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Association for Consumer Research ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802 You're a Wizard, Harry! Consumer Response to the Harry Potter Phenomenon stephen brown, school of marketing, university of ulster anthony patterson, university of liverpool management school “You’re A Wizard, Harry!”Consumer Response to the Harry Potter PhenomenonStephen Brown (University of Ulster, UK)Anthony Patterson (University of Liverpool, UK)Short AbstractHarry Potter is one of the most astonishing consumption occurrences of recent years. Less than a decade ago, the boy wizard’s creator was an anonymous single mom on welfare. Today, J.K. Rowling presides over a $4 billion marketing empire and is one of the most famous faces on the planet. This paper examines consumer responses to the fashion for all things Potter. It argues that far from being trivial, as some suppose, fads are typical of today’s Entertainment Economy. If transformative consumer research is our aim, Harry Potteresque phenomena need to be better understood. [to cite]: stephen brown and anthony patterson (2006) ,"You're a Wizard, Harry! Consumer Response to the Harry Potter Phenomenon", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 33, eds. Connie Pechmann and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 155-160. [url]: http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/12449/volumes/v33/NA-33 [copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. “You’re A Wizard, Harry!” Consumer Response to the Harry Potter Phenomenon Stephen Brown, University of Ulster Anthony Patterson, University of Liverpool ABSTRACT becomes a trend or indeed a classic? Be that as it may, there is no Harry Potter is one of the most overwhelming consumer doubt that the word “fad” carries pejorative connotations, particu- tsunami of recent years. Less than a decade ago, the boy wizard’s larly when it’s combined with the word “management.” Manage- creator was an anonymous single mom on welfare. Today, J.K. ment fads like kaizen, re-engineering and TQM are universally Rowling presides over a $4 billion marketing empire and is one of disdained, though that doesn’t prevent their proliferation (Furnham the most famous faces on the planet. This paper examines consumer 2004). responses to the fashion for all things Potter. It argues that far from In fairness, not everyone regards fads as regressive. The ample being trivial, as some suppose, fads are typical of today’s Entertain- fan community literature reveals the strength of consumer bonds ment Economy. If transformative consumer research is our aim, that congeal around crazes like Star Trek, Beanie Babies, Blackber- Harry Potteresque phenomena need to be better understood. ries, iPods et al (Hills 2002). Brand communities, most studies agree, are knowledgeable, proprietorial, opinionated, disputatious, FAN OF TEEN FABLES committed and, actively encouraged by far-sighted corporate ex- An indigent author writes a compelling story about an eleven- ecutives, increasingly involved in the co-creation of brand meaning year-old orphan with wayward hair and distinctive features, who is (e.g. Fournier 1998; Holt 2002; Kozinets 2001; McAlexander et al transported to another place, finds it difficult to fit in and, after 2002; Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). Set against this, of course, they getting into all sorts of intriguing scrapes, eventually learns to do the are somewhat atypical. By their very nature, brand fans are unusu- right thing. The indigent author’s manuscript, however, is rejected ally dedicated to the object of their veneration, be it Elvis or ET. by numerous publishing houses, which see no market for the quirky They are the keepers of the fad flame. They continue to tend it long tale. She is on the point of giving up and returning to her hardscrabble after the craze has died down and the next big thing’s all the rage. job as a schoolteacher, but on a whim, decides to try one last It follows that the picture presented by the burgeoning brandfan publisher. The manuscript is accepted, published in a limited literature is incomplete. It also follows that, if we are to better edition and, miraculously, becomes an enormous hit. The ex- understand the nature of fads, the feelings of less committed fans indigent author follows up with sequel after sequel after sequel and and, moreover, non-fans must be investigated. a storybook franchise is born. The present paper attempts to increase our understanding of Familiar as it is, this rags-to-riches tale of literary good fortune “fadology.” It does so by means of a qualitative study of the Harry is not the heart-warming story of J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter Potter phenomenon, a staggeringly successful consumer craze that phenomenon. It is the tale of L.M. Montgomery, an impecunious erupted at the turn of the millennium and is still going strong. The inhabitant of Price Edward Island whose classic children’s story, paper begins with a brief outline of Harry Potter mania, continues Anne of Green Gables, was published in 1908 to huge popularity, with an overview of our research program, turns to a summary of the instant acclaim and not a little criticism (Barrett 1997). It is a story findings, and concludes with some thoughts on the nature of fads. that spawned six successful sequels, all of which have been filmed, televised, merchandised and variously recycled in the century since BRANDACADABRA Anne of Green Gables was written (Gammel 2002). Harry Potter is one of the most astonishing marketing tsunami Montgomery’s story, nevertheless, is almost identical to that of recent years (Blake 2002). So much so, that surely there can’t be of Joanne Rowling’s (even down to the six sequels), who published a single person anywhere who hasn’t heard of Harry Potter and the her first Harry Potter novel in 1997 and saw her creation grow, like best selling books that bear his name. A scarred and orphaned Topsy, as the episodes rolled off the Rowling production line schoolboy, who is maltreated by his stepparents, bullied by his (Smith 2001). More pertinently perhaps, Montgomery’s story re- stepbrother and discovers on his eleventh birthday that he possesses minds us that Anne/Harry-style fads are–and long have been–an magical powers, Harry Potter is whisked off to Hogwarts School of important aspect of consumer culture (Berger 2000). From the Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he studies the magical curriculum, bicycle craze of the late-nineteenth century, through the crossword learns that an enchanted world co-exists alongside the everyday puzzle mania of the 1920s, to the Pet Rock phenomenon of the world of non-magical Muggles, makes friends with fellow pupils 1970s, consumer fads are always with us (Thorne 1992). Individu- Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, spends many a happy hour ally, they may be here today and gone tomorrow, but collectively playing Quidditch, a kind of airborne basketball, and, not least, fads are as dependable as Old Faithful. They are the geysers of battles against the evil Lord Voldemort, who killed his parents, tried western capitalism. Another is certain to erupt before long and and failed to kill Harry too, and is determined to take over the evaporate equally quickly. wizarding world by hook, crook, curse, hex and analogous nefari- Despite their ubiquity in domains as diverse as medicine, ous means (Rowling 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003). politics, fashion, sport, music, pastimes and academia (Hoffman To date, six books in the seven-book series have been pub- and Bailey 1992), fads are unloved by mainstream marketing and lished and approximately 300 million copies have been sold world- consumer researchers. They are regarded as unpredictable, uncon- wide (Brown 2002). This places Potter third in the all-time bestsellers trollable and infuriatingly short-lived (Kotler 2000; Solomon 2002). list, after The Bible (2.5 billion copies sold) and The Thoughts of There is, admittedly, a definitional difficulty with fads: What Chairman Mao (800 million). In addition to the books themselves, exactly is a fad? What are its distinguishing features? What, if the first three HP adventures have been made into live-action anything, are the differences between fads and fashions, let alone movies by Warner Bros, earning some $1.6 billion at the global box crazes and manias? How long does a fad have to last before it office and a further $750 million in DVD, video and television 155 Advances in Consumer Research Volume 33, © 2006 156 / “You’re A Wizard, Harry!” Consumer Response to the Harry Potter Phenomenon licensing sales. More than 400 items of tie-in merchandise are also (2002) has surfed the highways and byways of the world wide web, available, everything from candy and key rings to computer games conversing with Potterphiles, Weasleymanes and Graingerphagites. and glow-in-the-dark glasses (Beahm 2004). It is estimated that the From her analysis of message board postings, she calculates that brand is worth $1 billion per annum and that J.K Rowling is a two-thirds of Potter posters are under the age of 18, with most (dollar) billionaire. She is 6th on Forbes’ roll-call of female falling between 12 and 16. Of the 12-16 subgroup, approximately business leaders, 5th on Entertainment Weekly’s inventory of two-thirds are female, though male participation is much greater in movers and shakers, and was runner-up to George W. Bush as movie-related message boards. Borah followed up with email Time’s “Person of the Year, 2000.” Not bad for someone who was interviews of twenty teenage consumers and found that most had a poverty-stricken single mom, living on welfare in an unheated been introduced to Harry by a friend or relative, many had partici- Edinburgh apartment, less than a decade ago (Gupta 2003).
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