Emotional Attachment to Brands in the K-Pop Industry the Case of Male K-Pop Bands in Russia

Emotional attachment to brands in the K-pop industry The case of male K-pop bands in Russia

Alina Skvortsova

Bachelor’s thesis March 2020 Marketing Degree Programme in International Business

Description

Author(s) Type of publication Date Skvortsova, Alina Bachelor’s thesis March 2020 Language of publication: English Number of pages Permission for web publi- 68 cation: x Title of publication Emotional attachment to brands in the K-pop industry The case of male K-pop bands in Russia

Degree programme International Business Supervisor(s) Zoccoli, Marcella Assigned by JAMK Center for Competitiveness Abstract K-pop (abbreviation for “Korean pop”), the 7th most popular music genre in the world as of 2019, is nowadays actively promoting in other countries outside of South Korea. However, despite the enormous market potential, there has now been little active marketing in Rus- sia aside from several concerts. Yet, it can be assumed that at the start of targeted actions, the genre will face cultural rejection. The objective of this research is to study how the Russian fans perceive and experience the K-pop male bands as an overall brand. The data obtained can be used to design messages used for future marketing in the country. In order to achieve the objective, 14 semi-structured personal interviews and one group interview with female fans in Russia were conducted according to the model suggested by the Customer-Based approach to branding. The results showed that overall, fans in Russia generally view male bands more in relation to specific artists within bands or focus on particular bands without viewing them as a whole set of “male K-pop bands”. However, they all share the same brand characteristics: they are bright, supportive, warm, and can provide motivation or distraction. Additionally, the performers are visually attractive, and the content provided is generally viewed as high-quality. Fans show high levels of emotional attachment to bands. The results may be utilized as a base for further research of impact of this emotional attachment on artists themselves. Additionally, the results may be used by K-pop companies if they choose to start active marketing in Russia. They can also be used by other foreign artists who are targeting the audience with psychological characteristics similar to female K-pop fans of Generation Z but are unsure of which messages to communicate. Additional- ly, the results will be useful for domestic performers who may wish to replicate the service provided by K-pop bands.

Keywords/tags (subjects) K-pop; Russian fans; brand; branding; celebrity branding; Generation Z; customer-based brand equity Miscellaneous (Confidential information)

Contents

1 Introduction ...... 3 1.1 Motivation for the research ...... 4

1.2 Research question ...... 6

1.3 Structure of the thesis ...... 7

2 Literature Review ...... 7 2.1 K-pop ...... 8

2.1.1 K-pop and its defining characteristics ...... 8

2.1.2 K-pop in Russia ...... 11

2.1.3 K-pop in other countries ...... 12

2.2 Brands and branding ...... 13

2.2.1 Brand ...... 13

2.2.2 Branding ...... 14

2.2.3 Celebrity branding ...... 14

2.3 Generation Z ...... 16

2.4 Theoretical framework ...... 17

2.4.1 The Cognitive Consumer Perspective ...... 19

2.4.2 The information-processing theory of consumer choice ...... 20

2.4.3 Customer-based brand equity ...... 21

3 Methodology ...... 23 3.1 Research Approach ...... 24

3.2 Research Context...... 25

3.3 Data Collection ...... 25

3.4 Data Analysis ...... 28

3.5 Verification of the results ...... 30 2

4 Research results ...... 31

5 Discussion ...... 45 5.1 Answers to the research question ...... 45

5.2 Practical and managerial implications ...... 45

5.3 Assessment of the results in the light of literature ...... 46

5.3.1 Brand awareness and brand recall ...... 48

5.3.2 Non-product related attributes ...... 48

5.3.3 Non-Product-related attributes ...... 48

5.3.4 Benefits ...... 49

5.3.5 Attitudes ...... 50

5.3.6 Favorability, strength, and uniqueness of brand associations ...... 50

5.4 Limitations of the research ...... 51

5.5 Recommendations for future research ...... 51

References ...... 53

Figures

Figure 1. Linear Communication (adapted from Heding et al. 2008, 85) ...... 18 Figure 2. Communication process (designed by the researcher) ...... 18 Figure 3. Three forms of cognition applied to brands (sourced from G. Franzen and M. Bouwman 2001, 178) ...... 20 Figure 4. Dimensions of brand knowledge (sourced from Keller 1993, 7) ...... 22 Figure 5. K-pop Male Bands Brand Image ...... 47

Tables

Table 1. An example of the data analysis spreadsheet ...... 29 Table 2. Data filtering ...... 30

1 Introduction

Music is an important part of our daily lives. It plays in shopping malls, on the radio, in someone’s headphones. Artists from any part of the world can have their tracks playing on any continent with the spread of the Internet and social media.

To the date, music has undergone many stages of development before it reached us in the form we know today. The process has been described by Wetzel (2011). Europe’s first widespread music consisted of church songs and prayers. Notation printing was invented in the sixteenth century. In those times, music was shaped by traveling composers. Seventeenth-century saw the violin invention of the Stradivari family. In the next stage, musicians and composers found themselves tied to noble courts, yet by the end of the eighteenth century, they gained their independence. The century transitioned into the nineteenth-century era of traveling pianists. In this perios, the first features of popular music culture emerged as musicians had loyal listeners and known names. The post-war era of the twentieth century saw the Beatles, and this moment is believed to be the start of popular music industry as we know it today. Finally, the twenty-first century is marked not only music piracy and online streaming platforms; it is the most globalized stage at which music as an industry has ever been. The modern music industry allows artists from any country to share their music with the world. (11-52.) The worls just needs to listen.

When asked about most popular music artists, an average European might recall names like Halsey, Ariana Grande, or Coldplay. It can also be artists like Eminem, NF, or One Direction. Regardless of names, the artists we recall are likely to have one thing in common: they originate from the United States or from another major English-speaking country. The American music industry is undoubtedly a global force. And yet, in the past years South Korea, a country of approximately the same size as Finland, has developed a successful and vibrant K-pop industry. It has been slowly reaching all over the globe since the early 2000s (Howard 2006, 15), and today, in 2020, it has turned into an international phenomenon.

K-pop (abbreviation for Korean pop) is the 7th most popular music genre in the world (IFPI 2019, 13). Its music is presented in a variety of styles including hip-hop, rap, R&B, and pop (Lee et al. 2013, 534). K-pop artists can be of both genders, performing

4 in groups or as solo acts. They are polished to perfection young performers who sell stadium tickets in foreign countries despite singing in Korean. (Lie 2012, 31.) They perform coordinated choreographies; their music videos are usually of HD quality. K- pop songs have catchy tunes and a modern vibe. The performers themselves pay personal attention to every fan, making eye contact on stage and talking to them during special events. (Lie 2014, 5-54.) Fans from all over the world listen to their music, run fan accounts on social media, and otherwise engage with the artists every day.

As an example, Map of the Soul: 7, an album by a band BTS, sold 400.000 units in its first week after the release. The number exceeds first-week sales of international stars such as Billie Eilish (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, 313.000 units), Justin Bieber (Changes, 231.000 units), and Eminem (Music to Be Murdered By, 279.000 units). (Rolli 2020.) Additionally, as of March 4, 2020, Billboard Social 50 chart presents several other male K-pop bands, such as BTS themselves, NCT, Monsta X, Super Junior, SEVENTEEN, and Stray Kids as one of the most popular artists on social media (Billboard Social 50). This is a success, unpreceded by any other South Korean artist (Maelgyeongje Hallyubonsaek 2012, 131).

In order to explore one of the aspects of this success, the work collects opinions and associations of 20 Russian female K-pop fans belonging to Generation Z; based on their responses, association maps are drawn, generalizations are made, and a brand image of the K-pop male bands is presented according to the Customer-Based Brand- ing framework. It is important to remember, however, that due to the limited number of participants the research may present limited results.

1.1 Motivation for the research

Despite the global reach, most researchers believe that the biggest markets for K-pop are those that speak English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean as native languages (see Oh and Rhee 2016; Ryu 2011, 453). Yet, there is data of K-pop rapidly gaining massive fan audiences in other foreign countries (see Buja 2016; Otmazgin and Lyan 2014). The Russian market has seen especially rapid growth of K-pop despite the cultural rejection and language barrier (Zhdanova and Schreiber 2014, 14; Kim 2011,

164; Korean Pop Was Not Allowed Into Dagestan Cinemas 2018). Because of this rapid growth, the researcher argues that it can be beneficial to more actively market K-pop male bands to the Russian audiences and enlargen the global fanbase. Because most entertainment marketing focuses on mapping the consumer perceptions and communicating them back to the audience (Hackley and Tiwaskul 2006, 63), the research will use a technique that allows to assess the consumer perceptions of K- pop male bands in order to communicate with the fans using correct messages. This could add Russia, a country with incredible market potential, to the list of biggest K- pop markets.

It is quite fair to question a decision to study the Russian market in relation to K-pop. Aside from the mentioned cultural rejection, Russia is also notorious for its piracy and copyright infringement issues (Sezneva 2012, 151; Kiriya 2012, 447) with subsequent financial losses. However, these issues are long in the past. Russia is nowadays a profitable market for the global music industry as a whole, and analysts preduct its overall rapid growth by 2021 (J’Son and Partners Consulting, 2019). In 2019, profits from digital music sales in Russia are reported to have reached $98,4M (Music Ally 2019, 1). It is expected to reach $178M (appx. €164.1M) in profits and 29.1M in streaming platform users in 2020, and hit $205M (appx. €189M) profits by 2024 (Statista 2020). Warner Music’s representative, Rees, admits that Russia as a market has an enormous potential that has not been released yet (IFPI 2018, 25). As K-pop seems to be, among other factors, aimed at financial fain (Lee 2016, 172), it can be assumed that learning how to cultivate an early acceptance of the genre in the country with so much potential can be financially beneficial in the foreseeable future.

The results can also be used for discovering the overall factors of emotional attachment to this brand. Studying the modes of emotional attachment is important for brands because it ensures repurchase behavior by consumer in any circumstances (Oliver 1999, 40). Strong and positive emotional attachment also influences word-of- mouth effect and forgiveness (Fedorikhin 2008, 85). Patwardhan and Balasubramian (2011, 304) note that studying the factors that evoke brand attachment would be highly beneficial for brand managers.

Aside from the potential financial gain for the K-pop industry, there is yet another reason for this research. The data collected in this study can be beneficial for the K- pop industry professionals only in the event of K-pop’s continuous growth. As for K- pop’s own growth potential, there is a little disagreement in the academic field. While some researchers argue that K-pop is here to stay (e.g. Jorge 2011, 52-53), skeptics believe that K-pop is temporary (see Cha and Kim 2011). If K-pop does prove to be temporary, it will still have an influence on the future of entertainment, and the extent of such influence is hard to predict at the moment (Lie 2014, 21). In this context, it is still important to study markets that show cultural resistance in order to provide easier access for future generations of foreign artists (Chen 2019, 1235). Therefore, the study results could be used not only by the K-pop industry but by the entertainment industry as a whole. This can be achieved because the research will show the properties of the celebrity brand that were most frequently perceived as positive or negative by the female audience.

The research will allow to measure consumer attitudes and perceptions of the male K-pop bands as a brand in order to provide data for successful marketing and discover the factors of emotional attachment tp this brand. It could show the areas that should be emphasized in communications if any of the Korean entertainment companies decide to actively market their bands in Russia or in other countries. Additionally, the data obtained can be used by other industry professionals who wish to enter the Russian market with artists from different cultures and are aware of the possible cultural resistance. Moreover, the data can be used by the domestic artists (such as artists who aim to replicate K-pop, e.g. INKI) who wish to capture the market segment that is attracted by K-pop. The research can also be employed for studying the influence of this attachment on artists themselves.

1.2 Research question

This study aims to describe the brand of male K-pop bands in Russia and discover what conditions the emotional attachment to this brand. The research will seek to retrieve and analyze the associations that the consumers – Russian female Post- Millennial fans – hold about the brand as a whole, with no separation by individual artists. The data collected can then be used to market the bands back to consumers

7 with more accurate messages. The research will use the consumer-based approach to branding to collect and analyze the data.

In order to achieve its objectives, the following research question will be answered: What are the Generation Z Russian female fans’ perceptions and experiences of the male K-pop bands?

The research question was designed to conduct a study of what perceptions and experiences the consumers hold and share about the brand, and how it appears to them. It aims to determine which associations are positive, and which are negative and should be eliminated if possible. By answering this question, the research also attempts discover repeating patterns of consumer tastes in order to reveal the bands’ properties that can be emphasized or even replicated.

1.3 Structure of the thesis

In its first chapter, the thesis provides background information for the topic and explains motivation for the research. It also provides an overview of the research objectives. In the next chapter, the thesis discusses previous literature on its key concepts: K-pop, including the Russian K-pop fans; brand, branding and celebrity branding; Russian Generation Z; and theoretical framework, including the customer-based brand equity. In the Methodology chapter, the techniques and approaches used to achieve the objectives will be described. The Results chapter will present the results of the interviews conducted with the fans. In the Discussion chapter, the research question will be answered, practical and managerial implications will be discussed, the results will be assessed, limitations of the research will be described, and recommendations for future research will be given.

2 Literature Review

This chapter presents previous academic research on the key concepts of this work. First, K-pop, its defining characteristics, results pf the previous research of K-pop in Russia and in other countries will be presented. Next, the work overviews the concepts of a brand, branding and celebrity branding. Generation Z and its defining characteristics will be presented next. In the final section of the chapter, the

8 theoretical framework for Customer-Based approach to branding will be explained, including the concept of customer-based brand equity.

2.1 K-pop

2.1.1 K-pop and its defining characteristics

There is some disagreement in what ‘K-pop’ implies as a term. The most popular view claims that K-pop denotes ‘Korean pop’, and the term is used to refer to South Korean-produced popular music (Lie and Oh 2014, 349; Shin and Kim 2013, 255). Some researchers, however, claim that the ‘K’ in K-pop is linked to the national identity of South Korea in order to differentiate the genre from the Western media (Feagin 2013, 35). According to Unger (2015) this definition implies that there is nothing specifically Korean in this genre then; K-pop holds nothing of the Korean culture except for the country of origin. K-pop here is a mere way to categorize a subset of artists in order to simplify marketing, create a stronger identity, and influence consumer choice. (25.) At the moment, the discussion is still ongoing in the academic field, and is likely to continue as new concepts are discovered. This research uses the definition of K-pop as a specific genre of popular music produced in South Korea.

Several defining features of K-pop can be identified. K-pop is usually hallmarked by its idol training process, physical appearance of idols, group structure, dancing, language, and music style.

K-pop is built on idol culture. In the Korean perception, idols are stage performers and singers managed and trained by umbrella entertainment agencies that are re- sponsible for all training, management, production and marketing actions in return for a part of profits (Oh and Lee 2014, 106-107; Kwon and Kim 2013, 424). In K-pop, therefore, idols are dancers, singers, and professional entertainers who go on stage in groups or as solo artists and are signed under a specific entertainment company. Idols can be of both male and female gender, and there are precedents of trans- and non-binary idols as well. However, this research will focus mainly on attributes of male artists.

As the CEO of one of the agencies, JYP Entertainment, stated, in K-pop industry, “stars are not born, they are made” (Kang 2015, 59), which implies a view that any person can become a star with enough rigor. Before being presented to the audience, future idols pass through a training process, some of them training for as long as ten years. In order to be selected for training, they must pass an audition organized by one of the companies. (Park 2011.) If a candidate is successful, he or she will be accepted as a trainee to a specific company. The training usually consists of singing, dancing, acting, and language classes. (Oh and Park 2012, 375.) According to Lie (2014, 164), researchers also believe that all their stage outfits, songs, and personas are created by managers, stylists, and composers, which brings a further discourse of whether K-pop artists are artists at all. Successful trainees are then composed into groups or debut as soloists.

When it comes to visual aspects, researchers agree that K-pop invests money, time and effort into physical appearance, and this appearance is not always strictly gen- dered (Shim 2011, 4; Oh 2015, 62). For example, Jung (2011) believes that South Ko- rean boy bands represent what he calls ‘manufactured versatile masculinity’. This masculinity is a blend of Asian and transnational cultural patterns of masculinity, where the Confucian and global perceptions of a man are intertwined. In his opinion, this combination creates the main physical features of K-pop male artists: gender play, pretty boy image, and soft masculinity. (166.) Similarly, Sinnott (2012, 454) describes the K-pop physical appearance in the following detail: “men may wear long dangling earrings and other forms of jewelry, have long or shoulder-length heavily layered hair (often dyed), and wear tight-fitting tailored androgynous style clothing”. The physical appearance of idols, therefore, can be described as creating an image of a gentle man through blending of male and female gender identifiers, and through blending of Western and Asian cultural perceptions.

Group structure is another important feature of the style. In K-pop groups predomi- nate over solo performers in both numbers and popularity (Hogarth 2013, 140). The group structure is more flexible, efficient, and has a reach not offered by a solo act. (Lie 2014, 130.) A group has observable relationships between members, which feeds ongoing narratives about their lives among fans. This activity keeps a fandom occu- pied while the group is on hiatus or busy with a schedule. (Ho 2003, 147.) K-pop

10 groups can range from the general four-member composition to as much as eight (Stray Kids), thirteen (SEVENTEEN) or over twenty-one (NCT) performers under the same group name.

As producers seek to attract international audiences, they compose groups to be nationally heterogeneous. Sometimes this goes as far as not having all members speak the same language. In such a way, they feel more familiar to audiences. (Ho 2003, 147; Pease 2006, 179.) It is an approach that allows a band to attract a wide variety of fans. This effect is also achieved through personal branding of each member within the group: a member usually plays a role, called “concept”, determined by management (Kang 2017, 137). More and more groups nowadays debut with non- Korean members or Korean members of a non-Korean citizenship. For example, the group NCT includes members from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, South Korea, United States, and Taiwan. JYPE group Stray Kids includes two members from Aus- tralia. There is no public data, however, to how in fact effective these actions are.

The group structure provides base for another important feature of the K-pop genre: ensemble dancing. K-pop artists often have sophisticated choreographies that they perform on stage with their songs. As Hogarth (2013) notes, the nature of the mo- tions, however, is not purely Korean. It was probably borrowed from Afro-Caribbean culture. (144.) There is no data about how scientific or calculated use of dancing is in K-pop.

As to the K-pop fan relationship scheme, Lie (2014) compares it to good customer service. During performances, artists make frequent eye contact, winks, and nods towards the audience. To some observers, this makes them appear as normal company employees who have been trained to do their job, not independent artists. (156-157.) Additionally, idols often do live broadcasts where they communicate with fans and go to talk about their day. There is no discussion about how effective this activity is to create an emotional response in fans.

In conclusion, K-pop can be said to be willing to go to a great extent in order to attract as wide of audience as possible. K-pop has some distinctive features that may have influence the perception of its male performers by the audiences, and it can be differentiated from other popular genres by its country of origin, appearance of per-

11 formers, language of the songs, groups structure, dancing combined with music, and the nature of fan communication. Many of K-pop’s actions appear to be focused on financial gain. However, as it is still a music genre, yet the academic field lacks insights into how much there is art in K-pop. Additionally, the literature lacks interviews with the leaders of entertainment companies and with idols themselves, therefore, everything written can be considered a guess and not a reliable research.

2.1.2 K-pop in Russia

There is a significant lack of reliable academic literature studying the phenomenon of K-pop in Russia. However, the research revealed two unique studies of K-pop in the country.

Kychkin and Davydova (2016) discovered that in Yakutsk, people who consider themselves members of K-pop fandoms are young women of 14 years and older. The male population is under-represented because they view the K-pop genre as socially inac- ceptable. (559.) The research provides both some ethnographic information and gives a brief overview of the reason why the genre is so unpopular and rejected among males. However, it does not explore any other regions of Russia.

Zhdanova and Schreiber (2014) conducted a unique study of the emotional properties of the youth who are attracted by K-pop. Their results show that these fans exhibit less emotional intelligence than non-fans. They usually do not understand their own emotions or emotions of other people, or the meaning of emotions. According to this study, the fans cannot work with emotions in a way that would contribute to their personal and intellectual development. They also have lowered empathy; yet, they also exhibit higher rates of depression. Most of fan-respondents are reported to be constantly depressed. Apparently, they only can take control of their lives for shorts periods of time. They generally lack energy and are rarely interested in other people, including their family members. It is hard for many of them to focus on tasks, and small mundane issues that need a decision may seem unsolvable. These youths tend to be more emotional and have higher levels of anxiety; they perform worse under high-stress conditions, and are deeply involved with their own worries. Some- times they can ignore other people’s problems. They are in a constant need for emotional comfort, human contact, and overall harmony. (27-29.) The research, howev-

12 er, does not explore if this is in any way targeted by the entertainment companies, or if it is a mere coincidence. It also does not mention if there is a direct connection between these properties and their attraction to K-pop.

2.1.3 K-pop in other countries

Research of K-pop and its effect in other countries is, while significant in numbers, different in focus from this work.

Most of previous research of K-pop in foreign countries focuses on the issues of cultural industries, cultural hybridization, cultural appropriation and cultural identities (see Chen 2016; Choi 2015; Otmazgin 2011; Ham and Ho 2005; Jung 2009; Jung 2013; Kim 2017; Marinescu and Balica 2013, 113, and others). In these works, K-pop is ex- amined as a cultural or transcultural force, its impact on other cultures is estimated, and issues of cultural identities and cultural purity are discussed.

Perhaps influenced by the culture-oriented stream of research, K-pop is also discussed in its impact on globalization and localization (see Choi 2011; Epstein 2015; Giuffre and Keith 2015; Howard 2017; Kim 2015; Lee 2013; Shin 2009; Shim 2006). Here, as a transcultural product, K-pop is often viewed as a driver or an integral part of the modern globalization processes, or is reviewed as a case study for practices of globalization and localization.

Third major area of K-pop research in other countries deals with its modes of its consumption and fan interactions on social media (see Choi 2014; Jung 2011; Jung 2012; Jung et al. 2015; Jung and Shim 2013; Kim et al. 2014; Langit et al. 2020; Meza and Park 2015; Pacis 2012). Perhaps because K-pop is mostly disseminated online, most of K-pop content is also consumed online (Ahn et al. 2013, 775; Oh and Lee 2013, 344; Oh and Park 2012, 365). Mainly quantitative researches have conducted here to estimate the market penetration. Qualitative research focuses on observing the patterns of interaction between fans.

Only limited research focuses on the perception of K-pop itself from the fan point of view but focuses on specific countries and tries to make assumptions on this country’s social situation (e.g. Capistrano 2019; Otmazgin and Lyan, 2014; Riswari 2019).

The study of K-pop in other countries is, therefore, more concerned with the issues of anthropology and sociology than with marketing.

2.2 Brands and branding

2.2.1 Brand

There is an observable lack of agreement on what ’brand’ means as a term and what can be included in it. The most commonly used definition of a brand is “a name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of these, that identifies the maker or seller of a product or service” (Kotler and Armstrong 2013, 245). A brand could wider be defined as “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them which is intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Barich and Kotler 1991, 94). De Cher- natony and McDonald (2003, 56) argue that a brand is a product that has been modi- fied in such a way that a consumer now attaches unique value to it; most important- ly, these values satisfy his or her needs. The managerial definition is somewhat different. Managers refer to a brand as a concept that has generated some awareness or reputation in the marketplace (Keller 2013, 30). In another definition, a brand consists of consumers’ mental associations, and they influence the perceived value of products or services attached to this brand (Keller 1998, 42). This definition will be used in this research.

Brands generally play many important roles for both producers and consumers. Brands may allow an organization to position itself through differentiation (Ambler and Styles 1995, 12), make marketing activities more efficient by employing economies of scale (Demsetz 1973, 7) or scope (Wernerfelt 1988, 463). They create value for shareholders (Kerin and Sethuraman 1998, 267), increase barriers to entry (Kara- kaya and Stahl 1989, 82); they can support innovation (de Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley 1998, 418). For a consumer, brands create value because they help with decision-making (Jacoby and Kyner 1973, 2); allow attributing responsibility for a product to a specific producer (Keller 1998, 24); and additionally provide emotional and symbolic benefits (Grover and Srinivasan 1987, 149).

2.2.2 Branding

There is some lack of agreement or any set understanding of what branding is. Ac- cording to one definition, branding is a “pervasive system of signs, associated with products, services, organizations, cultural products, places, people, even concepts” (Jones 2017, 10). According to Peters (1999, 48), originally, branding was used for differentiation of products but is nowadays applied to persons and organizations as well. In modern practice, branding aims to assemble a mix of tangible or intangible values around a product, in order to distinguish one supplier from another (Murhpy 2016, 1). The purpose of branding is to convince consumers that products with iden- tical functions are, in fact, different from one another (Brown 2016, 17). Overall, it can be said that branding focuses on attaching specific values to a firm’s products or services in order to better differentiate them from those of the competitors and simplify consumer choice.

Compared to the pre-internet era, branding has changed. Before the internet, branding was essentially a “one-way” communication model (Christodoulides 2009, 141). All information about a brand was transferred from the brand manager onto the consumer. A brand manager was essentially “an inveterate control freak”. (Mitchell 2001, 206.) Nowadays, customers freely develop their own understanding of brands, and their view can often disagree with what the company or brand claim (Chris- todoulides 2009, 142). The information flow nowadays alternates between the producer and the consumer (Wind and Rangaswamy 2001, 19). The modern branding is therefore a process of communicating brand values between brand managers and consumers in a two-way manner.

2.2.3 Celebrity branding

Most literature focuses on celebrities as brand endorsers (see Choi and Rifon 2012; Fleck et al. 2012; Kelting and Rie 2013) but very few researchers discuss the brand of a celebrity itself, despite the importance of the concept (Johns and English 2015, 65). Nowadays, the research has shifted in this direction but there is still a lack of academic base on the topic.

Celebrities are essentially human brands (Ilicic and Webster 2011, 231; Ilicic and Webster 2013, 942; Keel and Natarajaan 2012, 699; Milligan 2004, 53; Thomson 2006, 58), and like any other brand they require careful consumer associations management (Moulard et al. 2015, 176). As brands, celebrities employ intangible assets such as image, name, reputation, and the general feeling the audience receives from interacting with this celebrity (Kerrigan et al. 2011, 1521). In the music industry, an artist themselves is usually at the center of the brand. Their brand can be built not only on the music they produce, but also on the way they clothe, their interactions with other artists, their electronics, and even their food. (McBride and Muhle 2008, 25.) However, the brand of a celebrity seems to be an intangible concept, in compar- ison to, for example, Coca Cola brand.

The main difference between a celebrity brand and a product brand is that a celebrity has the factor of spectacle (Kerrigan et al. 2011, 1521). The life of the celebrity is a continual saga that is unpredictable, and it has an intriguing effect on consumers (Brownlie and Hewer 2011, 18).

It appears that the main aspect of celebrity brand is always celebrity authenticity. In their consumption experiences, consumers always seek authenticity (Brown et al. 2003, 25; Grayson and Martinec 2004, 298; Thompson et al. 2006, 52). Celebrity authenticity can be explained as a general audience’s feeling that a celebrity acts according to their true self (Moulard et al. 2014, 181). This happens because essentially, celebrities build their images and brands through communicating their personalities, and the fascination with the brand stems from the audience trying to determine the sincerity of this persona (Dyer 1998, 101). In order to maintain these “true” image celebrities may use, for example, “backstage” videos that show their interactions with other people and their true persona (Tolson 2001, 443).

Recently, research has begun in order to examine how consumers identify with celebrity human brands (Parmentier 2010, 108). Celebrity brands have a strong effect on their audience. They are not just entertainment; they influence the values and behaviors of their consumers. (Choi and Rifon 2007, 638.) Through consumption of their images, consumers find their own personal and social meanings in their brands (McCracken 1989, 313).

Another effect of the celebrity brand is that it can create a feeling akin to friendship, which in turn influences purchase intention (Banister and Cocker 2014, 5). The stronger the celebrity brand, the closer the friendship (Johns and English 2015, 65). However, the information search did not return any results on research examining exact perceptions and feelings of consumers in relation to human brands.

2.3 Generation Z

Because boundaries between generations are “fuzzy and questionable” (Lawler 2011), different researcher conceptualizes Generation Z as starting from different years. Geck (2006, 237) and Posnick-Goodwin (2010, 10) state that they are people born in or after 1990. Glass (2007, 98) claims that the start of generation Z is the year 1992. Some believe that this cohort starts from the year 1995 (Vallone et al. 2016, 414).

Nowadays, there are some characteristics that are shared by most “young” people in the world. In developed countries, the youths have improved living conditions compared to their parents’ teenage years. They have more free time; they value pleasure, social life, and leisure. They build a sense of identity and integrate into peer groups by consuming goods that range from clothes to music. (Nunes, 2007, 655.) Celebrities and idols are an important part of their lifestyle (Miles, 2000, 69). For people in this generation, media is a connection to a wider world. It is also something that gives them guidance on how to best perform in society (Giddens, 2001; cited in Jorge 2011, 52).

Generation Z is the first generation that grew up fully in the digitalized world. Tech- nology shaped the way they understand the world around them; how they learn and communicate. It influences their values and priorities. Some literature characterizes Generation Z as confident, with high self-esteem, aware of the latest trends, tech- savvy, early adaptors of technology, bright, and globally connected. Their interaction happens over media, and the virtual world is a more natural environment for them. (Mládková 2017, 699)

However, the Russian generations researcher Odenkova (2017) states that in Russia, Generation Z only begins from those born in 2003. All the age scopes described

17 above she attributes to Generation Y, those born in years 1983-2003. She explains it by the events that affected this generation: the USSR collapse, the terror acts (such as the Beslan school), and the military conflicts (Chechnya). She also adds here the 2008 crisis, the spread of Internet in Russia and the brands' boom in Russia. She describes the members of this generation as change-oriented, optimistic, outgoing, self- assured, following orders, willing to receive instant gratification, of high morality, achievement-oriented, naïve, and tech-savvy. In relation to Generation Z, she states that it is too early to say anything yet as the members of this generation are too young.

2.4 Theoretical framework

In this research, the Customer-Based approach to branding has been chosen because it allows the researcher to view the audience-brand relationship on the basis of customers’ perceptions. In its essence, this framework aims to map the pre-existing knowledge of the consumer about a specific brand in order to better target possible future marketing messages.

The Customer-Based Approach to Branding has been described by Heding, Knudtzen, and Bjerre (2009, 80) and is one of the eight possible approaches. It builds on Keller’s “Conceptualizing, measuring and managing customer-based equity” (1993). In this approach, a brand primarily exists in an individual’s mind and consists of associations the consumer holds about it. However, the marketing specialist is still seen in charge of brand value creation. (Heding et al. 2009, 84-86.) The brand is therefore viewed in direct connection with how a consumer perceives it, but this perception can be influenced by the marketer.

Here, communication happens in a linear way. Based on what the consumer ob- serves to be attributes of the brand, he or she attaches value to the brand residing in his or her head (Figure 1).

Consumer (Russian Brand Generation Z (Male K-pop female K-pop bands) fans)

Figure 1. Linear Communication (adapted from Heding et al. 2008, 85)

Then, when management rediscovers the existing idea about a brand from the customers’ minds, it can design the correct brand elements. These elements will be communicated back to the customer and prompt desired behavior (Heding et al. 2009, 86). The messages that will be communicated back to the consumer can be expected most effective because they target the perceptions the consumer already has. Figure 2 shows a model of this process; the model has been created by the researcher on the basis of Heding et al.’s theory.

Branding messages (of male K-pop bands)

Consumer Branding analysis (Russian Generation Z (of male K-pop female K-pop bands) fans)

Consumer responce Brand value (of Russian (of male K-pop Generation Z bands) female K-pop fans)

Figure 2. Communication process (designed by the researcher)

The consumer-based approach to branding builds on two supporting themes and the core theme. These themes are the cognitive consumer perspective, the information processing theory of consumer choice, and customer-based brand equity accordingly. (Heding et al. 2009, 87.) They are all important for understanding of the approach.

2.4.1 The Cognitive Consumer Perspective

The cognitive consumer perspective is based on cognitive psychology. In general, it assumes that the information stored in memory can be activated by some kind of a sensory input and subsequently retrieved. Knowledge is usually structured in the form of associative networks. Outside stimuli, such as commercial messages, will trigger retrieval of information stored by the memory in the form of associations as they are connected in the network. (Heding et al. 2009, 88-89.)

However, the information is not stored in the memory “as is”; in other words, humans store mental representations of concepts, not the concepts themselves. Men- tal representations are abstractions humans use to simplify and catalogue knowledge. (ibid., 89-90.) For example, we cannot store the concept of “thesis” as a total. We are more likely to store it in pieces, divided by functionality, emotional response, expectations, etc.

Memory representations can be categorized as direct, non-verbal, propositional, and linguistic (Figure 3).

Direct or analogous representations refer to sensory sensations, such as what a brand feels like. They also include appearance of packaging and advertisements. Propositional representations are abstract meanings of the brand that come from the sensory experiences. Linguistic representations are words that the consumer uses to express meanings and experiences with the brand. (Franzen and Bouwman, 2001, 179.)

Propositional representations Symbolic meanings

Linguistic Direct or analagous representations representations • Visual images • Visual (letters, • Auditory words, sentences) representations • Auditory (noises, •Tactile experiences sounds) • Tastes • Smells

Brand

Figure 3. Three forms of cognition applied to brands (sourced from G. Franzen and M. Bouwman 2001, 178)

For example, a propositional representation may come in the form of “K-pop is for crazy girls”. Linguistic representations can be also referred to as one-word associations, such as “K-pop = upbeat”.

Therefore, the cognitive consumer perspective adds the idea of cataloguing information about a brand into memory codes.

2.4.2 The information-processing theory of consumer choice

The information-processing theory builds on the cognitive consumer perspective and attempts to see how consumers process the information they have stored before making a consumption decision. The key assumption here is that choice is a process, not an action of a single moment. The role of marketer here is to understand this process in order to adjust marketing messages accordingly. There are several factors

21 that influence the process: processing capacity, motivation, attention, perception, information acquisition and evaluation, memory decision processes, and learning. (Heding et al. 2009, 91.)

In the information-processing theory, human is seen like a computer. It is assumed that a consumer is constantly being bombarded with marketing messages and therefore chooses to ‘ignore’ some of the information. ‘The computer’ is merely not capa- ble of processing all messages it receives. (Kardes 1994.) Here, it is important to discover which information has been processed and stored in memory. The theory does not specify the process itself.

2.4.3 Customer-based brand equity

The customer-based brand equity framework draws on the two themes described above and lies at the core of the Customer-Based Approach to branding. It allows mapping brand knowledge as a cognitive construction. For this to happen, the consumer must already be aware of the brand and have some recognition of the brand. In this case, brand image can be discovered. (Heding et al. 2009, 92.)

Keller (1993) defines customer-based brand equity as “the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer responses to marketing activity with respect to that brand”. The information stored by the customer about the brand affects the reaction of the customers towards a certain brand. The focus of the marketing here is to discover the possible consumer reaction to brand actions. (2.)

The entire understanding that the consumer has about a brand is termed as “brand knowledge”. Brand knowledge is then further divided into “brand awareness” and “brand image”, and this division is heavily based on the memory principles of the cognitive consumer perspective. (Heding et al. 2009, 93.)

The map of customer-based equity (brand knowledge) can be shown in the following representation (Figure 4):

Brand Recall Brand Price Awareness Brand Non-Product Recognition related Packaging

Product- Attributes Related User Imagery

Usage Brand Imagery Knowledge

Functional Types of Benefits Brand Experiential Associations Favorability of Brand Attitudes Symbolic Brand Image Associations Strength of Brand Assiociations Uniqueness of Brand Assciations

Figure 4. Dimensions of brand knowledge (sourced from Keller 1993, 7)

According to Heding et al. (2009, 32), in consumer’s mind, understanding of the brand can be termed as ‘brand knowledge’ and further divided into ‘brand awareness’ (sub-division into ‘brand recall’ and ‘brand recognition’; relating to if and how the consumer remembers the brand) and ‘brand image’ (associations connected with the brand: attributes, benefits, attitudes).

Brand recall is whether the consumer remembers the brand in relation to a certain stimulus. Brand recognition refers to whether the consumer recognizes the brand. (Heding et al., 2009, 32.)

According to Keller (1993, 3) brand image consists of ideas a consumer holds about a brand in their memory, represented in associations. The terms ‘brand image’ and ‘brand personality’ can be used interchangeably; yet, some researchers argue that there is a difference (Batra et al. 1993, 83). Brand image is sometimes considered a wider term that includes brand personality and attributes. It also includes benefits

23 and usage consequences associated with the brand. (Plummer 1985, 28.) Image is a somewhat wider and abstract idea consisting of what the customer has retained from previous promotional campaign, overall brand reputation, and peer evaluation. Image usually sets the expectations of the consumer (Gensch 1978, 384.) Brand image can be presented through: general characteristics, feelings or impressions; perceptions of products; beliefs and attitudes; brand personality; linkages between feelings and emotions (Reynolds and Gutman 1984, 30).

Attributes are features that characterize a product or service. They can be divided into product-related attributes and non-product related attributes. Product-related attributes refer to those associations that relate to the product or service directly. They can be exemplified by physical appearance. Non-product related attributes relate to associations connected to the purchase or usage of the product or service. These can be price, packaging, or what kind of person uses the brand. Benefits are the values the consumer attaches to the brand. They can be divided into functional, experiential and symbolic. Functional benefits are personal perceptions of what the product brings to the consumers. Experiential benefits are sensory experiences of the brand, such as “what kind of pleasure will I obtain from consuming the brand?” Sym- bolic benefits relate to the self-expression of the consumer. Brand attitudes refer to how the consumer views the brand overall. (Heding et al. 2009, 92-94.)

Therefore, the Customer-Based Approach to branding attempts discover and structure the brand knowledge and brand image in the minds of the consumers in the forms of associations, and observe the thought processes that lead to the final purchase in order to better target new promotional messages. The final image of the framework can be exemplified by the figure 4, depicting the map, and figure 3, depicting the flow of information.

3 Methodology

Empirical research can be categorized by its purpose into one of the three groups: explanatory, descriptive or exploratory research (Saunders 2009, 153). For this work, an exploratory approach was chosen. Exploratory research attempts to discover “what is happening; to seek new insights; to ask questions and to assess phenomena

24 in a new light” (Robson 2002, 59). In other words, exploratory research explores new concepts. It attempts to take a new perspective on some phenomena.

Thus, the research question, What are the Generation Z Russian female fans’ perceptions and experiences of the male K-pop bands?, fits with the purpose of exploratory research.

3.1 Research Approach

The research philosophy behind this work is interpretivism. The goal of this work is to understand the ideas held by different people and interpret them. According to Saunders et al. (2009, 116), this is the nature of interpretivism. The research aims to explore the meanings of a specific brand phenomenon (male K-pop bands) as perceived by a selected social group (Russian Generation Z K-pop female fans). The key point of the research is to study the phenomenon in its natural environment. A suitable paradigm has been selected.

This research employs qualitative data. In marketing research, the qualitative approach allows one to empathize with the customer and helps to understand their idea of the brand (Suja 2009, 54). Additionally, the phenomenon has not been studied before. Qualitative research will help to gain insights into the problem (Malhotra et al. 1996, 13).

This is an inductive research in its approach. According to Saunders et al. (2009, 127), inductive research allows “understanding of the meanings humans attach to events”. Consistently, this research attempts to understand human perceptions and make observations in order to build a theory.

However, during qualitative data analysis, an abductive research approach was employed. It allows turning “incomplete observations” into “best predictions” which may be true (Saunders et al. 2012, 56). Here, the research makes best predictions of possible managerial implications on the basis of interviews with a limited number of fans.

Additionally, the research uses a particularistic case study strategy. According to Merriam (1998, 2009), there are three possible case studies: particularistic, descrip-

25 tive, and heuristic; a particularistic case study is one that concerns itself with a specific phenomenon. The case here is considered to be male K-pop bands (Korean pop bands consisting fully of male members). The researcher aims to understand the context and the processes underlying consumption. These are determined as objectives of the case study by Morris and Wood (1991, 63). The case study involved fifteen interviews conducted within seven days (17-24 November 2019) and is therefore concerned with the current state of opinions.

3.2 Research Context

The research focuses on exploring perceptions of a particular brand. Thus, the case study approach was chosen.

Male K-pop bands are the context of the study. Under “male K-pop bands” this research understands bands that have been created and are being managed by one of the South Korean entertainment companies. K-pop male bands consist fully of three or more male performers of any nationality. These bands include ATEEZ, BTS, EXO, GOT7, iKON, Monsta X, NCT (all units), SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, TXT, and others. Most of these bands debuted on stage within the last five years with several exceptions. The age of performers in these groups ranges from approximately 16 to 29 years old as of 29 December 2019. The bands considered in this research all have similar features: they focus on dancing in their performances; they do not play any musical in- struments; and they are managed by one of the entertainment companies in South Korea.

3.3 Data Collection

The data for this research has been collected from primary sources. As a means of primary data collection, semi-structured in-depth interviews have been conducted.

There are two ways of obtaining results in the Customer-Based Approach: direct and indirect. The direct approach works with consumer’s responses to the brand’s marketing actions. The indirect approach works with brand knowledge, such as brand awareness and brand image, and concerns itself with consumer associations. (Heding et al., 2009, 100.) The interviews employed an indirect approach. They aimed to

26 evoke the associations in consumers and through them to discover customer perceptions.

All interviews have been audio-recorded with participants’ consent. 14 personal interviews and one group interview with 6 participants have been conducted. In total, 20 individuals have been interviewed. The age of participants ranged from 12 to 22 years old, 100% of participants were female K-pop fans.

The interviews generally lasted for up to 1,5 hours. All participants have been selected from the social media Twitter users who reacted to a post from the researcher’s personal account. Personal face-to-face interviews have been conducted with the participants from Saint Petersburg. Interviews took place in quiet areas of public spaces such as cafes in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The group interview was conducted in a restaurant private area. Personal interviews with participants from outside of Saint Petersburg have been conducted over the phone. In this case, both the researcher and the participant were in their respective homes. WhatsApp mobile app was used for communication.

Before the recording started, all participants were made aware of their chance to choose not to answer any questions they deemed too personal or inappropriate. There were no instances of any questions declined during an interview. All participants verbally consented to have their interviews recorded and analyzed. The researcher explained, in brief, the nature of the research and outlined the process. All interviews were conducted in Russian language, a native language for both the researcher and the participants.

Individual Interviews

Individual interviews have been conducted in a semi-structured manner where a response to each question would generate an elaborate response and allow for deeper questioning depending on the answer. The questions were built on the Customer- Based approach to branding, and aimed at uncovering views, leaving space for struc- tural adjustment. This approach is characterized by Marshall and Rossman (1999, 108) as the most suitable.

The individual interviews were conducted with 20 participants in total. The questions employed a general framework suggestion by Suja (2008, 34). The questionnaire was opened with broad questions in order to establish trust and rapport with the participants. The next questions aimed to reassure the participant in the simplicity of the questionnaire. More focused questions were asked last. Additionally, phenomeno- logical interviewing has been employed to determine the meaning of a concept shared by individuals. This approach is suggested by Marshall and Rossman (1999, 112).

As suggested by Kananen (2011, 54), the first interviews generated follow-up questions. Patterns started to emerge quickly. Most of them required the respondent to express their thoughts with minimal bias from the researcher. The researcher attempted to keep her questions as non-leading as possible.

Because this is a research that attempts to reveal perceptions of a brand, projective techniques had to be employed by the researcher. Projective techniques have been identified by Keller (1993, 14) as one of the ways to measure customer-based brand equity. As defined by Suja (2008), when using the projective techniques, “the researcher presents an ambiguous unstructured object, activity or person and the respondent is asked to interpret and explain the same”. The more ambiguous the question, the higher the possibility of the respondent projecting him- or herself into the answer. (45.)

Two techniques have been employed: the word association technique, and a third- person technique. The word association technique is an approach where the researcher reads a word or a phrase from a list to the respondent. The respondent is expected to reply with a their first association. It is said to help to better reveal the consumer’s opinion on a particular phenomenon (Suja 2008, 49). The words used were: k-pop, idol, comeback (the act of a k-pop group releasing a new album), support, attention, thankfulness, the respondents’ favorite band, the respondents’ favorite member, bias, musician, art, work, music, dream, love, stan (a fan), suicide, happiness, depression, South Korea, K-drama, loneliness, inspiration, me, help. These are the ideas that are most often discussed in posts on social media as observed by the researcher, as well as the basic terms in the K-pop community.

A third person technique suggests that “by asking how friends, neighbors or the average person would think or react to a particular situation <…> to some extent, the respondents will project their own attitudes onto this third person” (Suja 2008, 67). Several questions in the third-questions form have been asked.

During the data analysis, the congruence technique has been used to compare consumers’ associations.

Group Interview

In order to reach the research objective, a group interview was essential to conduct. As Owen (2002) suggests, group interviews help to elaborate on the current brand identity. Even if the results can be “negotiated” among the participants, they help to access the shared meanings. (87.) During the group interview, the respondents were encouraged to discuss the phenomenon.

The group interview had 6 participants. No tendency to avoid expressing an opinion has been observed during the interview. The participants were introduced to each other before the research via a group chat. Additionally, the topic of the interview is something that the respondents like. Therefore, they showed great interest in expressing their opinions on the matter.

The questions asked in the group interview resembled those in the individual interviews and aimed at encouraging in-depth answers.

3.4 Data Analysis

The interviews have been recorded in audio format in the Russian language, and had to further be transcribed in Russian language and translated to English language. Ka- nanen (2011, 57) defines three ways of interview transcription: word-for-word, standard language and propositional. The interviews were transcribed in a word-for- word manner. This allowed keeping the underlying tones and language constructions that could help reveal further meanings intact. For further analysis, the interviews were transcribed with the use of standard processing software Microsoft Word.

After completion of the transcription of the interviews, the questions were further divided into segments that attempted to structure opinions on similar matters in the

29 table form (see Table 1). Standard spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel was used. The research employed axial coding that allows grouping initial open codes and mar- ginal notes into specific categories. This approach has been suggested by Charmaz (2014, 91) and Corbin and Strauss (2015, 56). The process of interviewing and tran- scribing was happening simultaneously. The recorded interviews have been transcribed in the breaks between interviews. This helped to better structure the following conversations.

Table 1. An example of the data analysis spreadsheet

Table 2. Data filtering

Table 2 shows the seven themes that emerged during interviews. These themes were deemed final. They coincided with the themes that emerged through the analysis of the free associational activity. The results of the transcription work were then combined into a categorized table and analyzed.

3.5 Verification of the results

Qualitative research is difficult to test in reliability and validity. There are four criteria for proving reliability and validity of the qualitative research results: assessability (documentation), consistent interpretation, reliability as assessed by the participants, and saturation (Kananen 2011, 68).

The researcher describes the process in detail to make it possible to conduct similar research in another context.

Consistency of interpretation could not be measured due to the solitary nature of this research. One researcher was involved in collecting and interpreting results.

As Kananen (2011, 68) suggests, one of the ways to prove reliability/validity is to have a person involved in the research read its results. Here, five people involved in the interviews and fluent in English were asked to read the results. While some of them reported that the findings are not always true for them personally, they have seen other fans express these opinions in personal communication and in social media. All findings in this thesis have been proven true

The research has stopped at 15 interviews because after interview 5, the answers started to repeat themselves. That suggests that the saturation point has been reached as defined by Kananen (2011, 68).

4 Research results

This chapter presents the results of the research answering the question, What are the Generation Z Russian female fans’ perceptions and experiences of the male K-pop bands?

The results have been acquired when some general questions about the concept were asked, and the respondents replied or arrived at the conclusions themselves. The results will be presented in categories that have emerged during analysis.

Appearance

One of the main fans’ associations and topic of interest was the physical appearance of K-pop male performers. Appearance refers to the strong association with good physical appearance of the idol performers, their physical fitness, physical attractive- ness, bright appearances and clothing, and heavy sexualization of clothing and movements. Additionally, during a free association activity, some fans mentioned such words as “bright”, “colorful”, “colorful hair”, “bright stage performances and music videos”. Another participant, however, mentioned, that many groups visually resemble each other, creating a rather “boring and monotonous” (Int. 1) image of male K-pop bands.

Almost all respondents without prompting recognize the importance of physical appearance for K-pop idols, although some of them report that to them personally, physical appearance is not that important. Two opinions were presented: some participants view idols as feminine, while others see them as manly performers. In the first case, some respondents report that their first reaction of the idols was “ew, they’re gay” [фу, они геи] (Int. 1) and “they look like girls” [они выглядят как девчонки] (Int. 5). Participant 1 stated that when she first saw the performers, they were “cool boys, with make-up, handsome, and naturally, I didn’t understand what I just saw. And then a few years later I saw them again and realized that it’s magnificent.”

[Увидела офигенных мальчиков, накрашенных, красивых, и соответственно я не поняла, чё я

увидела. А потом через сколько-то лет я увидела и поняла, что это роскошно.]

The physical appearance is often described as “cute”. On the other hand, fans associate male K-pop idols with muscular male bodies, dark and cool concepts, and heavy sexualization of clothing or dance movements. One respondent reported that in their opinion, in K-pop, “people look like gods” [люди выглядят как боги] (Int. 2).

Some people view K-pop male bands as something strictly Korean, while others don’t attach any specific place of origin or nationality to it.

Additionally, fans mention that in K-pop it is common to judge an artist according to their physical appearance, and sometimes they struggle to understand it. As Partici- pant 1 stated, “I don’t like it that in K-pop they’ll judge you by your appearance, and if you add two kilos, you’ll immediately be shamed.” [Мне не нравится, что в кей-попе тебя будут судить по одному твоему внешнему виду, типа вот, ты набрал два кг и тебя будут шеймить.]

Fans also mention that their friends and family are prone to judging male idols nega- tively because to their appearance, associating it with gay or feminine appearance that is not socially acceptable for males. Yet, as one participant states, “I often hear that they’re all make-upped and look the same, look like girls. And I look at, for example, Monsta X and think, hell, are you serious? Half of boys in Russia don’t look anywhere close to Hyungwon”. [Вот, они все крашеные и одинаковые, девочки и поют как девочки. Я смотрю на например монста экс и думаю, ну вы серьёзно? У нас половина парней в России ну даже близко не выглядят как Хёнвон.] (Int. 3.)

Here, fans mention that the judgmental comments do not try to look further other than physical appearance. In their words, “everything bad they say is only based on the idols’ appearance, and they don’t try do look any further. They saw it once and that’s it”. [А так всё что они говорят крутится вокруг внешнего вида. Они не пытаются смотреть

дальше. Они один раз увидели и всё.] (Int. 2.)

Appearance can also relate to the visual aspects of music videos and performances. As one participant stated about the “Boy Meets Evil” music video by BTS, “It’s a powerful mv, it has a powerful dance routine, the stylist’s and designer’s work is phe- nomenal. They spent so much effort, money, knowledge and expertise on this vid-

33 eo.” [Это очень мощный клип, очень мощная хореография, феноменальная работа стилистов,

дизайнеров. Туда вбухано столько сил, денег, знаний, умений.] (Int. 1)

Dancing

Male K-pop bands are also heavily associated with dancing, synchronized movements on stage, and their high-quality choreographies. Almost all fans mention dancing at least once when talking about K-pop performances. For some, it was one of the factors that attracted them to the bands, while for others it is just an interesting feature. The K-pop male groups are heavily associated with synchronized choreography. Typically, the more members the band has, the greater the impression a performance gives to the fans. Fans can mention that the performances are of high quality in dance technique. One participant who does professional dancing mentioned that K-pop sets the level they would like to reach. How-ever, most fans do not elaborate on dancing any further other than “it looks cool, and they must have put a lot of work into it”.

Fans

The participants were prompted to express their opinion on international fan communities, on the Russian fan communities, and on how they view an average fan and their fan behavior.

As one of the participants states, “Fans are the people who listen to the music. You have to like what the artist does.” [Фанаты это же те кто слушает музыку. Тебе должно

нравиться то что делает этот человек.] (Int. 3.)

In another opinion, “As a fan, you’re just a part of their job. And when an idol says I love you, he doesn’t mean I love you personally, he says I love you all my fans. This love is probably genuine, but we need to perceive it differently.” [Ты фанат, ты просто часть их работы. И когда айдол говорит ой я люблю тебя, он говорит я люблю не конкретно тебя лично, а я люблю вас фанатов. Это искренняя любовь, но она должна по-другому восприниматься.] (Int. 6.)

One participant mentioned that the term “stan”, often used in K-pop community as interchangeable with the word “fan”, has a different meaning: “People who say that they stan a group are those who, for example, post videos on social media. They’re

34 the people who really love the group, like really love them, because this requires a lot of time and effort. I wouldn’t do it.” [Люди, которые говорят, что они стэнят группу, это те, которые, например, постят видосики в ленту. То есть это люди, которые реально стэнят бан- танов, реально их любят, потому что на это нужно много времени и сил. Я бы таким не стала заниматься.] (Int. 7.)

The fans who were asked to express their opinions on Russian fans said things that were somehow different. As one fan described,

I think the Russian fans more than others prefer not to get involved in conflicts and find something else to do. To not get involved, otherwise the rest of the world will think that you’re the worst country fandom and worst fans. It’s important for me that the Russian fans are seen as good.

[Лучше не вмешиваться в конфликты, лучше найти, что можно другого сделать. Не вмешиваться, потому что тогда тебя будут считать худшим фандомом или хужшими фанатами.] (Int. 6)

In participant 9 words, the Russian fans are “[People who have] limited possibilities, lack of attention, they are devoted, open and realistic” [ограниченные возможности,

недостаток внимания, преданные, открытые, реалисты].

In another opinion,

I can hardly imagine fans from other countries, but if we take the Russian fans, I think the Russian fans care more about the emotional message of the song. Every time when a new album releases, I see analysis of almost every song and questions like ‘do you guys feel this as well when you’re listening?’

[Я плохо представляю себе фанатов из других стран, но если взять русских фанатов и, допустим, корейских, то мне кажется, что русских фанатов больше волнует эмоциональный посыл музыки? Когда выходит новый альбом любимой группы, я вижу чуть ли не анализ каждой песни и вопросы вроде "а вы чувствуете вот это, когда слушаете?"] (Int. 2)

Participant 8 mentioned that the Russian fans are “relatively discreet” [относительно

сдержанные], as compared to the international fan communities and communities in other countries. When asked about fans in other countries, the participant admits, “I never had to interact with foreign fans but the airport videos scare me.” [Не доводи-

лось особо контактировать с ино-фандомами, но видео из аэропортов пугают.]

As respondent 7 mentioned, “overall in Russia, we have fans that are more self- restrained, although of course we have our own craziness.” [Мне кажется, в целом в

России у нас более сдержанные фанаты, хотя и у нас своя долбанутость есть.]

However, some respondents do not differentiate between Russian and foreign fans. According to Participant 10, to them,

[As Russian fans] we’re not better or worse than the foreign fans. We have our own bad sides, and we have something we can be proud of. We’re not any different from the other fans. Groups like Ateez or Stray Kids, who are unfortunately not very popular in Korea, have their main income from tours and merch outside of Seoul, and awards – and it’s all thanks to foreign fans. And I’m thankful for that. So I would say that a foreign fan is someone who actively votes, orders albums, streams music videos, and helps the group in any way they can.

[Мы не лучше или хуже к-нетизенов или ино, у нас есть как свои недостатки, так и то, чем мы можем гордиться. Мы ничем не отличаемся от других фанатов. Они огромные молодцы. Группы типа Ateez или Stray Kids не особо популярны в Корее, к сожалению, поэтому чаще всего их основной заработок - туры и продажа мерча, причем не в Сеуле, и победы на пре- миях - это всё благодаря ино. Спасибо им большое. Так что ино мне представляется фанатом, который активно голосует, заказывает альбомы, стримит клипы и всячески помогает группе.]

Additionally, the respondents mentioned what being a fan to them means when asked to discuss the financial costs of K-pop. As participant 7 stated, “you don’t have to spend any money on them if you don’t want to; everyone buys as much merchandise as they can or want” [на них вообще ничего тратить не нужно; каждый покупает столько

мерча, сколько может или хочет.]

Emotions

Emotions that fans usually associate with K-pop fans usually refer to the feelings of warmth, excitement, and of being supported and inspired by the idols. Some fans report that K-pop as a genre and male bands in particular offers them support during hard times and provides them with emotional strength. It is typically achieved through the feeling of being with a friend when watching an idol’s live, or feeling of belonging to a family when engaging with the fandom on social media. This also in- volves the feeling of being understood by idols in such a way that nobody has ever understood them before.

Another opinion states that K-pop helps to express the youth’s protest against the society, and that idols who share the same dreams and grievances with their fans, communicate with the world for them. Therefore, K-pop male bands are seen as bearers of the youth resistance message, and fans feel inspired to fight for their better future.

Reportedly, many songs touch on the fans’ pains, young adult and teenager struggles that go beyond simple love affairs. In relation to Stray Kids’ songs, one of the inter- viewees mentioned, “They don’t just tell you that everything will be alright, they put on the same shoes and they walk alongside with you. They say stay true to your own path, and I will support you”. [Они не просто говорят, что всё будет окей. Они влезают в твою шкуру и идут по дороге жизни вместе с тобой. Они говорят: оставайся верен своему пути, а я тебя поддержу.] (Group interview)

The fans also mention the support the songs give them. For example, when mentioned why she prefers a specific band (Stray Kids), Participant 8 stated,

[I like them for] their supportive songs and their supportive live broadcasts. They always say exactly the things I need to hear from the others or tell myself in order to feel better. In the moments when everyone says I can’t do anything, I always have them [Stray Kids].

[За поддерживающие тексты и поддерживающие трансляции. Они всегда говорят именно то, что мне необходимо слышать от окружающих или говорить себе самой, чтобы чувствовать себя лучше. В моменты, когда все вокруг говорят, что у меня ничего не получится, всегда есть скз.]

Some fans mention the feeling of belonging to a family (a fandom): “I feel like I’m with my family when I go to the K-pop social media.” [Когда я захожу в интернет, у меня

появляется ощущение, что я пришла домой к своей семье.] (Int. 6.)

Participant 10 mentions the following feelings towards their favorite idols:

They help me to distract myself. If something bad happens in my life, instead of getting upset, I watch a video with my most favorite group (Ateez) and watch their music videos, vlogs and broadcasts, and so on. I see that they’re mostly doing well, and I feel happy because I know that at least my favorite K-pop boys are happy, so my sorrows disappear.

[Они помогают отвлечься. Если у меня что-то плохое происходит в жизни, то вместо того, чтобы расстраиваться, я включаю себе видео с Ateez (моя ульт-группа), и смотрю клипы, пе- ресматриваю влоги и трансляции, всякие кейконы/премии и так далее. Я вижу, что у них всё хорошо (ну, чаще всего), и радуюсь, так как знаю, что хотя бы мои любимые кей-поп мальчи- ки радуются жизни, поэтому и мои печали улетучиваются.]

When asked about a role the male performers play in our lives, Participant 8 mentioned, I think their songs; their thoughts can actually give us the strength to just keep on living. I battled my fears with the help from Stray Kids. They are also my art inspiration. They are a source of new books and movies they refer in their ideas.” [Я думаю, их песни, их мысли действительно способны давать силы просто жить дальше. Я боро-

лась со своими страхами с помощью скз. Они также являются вдохновением для творчества. И источником новых книг и фильмов, к которым отсылаются в своих идеях.]

As participant 9 stated, “[They play] a big role. When I feel a lack of something, I can compensate for some of my needs thanks to them. Also their music supports me when it’s hard. They create an illusion that my existence is needed.” [На самом деле большую. когда существует недостаток чего-либо, я могу компенсировать часть своих потребно- стей благодаря им. Так же музыка поддерживает в трудный момент. Они создают иллюзию нужности твоего существования.]

In relation to the overall feelings, Participant 8 also mentioned, “I feel warmth and the sense of not being alone. I like to watch them and their behavior, their dorkiness sometimes. It makes my mood better.” [Я чувствую тепло и ощущение, будто я не один. Мне нравится наблюдать за ними, их поведением и иногда придурковатостью. Это поднимает мне настроение.]

Participant 9 mentions that K-pop gives them “happiness, smiles, laughter, emotions

– something I lack in my life” [счастье, улыбки, смех, эмоции – то, чего мне мало в жизни].

According to Participant 10, when integrating with the K-pop band’s content, they feel “happiness. And pride. I really love and respect them for the path they walked, for what they sacrificed when they chose an idol career.” [Счастье. И гордость. Я очень сильно люблю и уважаю их за тот путь, который они прошли, за то, чем они пожертвовали, вы- брав карьеру айдолов.]

Another popular theme during the interviews was related to self-expression through K-pop.

As Participant 8 stated, “they help me understand what I like. They influenced my drawing style and my appearance style, and they help me to understand myself, so yes, they influence my self-perception.” [Они помогают мне понимать, что мне нравится. Они повлияли на мой стиль и в рисовании и во внешнем виде, они помогают понять себя, по- этому да, они влияют на самовыражение.]

During the group interview, the respondents concluded that some groups within the genre “feel like older brothers” [как старшие братья] (usually in reference to groups with overall older members born before 1997), while others “are like our best friends

38 who walk alongside with us” [как лучший друг, который идёт с тобой по одному пути] (usually referring to groups with younger members born generally after 1997).

A repetitive theme for K-pop lyrics is “do not pay attention to anything anyone says about you, your appearance and your dreams”, and many fans mention it as an important message to them. The songs help to reassure them and to deal easier with the society pressures, a demand for having a defined dream, goal, and a life plan worked out in advance. Some fans additionally mention that they catch onto a message “run forward and don’t give up”. On the other hand, fans also mentioned “Spring Day”, a song by BTS; because it reminds them that there will be a spring after a winter (it will become easier after all the hardships).

Music

Music associations of fans refer mainly to the fact that idols often sing and dance simultaneously, rap, and that the vocal lines in bands tend to have good singing voic- es as perceived by the fans. The interviews also showed that some fans found themselves “tired” of Western-produced music, saying that it is too aggressive, too mascu- line, or too “all-the-same”. They believe that the K-pop music offers something new if not in terms of the lyrics (only some of the fans indicate the lyrics as the defining factor for them), but in terms of the sound. They mainly focus on the way the music makes them feel; on the emotions it evokes in them, and only rarely see the transla- tions to their favorite songs. Music helps them to touch on their inner energy reser- voir in order to complete tasks, go to school, and perform other necessary daily activities.

One participant also states, “they spend much more effort on boy groups. Their level is higher [than the girl group level]. The music is all the same across the industry, but at least it’s not horrible. There’s something to choose from and there’s quality as well.” [Но в мальчиков вбухивается больше сил. Уровень у них выше.Музыка такая же, такой музыки много, но она хотя бы не такая ужасная. То есть опять же есть выбор. И качество намно- го лучше.] (Int. 1.)

Another participant, when asked to elaborate on their listening habits, stated,

When a new song releases, I know if I like it or not by its music and its music video. Because that’s when you already can understand the concept of it. When they re-

lease a translation, I don’t look it up. I don’t care; I only care about the music. I like the song for the way it sounds.

[Когда выходит новая песня, я определяю по музыке и по самому клипу. Тогда ведь уже по- нятен концепт. Когда появляется перевод, я не смотрю перевод. Мне всё равно, только му- зыка волнует. Мне песня нравится за то, как она звучит.] (Int. 3)

Fans show clear understanding that the songs are written in a foreign language, and explain how they create an impression about a song. According to one participant, “because we don’t understand the lyrics until we get a translation, we base our perception on our associations and feelings at the time of the listening, and this emotional perception is very high.” [Поскольку мы не понимаем лирику песни, пока не видим перевод, мы основываемся на каких-то своих ассоциациях и ощущениях во время прослушивания, и эта эмоциональная восприимчивость очень высока.] (Int. 5)

Most respondents, when asked about situations in which they listen to K-pop, say that they listen to it “always”. According to Participant 10, “[I listen to them] almost all the time. Most of my playlist is K-pop, and I’m absolutely fine with that.” [Практи-

чески всегда. У меня почти что весь плейлист состоит из кей-поп песен, но меня все устраивает.]

Idols

The associations that were attributed to the group “male idols” can be further clustered into the following categories: creators, their own people, bias, speaks for me, personal example, and androgyny. When talking about Idols themselves, fans commonly refer to them as to independent artists, who “only belong to themselves and not to us”. Idols set personal example to the fans, and they are creators of music and choreographies.

The respondents say that their feeling towards the idols is closer to the respect towards their hard work and dedication. The Russian fans recognize that they, along with other European fans, are getting less attention from the groups and agencies as compared to the US and Korean fans where they think idols are considered as “bud- dies” and “equals” respectively. Because of that, in their own words, they see idols more like role models and less like anything they could ever get close to (int. 2).

Additionally, some fans believe that there is a certain “place” in the idols’ life for them as a part of their job. Many mention that they recognize their position as con-

40 sumers and believe that one must “know his place” and to not overstep his or her boundaries (int. 3, 4, 6, 9, 10).

The term “bias” is a word that is usually used to refer to the person’s most favorite member within a band. However, even here, the respondents’ opinions about who a bias is vary. The most common response is “a person in whom I can see a reflection of myself” [человек, в котором я вижу отражение себя] (Int. 2), the second most common response is “idol makes me improve myself” [айдол заставляет меня работать над собой] and “a person who I admire” [человек, которым я восхищаюсь], “a person who I see as my good friend” [человек, которого я считаю своим хорошим другом] and “we have similar personalities” [мы похожи как люди]. Some fans also mention that their idol is someone who has experienced the same hardships as them.

A bias can also be described as “a person who you want to be. He shows you what to do and not to do. You want to learn something from him.” [Это человек, к которому ты стремишься. Он показывает, что тебе надо делать и что не делать. Хочется у него учиться чему- то.] (Int. 5.)

The perception of Russian fans on idols as musicians is also different. Some mention that originally, idols were designed as a boyfriend or girlfriend for the whole country. However, the Russian fans believe that they see each idol as a musician, a separate individual, a person with their own rights, dreams, personal life and goals. Most fans do not express any desire to have control over an idol’s life.

Additionally, as Participant 9 states, “they help me not to give up by giving a personal example” [они помогают не сдаваться на собственном примере].

However, one participant expressed a different opinion from most interviews. As they stated, “I don’t think that idols are these supernatural people who inspire us to do something.” [Я не считаю айдолов таких сверхъествественных людей, которые нас что-то

вдохновляют делать.] (Int. 5.)

When asked to describe all male bands as one person, fans reply differently. Accord- ing to Participant 8, if male bands were a person, it would be “a god who knows how to do anything? Someone who has all the “perfect” characteristics we love idols for so much. Also, I see him as a marionette.” [Бог, который может-умеет все на свете? Кото-

рый собирает в себе все те "идеальные" черты, за которые так любят айдолов. Ещё он представ- ляется марионеткой.]

However, participant 9 mentions, “he would be daring, powerful, but unconfident, trying to find his path in life, always listening to music.” [Он дерзкий, стильный, но не-

уверенный в себе, пытающийся найти свой путь в жизни, всегда в наушниках.]

The respondents were also asked to differentiate male idols from female idols and Western performers. Respondents mention that female idols are “cute” and “feminine”, and most participants state that they usually do not listen to any Western artists.

During the group interview, when asked to describe K-pop as a person, fans mention that it would a “multi-skilled” individual, someone who looks after himself well, a bright and unpredictable person who is going through different stages of his or her personal development. They also believe that it would be an ethnically Korean person. However, when asked if they perceive K-pop as something strictly Korean and influenced by the Korean culture, fans decline. When asked to describe it as an ani- mal, they immediately try to think of something exotic, unusual, unique. They name animals from the Japanese mythology, Greek mythology, and shapeshifters. Howev- er, the conversation arrived at an option “dog”: because it is something that you are emotionally attached to, something you trust. Cats were discussed as something “cute and sophisticated at the same time”. The final option was the cat-dog.

Hard work

Another category that emerged during coding was Hard Work which refers to the fans’ perception of male bands as people who work hard for achieving their dreams, sacrifice themselves for the fans, never give up, sometimes overwork themselves, and give them motivation. Nearly all respondents believe that a dream is something an individual must work very hard for to achieve (an idea expressed by many K-pop texts), but only a small number mention that they started to work more or became more inspired to achieve their dreams after they became interested in K-pop. Some fans additionally state that K-pop helped them to conquer suicidal thoughts, in the precise wording of “if it wasn’t for K-pop, I wouldn’t be here” [если бы не кей-поп,

меня бы здесь уже не было]. Only a small portion of fans see K-pop as primarily an entertainment genre; most believe that it is just as valid music genre as any other.

For some fans, K-pop acts as a motivator. K-pop helps them to “touch on their inner energy” and continue living. In participant 1’s words,

The dream works like this: there’s this super cool guy, and if you work hard, you’ll be just as cool as he is. Not necessarily an artist, but just as successful. Or just generally will meet someone like him. It kind of raises your own standards. So I prefer to think about it like this. And I believe most Russian fans share this opinion.

[Классно это воспринимать как мечту, что есть вот такой классный чувак, если ты будешь ра- ботать, то ты станешь таким же классным, как он. Не то чтобы стать артистом, но просто стать таким же успешным. Ну, или просто встретить такого же человека. Это поднимает твою план- ку собственную. Мне больше нравится думать в таком ключе. И мне кажется, большинство российских фанатов так думают.]

One participant also mentioned that for them, K-pop is tightly tied with “…to be amazed by the hard work, when you understand that the person just went ahead and did something. That you went ahead and did something. It’s quite easy to be boring. What’s cool and deserves respect is to go and make something of yourself.”

[Восхищаться тяжёлой работой, когда ты понимаешь, что человек вщял и что-то сделал. Что ты взял и чего-то достиг. Быть унылым говном достаточно просто. Брать и делать, делать что-то из себя, делать что-то создавать – это круто, достойно уважения.]

Negative associations

The negative associations detected for K-pop male bands can be clustered into several categories: rumors, insincere acting (also on camera), suicides, and stalking and cameras. These associations usually arose when participants were asked to come up with a question for K-pop.

Rumors usually refer to dating rumors and subsequent relationship outings made by a Korean news outlet. Fans who mention it when talking about K-pop usually express their disapproval or state that they don’t understand “why it’s such a big deal”. As participant 1 stated it,

I don’t understand why artists, especially as big as BTS, can’t afford to tell everyone to piss off, and have some personal life. I mean, okay, you’ll lose a million or two of fans. So what? It doesn’t matter if he has or doesn’t have a girlfriend. The music stays the same.

[Вот как бы не понимаю, почему артисты, такие величины как бантаны, не могут просто себе позволить послать всех и иметь личную жизнь. Ну, допустим, вы потеряете миллион или два фанатов. И вам горячо холодно от этого? Соответственно, есть у него девушка или нет, я бы не сказала, что фанаты как-то страдают. Ты же не получаешь от этого меньше музыки.]

Insincere acting on camera usually refers to aegyo. Aegyo (“cute action”; acting like a child, making “cute” gestures and sounds) is a big part of the K-pop culture. Fans report to be highly perceptive on the “cute actions” that are insincere. They believe they can immediately see when the idol is being forced to act cute by the fans’ or the entertainment show requirements, when he is not comfortable, or when he feels embarrassed or self-conscious. They also note that on some idols, especially those with a more mature (Monsta X) or “cold” (Yoongi from BTS or Changbin from Stray Kids) concept, the action looks ridiculous. “Not many idols can do it in a non-cringey way” [немногие могут сделать так, чтобы было не кринжево] is a common statement. However, the fans say that when they see the backstage friendly interactions of the idols, they feel like these ‘un-choreographed’ expressions of friendship and emotional attachment between the members are cuter that the pre-defined sets of actions that are commonly defined as aegyo. They report that these interactions make them feel much happier than the aegyo.

When asked to express their feelings about aegyo, one fan added, “at first I found it cringe-y and used to cover my face because it made me uncomfortable, but now it’s easier for me. I laugh more often, but if I see someone’s overdoing it, I feel uncomfortable again.” [Первое время меня немного корёжило, иногда лицо прикрывала от дискомфорта, но сейчас отношусь к этому легче. Чаще смеюсь, когда вижу, хотя если с этим перебарщивают, то снова начинается дискомфорт] (Int. 5.)

Some fans additionally express their apprehension towards fan-service. This can refer to the mode of interaction with the fans when an idol acts in the way the fan wants them to, or when idols in the same group purposefully interact with each other the way the fans expect them to. As one participant reported, “I don’t like fan-service, because fans develop this consumatory mindset towards idols. I want them to live their lives freely, and to avoid things like disbanding and suicides.” [Мне не нравится фансервис, у фанатов вырабатывается потребительское отношение к айдолам. Хочется чтобы люди жили более свободной жизнью, чтобы не было таких вещей как распад функционирующей группы, суициды.] (Int. 2.)

Fans also report being perceptive to acting overall. “Acting on camera is noticeable, I don’t like it, but it’s their job and there’s no way to avoid it. So it’s not like I’m used to it, I just accept it.” [Игра на камеру заметна, мне это не нравится, но это их работа, без

этого никак. Так что я не то чтобы привыкла, воспринимаю это как должное.] (Int. 5.)

Suicides were most often mentioned when participants were asked about what question they would like to ask from K-pop, or when they started to talk about hard work and dedication.

Stalking and cameras as an association refers to the fact that in K-pop, it is quite often for fans or journalists to stalk artists during their private time. Once again, the participants generally express their disapproval, stating that people who perform such actions are breaking laws and should be punished according to the law of their country for stalking.

Participant 8 mentioned that if they could, they would ask K-pop about the sacrifice it takes to be promoted in the industry [каких жертв требует продвижение в индустрии?].

Some fans also mention that overall they recognize that K-pop is a business first and foremost. For example, one participant said, “I know that K-pop is a tough industry that earns tons of money through their talened girls and boys but I can’t say I think about it often. I just don’t understand how that works.” [Я знаю что кпоп это жёсткая индустрия, зарабатывающая тонны денег на своих талантливых мальчиках-девочках, но не сказать, что я часто об этом задумываюсь. Ибо плохо понимаю как оно работает.] (Int. 8)

According to Participant 10, if they could, they would ask, “how much of what they’re doing is a lie? How often do you play on camera, how much of your behavior is fanservice, how often do you have to memorize your interview replies. Are the people I’m seeing acually you?” [На сколько это всё ложь? Как часто вы играете на камеру, сколько процентов фансервиса в вашем поведении, как часто вы учите свои реплики для интервью, вы ли это вообще?]

5 Discussion

5.1 Answers to the research question

The research question for this work was defined as: What are the Generation Z Rus- sian female fans’ perceptions and experiences of the male K-pop bands? As mentioned in the previous sections, in this research, a brand is defined as a set of associations that the consumer holds in their mind about a particular brand.

The Russian Generation Z fans see male K-pop bands as bright or daring handsome music artists who give them happiness, support, and the feeling of being needed or loved. However, when asked a general question, fans usually speak of a specific idol or an idol group. This suggests that the brand is very centered on specific artists and their personalities. However, there is a negative side to the brand because it is associated with overworking and insincerity; some participants also show awareness of the ‘business’ aspects of the industry. Yet, the negative effects are not enough to repulse the consumers. Overall, it is a brand that can be described with the words such as “music”, “art”, “brightness”, “support” and “happiness”. The fans seem very attached to the idols because of the feeling of happiness and support in dark times, and for the motivation, support and the sense of a family they provide.

5.2 Practical and managerial implications

The research studied the brand of K-pop male bands as perceived by female Genera- tion Z fans in Russia. The findings can have some managerial implications for branding or promotion of K-pop bands in Russia. Additionally, they can be used by both the K-pop professionals and other music and entertainment industry professionals in application to their performers who would be willing to target the audience with properties similar to those of K-pop audience.

Fans seem most attracted by the bands within the K-pop brand that could be described as “sincere”, “competent” and “tough”. Therefore, it would be advisable for a band to present one of these sides to the fans. Many fans highly value sincerity of the group, sincerity of the idols, and are some-times critical of the actions they per-

46 ceive as insincere (such as cute actions done on camera). Therefore, when promoting in Russia and communicating with the Russian fans, it is important to establish a sense of sincerity with them. Communication with the fans and among the members must be genuinely warm, with the least staged interactions.

In terms of the artist self-concept, idols could position themselves as musicians and creators when communicating with the Russian fans. This would help to strengthen the sense of respect towards the artist.

Fans report that the K-pop songs or idols have helped them to cope with depression and suicidal thoughts. When communicating with the fans, these messages should be emphasized.

Emphasizing its role as something new and stripped of “stereotypical” thinking, as something that does not differentiate between the fans around the world, a band or the K-pop as a whole could establish better presence in the minds of the Russian fans.

Additionally, some fans would also seek this new feeling of “family” among people who share the same interests with them. They find sisters and friends among fans, and they find older brothers and equals-friends in male K-pop idols. In this regard, the companies could emphasize the “family” aspect of be-longing to a fandom in order to strengthen the relationship with their fans.

5.3 Assessment of the results in the light of literature

The theoretical framework for the Customer-Based Approach to branding has been presented in Chapter 2. This approach builds on several key characteristics that will be described below for K-pop male bands.

Price "everyone pays as much as they can"

Non-Product bright, related Packaging colorful, fit, young

Product- Attributes Related User screaming girls Imagery / respectful, open-minded

Usage daily music / Imagery listen when I'm sad

Functional aesthetically pleasing performances, music videos and Benefits artists, motivation Types of Experiential Associations

Favorability happiness Brand Symbolic Image Strength protest / belonging to a Uniqueness group Attitudes daily need, emotional attachment

Figure 5. K-pop Male Bands Brand Image

Figure 5 represents a part of the customer-based brand equity map described in Chapter 2. This structure has been described as theoretical framework for this research. The main key points that will be described below have been added to the map from interview results in order to complete it. The Brand Awareness branch has been removed due to high levels of it in all participants.

5.3.1 Brand awareness and brand recall

The interview results show that the brand awareness and brand recall are very high and clear among participants. Therefore, their further discussion is not valuable in this research.

5.3.2 Non-product related attributes

Price

It can be said that the Russian female fans do not attach much importance to the price because it is not obligatory to pay for anything specific in order to enjoy the experience. They consider it not very expensive because they are free to pay any price they wish. Alternatively, this may happen because the emotional component makes any price irrelevant. Here, K-pop male bands do not have anything specific to their brand.

Packaging

K-pop male bands’ packaging can be seen as the physical appearance of the performers, not the packaging of their albums or other merchandise. Fans view K-pop bands as something bright, physically fit, handsome, and attractive. They also emphasize the androgyny and makeup. Packaging also refers to perceived high quality of their music videos and other content, which makes the brand appear as something of high quality in most cases.

5.3.3 Non-Product-related attributes

User Imagery

Fans believe that overall, people who listen to K-pop are people with non- stereotypical thinking, or people open to new experiences. Some of them, despite being fans themselves, still view the fan groups as “screaming obsessed girls”. Addi- tionally, fans tend to see other Russian fans as discreet, well-mannered towards idols, and more focused on themselves and the interaction with their fandom than on idols.

Usage Imagery

Fans seem to not have any particular usage imagery associated with the K-pop male bands music. They listen to their music on a daily basis as their background music for most activities. However, some of them they may turn to other content produced by the group (such as vlogs or live broadcasts) specifically when they are feeling upset and want to improve their mood, when they are feeling lonely and want to receive support.

5.3.4 Benefits

Functional benefits

K-pop’s male bands main functional benefit seems to be related to their art and physical appearance. They provide their fans with music and aesthetically pleasing performances, music videos and artists. Several fans mention that they were tired of Western performers. There appears to have been an untapped need among the consumers for aesthetic pleasure in addition to songs.

Additionally, the motivation fans feel from the artists can also be considered a functional benefit. Some respondents mentioned their desire to improve their quality of life, and they attach some motivational value to K-pop songs. The original function of K-pop (entertainment) transferred to the experiential benefits section.

Yet another functional benefit can be considered the fact that K-pop male bands provide a ”base” for fans to have friendly relationships with other fans, engage in conversations, and make new friends in specific cases. AS fans gather into fandoms, they may find like-minded people.

Experiential benefits

The main experiential benefit of the male K-pop bands appears to be the feeling of happiness and a distraction from the outside world. Additionally, some fans feel needed and loved when interacting with supplementary content provided by the bands. They feel warmth, pride, and something to focus on aside from their daily routines.

Additionally, it appears that there is a significant level of emotional attachment to the brand. When expressing their opinions on specific topics, fans may sound affec-

50 tive (in relation to their most favorite artist), upset (when speaking about suicides and overworking), and happy. Additionally, some fans report generally being strongly affected by events happening in the lives of idols and new releases. These feelings can be theorized to provide an experiential benefit of being needed by someone, protecting someone, and becoming someone’s support.

Symbolic benefits

For some fans, K-pop helps to express their protest against the conservative Russian society or stereotypes. Through listening to the music and engaging with supplementary content, they express themselves. For others, K-pop influences their self- expression through having an impact on their art. Interestingly, the participants never mention expressing themselves through associating themselves with a specific member or a group. Yet they do speak about feeling connected and understood when speaking about their most favorite idol. This may be referring to the self- expression benefit of a brand, as described in chapter 2.

5.3.5 Attitudes

Overall, the consumers seem to view the brand as something they need and con- sume on a daily basis. For some of them, it answers the need for emotional attachment and warmth, and it is something they willingly engage with. They view the brand as something goof overall, although some report being critical of negative aspects of the industry.

5.3.6 Favorability, strength, and uniqueness of brand associations

These aspects of the brand were not studied deeply. However, despite negative associations described above, the consumers seem to view the brand overall favorably. The associations were strong; the respondents didn’t take a long time to think of their answers. Most questions were answered immediately. The brand associations seem unique if contrasted against female K-pop bands, Western performers, and domestic artists.

Overall, the results show that the main perceptions and experiences of fans in relation to K-pop bands are all connected to strong emotions evoked through interaction with their favorite idols. There is an observably high level of emotional attachment that may be influenced by the circumstances of the fans’ personal lives or other factors. The attachment can also be conditioned by, on one side, support idols provide through their content, while on the other hand, by the fact that they empathize their dependence on the fans for their success. The fans themselves may or may not be aware of the connection between these factors.

5.4 Limitations of the research

Because the research is qualitative and exploratory, it cannot claim for absolute reliability and validity of the results as compared to similar researchers with larger sam- ples, or similar researches that used more advanced and mixed-method techniques. The sample of the fan base in Russia (20 people in total) does not allow any generalizations of the findings. Even though the research attempted to include participants of various ages within the same generational group and from different regions in Russia, the sample still does not allow for a wider perspective.

Another limitation is the timeframe of the study. The interviews have been conducted within several days in September 2019. Because K-pop is a fast-developing genre with daily changes, some perceptions might have been different if sampled in different moments of time.

5.5 Recommendations for future research

The research shows that there is a significant level of emotional attachment of fans to their idols. A further study can utilize findings from this research in order to examine the effect of such connection on artists themselves.

As a qualitative research, this study does not intend to state that the findings are universally true to the whole of Russian population. A deeper research could be implemented; for example, on the differences between fans in different regions of Rus- sia. It could also be studied if there is any age relationship with perceptions, the amount of money fans are prepared to spend on their idols, their level of education.

Further musicological research could be implemented on which elements of the K- pop music could be attractive enough for the fans to not care about the lyrics and the language.

It would be beneficial to deepen the study and research the brand of every group mentioned separately. A similar study could be conducted to study the female bands.

A cross-cultural research could be conducted to further discover the differences between fans in different countries.

Additionally, it would be beneficial to study non-fans in order to determine the factors that condition rejection and could therefore be overcome in order to maximize market penetration.

A psychology-focused research could be conducted to observe the mechanisms that trigger emotional attachment to the band or a member of a band. A research similar to the one conducted could be implemented in relation to female bands.

Research could also attempt to discover perceptions that are specific to a certain band, the likings and dislikes of the fans. Some data on this matter could be request- ed from researcher as obtained but not included in the final report.

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