, 1
13766 
19767Wanghong is a new-style celebrity and Wanghong economy is a new e-business model with the development of network. As Wanghong and Wanghong economy both are new phenomena of internet marketing and e-commerce with Chinese characteristics, academic research is still in an initial stage lagging behind the development of practice. Based on the celebrity theory and a literature review, this study initially defines the phenomenon of Wanghong and Wanghong economy theoretically, analyzes the influence factors of Wanghong and Wanghong economy, and explores their economic and social essence. Wanghong has evolved into the third generation with the development of internet technology from the late 20 century and the early 21 century. Compared to the first and second generation of Wanghong, the third generation has become a new form of internet economy which has diversified abilities of liquidity and huge commercial opportunities. Wanghong economy has developed a new type of e-commerce model, and potentially exerts influences on the ecological chain of entertainment industry, culture industry, manufacturing industry and so on. Wanghong is a new type of celebrity driven by a combination of technology, society and individual factors. Among these factors, the rapid development of technology is the technical support, the expansion of public space provides the path of realization, and the rise of neoliberalism works as their motivation. Wanghong, as a typical style of new celebrity, has widened the extension and the connotation of the celebrity theory and also promoted its development in modern society. From the perspective of sociology, Wanghong essentially is an organic and changing practice of presentation, while it is not a personal interior character or external tag. Wanghong, like a spectacle, has been practiced by more and more people: taking spectators as their fans, well keeping popularity by fans management, considerately constructing their image by self-presentation so as to be consumed by the public. With the increasingly mature of Wanghong production models, Wanghong would finally arrive at the same stage of the traditional celebrity, which is claimed to be changed. The celebrity has become a reasonable expectation of daily life from the original elite and magic status. From the view point of economic natural of Wanghong and Wanghong economy, Wanghong is the product of media and entertainment industry, and also keeps close touch with commodity consumption in the postmodern society. As merchandise, profit is the main pursuing goal of Wanghong. They gain payment of labor as a cultural worker and bonus as a financial asset. As a promotional tool, Wanghong, like the traditional celebrity, is usually shaped to be a perfect type of consuming behavior and consumption by media. On the one hand, media texts depict the celebrity’s consumption to strong spectacles and extravagance; on the other hand, they deliberately use some details of consuming behavior to construct a similar scene of the celebrity’s daily life as the ordinary. Wanghong could use the internet media themselves to perform the " spectacle” and " similarity” of consumption, and even obtain a better promotional effectiveness than the traditional celebrity. In future research, these following topics could be focused on: Firstly, the celebrity theory could be further studied and enriched based on the Wanghong phenomenon. Secondly, the personal branding and marketing mechanisms of Wanghong are worth studying. Thirdly, Wanghong economy needs to be studied from the theoretical and practical view point. Finally, some legal problems of Wanghong and Wanghong economy management should also be considered.
/ Journals / Foreign Economics & Management
Foreign Economics & Management
LiZengquan, Editor-in-Chief
ZhengChunrong, Vice Executive Editor-in-Chief
YinHuifang HeXiaogang LiuJianguo, Vice Editor-in-Chief
Wanghong and Wanghong Economy: A Review Based on the Celebrity Theory
Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 41, Issue 04, pp. 18 - 30 (2019) DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.2019.04.002
Summary
References
Summary
[1] Cai Qi. Funs economy model in age of social network [J]. China Youth Study, 2015(11)：5-11.
[2] Cai Xiaolu. “Wanghong” and new culture industry: three questions about “Wanghong Economy” [J]. Arts Criticism, 2016(7):10-18.
[3] Cao Lin, Sun Yueyao. Brand economic analysis of celebrity endorsement [J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Business Studies, 2011, 26(1):45-50.
[4] Ding Yu. “Business Ideal” of Wanghong E-business [J]. Shanghai Informatization, 2016(2):72-75.
[5] Hai Nabaichuan. Wanghong E-business: Blooming [J]. Finance & Economy, 2016(7),58-59.
[6] Li Wenming, Lv Fuyu. Developing Tendency and Countermeasures of Fans Economy [J]. Journal of Fujian Normal University (Social Science Edition) , 2014(6)：136-147.
[7] Li Yuan. Wanghong economics [J]. China Entrepreneur, 2016（6）：30-38.
[8] Liu Wei, Wang Xinxin. A explore and analysis on custom behavior, community culture and psychological feature of supernormal consumer for funs [J]. Foreign Economic and Management, 2011(7):41-48.
[9] Liu Yingtuan. “Wanghong” is transient, but Wanghong economy is normalcy [J]. Property Right Guide, 2017(3):7-10.
[10] PricewaterhouseCoopers. China's entertainment and media industry outlook (2016-2020) [Z]. 2016.
[11] Sun Shu. From grassroots to star: Wanghong economy risen [Z]. 2016.
[12] Xu Jingya, Xuan Yuner, Zhu Xiaohua. A report of big data about Wanghong E-business in 2016 [Z]. 2016.
[13] Yang Lin. A study on funs culture in view of western consumption theory [J]. Yangtze River Academic, 2011(1): 29-38.
[14] Yang Qingguo, Chen Jingliang. A Study on interactive mode between image communication and symbol of Wanghong [J]. China Youth Study, 2012(7):91-94.
[15] Joshua Meyrowitz . No sense of place: The impact of electronic media on social behavior [M]. New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.
[16] Zhang Lei. Celebrity economy risk and negative effect [J]. Enterprise Economy, 2002(2):30-31.
[17] Zhao Ru, Zhang Nan. Reading Wanghong: gether funs and cash the flow [J]. Journal of News Research. 2016, 7(21):21-22.
[18] Zhen Wencong. The feature of “Wanghong 3.0” age and audience psychology [J]. New Media Research, 2016, 2(6):14-15.
[19] CNNIC. 38th statistical report of internet development in China [R]. Beijing: China Internet Network Informational Center, 2016.
[20] Horkheimer M, Adorno T W. Dialectic of enlightenment[M]. California: Stanford University Press, 2002.
[21] Alberoni F. The powerless “elite”: Theory and sociological research on the phenomenon of the stars[A]. McQuail D. Sociology of mass communications[M]. Hammondsworth: Penguin Press, 1972.
[22] Beverland M B, Farrelly F J. The quest for authenticity in consumption: Consumers’ purposive choice of authentic cues to shape experienced outcomes[J]. Journal of Consumer Research, 2010, 36(5): 838-856.
[23] Boorstin D. The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America[M]. New York: Vintage Books, 1992.
[24] Campbell C. The craft consumer: Culture, craft and consumption in a postmodern society[J]. Journal of Consumer Culture, 2005, 5(1): 23-42.
[25] Cashmore E, Parker A. One David Beckham? Celebrity, masculinity, and the Soccerati[J]. Sociology of Sport Journal, 2003, 20(20): 214-231.
[26] Collins S. Traversing authenticities: The west wing president and the activist sheen[A]. Riegert K. Politicotainment: Television’s take on the real[M]. New York: Palgrave Press, 2007.
[27] Davis R, McGinnis L P. Conceptualizing excessive fan consumption behavior[J]. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2016, 28: 252-262.
[28] Driessens O. Boekbespreking de celebritysupermarkt (Hilde Van den Bulck & Sil Tambuyzer, 2008) [Book review][J]. Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, 2010, (4): 380-381.
[29] Dyer R. Heavenly bodies: Film stars and society [M]. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge Press, 2003.
[30] Gabler N. Life the movie: How entertainment conquered reality[M]. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.
[31] Gamson J. Claims to fame: Celebrity in contemporary America[M]. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
[32] Gamson J. The unwatched life is not worth living: The elevation of the ordinary in celebrity culture[J]. Publications of the Modern Language, 2011, 126(4): 1061-1069.
[33] Goffman E. The presentation of self in everyday life[M]. New York: Anchor Books, 1959.
[34] Holbrook M B. The millennial consumer in the texts of our times: Exhibitionism[J]. Journal of Macromarketing, 2001, 21(1): 81-95.
[35] Holt D B. Does cultural capital structure American consumption?[J].
Journal of Consumer Research, 1998, 25(1): 1-25.
[36] Jenkins H. Fans, gamers, and bloggers: Exploring participatory culture[M]. New York: New York University Press, 2006.
[37] Jenkins H. Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide[M]. New York: New York University Press, 2006.
[38] Jones D S. Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the birth of neoliberal politics[M]. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.
[39] Khamis S, Ang L, Welling R. Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of social media influencers[J]. Celebrity Studies, 2017, 8(2): 191-208.
[40] Marshall P D. The promotion and presentation of the self: Celebrity as marker of presentational media[J]. Celebrity Studies, 2010, 1(1): 35-48.
[41] Marwick A, Boyd D. To see and be seen: Celebrity practice on twitter[J]. Convergence, 2011, 17(2): 139-158.
[42] Marwick A E. “They’re really profound women, they’re entrepreneurs”: Conceptions of authenticity in fashion blogging[A]. Proceedings of the 7th International AIII Conference on Weblogs and Social Media[C]. Cambridge, MA: ICWSM, 2013.
[43] Membery D. Famous for 15 minutes: An investigation into the causes and effects of the tropical storm that struck southern Arabia in June 1996[J]. Weather, 1998, 53(4): 102-110.
[44] Pine II J B, Gilmor J H. Welcome to experience economy[J]. Harvard Business Review, 1998, 76(4): 97-105.
[45] Rojek C. Celebrity[M]. London: Reaktion Books, 2001.
[46] Rose R L, Wood S L. Paradox and the consumption of authenticity through reality television[J]. Journal of Consumer Research, 2005, 32(2): 284-296.
[47] Schickel R. Common fame: The culture of celebrity[M]. Brighton: Pavilion, 1985.
[48] Senft T M. Camgirls: Celebrity and community in the age of social networks[M]. New York: Peter Lang Press, 2008.
[49] Turner G. Understanding celebrity[M]. California: SAGE, 2014.
[50] Yoshimoto M. Fanning the flames: Fans and consumer culture in contemporary Japan by William W. Kelly[J]. Pacific Affairs, 2005, 78(1): 141-142.
Cite this article
Sun jing, Wang Xinxin. Wanghong and Wanghong Economy: A Review Based on the Celebrity Theory[J]. Foreign Economics & Management, 2019, 41(4): 18-30.
Export Citations as:
For
ISSUE COVER
RELATED ARTICLES
