Fans as Prosumers: Labour of Love

Maud Derbaix, Michaël Korchia, Matis Padiou

Maud Derbaix is Associate Professor of Marketing at KEDGE Business School, France, and Head of the Expertise Centre Creative Industries and Culture. Her research interests have focused on consumer behaviour within the context of arts and cultural activities, including live performances, music, and heritage.
Michaël Korchia is Senior Professor of Marketing at KEDGE Business School, France. He has published articles in several international journals. His main interests are consumer behaviour and its relationship with brands (in areas as varied as sales and music). He is also a photographer and musician.
Matis Padiou is a graduate of KEDGE Business School, France. He has been working in social media for some years in several companies (Sony Music, Skyrock, KR Wavemaker). As a fan of Rihanna and a content creator on social networks, his research has focused on fan behaviour within online communities in the popular music field.

ABSTRACT
It has been recognized both in academic circles and in fans’ communities that fans can be considered as prosumers. However, little is known about how fans perceive their own contribution or how they reconcile certain tensions between a sense of exploitation by the industry and the affirmation of their passion. The aim of this research is twofold: to better understand (1) whether there is a relationship between the fans’ passion/ worship and their engagement in terms of time spent creating content and variety of creations, and (2) to what extent these relationships may be modified depending on the fans’ perception of their work (‘labour’ vs. leisure). A conceptual model testing these relationships in the context of the music industry with a PLS-SEM analysis allowed us to explore them and gain a better understanding. The most relevant result that emerges from our study is that fans perceive themselves as prosumers/co-creators of value for their idol and the music industry. Also, fans do not perceive exploitation of their work by the entertainment industry: fans value the dissemination of their creations to other fans and the building of relationships with others in their online and offline communities more than any other reward.

KEYWORDS
Fandom, Passion, Worship, Creations, Time Invested, Fandom as Labour/Leisure