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Ms. Lingrui (Ling-Ling) Zhou
Ph.D. Candidate in Marketing
Fuqua School of Business
Duke University

With the current digital age and the rise of fan culture, consumers are privy to a wide variety of content from media figures (e.g., celebrities, content creators, athletes, influencers). We focus on investigating the effects of observing positive interactions between media figures on consumer perceptions. Using qualitative data, secondary field data, and experimental studies, we demonstrate that consumers enjoy viewing positive interactions between media figures and that viewing these interactions increase interest in and attitudes towards the focal media figure. This effect is driven by the mechanistic humanization of the media figure, such that these positive interactions allow the media figure to seem more human and relatable to the consumer, which then leads to other positive downstream consequences for the media figure.