The influence of star marketing and the design characteristics of 'idol goods' on consumer responses and purchase intentions: focus on fandom culture

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of star marketing and the design characteristics of idol goods on the responses of fandom-culture consumers and their purchase intentions. In order to proceed with this study, a literature review and questionnaire survey was conducted. The survey was conducted on 229 idol fans interested in idol goods. Results of the analysis are as follows. First, the design characteristics exerted a stronger influence on emotional responses to the idol goods than the star marketing. In addition, we found that instead of star marketing, both the content characteristics and the originality of the design characteristics directly affected cognitive responses. Second, an analysis of the effects of consumer reaction on the intention to purchase idol goods demonstrated that consumers with stronger emotional and cognitive responses had a higher intention to reuse idol goods. In addition, higher perceptions of emotional response led to an increased intention to speak about idol goods. Therefore, this study verified that the emotional reaction stimulating the emotion of consumers plays the most important role in creating the intent to purchase idol goods.