Harry Potter and the Psychology of KPop Fans
In Harry Potter, people belong to one of two groups - Wizards (those who can perform magic) and Muggles (people who cannot perform magic). The need to belong to a group or tribe is not unique to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In fact, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ranks the need for belonging higher than self-fulfillment needs.
Whether conscious or subconscious, group affiliations impact our psychology and drive our consumer behavior to polar extremes—from love, all the way to hate.
This phenomenon is often on display in groups of fans. Korean pop (KPop) music fans, in particular, show an impressive array of tribal psychology. Hyperactive tribes, aka fandoms, are pushing KPop to new heights. In 2018, Kpop ranked 6th in the worldwide music market, up 17.9% from the year before.
In KPop, record sales belong to one of two groups - BTS (Beyond the Scene) and EXO. By the numbers, BTS is the most successful KPop artist, responsible for ~40% of all Kpop music sales. Not even Kanye dominates a genre like the seven-member-boy-band BTS.
To understand the volcanic rise of BTS and KPop, we must first understand the psychology of tribes.
Social Psychology and Ingroup Bias
Our human nature is to belong. The need to belong is why we live in groups, not masses. We are wired to socialize with groups of people, but not with all of the people. Tribalism, at its core, is a membership to a group.
Once we are a member of a group, we genuinely love the group, fellow group members, and all the group stands for. This is due to the hormone oxytocin, known in the pop-psych circles as the love hormone. If you LOVE In-n-Out Burger, that's oxytocin. If you are a die-hard Lakers fan, that's oxytocin.
Typical of memberships, there are members and non-members. When you love the Lakers, you are part of a group of Lakers fans, what neuroscientists would call the ingroup, the insiders. Conversely, when you don't love the Lakers, the same group of fans will see you as one of the outsiders, what neuroscientists call the outgroup.
In-groups view outgroups as a threat which creates an inverse relationship in behavior. The more you love something, the more you hate anything perceived as a threat to it. Ask a group of Laker fans what they think of the Celtics and watch the F-Bombs fly.
This brings to light one of the lesser-known features of oxytocin - it is equally responsible for the hate in-groups feel towards outgroups. Oxytocin is like a double-edged sword facilitating both ingroup solidarity and outgroup hostility. Forget love, oxytocin is the tribe hormone.
Like a coin, our sense of belonging has two sides. Flipping heads brings warmth and pleasure from belonging to an ingroup while flipping tails brings discontent and ill-will towards outgroups. Neuroscientists call this the ingroup bias.
Back to KPop and BTS
BTS's use of tribal psychology is unparalleled in pop music. It all begins with their tribe called ARMY, which stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth. The ARMY is not just any group of fans. They are perhaps the most active fandom in pop music today. Thanks to ARMY, BTS's Map of the Soul: Persona album sold 2.6 million pre-launch copies a full month before the album dropped.
Over time, BTS’s record company Big Hit created a specific logo just for the ARMY. Design elements behind the logo show the deep love ARMY has for BTS. The ARMY logo is based off the BTS logo, representing the artists' and the fans' connection. Both designs also represent a bulletproof shield which symbolizes protection for both BTS and ARMY as they move toward the future together.
Some variations of the logo use the color purple and the color itself is symbolic. It represents the trust and love between BTS and ARMY. So much so that the ARMY uses the phrase "I purple you" as a replacement for "I love you."
The ARMY also sings specific fan-chants during BTS concerts. The record company designs show for fan-chants by sharing specific fan-chants ahead of the performance. Every fan-chant includes each group member's names with specific times during the group's set allocated to singing along and echoing the lyrics.
The above is what happens when the oxytocin coin lands on heads. As MSNBC's Emmy Award-winning journalist Kendis Gibson learned, landing on tails is bad for your health. While reporting the news of BTS speaking at the UN, Kendis Gibson seemed unimpressed by BTS on air. What followed was an oxytocin-fueled ingroup bias storm.
ARMY organized on multiple digital platforms unleashed demands of a public apology. Letters were written to the TV network, signed pledges were posted on the journalists twitter, and hype videos were created on YouTube. For a period, searching for Kendis Gibson on popular digital platforms resulted in content created by the ARMY.
Gibson is not alone. Fandoms like the ARMY engage in fanwars with competing fandoms. One practice is buying out (typically front row) seats and not showing up for the concert which leaves the artist performing to an empty row of seats.
Fandoms also campaign against one another to around award show time across Asia (and now the US). One example is during the Melon Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards when EXO-Ls (fandom of EXO) conspired the "BREAK WINGS project" against BTS and ARMY to create a "black ocean." A black ocean is when a significant number of fans from other fandoms plan to turn off their light sticks and stop cheering, showing their lack of support while the artists are on-stage performing. Indeed, hell has no fury like the ARMY scorned.
Brands Don't Want Customers. They Want Fandoms.
As a consumer, how is KPop fandom talk relevant? It isn't just KPop record labels who build tribes. Your favorite brand does too.
If you think you are not susceptible to ingroup bias, ask yourself how you feel when your iPhone receives a text message from an Android? The green-bubble hostility is very real. iPhone users across Twitter confess to feeling hostile towards 'green bubbles.' Some even admit to not dating anyone with a green bubble. The ARMY's response towards Gibson's eye roll feels justified next to iPhone users who discriminate against the color of a text bubble.
The whole sports industry is built on the idea that each team has their own loyal fans. Whether it be college basketball or soccer teams, fans will cheer and stand by their home teams, while booing, hating, and sometimes fighting the opposing team.
Brands design for ingroup bias because they know it works. Apple vs. Samsung, Canon vs. Nikon, Playstation vs. Xbox, Coke vs. Pepsi, Mac vs. PC, the list goes on and on. If you find yourself feeling unreasonably angry or offended in response to a comment about a brand you love, well, that is your ingroup bias showing.
The ARMY represents something truly exceptional because every brand wishes to have what BTS has, a vehemently loyal group of customers. Brands spend billions on building their own communities with loyal residents who identify themselves as part of the group. It goes beyond simply buying a branded product. A repeated purchase is just brand loyalty; the holy grail of brand loyalty is brand defense.
Brands want to build their own army of customers to do more than buy; they want them to get triggered enough to defend. No wonder all students at Hogwarts are sorted into four different houses, JK Rowling knows you can't have loyalty (or drama) without tribes.
What’s Next?
References
Channel Korea. (2019). BTS Black Ocean on Melon Music Awards, What Actually Happened?
Gaon Chart. First Half of 2019, Top 100 Artists.
Greene, Joshua. Moral Tribes (p. 23). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
IFPI Global Music Report 2019
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.
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