Celebrities and Fans’ Philanthropy in China: A Critique of Parasocial Relationship

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2018-02-17
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en
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Fandom culture has attracted many academic researches in recent years. The influence of celebrity is no longer a new subject, while fans of celebrity have become a new powerful part of civil society in China. They start to get involved in social engagement by doing philanthropy. This phenomenon has gained social attention but has been an academic gap, of which it is worth studying the motivation and influence. The relationship between celebrity and fans used to be called a parasocial one (Robers, 2007). However, with the development of entertainment market, traditional influence of celebrity directly on public is weakened, and it appears now that celebrity and fans are more complicated characters of the society and are sharing a evolving relationship with double-way interaction, which propels further social impact. This research focuses on the motivation and social impact of celebrity and fans' philanthropy in China, through a critical perspective of the parasocial relationship between celebrity and fans, complements the existing researches on celebrity and fandom culture. In the research, I argue that celebrity and fans have reached a new relationship beyond parasocial, which motivates fans to do philanthropy and to cast impact on public. With appropriate improvement, future enlargement of celebrity and fans' philanthropy has huge potential to make positive differences to the society.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen