K-pop fans in Hong Kong : behaviours, identities and norms

Abstract

Despite the popularity of K-pop in Hong Kong, there has been very little academic research on K-pop fans as a social phenomenon. This research aimed to understand the K-pop fandom phenomenon in Hong Kong from a sociological perspective. It utilized the concept of participatory culture and its five dimensions (namely, mode of reception, critical and interpretive practices, consumer activism, alternative cultural and aesthetic production, alternative social community) to investigate the behavioural norms of K-pop fans. Furthermore, it examined the identity formation and perceptions on fandom as a social community and explored the setting of norms and boundaries among K-pop fans in Hong Kong. The research is based on three focus group interviews with seven respondents recruited through snowball sampling. The research findings illustrated the behavioural norms and reflected the typologies of fan identities in relations to the degree of involvement. The common perceptions of fandom, existence of boundaries for fan behaviours, identities and norms, suggest there is a shared understanding within a social community of fans. However, the exact drawing of boundaries could differ among individuals and among different fan communities. Overall this study suggests that K-pop fans in Hong Kong show a continuum in aspects of participatory behaviours, self-conception of identities, perceptions of norms and involvement in norm breaking behaviours.