Celebrity brand break-up : Fan experiences of para-loveshock

Jones, Scott and Cronin, James and Piacentini, Maria (2022) Celebrity brand break-up : Fan experiences of para-loveshock. Journal of Business Research, 145. pp. 720-731. ISSN 0148-2963

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Abstract

When consumers become fans of celebrities, they can form intense emotional attachments that resemble a kind of love. Although the love felt for celebrities is based on one-sided parasocial relationships, fans nevertheless experience a trauma that they consider to be very real when these illusory relationships end. We explore how fans manage and perform their break-up with a beloved celebrity brand following public allegations of wrongdoing. Building on Giddens’ theorization of loveshock – which encapsulates the disorienting after-effects of falling out of love – we propose the new concept of para-loveshock. Para-loveshock is performed socially and discursively through three fan practices: grief enfranchisement; flagellation; and indignation. Recognizing how fans perform and legitimize their trauma through these practices helps to sensitize managers to the importance of consumer identity work following celebrity transgressions. This has implications for how damage control efforts are planned and how managers engage with fans when responding to celebrity transgression.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Business Research
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journl of Business Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Business Research, 145, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.039
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1406
Subjects:
?? celebrity brandfandomgiddensloveshockparasocial relationshipstransgressionmarketing ??
ID Code:
167948
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
24 Mar 2022 12:00
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
08 Aug 2024 00:51