Celebrity Influence Effect: The Development Path of the Tourism Industry from the Perspective of the Fan Economy
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The global entertainment industry is growing fast, and social media is now widely used. Because of this, fan culture has become an important part of the economy. It is still not clear how celebrity influence shapes fan tourism behavior. This study looks at fan tourism, which is travel driven by emotional connections to idols. It examines how idol attractiveness, social media interactivity, and emotional involvement affect the intention to travel. The study used both questionnaires (n=100) and interviews. The results support the research model. The findings show that idol attractiveness and social media interactivity both increase emotional involvement. In turn, emotional involvement strongly increases travel intention. This means that an idol's authenticity and skills, together with the interactive nature of platforms like Weibo and Douyin, are important for building deep emotional ties that lead fans to travel. Based on these results, the study suggests several strategies for tourism stakeholders. These include working with local celebrities and influencers, creating fan-focused travel products like "Follow the Idol's Footsteps" tours, using social media to share fan-made content to build emotional connections, and adding emotional storytelling to marketing campaigns.
Author: Huanran Wang
Institution: RMIT University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4414477562
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