LIFE AS A JENA MALONE FAN: AN INTROSPECTIVE STUDY OF A CONSUMER’S FAN RELATIONSHIP WITH A FILM ACTRESS BY MARKUS WOHLFEIL (MBS) A Thesis Submitted for the Completion of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Department of Management and Organisation School of Business Waterford Institute of Technology Supervisor: Dr. Susan Whelan Submitted on 17 June 2011 I hereby declare that, except where duly acknowledged and referenced, this study is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for any degree or other qualification in the Waterford Institute of Technology or any other third level institution in Ireland or abroad. While six publications form the core of this thesis, none of the papers contained in this submission for the award of PhD has been presented for any other academic or professional distinction. All six publications have been co-authored. In case of the five papers that have been co- authored by my supervisor Dr. Susan Whelan, I was the principle author and hold the intellectual contribution. In case of “Getting Lost ‘Into the Wild’” , the intellectual contribution is jointly and equally held (see Dr. Wided Batat’s statement below). __________________________________________ Markus Wohlfeil, June 2011 Statement of author’s contribution I hereby declare that I am aware that the work in the paper “Getting Lost Into the Wild: Understanding Consumers’ Movie Enjoyment Through a Narrative Transportation Approach” of which I am a co-author, will form part of PhD dissertation by Mr. Markus Wohlfeil who made a proportional contribution to the work in the conception and design, analysis and interpretation, data collection, writing the article, critical vision of the paper and critical revision of the article. Wided BATAT, PhD Associate Professor of Marketing University of Lyon 2, France ii I dedicate this thesis to my parents, my late grandma, my brother Sven, my sister Katja, my niece Hannah, my nephew Felix and, in particular, to Ms Debbie Malone and Ms. Jena Malone. iii In the academic literature, conducting a research project is often compared to going on a journey of discovery in order to advance the knowledge in a specific area of study. Even though this may be true, in many cases this type of journey will also take the researcher on a quest of self-discovery through which s/he ultimately becomes a different, more enlightened person at the end. However, as with any other journey, the researcher has to acknowledge that he would have lost his path on so many occasions, if it weren’t for the support, help, encouragement, wisdom or simply the comfort of some important people along the way. First of all, and most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the major academic and personal support, commitment and trust I have received from my supervisor Dr. Susan Whelan over the last 8 years (2 years MBS and, now, 6 years PhD). I would like to thank Susan for accompanying me on my journey that went from uncharted territory into the complete unknown, for making sure that I did not get stuck somewhere along the way and/or distracted by some other adventures; and for giving me the intellectual freedom to explore, develop and establish my own path into academia. But most importantly, I would like to thank Susan especially for putting up with such a difficult, thick-headed and moody weirdo like me. I’m quite sure that it isn’t always easy, as I know that I can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Next, I would like to thank Dr. Patrick Lynch and Dr. Ray Griffin for the tonnes of advice they have provided over the years and the many fruitful discussions that we had on a daily basis until 2007, when I took up a lecturer position at University College Cork. I also thank Mr. Diarmuid McElhinney for the relaxing philosophical debates we had in Oscars. Further thanks, in no particular order, go to Dr. Tom O’Toole, Ms. Joan McDonald, Dr. Denis Harrington, Ms. Suzanne Kiely, Ms. Jenny Mullen, Dr. Anthony Foley, Prof. Gary Davis, Ms. Siobhan O’Connor, Mr. Damien Ryan, Dr. Fiona Lynch, Mr. Jamie Power, Dr. Richard Hayes and the staff in the library and in Oscars. The next important people I would like to thank are Emeritus Prof. Morris B. Holbrook, Columbia University, and Prof. Stephen J. Gould, Baruch College, City University of iv New York, for sharing their incredibly vast experience with me, proof-reading and advising me on my papers and, also, acting as my mentors during this exciting journey and beyond. Further important people that shared their huge experience with me are Prof. Sebastian Green and Dr. Donncha Kavanagh at University College Cork – I really enjoyed the philosophical (and unpredictable ☺) discussions. I would also say many thanks for the shared advice, feedback and comments to Prof. Darach Turley, Dublin City University, Prof. Douglas Brownlie, University of Stirling, Dr. Anthony Patterson, University of Liverpool, Dr. Brendan Richardson, Dr. Lawrence Dooley, Ms. Carol Kelleher, Dr. Kevin Scally, Mr. Ger Horgan and Mr. James Fairhead, all University College Cork, Dr. Finola Kerrigan, King’s College, University of London, Prof. Søren Askegaard, University of Southern Denmark Odense, Prof. Robert V. Kozinets and Associate Prof. Markus Giesler at York University Toronto, Dr. Robin Canniford, University of Melbourne and Emeritus Prof. Sidney J. Levy, University of Arizona. Very special and warm thanks go to my friend Dr. Wided Batat, University of Lyon, with whom I also co-wrote a great paper and who is someone I can count on… ;-) Of course, I shouldn’t forget my family. Thus, I would like to thank my little sister Katja for her patience, support, advice and the occasional kick in the butt. A special thanks go to my 6 year old nephew Felix and my 5 year old niece Hannah, who once in a while allow me to talk to their mummy for a few minutes on the phone and keep me on my toes (aka young) during my yearly Christmas visits. I also like to acknowledge my father Eckhard and my mother Beatrix for their understanding and support; even though we have not always agreed on the path I was taking and have had lots of heated debates. But at the end I’m grateful that you are always there for me. A very big gratitude goes to my late granny, who was always standing behind me ever since I was a little boy – until her death a few years ago. Thanks for all that you have done for me!!! I would also like to thank Mr. Andre Pause for being such a great friend in all those years. Last but not least, I would especially like to thank Ms. Debbie Malone for being one of the best friends I ever had and for giving me all the great advice, encouragement and support. Many thanks also to Maddie for the funny chats. And, finally, my very special thanks, obviously, go to Ms. Jena Malone for inspiring me, although without knowing it, to this incredible research journey. Well, Jena, this for you, too…☺ v Ever since the dawn of the Hollywood star system in the early 1920s, consumers have always been fascinated by the works and private lives of film stars and any other celebrities (Dyer 1998; McDonald 2000). In fact, the public demand for celebrities is so strong these days that they have without any doubt become an essential part of our everyday culture (Gabler 1998; Turner 2004) and market economy (McCracken 1989; Thomson 2006). Yet, some consumers experience a significantly more intensive level of interest and admiration for a particular celebrity and, subsequently, become what are commonly known as ‘fans’ (Henry and Caldwell 2007; O’Guinn 1991) or ‘celebrity worshippers’ (McCutcheon et al. 2003). And I’m one of them! Ever since I, by chance, bought the DVD of the film Saved! (US 2004) back in April 2005, I have been the devoted fan of the talented young actress Jena Malone, who features primarily in lesser known, but much more interesting and challenging indie-films. But what is it exactly that attracts an ordinary consumer like me to become and remain the devoted fan of a film actress? What does the lived experience of being the fan of a film actress (or any other celebrity for that matter) actually mean for the individual consumer? And how does celebrity fandom express itself in everyday consumer behaviour? While these are interesting questions, surprisingly little academic research has sought to address them. In fact, the existing fandom literature even lacks a coherent understanding of what actually constitutes fandom in the first place, and the interpretation of what fans are often seems to depend on the underlying agenda of the researcher investigating the phenomenon. What is clear, though, is that both academic literature and popular media have placed fans consistently on the receiving end of ridicule, negative stereotyping and bad press (Jenson 1992). As desired, fans are portrayed either as mindless numbs, who are manipulated by popular mass culture (Fiske 1992; Schickel 1985), or as subversive and creative rebels against the corporate establishment (Jenkins 1992; Shefrin 2004). Some authors viewed fans as members of neo-religious cults, who worship celebrities like gods through shared rituals and the sacralisation of associated items within like- minded communities (Kozinets 1997; O’Guinn 1991). Others described them as geeks and alienated, lonely social misfits, for whom fandom is a means of compensating for experienced deficits in their social lives (Jenkins 1992; Kozinets 2001). Finally, some vi social psychologists have in recent years set out to confirm sensationalist media reports by portraying fans as cognitively inflexible, dull and uncreative people (McCutcheon et al.