Dissertation Proposal: Fan Culture

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL: FAN CULTURE
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DISSERTATION PROPOSAL: FAN CULTURE
Proposed title:
To what extent does fan culture affect the entertainment stars consumer market?
Introduction:
The aspect of fan culture plays a significant role, especially in creation as well as the development of the consumer market. In this paper, the term fan will generally refer to that kind of a person’s devotion towards a particular type of activity or subject. The fan culture majorly relies on the nature of communication from the entertainment stars’ performances. This proposal looks at the relevance of fan culture on the extent of consumption of entertainment productions. The inter-connected relationship between the fan culture and consumerism proves necessary towards the continual promotion of entertainment stars. There are various key activities as well as productions that define fan culture. These include the language of communication, costumes used, the fan art, the ‘filking’ as well as the nature of organized outlets for fan activities. All these activities and productions represent modes of communications. Therefore, the nature of communication that takes place between the fans leads to the creation of fan culture as well as the community. The fan culture is represented by its language referred to at times as `fanspeak’ where there is an adaptation to certain words as well as phrases that help in creating a jargon that only the fans can understand. Importantly, the fans are capable of creating their forms of art referred to as ‘fan art’ and music.
Further, the impact of the current worldwide communication through the internet serves as the key to understanding the different reasons behind the varied cultural aspects of fan culture. The dramatic increase like interactivity between fans leads to higher intensity on the creation of forums as well as blogs concerning entertainment stars. The ease with which the fans can participate in media discussions and productions readily impacts the extent of consumerism on different outputs (Malik et al., 2016).
The development of the fan culture has been rapid and on expansion over decades due to the nature of increased interest in the media. It is important for an artist to realize that the creation of forums via media helps in showcasing the importance of communication towards the overall formation of the genre as well as the fan culture. Notably, the development of culture around every production depends on the nature of the network established around the artist. According to Hackley and Hackley (2015), the fans do not create the primary content but instead ‘rework’ the content to develop interests that are not explored sufficiently. Currently, there is a dramatic shift in the relationships between fans and the media artists they follow. Previously, fans were recognized as mere passive recipients of marketing promotions, however, in the current market, they are active members and participants of fan communities within the media and entertainment economy. Fans have become creative experts making the media and entertainment companies seek new ways of developing, investing as well as nurturing fan communities towards co-production of content. This has shifted the focus from merely driving purchases through artist lifestyles (Malik et al., 2016).
Research question
1 What are some of the concept of fan culture strategies that influence consumer market?
2 What is the impact of fun culture on the content of entertainment stars within the consumer market?
3 What are some of the effects of fan culture on consumer patterns within the market?
4 To what extent does entertainment stars use fan communities as a platform for gaining a competitive advantage within the media market?
Context
The topic of the influence of fan culture on the consumer market for media artist’s productions is one of the essential concepts applicable in everyday life’s communication, registering an increase in usage in the last couple of years (Qualman, 2012). The focus of this research will be on highlighting the important marketing strategies as applicable by celebrities on the consumer market. However, the primary focus being the influence of fan culture as it relates to communication and adoption of content through social media and the entire impact on consumers. This research focuses on the fact that all celebrities within the contemporary society irrespective of their background, requires engagement with the fan base in order to ensure the adaptation of their content to the market competition (Zarrella, 2009). The study will analyze and evaluate the impact of fan culture on the performance and popularity of celebrities through social media. In this case, the social media provides a platform for engagement where entertainment artists/celebrities are capable of reaching a significant market niche, therefore, influencing the uptake of their products as well as on a global scale. The invention of the social media ensures the possibility of celebrities to reach target market at minimized costs, therefore providing an opportunity for competition on an equal footing for all artists (Hackley and Hackley, 2015).
Literature review
This literature review section provides some concepts that reveal the background especially for the fundamental topics as underlined in this research study. Each of the existing theories as applicable in this literature explores the aim that links to the research questions as well as objectives as outlined in this study. It is important that the various reviews as applicable in this study will encompass wide acceptance of the influence of fan base through social media in the context of artists and fans alike. This will eventually incorporate the extent of exploitation within the consumer market in the promotion of artist brands. Moreover, the impact of consumer characteristics in the form of knowledge persuasion and consumer skepticism is key in the endorsement of artistic productions. The aspect on the endorsement of entertainment artists by fans provides a clear background on the extent of influence that fan culture has on the consumer market.
According to (Hackley and Hackley, 2015), a significant influence of fan culture on consumer market takes place through social media. In this case, the social media comprises of various online tools that help in the generation and distribution of contents as well as ideas. The tools as applied to communication across the fan base including but not limited to a video sharing site (youtube), social networking sites, and photo sharing sites such as Instagram. These tools are considered inexpensive to use even in the case of upgrade making it possible the access by many people. Malik et al., (2016) assert that 88% of marketers use the services of social media in their strategies to reach consumers. Various marketers have used the social media platform as influencing and communication tool to reach their target populations (M...