Sharifah Faizah Syed Mohammed, Nur Maizatul Balqis

Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve:K-pop Merchandise in Validating Identity

Introduction

Wearing your heart on your sleeve:k-pop merchandise in validating identity. Explore how K-pop merchandise shapes fan identity & social belonging. This study reveals its role as loyalty emblems, participation tools, and community connectors in modern fandoms.

Abstract

K-pop merchandise plays a vital role in shaping fan identity, functioning beyond its commercial value. This study explores how merchandise enables identity construction and social belonging within the global K-pop fandom. This research employs qualitative discourse analysis of X (formerly Twitter) tweets and a survey of pertinent literature on fandom and material culture to delineate four principal functions of merchandise: as emblems of loyalty, instruments for active participation, rites of passage, and enablers of community connectedness. The results indicate that items like lightsticks and photocards serve as emotional and symbolic anchors, signifying personal achievements and facilitating social relationships. These objects enable fans to transition from passive consumers to active cultural participants, thereby strengthening identification through ritualized actions and shared beliefs. This study suggests that K-pop items function as hybrid objects—economically valued, emotionally significant, and culturally relevant. It provides insights into the intersection of material culture and identity formation in modern fandoms, especially within the performing arts sectors that generate and uphold idol culture.

Review

This paper, "Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve: K-pop Merchandise in Validating Identity," presents a compelling analysis of the multifaceted role of K-pop merchandise in contemporary fan culture. It effectively moves beyond a purely commercial understanding of these objects, positing them as crucial instruments for identity construction and the fostering of social belonging within the global K-pop fandom. The study makes a significant contribution by articulating how material culture intricately weaves into the personal and collective identities of fans, offering fresh perspectives on the emotional and symbolic economies at play in modern participatory cultures. Employing a qualitative discourse analysis of X (formerly Twitter) tweets, complemented by a pertinent literature review on fandom and material culture, the research delineates four principal functions of K-pop merchandise: as emblems of loyalty, instruments for active participation, rites of passage, and enablers of community connectedness. This granular breakdown is particularly insightful, illustrating how items like lightsticks and photocards transcend mere commodities to become powerful emotional and symbolic anchors. They are shown to signify personal achievements and critically facilitate social relationships, transforming fans from passive consumers into active cultural participants. The concept of these items as 'hybrid objects'—economically valued, emotionally significant, and culturally relevant—is well-supported and offers a robust theoretical lens for future studies. The study provides valuable insights into the intersection of material culture and identity formation within modern fandoms, especially within the context of the performing arts sectors that generate and uphold idol culture. Its findings offer significant implications for understanding fan engagement beyond economic transactions, highlighting the ritualized actions and shared beliefs that underpin strong fan identification. While the use of X (Twitter) provides rich qualitative data, future research could potentially explore cross-platform comparisons or delve into specific geographic fan communities to further nuance these findings. Overall, this paper is a timely and rigorously conducted piece of scholarship that will be of great interest to scholars of media, cultural studies, and consumer behavior, and it is strongly recommended for publication.

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