Two gold and one silver, so that Gu Ailing has become synonymous with traffic and heat at the Winter Olympics. Long before the Beijing Winter Olympics, she signed more than 20 collaboration endorsements. From Gu Ailing to Su Yiming, Generation Z has created many national idols while chasing stars.
From athletes, singers, actors, to traffic love beans, to virtual idols of the fire... No matter what era you were born into, there is always the "star" that makes you chase.
A set of star-chasing consumption data shows that the average monthly star-chasing expenditure of post-00s is more than 5,000 yuan, which is the highest among all age groups. According to statistics, the total size of the Chinese idol market will reach 100 billion yuan in 2020. It is predicted that by 2022, the total size of the idol market is expected to reach 140 billion yuan, of which the rise of the "Generation Z" consumer group has greatly activated the fan economy.
What exactly is the fan economy? How should this chaotic industry develop healthily? In the view of Yang Wei, assistant professor of management at China Europe International Business School, efforts should be made to promote high-quality idols, and use the positive externalities of idols to guide fans to positive energy.
Idols, as carriers of personal "ideals", provide powerful role models and spiritual forces in various forms. Idols of different eras use their works and words and deeds to impress the young people who belong to their times and leave a unique cultural imprint in the development process of social history.
What really belongs to Generation Z is the "idol economy." The idols of Generation Z are not only the creators of the "spiritual power" in social culture, but also deeply participate in the economic and industrial ecological chain and the value creation process, resulting in an "economic force" that cannot be underestimated.
In addition to the most direct fan and entertainment economy, the idol economy is also reflected in the value creation of idols in a wider range: in 2020, the sales scale of the mainland luxury industry exceeded 340 billion yuan, and celebrity endorsements and goods are an important part of the marketing of these luxury goods. The live e-commerce market, which has many stars and Internet celebrity "idols" participating, is expected to have an output value of up to 1.2 trillion yuan in 2021. In the FMCG industry, where the market size exceeds 10 trillion yuan, almost all brands that occupy the top of the market also have star idols to endorse them.
From film and television remuneration to commercial endorsements, from fan "peripherals" to live streaming with goods, the economic power of idols is penetrating into all aspects of our social life, playing an increasingly important role in the process of economic value creation in various industries. This makes people wonder why idols in Generation Z can produce such huge economic value.
1
Fan economy
The commercial value of idols is inseparable from the formation of the ecological chain of the mainland entertainment industry.
From the upstream brokerage company to explore potential trainees, to the streaming media platform to lead the talent show, attract sponsors and fans to participate in the selection and cultivation of idols, and then to the downstream organization of "group" idol media publicity, performance meetings, and the development and production of supporting film and television dramas and variety shows, a set of standardized selection and training processes provide the basic framework for idol commercialization. In this ecosystem, brokerage companies, streaming media platforms, film and television companies, sponsors and other important players can effectively explore how to divide labor and cooperate with each other, jointly create "idols" and cultivate their economic and social value, thereby obtaining corresponding economic benefits.
The entertainment industry chain has also reshaped the way fans "chase stars" to a large extent, creating a fan group with commercial value. The media and social platforms on the entertainment ecological chain have taken advantage of their high degree of interactivity to establish a series of organized fan cultivation mechanisms.
From the check-in to punch card of the super talk list, the speech control comment of the hot search, and then to the various fan organizations of the WeChat forum and the various meeting and assistance activities derived, a series of institutional processes created by the ecological chain make the star chasing no longer just a spiritual level of scattered soldiers, but a highly interactive group behavior.
Fans are more likely to be guided and influenced by public opinion in the group, and are more willing to pay for idols and support idols with economic behavior. It can be said that the fan scale effect realized by the entertainment ecological chain not only further expands the market capacity of the fan economy and directly fulfills the basic commercial value of the idol, but more importantly, the fan group is also the core force of the idol to establish the public image and mass foundation, and becomes the fulcrum of its creation of economic and social value in a wider range. The fan economy has thus become the core and foundation of the commercial value of "idols".
2
Generation Z's idol endorsement
The deeper impetus for the development of the idol economy stems from the digital transformation of the economy.
The impact of digitalization on the idol economy stems from the transformation of consumption patterns in the Internet era. The migration of consumption scenarios from offline to online shopping has made the market competition of products face new challenges, which has created new opportunities for idol endorsements to play a greater role in marketing and market competition.
First, the value of idol endorsement stems first of all from its competition in the online market with overloaded information, making products easier to be "seen" by consumers. The digital online consumption scenario magnifies the information overload problem faced by consumers in the decision-making process, and increases the cost of information search and processing in consumer decision-making. At the same time, online shopping lacks the characteristics of experience and supporting services, which exacerbates the homogenization of product information. How to find effective signals to make consumers notice enterprise products in a large amount of redundant online information is a particularly prominent challenge in digital competition, which strengthens the value of idol endorsements.
Through endorsement, the company establishes a close connection between the product and the idol image, so that the popularity and personal characteristics of the idol are the unique information of the product, which can immediately attract consumers' attention and interest in the product. "Idol endorsement" is a "shortcut" for enterprises to achieve product differentiation in the digital age.
Second, idol endorsement helps enterprises win the "trust" of consumers in the competition of the Internet market, thus playing an important role in the construction of product credit. The "role model" effect generated by idol endorsement can reduce the information asymmetry caused by consumers' inability to actually experience the product and verify the authenticity of the information. For example, the "airport street shooting" of the celebrity shows the "daily effect" that the endorsement product may achieve through its own wear and the use of seemingly random capture shooting. In the eyes of consumers, the endorsement of idols makes the product no longer just a simple picture of the online shopping scene, but becomes more three-dimensional and more realistic, thus stimulating the expectation and imagination of the product and promoting the willingness to buy.
At a deeper level, this "exemplary demonstration" effect also stems from the idol's own social credit. Consumers, out of goodwill and trust in their idols, are more likely to trust the endorsement products with the credit of their idols in the absence of information. It can be said that the trust foundation established by idols for endorsement products by virtue of their own credit and influence is the core of the commercial value of "idol endorsement". It is this market signal based on personal credit that forms the "idol economy" in the broader sense.
3
The social responsibility of idols
The development of the idol economy in the digital age has its inevitability, but it also faces unprecedented challenges.
The idol's personal image and the core position of the person in the idol economy make the idol's own behavior have a strong externality, which also means that the idol needs to bear corresponding social responsibilities while creating value. In the industrialized fan economy, every move of the idol can affect the behavior and even the thinking mode and value orientation of the fans, and derive collective emotions in large-scale communication and interaction, and even affect the network and social order.
At the same time, the signal role of idols is also further radiated to the moral atmosphere and value orientation of a wider social scope through the increasingly perfect cultural and entertainment ecological industry chain. Because of this, gossip news such as celebrity marriage and childbirth on the hot search list has always attracted widespread public attention and discussion. In the era of idol economy, idols are no longer the concept of individuals, but have become economic and cultural symbols that can influence social opinion and values. The restrictive norms of idols' own behavior and the rational guidance of fans' emotions and consumption behaviors have also transcended the self-discipline requirements at the personal level and become social responsibilities that must be fulfilled.
The process of commercial endorsement integrating idol image into the value creation of products means that the externalities generated by idols have been closely linked to the development of enterprises and have become an important part of competitive strategies. In the process of fulfilling corporate social responsibility, it is inevitable that idols, as participants in corporate value creation, jointly undertake corresponding social responsibilities.
When idol behavior deviates from social moral expectations, this breach of social responsibility will inevitably cause the company to quickly cut off the idol and strip it from the value creation process. This is why the recent frequent idol scandals have been accompanied by the termination of a large number of corporate endorsements. When idols fail to follow social norms and fulfill their social responsibilities, credit ceases to exist, and their commercial value disappears.
For companies, there are also risks in using the business value of idols to achieve differentiation strategies. The industrial model of the entertainment industry determines the frequent replacement of idols, so there is a strong time limit for the commercial value of idols. Therefore, while using the idol economy to support value creation, enterprises should start from improving the inherent quality and differentiation of products, increase investment in innovation, and improve operational efficiency.
4
New idols, new IP, new opportunities
As a new business form, the development of the idol economy is facing challenges, but it also brings unprecedented opportunities.
Create high-quality idols, take advantage of the positive externalities of idols, and guide fans to positive energy.
The externality of idol behavior is a double-edged sword, which is both a challenge for the idol economy and an important mechanism for it to give full play to its positive role. Driving the youth force behind the idol culture and the idol economy, through the creation and management of high-quality idols, guided by the words and deeds of idols as a carrier, can effectively drive young people who are fans to pursue more meaningful life goals and spread positive energy.
Expand the upstream of the cultural and entertainment ecological industry chain, and use the idol economy to feed the cultural industry.
The industry attributes of entertainment mean that idols cannot rely only on "appearance" and "personality", but must have solid representative works to prove their strength, so as to truly establish social influence and credibility and support commercial value.
The demand for high-quality works in the development of idols provides opportunities for the expansion of the upstream of the entertainment industry chain, especially cultural creation. Taking the film and television drama industry with frequent "explosive" idols as an example, the scriptwriting and literary creation industries at the forefront of film and television drama production are still exploring systematic and effective creation and screening models. The current rapid development of online literature platform may be one of the breakthroughs to further explore the value creation mechanism of the upstream cultural creation industry of film and television dramas, and its existing rich author resources have attracted and accumulated a large number of readers and users, so that literary works with market potential can be screened from both demand and supply.
The increasingly frequent film and television signing transactions on literary platforms, and the popular film and television scripts such as the recent "You Are My Glory" that have been incubated on this basis, also prove the effectiveness of literary platforms as a market screening mechanism. In this process, literary platforms have the opportunity to more effectively structure the reward and intellectual property protection mechanisms of creators, and explore the commercial potential of the works themselves while connecting with the value of the downstream entertainment production ecological chain.
The idol economy also provides an opportunity for the systematic development of the most upstream art education industry. In higher education and vocational education, the cultivation of artistic creation talents is the fundamental way to ensure the supply of high-quality talents on the literary platform and the downstream cultural and entertainment ecological chain.
From the idol economy to the Internet celebrity economy, reshaping the industrial structure of the digital era.
The current rapid development of the Internet celebrity and Internet celebrity economy is the exploration and evolution of the idol economy to the direction of small and medium-sized enterprise products. The same starting point as idol endorsements, the emergence of Internet celebrity endorsements is also due to the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises hope that products will be "seen" and "trusted" in the fierce digital market.
The cost of influencer endorsement is relatively low, and the fan traffic generated by it can be directly converted into purchasing power, which is undoubtedly more attractive and operable for small and medium-sized enterprises. Unlike idols, the credibility of internet celebrities is mainly due to the strength and expertise of their vertical fields. As a result, the success and commercialization paths of influencers are also more diverse and innovative.
Some of the first generation of Internet celebrities screened and interpreted clothing on social networks, showing consumers a more complete information about clothing, and thus transforming it into traffic to Taobao stores; Li Ziqi used videos and artistic detailed interpretations of traditional cooking and handicraft skills to show the natural life that modern people yearn for. Internet celebrities cut from highly competitive segments, stand out with professional knowledge or strength skills, and attract the credibility and traffic established by fans from point to point, with a more solid foundation of strength.
To some extent, the development of the Internet celebrity economy has surpassed the idol economy in the traditional sense, and has deeply participated in and changed the market competition and product production mode under the digital economy. For example, Li Jiaqi, the head internet celebrity in the field of live broadcasting, relies on the professional knowledge accumulated in the past cosmetics sales and the market information accumulated by the perennial live broadcast interaction and the understanding of consumers, and is more deeply involved in product design and even manufacturing process.
Manufacturers and suppliers are also increasingly relying on the judgment and professional information of Internet celebrities to find resources, manufacture products that meet market demand and obtain sales channels. In this evolution, the role of Internet celebrities has gone beyond the simple endorsement of the idol economy, and even become a link and platform for coordinating product production, playing a more critical role in the central link of industrial organization.
In this trend, the Internet celebrity "idols" further transcend the concept of individuals, and use their credibility, strength and image to create a "personal IP" that is different from the concept of "IP" in traditional works. This new "IP" economy and a new industrial organization model with more "people-oriented" characteristics are also giving idols and Internet celebrities more economic significance and social responsibility.
Swipe to view
The creative images in this article have been authorized by Hero Gallery, if you need to reprint and use, please contact its authorization.
The source | 21st Century BusinessWeek
Edit the | Zhang Zixu
Who is your idol? Welcome to leave a message to interact with us. The 3 highest likes, we will send a copy of the CeIBS knowledge note "Future Answers"