EMOTION, COMMUNITY, AND TECHNOLOGY: HOW FANDOM CULTURE SHAPES CHINESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ CONSUMPTION ATTITUDES
คำสำคัญ:
Fandom Culture, Consumption Attitudes, Social Identity, Media Influence, University Students, Mixed-Methods Researchบทคัดย่อ
This study examines how fandom culture shapes consumption attitudes among Chinese university students, focusing on the parallel mediating effects of fan community social identity and algorithm-driven media influence. The research adopts an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. First, structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to survey data collected from 400 Chinese university students to quantify path relationships. Second, semi-structured interviews with 30 highly engaged fans were analyzed using thematic analysis to uncover the underlying contextual mechanisms.
Quantitative results show that fandom culture has a significant direct positive effect on university students’ consumption attitudes (β = 0.447, p < 0.001). Social identity and media influence simultaneously play partial mediating roles, with indirect effects of 0.283 and 0.247, respectively. The aggregated total indirect effect (0.530) exceeds the direct effect, indicating that fandom culture primarily reshapes consumption attitudes through psychological identity construction and algorithmic media environment construction rather than direct stimulation. Qualitative thematic analysis further identifies three interconnected shaping mechanisms: (1) consumption functions as intra-group boundary certification and status legitimation within the social identity pathway; (2) social media algorithms create closed consumption gravitational fields that normalize fan spending as a moral obligation; and (3) emotional symbolic value synergistically amplifies consumption willingness alongside identity and media forces. This study systematically clarifies how emotion, community, and digital technology jointly construct youth consumption logics, providing empirical evidence and theoretical references for universities to implement critical media literacy education, rational identity guidance, and healthy consumption cultivation.
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