
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• 2021

With the steady rise in global popularity of the Korean music group BTS, the South Korean government and surrounding industries have swiftly begun utilizing their image and international recognition for specific nation branding purposes. While K-pop soft power strategies are not novel to the South Korean state, what is new is the rapid speed at which BTS have become a beacon for South Korean culture, language, and symbolism in the international arena. However, few scholarly works have sought to investigate the role fans have played in this heightened position for the group as state representatives, with minimal research conducted into the work fans do within the framework of ARMY fan culture. This paper will thus aim to fill the gap in scholarship on ARMY as an organized labour network, focusing on the role fans play as labourers in online spaces that work to promote, disseminate, and cultivate wider recognition for BTS as artists. Through the conjunct engagement of a political economy framework and theories of participatory culture, this paper will explore the manner through which the free labour of ARMY, premised on affect, has constructed the fandom as active agents of soft power alongside BTS themselves.