Why Do People Become Fans?
Volume 1 Welcome, Chapter 2: Delving into the reasons and psychology behind becoming a fan
Hola, in this week’s newsletter we will delve into why people become fans.
I’ll admit this piece took far longer to research than I expected (I did say I wanted to post once a week…). A classic case of being a beginner in a field and not understanding the complexity. Alas, here we are !!
Before we jump in three notes
I read Fans; A Journey Into Psychology of Belonging by Michael Bond this week. His book covers a lot (thought not all) of the content I will discuss in my newsletters. He is a great writer and I whizzed through the book in five days. So I’d recommend this book to those who want to do further reading
In this piece I will focus mostly on the underlying psychology of why people become fans. We will cover real life examples and delve into each theory in action when we go deep on our various fandoms! So think of this piece as an introduction into key psychological theories we will continue to check back in on.
I will refer to fan’s object of love as an idol - this is just for simplicity. The idol could be a person, group, show, team etc. I just thought its best to keep it one word than list each option every time…
Today we will walk through six underlining reasons people become fans and touch on supporting psychological theories for each reason. There is naturally overlap between the reasons and likely things I have left out. Here is a summary of what we will cover today:
Okiii, with that out the way let’s get into our first reason one becomes a fan…
Entertainment.
To become a fan of something it starts with some interest. You are not randomly going to start stanning Ariana Grande if you have no idea who she is, if you have never listened to her music or seen pictures of her. So the first, very basic reason someone becomes a fan is they are entertained by this person or thing.
If we reflect back to me and Blackpink - I initially became a fan as I enjoyed their music. As I said, it was different to anything I had heard before. When I then watched their music videos I was HIGHLY entertained, the videos were hectic, colours everywhere, wild outfits, highly synchronised dance moves. Here is an example for you to enjoy if you feel inclined.
Emotional Fulfilment
If you are engaging with something frequently, something you enjoy and feel positive feelings towards it’s natural to become a fan. Human curiosity leads us to seek out more information on this individual or thing which then reinforces these positive feelings. If we are enjoying something we logically we going to keep seeking out those feelings and continue to engage in that thing - deepening the fan connection.
A related psychological concept is Affective Disposition Theory (ADT) which in it’s simplest form explains that when good things happen to liked characters our enjoyment increases. Conversely enjoyment decreases when liked characters experience negative outcomes. In the context of fandoms - the idol becomes the liked character - fans enjoyment becomes tied to their idols outcomes. Interestingly, ADT suggests that attitudes tend to be quite stable and resistant to change. In, the face of opposing evidence fans will continue supporting and defending their idols. We will see some great examples of this in later newsletters.
Seeking out media to fulfil a need
We can think of the beginning of fandom as the fan seeking something out to fulfil a need. There is even a nice media theory - Uses and Gratification theory that suggests this. This theory is quite obvious - yet cuts through to why we seek out specific forms of media - to satisfy needs and wants. These needs have historically been classified into :
Diversion and entertainment, we seek out media for enjoyment and to feel specific emotions. This may also include seeking out media as a form of escapism.
Social interaction, more traditional media acted as a substitute for social interaction (one could just read or watch tv) with more recent media (social media!) media includes communities!
Information, consuming media to provide knowledge
Personal identity, consuming media which can help us understand our identity, values, bolster our self esteem etc
I’d argue media is going to be most influential when it combines these four needs. Further I’d argue a fan initially becomes a fan as on some level they are being entertained by their idol. Note when I say entertainment I do not only include the definition of entertainment indicating enjoyment but also include - curiosity.
It makes sense that when you become a fan you start with one of these needs being met - most likely entertainment. Back to myself and Blackpink - I watched Blackpink videos and enjoyed them I was entertained. In time it became part of my personal identity - I was a Blink (personal identity). Then I’d also be seeking out Blackpink content to stay up to date with the latest information on the girls (information) and to also hear and see how others Blinks were responding to this information (social interaction). It’s not going to be the case that the transition from media fulfilling one need to many will be as linear as I described above - yet it seems logical that the media slowly fulfils more needs and in turn becomes something a fan is more invested in.
Inspiration & Role Models.
Many fans view their idols as role models, at least in some form. Fans often view their idols as inspiration which could range from:
Aspirational inspiration, most idols have some (or all) of the following
Beauty and with that amazing style, makeup and hair…
Money
Status - the Kardashians defiantly play are the queens of aspirational content living in their multi-million mansions and decked out in designer gear 24/7
Overcoming adversity, many idols have had to overcome something difficult to become the star they are
Whether that’s an insane work ethic - promoting the story anyone can succeed if you put in the work. NBA icon, Michael Jordan well encapsulates this. There are many stories of Jordan’s dedication including rocking up at 8am for 11am trainings.
Overcome a hard upbringing - everyone loves a rags to riches story. Another much loved sports icon who fits this bill is Messi. Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a teen and moved overseas to compete in Barcelona.
Talent
Sport stars are clearly incredible at what they do
Top pop stars have beatuiful voices
The best actors are amazing at their craft etc.
Likeness
Many people relate to stars whether that’s because they too struggled with their mental health and can see their idol, like Selena Gomez tackle that
Others relate to their idols because they share the same culture, religion, nationality or sexuality
LGBTQI+ celebrities can have especially strong fandoms because they act as a bright light for queer teens and adults e.g. Lil Nas X
Unfortunately the west remains quite white washed in its celebrities and icons. Movies like Crazy Rich Asians and Everywhere, Everywhere All At Once were received by Asian audiences (and non-Asian audiences) with much excitement for their diversity.
We can take a lot from Bandura’s Social Learning Theory to explain how idols and similary the fandom itself become role models. Bandura’s theory discusses the importance of observation and modelling in learning, positing a lot of learning occurs by watching others and noting the consequences of their actions. Key terms and in Social Learning Theory and their relevance to fandoms includes (note here we also do delve into why fans act the way they do):
Modelling, this is were the learner observes someone and emulates their behaviour. So this could be either:
Fans observing the actions of their idols and then replicating it
Fans observing the actions of others in a fandom and replicating it
Reinforcement and vicarious reinforcement, observing others actions and consequences the learner can understand the relationship between rewarded and punished behaviours. Further a learner can feel rewarded or punished by observing someone else. This is especially obvious when non-conforming fan behaviour illicit backlash from fans or conversely when an idol is rewarded or praised for certain actions the fan experiences some of this reward as their own.
I recall watching Blackpink’s comeback in 2022 with Pink Venom and being upset and feel a bit of shame, honestly, when I saw the backlash towards the song. The opposite was true when their performance at the 2022 VMAs was well received I was elated, the girls slayed (as usual)
Shaping and socialisation, ultimately it is mostly through observation that a fan learns the appropriate behaviour and attitudes to display in their fandom. By reading a bunch of IG comments, tweets and Tiktoks Arianators (Ariana Grande fans) will learn the appropriate:
Values and norms
Unique language and key terms
Expected behaviour
Unspoken rules
Attitudes towards Ariana, her actions, other fandoms and broader issues
Key influencing bodies which may be key fan pages, profiles etc
Dw in time we will actually run through all of this for Arianators
Fans will then add this to their understanding of correct fan behaviour.
Connection.
As one engages more and more with their idol the connection will deepen. You are sinking lots of time (and effort) into this person, it’s likely you may begin spending money on them too. You have become invested emotionally. There is a specific term for these types of relationships - para-social relationships. A para-social relationship is a “one-sided relationship formed when one party extends energy, interest, and time and the other person doesn’t know they exist.” The term was coined in research from 1956 to describe the (at the time) new phenomena that mass media had whereby spectators of performers felt as they had a real relationship with the performer.
Nowadays it’s easy for celebrities to continually interact with the public through their social media profiles. Social media has been incredible for both idols and fans*.* For idols it provides a channel they can directly control to push and build a specific narrative of themselves. TikToks, Youtube vlogs, IG stories and tweets from idols all offer the public an insight into who that person or thing is, further deepening fans connection and sense of ‘knowing’ them. For fans social media provides a channel where they can continually be fed information and updates on their idols.
Recently BTS’ Jungkook hosted a live during which he accidentally fell asleep. This live was tuned in by 6 million people. These 6 million people took comfort seeing Jungkook sleeping peacefully as we can see from some of these comments below…
With time we will delve into specific celebrities and industries who do this particularly well. The power of para-social relationships are compounded by:
The reality that we are living our lives more and more online. Especially during Covid, the majority of our relationships was forced to be conducted nearly entirely online. Suddenly the relationship fans had with their idols was not too dissimilar to their other relationships.
The very way social media is built to continue serving us things we are interested in - if you look at a few Spiderman posts on IG you know it’s going to start serving you Spiderman content
Fans themselves creating fan accounts and posting titbits and fan images increasing the volume of content about their idols
In someways the para-social relationship fans have with their idols are going to provide a better sense of comfort, love and appreciation they get from bidirectional relationships. You can always return to rewatch your idols youtube vlogs, lives, music or shows. There is a level of permanence and consistency which many people can lack from bidirectional relationships. For many fans the content their idol makes becomes as place of escapism or the idol themself becomes a form of escapism.
It’s important to note the very nature of a para-social relationship is it’s one sided. The fans know and devote time into their idol but the idol does not know the fan. I’d argue the dynamic is a bit more complex, it’s in an idols interest to actively nurture their fandom*. It’s the fandom which is the key to an idols success.* One could argue that it’s ironically the idols who need their fans more than the fans need their idols. Idols livelihoods depend on their fans. Whilst unfortunately idols cannot know every fan to the level of depth their fans know about them, they understand their fanbase as a collective.
Community & Belonging.
One things I always love to do is read comments on Youtube, Twitter, IG, and TikTok. They always tend to entertain me, often as much if not more than the content the comments are found on…
Watch any Taylor Swift Youtube video and read the comments, it thousands of fans declaring their love for her, the specific song, how it made them feel etc. Depending on the artist the comments can be quite multilingual too.
Here are some comments on Taylor Swifts’ Blank Space M/V found on Youtube
Comment reads, ‘In the middle of 2023, it remains one of Taylor's best’ in Portugese
Comment reads, ‘Taylor is a master at creating music videos👌 I love her for that. Others can learn from her how to do it 😉,’ in Polish
Engaging with your idols content makes you realise, hey I’m not alone. In fact there are many, many others who feel the same way I do. At the end of the day, we just want to belong. We just want to know we are not the only weirdo who feels a certain way. Being a fan becomes even more powerful when you join the fandom - the fan community.
Fan communities are extremely strong and can be places where lifelong friends are made. My friend Cat was an OG 1D stan. As a teen Cat was extremely active on twitter tweeting about the 1D boys. On twitter she meant some of her now closest friends. Friends who she travelled with to watch 1D and later Harry Styles. Friends who she feels an immense connection and bond with through their shared love for 1D.
Group membership is a powerful source of belonging, pride and our sense of self. Henri Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory (1979) nicely explains how a person’s identity is largely based on their group memberships. For better or worse we divide the world into ‘us,’ and ‘them,’ and tend to exaggerate similarities between those we perceive as ‘us’ and often hold prejudices against ‘them.’ We can see how Tajfel’s theory nicely explains prejudice and stereotyping, but also nicely explains fans fervent membership to their fandoms.
There are a range of different key terms in social identity theory - I’ll focus on a few to help explain how people become fans… To simplify things we can kind of think of these as the steps of becoming a fan… let’s assume we are fans of NBA team here.
Social categorisation: process of categorising people into different groups based on shared characteristics. Consider this as our introduction into the NBA and recognition that multiple NBA teams exist. Here we begin noting we can categorise others based on the NBA team they support.
Group identification, here we self identify with a specific group. Say we have begun supporting the New York Knicks. The sense of group identification only grows stronger when we seek out actions to affirm this identity. The extent to which we identify with the Knicks links to the extent we view the Knicks goals as our own. Naturally this helps explain why fans celebrate so much when their team wins and are so dejected when they loose.
Positive distinctiveness: in this process we identify things which make the Knicks unique and superior to other teams. So the fact the Knicks have Madison Square Gardens one of the most iconic stadiums, the fact we represent NYC one of the most famous cities in the world, the fact our jersey is blue, orange and white…
Social comparison: here we begin comparing our group to others and noting how superior our group is. So we’d say the Knicks are way better than the Nets. If things come up to undermine this perspective we’d engage in some fun mental gymnastics to explain this away…
As Science Direct points out, “social identities are most influential when individuals consider membership in a particular group to be central to their self-concept and they feel strong emotional ties to the group. Affiliation with a group confers self-esteem, which helps to sustain the social identity”
Social Identity theory also outlines how can fans be so different in different contexts - we have both our social and personal identity, certain contexts will activate the social identity other contexts will activate the personal identity. The usually calm and quiet man can become excited, loud and obnoxious when his Knicks fan personality is activated in the stands of Madison Square Garden.
Social identity theory explains that fans also become fans for the fandom. The fandom itself builds a fans group identity and investment along with bringing strong social ties.
Contribution.
Simply reading the comments and consuming media related to your idol may be enough. Other fans will begin actively contributing to the fandom. They may take some or a mixture of the following actions:
Discussing your idol (ideally a lot) this may be with your friends who if you are lucky are also fans (even if your friends are not fans a real fan won’t be able to hold back and still talk about their idol a lot 🤣).
Discussion may turn online into
Commenting on your idols posts
Commenting on fan accounts of your idol
Creating content for your idol
Videos
Edits
Collages
Posters
Merch
Physical displays such as wearing merchandise
Attending events
Concerts
Games
Conventions
Maintaining fan communities
Contributing to wikis. The site Fandom has over 385,000 communities and 50 million pages detailing various fandoms from games to movies to lifestyle.
Organising events (online and irl)
The more you effort you invest into the a fandom the stronger the connection. We can link fan’s contributions to their fandom to Rusbult’s Investment Model which outlines the three major factors which maintain commitment in relationships satisfaction level, comparison with alternatives and investment size. This theory was initially used to describe commitment in romantic relationships and developed to explain why couples in abusive relationships stay together, but like many psychological theories can be applied to explain a range of social behaviour.
When one is satisfied in a relationship they tend to be more content and committed. This satisfaction is often fostered by rewards. In the context of fandoms - new content from their idol, a win (in sport), critical acclaim, records being broken etc all can act as rewards to fans. A fan does not initially become a fan unless they are gaining a deep level of satisfaction.
Further those who view that no alternatives exist to their current relationship are more committed. If you ask yourself - could there be someone else out there better for me? you’d hope to answer no right away (or don’t even ask yourself this question because to even ponder this is a betrayal). While in romantic relationships the alternatives would be being alone or finding another partner, in fandoms it’s leaving the fandom or joining another fandom. Again believing no alternatives exist leads to a stronger commitment.
Whilst satisfaction and lack of alternatives contribute to commitment, Rusbult suggested it was actually investment which was the strongest factor in commitment. Investment is about the amount of resources put into the relationship. For fans these resources include effort, time and money which lead to things like memories, social ties and possessions. Rusbult suggests that the more investment is made, the more committed the individual is to the relationship. So being a more active contributor of a fandom will make the fan more committed (intuitively this makes sense).
Rusbult suggested these three factors are independent. However, I’d argue the three factors are interdependent. As you invest more into a fandom you are likely going to gain more and more satisfaction in different ways - greater knowledge of your idol, stronger social ties etc. Further you will consequently believe there are no other alternatives or to even consider an alternative over your fandom is a complete betrayal.
Putting it together
Fans come for the entertainment and to fulfil some need. They look up to their idols and in deepening their connection with their idols their love grows. As the fan’s love deepens they become part of a community (fandom) which provides a sense of belonging and identity. The fan’s place in their fandom and fan identity is reinforced though contributing to it fostering even more commitment. The fan is well and truly a committed fan.
Lovely, but so many questions still remain unanswered regarding fans. One which popped up when I was researching was - why do some spheres attract fans more so than others? In our next newsletter we will apply what we know to help explain this phenomena.
Until then, continue stanning what you stan
Cara 💖