The Relationship between Fandom and Well-Being

Abstract

This study focuses on the relationship between fandom and well-being. Fandom refers to the act of endorsing something, whether it is a person or a nonperson such as an artist, game character, or specific brand. In other words, fandom can be seen as the ultimate customer engagement. Previous study has suggested that customer-brand engagement contributes to improved customer well-being with the concept of flourishing. This study provides quantitative support for this finding by surveying those involved in fandoms. Under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions, people were subjected to various behavioral restrictions. Entertainment was deemed unnecessary, and various events had to be canceled or scaled back. However, fans supported their favorites in a variety of ways and in turn found fulfillment and happiness through such activities. In the long run, the act would have contributed to the improvement of the fans’ own well-being. This study presents a way of value co-creation between the supporters and the recipients that can be paraphrased as that between a customer and brand.

1. Introduction

This study aims to contribute to the development of value co-creation between firms and their customers. Specifically, the study will focus not only on the advantages of the company but also on the advantages of the customer and will have implications for maximizing the customer’s happiness. These days, while algorithms are being used to drive purchases, there are also active attempts by firms to engage customers and build brand experience together [1, 2]. This study takes the latter position and focuses on customer-brand engagement (CBE). This study will focus on highly engaged customers and investigate the benefits that CBE brings to them and present “the other side of CBE.” There have been various studies that have addressed the benefits that CBE can bring to firms [2, 3]. On the other hand, Aoki and Ishizuka [4] focused on customers’ benefits and suggested that CBE contributes to improved customer well-being with qualitative data for specific brands. This study tests their statement using quantitative data for a wide range of genres.

1.1 Customer-brand engagement

CBE has been viewed as a precursor to brand loyalty [5, 6]. Brand loyalty includes attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty [7, 8]. While behavioral loyalty increases corporate management metrics such as market share [7, 9, 10, 11], attitudinal loyalty refers to a customer’s emotional attachment toward a brand [8, 12]. This study focuses on attitudinal loyalty and examines how it influences on customers.

CBE was defined as: “The level of a customer’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral investment in specific brand interactions” [13]. These inherent qualities remain the same in online CBE studies [14, 15]. This study follows Hollebeek’s definition of CBE [13] and focuses on highly engaged customers.

1.2 Fandom as a phenomenon of high engagement

In this study, the phenomenon of “fandom” is discussed in relation to CBE. Fandom is a general popular culture, including pop music, romance novels, comics, Hollywood mass-appeal stars, and so on, that has been reshaped by a specific group of people with a passion for it [16]. Pearson [17] points out that digital development has blurred the boundaries between firms and individual fans and is giving rise to new forms of cultural production. The ambiguity of the boundary between firm and customer has been noted in customer engagement studies, for example, Jaakkola and Alexander [18] point out that customer engagement behaviors contribute to value co-creation.

Under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions, people were subjected to various behavioral restrictions. Entertainment was deemed unnecessary, and various events had to be canceled or scaled back. However, fans continued to support their favorites in a variety of ways. In doing so, the fans themselves found their lives fulfilling and happy by engaging in online streaming and communication with other fans through social networking services. In fact, earlier studies have even shown that being a part of a fandom increases happiness [19, 20].

Such relationship could be explained as an ultimate CBE; customers are spending their time and passion to co-create value with the firm. Fandom is not only about real people but also about a variety of things, including in-game characters, specific regions, and buildings, even endorsements of specific brands are included.

1.3 The relationship between customer-brand engagement and well-being

Aoki and Ishizuka [4] focused on highly engaged brand customers, including both hedonic and utilitarian brands, and suggested that CBE could increase customers’ well-being. They examined the process of deepening customer engagement and considered how the brand-customer relationship impacts customer’s well-being using PERMA model developed in positive psychology to measure flourishing [21]. PERMA stands for positive emotions, engagement, relationships with others, meaning in life, and accomplishment.

It has been argued that happiness and well-being, despite being closely related concepts [22], should be distinguished [23]. Ryff [24] delineated well-being as enduring life challenges, such as having a sense of purpose and direction, achieving satisfying relationships with others, and gaining a sense of self-realization. Seligman [21] also pointed out that well-being sometimes includes hardships; however, people could still find life satisfaction and feel a sense of accomplishment. He defined well-being as the ultimate objective of positive psychology and argued that well-being is sustainable and separate from “happiness” in the aspects of time span [21]. In terms of fandom, while each activity is one time, the overall activity is sustained and embedded in the lives of the participants. Thus, this study focuses on the relationship between fandom and well-being as encompassing even happiness.

Aoki and Ishizuka [4] found that all the PERMA elements were included in the deepening CBE process and that of these, relationships with others are deeply related, based on qualitative data. This study aims to provide quantitative support for their finding by surveying those involved in fandom representing highly engaged customers. This study will investigate the following research question: Does fandom increase the well-being of the participants?

2. Method

2.1 Sample

The data were collected through a market research company from February 22 to 25, 2022. Data from 2046 respondents (aged 18 to 65 years, mean age 42.8 years, 54.5% male) were used in the survey after removing an unreliable sample of 2067 respondents. Then, the respondents were divided into fandom participants and nonparticipants to compare levels of well-being.

2.2 The level of involvement in fandom

First, the respondents were asked if they engage in fandom (multiple answer):

1. Supporting real people (e.g. popstars, artists, actors, voice actors, athletes, authors, historical figures, YouTubers, and cosplayers).

2. Supporting characters (e.g. anime/game/manga characters, mascot characters, vocaloids, and Vtubers).

3. Supporting other than characters (e.g. swords, architecture, trains, Buddhist statues, and animals).

4. None of the above.

Other than those who chose 4), respondents were asked to describe the activities related to fandom. Following the finding of Aoki and Ishizuka (4), this study examines fandom based on the relationships with others. In addition to relationships between the fans themselves and their favorites and relationships with other fans, fandom also includes experiences that are encountered by the fans themselves. The respondents who are involved in fandom described the frequency of 10 activities as: (1) never, (2) seldom, (3) sometimes, and (4) usually (Table 1).

1. Going to see a live concert, stage performance, etc.	a) Alone; b) With someone
2. Viewing contents (videos, images, books, etc.)	a) Alone; b) With someone
3. Visiting places (including collaborative events, etc.) related to the favorites	a) Alone; b) With someone
4. Contacting your favorites directly by sending letters or gifts and so on
5. Buying official products of the favorites
6. Own the same items as your favorites or collect items in their image color
7. Talk about the attractiveness of the favorites on social networking sites

Table 1.

Fandom activities in the questionnaire.

2.3 The level of well-being

The level of well-being was measured using a PERMA-Profiler developed by Butler and Kern [25] via 11 international surveys (N = 31, 966). The respondents evaluated each of the 15 items (three items per PERMA domain) (Table 2) on an 11-point Likert scale (0 to 10). The average score of the three questions per element was used in the analysis as it is recommended by Butler and Kern [25].

P1    In general, how often do you feel joyful?; P2    In general, how often do you feel positive?; P3    In general, to what extent do you feel contented?

E1    How often do you become absorbed in what you are doing?; E2    In general, to what extent do you feel excited and interested in things?; E3    How often do you lose track of time while doing something you enjoy?

R1    To what extent do you receive help and support from others when you need it?; R2    To what extent do you feel loved?; R3    How satisfied are you with your personal relationships?

M1    In general, to what extent do you lead a purposeful and meaningful life?; M2    In general, to what extent do you feel that what you do in your life is valuable and worthwhile?; M3    To what extent do you generally feel you have a sense of direction in your life?

A1    How many times do you feel you are making progress toward accomplishing your goals?; A2    How often do you achieve the important goals you have set for yourself?; A3    How often are you able to handle your responsibilities?

Table 2.

PERMA-profiler (Butler and Kern, 2016).

Note. Respondents are shown in alternating order.

The PERMA-Profiler consists of 23 items that include elements other than PERMA; 15 items are highlighted for the analysis of this study.

2.4 Control variables

In addition to the data of fandom and well-being, the following data were collected as control variables: age, gender (1 = male, 0 = female), marital status (1 = married and 0 = unmarried), employment status (1 = unemployed, 2 = part-time, 3 = full-time), educational background (1 = junior high school, 2 = high school, 3 = college, 4 = undergrad, 5 = graduate school), annual income level (1 = 0, 2 = less than JPY 1 million, 3 = less than JPY 2 million, …, 11 = less than JPY 12 million, 13 = less than JPY 15 million, 14 = less than JPY 20 million, 15 = more JPY 20 million approx. USD 1.5 thousand). For clarification, employment status represents the length of labor time, and educational background represents the length of educational period.

2.5 Analysis

First, the respondents were divided into the fandom participants and nonparticipants. Then, the score of each element of PERMA between two groups was compared. To validate the results, multiple regression analyses were conducted to verify the relationship between the elements of PERMA and the participation in fandom (1 = yes and 0 = no) and other attributes as control variables. Although the data included ordinal and dummy variables, they were used in the analysis as proxy variables for the relative magnitude of each item. Finally, a cluster analysis was conducted to classify the fandom participants by their involvement in the activities and analyze fandom in a more detailed format.

3. Results

3.1 The relationship between fandom and PERMA

The respondents’ (n = 2046) participation in the fandom was as follows (multiple answer):

1. Supporting real people: 35.2% (n = 721)

2. Supporting characters: 20.9% (n = 428)

3. Supporting other than people/characters: 15.2% (n = 311)

4. None of the above apply: 48.6% (n = 994)

Those who chose the fourth option (n = 994, mean age 45.3 years, 54.0% male) were classified as non-fandom participants, and the rest were classified as participants (n = 1052, mean age 40.4 years, 55.0% male).

First, the level of well-being of the two groups was compared using the PERMA model, which consists of positive emotion (α = 0.85), engagement (α = 0.79), relationship (α = 0.81), meaning (α = 0.89), and accomplishment (α = 0.82) (see details in Table 2). It includes an item with a Cronbach’s alpha slightly below 0.8, but in view of the design of the scale itself, the original version of the scale was retained. As a result, fandom participants showed significantly higher levels of well-being in all criteria—positive emotion (t = 5.95, df = 2010.18, p < 0.001), engagement (t = 10.04, df = 2003.63, p < 0.001), relationship (t = 5.44, df = 2029.87, p < 0.001), meaning (t = 5.40, df = 2027.15, p < 0.001), and accomplishment (t = 4.91, df = 2019.62, p < 0.001)—than the nonparticipants (Table 3).

	Cronbach’s alpha	Fandom participants (n = 1052)		Nonparticipants (n = 994)		t-Value
		M	SD
PERMA
Positive emotion	0.85	6.13	1.71	5.66	1.84	5.95^***
Engagement	0.79	6.41	1.56	5.68	1.70	10.04^***
Relationship	0.81	6.07	1.82	5.63	1.87	5.44^***
Meaning	0.89	5.84	1.87	5.38	1.94	5.40^***
Accomplishment	0.82	6.11	1.67	5.74	1.76	4.91^***

Table 3.

Comparison of the level of well-being in two groups.

***p < .001.

Furthermore, regression analysis was conducted to examine the impact of participation in fandom after eliminating other factors that could influence well-being. The dependent variables are the elements of PERMA, and the independent variables are the fandom dummy, gender dummy, age, marital status dummy, educational background, employment status, and annual income. Before the analysis, to avoid multicollinearity, it was confirmed that the residuals of each dependent variable followed a normal distribution and the VIF of each independent variable is less than 3 (Table 4). The results showed that participation in knowledge sharing was a significant predictor of all PERMA elements: positive emotion (β = 0.12, t = 4.80, p < .001), engagement (β = 0.19, t = 7.56, p < .001), relationship (β = 0.10, t = 3.93, p < .001),  meaning (β = 0.11, t = 4.28, p < .001), and accomplishment (β = 0.10, t = 4.16, p < .001). Therefore, it was shown that participation to the fandom had a significantly positive impact on the level of well-being.

Dependent variable	Positive emotion			Engagement			Relationship			Meaning			Accomplishment			VIF
	β	t-Value		β	t-Value		β	t-Value		β	t-Value		β	t-Value
Independent variable
Participation to fandom	0.12	4.80***		0.19	7.56***		0.10	3.93***		0.11	4.28***		0.10	4.16***		1.05
Gender	−0.08	2.78**		−0.03	1.16		−0.12	4.18***		−0.04	1.45		−0.01	0.47		1.39
Age	−0.04	1.62		−0.07	2.43*		−0.14	5.17***		−0.13	4.61***		0.00	0.17		1.28
Marital status	0.13	4.85 ***		0.03	1.12		0.17	6.32***		0.18	6.58***		0.06	2.10*		1.23
Educational background	0.08	2.94**		0.07	2.64**		0.08	3.07**		0.08	2.92 **		0.09	3.55***		1.13
Employment status	−0.01	0.31		−0.06	1.90		−0.02	0.76		−0.03	1.09		−0.02	0.50		1.75
Annual income	0.11	3.01**		0.09	2.62**		0.08	2.19*		0.18	5.06***		0.14	3.86***		2.19
R^2		0.04			0.048			0.05			0.07			0.04
F		11.07***			12.57***			13.959***			18.38***			10.75***

Table 4.

The results of regression analysis.

* p < .05; ** p < .01; ***p < .001.

3.2 Classification of fandom participants

To gain a better understanding of fandom, cluster analysis was conducted by the frequency of fandom activities by adopting the k-means method. After applying the number of clusters from two to five, the participants were classified into four clusters (Table 7). Each cluster was characterized as follows: Cluster 1 participants (n = 321, mean age = 41.0 years, 55.1% male) are more willing to engage in activities with peers than doing them alone (Table 7). They seem to go out to see a live concert or enjoy viewing their favor’s contents in home if someone does together or invite them and would not do it alone. Thus, they are named “accompanying.” In contrast, Cluster 3 participants (n = 176, mean age = 42.2 years, 54.0% male) prefer to do fandom-related activities alone (Table 7). They can accompany someone to the same extent as Cluster 1 participants, but they are more likely to go alone; accordingly, they are named “independent.” Cluster 2 participants (n = 313, mean age = 35.5 years, 56.2% male) are frequent with respect to overall fandom activity (Table 7). They work with their peers, sometimes alone, and even contact their favorites directly. It shows that they invest a lot of time and effort into their fandom, and thus, they are named “enthusiastic.” In opposition, Cluster 4 (n = 242, mean age = 44.5 years, 54.1% male) showed overall infrequency in fandom-related activities (Table 7). They engage in fandom without going out and buying goods, in other words, spend less time and money. Therefore, they are named “casual”.

Each cluster has a different degree of involvement in fandom and with others through it. This study examined the levels of PERMA for each cluster to see if such a difference in fandom involvement affects well-being. As a result of ANOVA, there were significant differences among the clusters for each of the PERMA factors: positive emotion (F (3, 1048) = 16.98, p < 0.001), engagement (F (3, 1048) = 17.35, p < 0.001), relationship (F (3, 1048) = 23.72, p < 0.001), meaning (F (3, 1048) = 17.46, p < 0.001), and accomplishment (F (3, 1048) = 15.41, p < 0.001).

Subsequently, differences in mean values of each PERMA element were assessed with Bonferroni multiple comparison (Table 5). The results indicated that the “enthusiastic” cluster (Cluster 2) showed significant higher levels in all PERMA elements than the other clusters (Table 5).

	Cluster	n	M	SD	Difference with cluster 1		Difference with cluster 2		Difference with cluster 3
Positive emotion	1	321	6.07	1.54	—		—		—
	2	313	6.66	1.63	0.59***		—		—
	3	176	5.69	1.85	−0.38		−0.97***		—
	4	242	5.85	1.78	−0.22		−0.81***		0.16
Engagement	1	321	6.18	1.39	—		—		—
	2	313	6.93	1.54	0.75***		—		—
	3	176	6.31	1.47	0.13		−0.62***		—
	4	242	6.13	1.72	−0.04		−0.79***		−0.18
Relationship	1	321	5.91	1.70	—		—		—
	2	313	6.76	1.62	0.84***		—		—
	3	176	5.62	1.96	−0.30		−1.14***		—
	4	242	5.72	1.86	−0.19		−1.03***		0.11
Meaning	1	321	5.74	1.69	—		—		—
	2	313	6.43	1.77	0.69***		—		—
	3	176	5.31	1.87	−0.43		−1.12***		—
	4	242	5.59	2.04	−0.14		−0.83***		0.28
Accomplishment	1	321	5.98	1.54	—		—		—
	2	313	6.63	1.65	0.65***		—		—
	3	176	5.82	1.71	−0.16		−0.81***		—
	4	242	5.84	1.70	−0.14		−0.80***		0.02

Table 5.

The result of multiple comparisons.

***p < .001.

Table 6 shows the distribution of fandom objects by clusters. A chi-square test revealed that the distribution of fandom objective significantly differs in clusters (χ2 = 67.79, df = 18, p < .001). The “enthusiastic” Cluster 2 participants tended to have more multiples, which means that they have multiple favorites across genres and accordingly spent a lot of time and effort on fandom. The “independent” participants of Cluster 3 are more likely to target fandoms other than people and characters, which is consistent with them acting alone. The “casual” Cluster 4 participants had a relatively high percentage of respondents who supported only the person without crossing genres. The “accompanying” participants of Cluster 1 had a similar distribution as the total.

Cluster	n	a) Real people	b) Characters	c)Others	a) + b)	a) + c)	b) + c)	a) + b) + c)	Total
1:Accompanying	321	40.2%	18.1%	13.4%	12.1%	7.5%	2.2%	6.5%	100.0%
2:Enthusiastic	313	33.9%	18.5%	6.7%	17.6%	5.4%	1.9%	16.0%	100.0%
3: Independent	176	42.6%	13.6%	16.5%	8.5%	9.7%	1.7%	7.4%	100.0%
4:Light	242	47.5%	18.2%	12.8%	9.5%	7.0%	2.9%	2.1%	100.0%
Total	1052	40.4%	17.5%	11.8%	12.5%	7.1%	2.2%	8.5%	100.0%

Table 6.

Distribution of fandom objects by clusters.

Note. Values with the largest deviation from the total in each column are shown in bold.

4. Conclusions

This study explored if fandom increases the well-being of the participants, and it was empirically demonstrated. The fandom participants showed significant higher levels of well-being. The “enthusiastic” cluster (Cluster 2 in Table 7), which showed the highest involvement in fandom, depicted significantly higher levels of PERMA elements among others. Focusing on this cluster, it can be concluded that the improvement in well-being that is associated with participation in fandom is not provided by someone else, but by the participants themselves, through their own active involvements. They may work with their peers or even alone, depending on the situation. Some are even involved in more than one genre of fandom, and it can be assumed that they select the target to support and how to support it of their own volition. If relationships with others contributed to better well-being, the “accompanying” cluster (Cluster 1 in Table 7) would show higher values than the “independent” and “casual” clusters (Cluster 3 and 4 in Table 7 respectively), but no significant differences were identified. Accordingly, this study concludes that spontaneous participation in fandom improves well-being.

					Center value
Fandom activities	M (n = 1052)	SD	F-value		Cluster 1 (n = 321)	Cluster 2 (n = 313)	Cluster 3 (n = 176)	Cluster 4 (n = 242)
1 a) Go to see alone	2.40	1.02	667.79***		1.98	3.19	3.35	1.27
1 b) Go to see with peers	2.36	0.98	322.36***		2.37	3.18	2.38	1.30
2 a) View contents alone	3.11	0.86	49.78***		2.88	3.38	3.52	2.77
2 b) View contents with peers	2.60	0.97	132.11***		2.65	3.25	2.32	1.88
3 a) Visit related places alone	2.25	1.00	677.63***		1.82	3.18	2.91	1.15
3 b) Visit related places with peers	2.23	0.98	521.79***		2.17	3.22	2.08	1.14
4 Contant directly	1.84	0.91	245.48***		1.73	2.65	1.63	1.07
5 Buy official goods	2.53	0.95	290.42***		2.57	3.28	2.53	1.51
6 Buy related goods	2.26	0.98	348.81***		2.31	3.16	1.92	1.28
7 Talk on SNS	2.20	1.00	243.59***		2.15	3.08	1.83	1.38

Table 7.

The results of cluster analysis.

***p < .001.

This conclusion is in line with Aoki and Ishizuka [4], which suggested that the process of constructing CBE could positively impact customers’ well-being. They noted that brands and customers recognize a mutual alignment of values and build strong engagement in the process of achieving each goal [4]. In this process, rather than benefitting from something from the brand, customers were gaining opportunities for personal growth and self-actualization through the brand [4]. In this study, fandom participants were indicated to have improved their well-being by acting on their own initiative. This study aimed to provide quantitative support for the findings of Aoki and Ishizuka [4]. Finally, it was suggested that the two studies are also consistent qualitatively.

5. Implications

This study exhibited the benefits of CBE to customers themselves by showing the benefit of fandom participants. While various studies have addressed the benefits that CBE can bring to firms [2, 3], this study presents new findings by focusing on benefits on the customer side and contributes to a better understanding of CBE.

Furthermore, this study added new findings to fandom research by showing that participation in fandom improves well-being using findings in positive psychology. While fandom has been shown to increase happiness [19, 20], this study demonstrates empirically that it leads to increased well-being over the long term. This study is notable in that it focuses not on a relationship between a particular favorite and a fan, but the activities of fandom itself. It is a more natural state of daily life to consider people’s well-being and ensures the validity of the findings.

This study is even a blow to consumerism. Although consumerism was initially advocated for the purpose of protecting consumer rights [26], it has even been argued in recent years that it encourages mass consumption and reduces consumer well-being [27, 28]. In recent years, the diffusion of the Internet has led to the consideration of digital consumerism, which does not compromise the well-being of consumers [29]. On the other hand, it has been pointed out since the 1990s that companionship and social support improve well-being more than consumption behavior [30]. Consistent with these findings, this study shows that companies do not promote materialism and reduce people’s well-being but can amplify it by providing opportunities to engage with society.

These findings have important practical implications. This study showed that firms can deepen customer relationships while improving the customers’ well-being. This means that value co-creation between the firm and its customers can enhance the well-being of the participants. By achieving this, a firm demonstrates its purpose, in addition to the commercial pursuit of profit. As the study results indicate that firms do not directly enhance customers’ well-being, it is important to motivate spontaneous behavior from customers. It will be significant to provide products and/or services that foster fandom, in other words, to make people enthusiastic about them. This will ultimately benefit both the firm and its customers and will be the achievement of essential value co-creation.

There are several limitations to this study. To increase the likelihood of fandom participants appearing in this study, a wide range of genres were surveyed. Therefore, while the results of this study were able to provide an overview, they were not able to go into detail. In order to increase the universality of the results of this study, a more in-depth study is required, including the collection of qualitative data. Additionally, the data for this study were collected entirely in Japan. Fandom is greatly influenced by cultural backgrounds. Future studies are expected to make cross-cultural comparisons.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [grant number 20 K13631].

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.