The Relationship Between Self Control and Celebrity Worship in Shaping Digital Consumption Behavior within the K-Pop Fandom Ecosystem

Masha Oktaviani; Nurul Khasanah; Kamalia Kamalia; Rully Afrita Harlianty

doi:10.34306/ajri.v8i2.1580

Authors

Masha Oktaviani Universitas Esa Unggul https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9920-8154
Nurul Khasanah Universitas Esa Unggul https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9736-3278
Kamalia Kamalia Universitas Esa Unggul https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5061-2379
Rully Afrita Harlianty Universitas Esa Unggul https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0268-9329

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34306/ajri.v8i2.1580

Keywords:

Self Control, Celebrity Worship, K-Pop Fandom, Digital Consumption, Fandom Behavior

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital fandom has transformed K-Pop consumption into an increasingly interactive and consumption oriented activity, where social media engagement, merchandise purchases, streaming, voting, and fan events shape digital consumption behavior. This study examines the relationship between self control and celebrity worship among early adult K-Pop fans within the digital fandom ecosystem in Jabodetabek, Indonesia. A quantitative correlational design was employed using purposive sampling involving 385 early adult K-Pop fans aged 18–40 years. Data were collected through Likert-scale questionnaires measuring self control and celebrity worship and analyzed using self control. The self control instrument demonstrated good reliability with Cronbach’s α of 0.902 based on 20 valid items, while the celebrity worship instrument achieved a Cronbach’s α of 0.865 based on 16 valid items. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between self control and celebrity worship (p = 0.002; r = 0.155), indicating a weak positive association. The findings also showed that 81.8% of respondents had high celebrity worship and 54.5% demonstrated high self control, with entertainment-social representing the strongest related dimension. These findings indicate that self control does not necessarily reduce fandom engagement but may support more structured participation in digital consumption activities. The study concludes that understanding self control within digital fandom is important for promoting responsible consumption and maintaining balanced engagement with K-Pop content, merchandise, and online fan activities.

Article metrics

44 Views

28 Downloads

All recorded visits and downloads

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] G. A. D. T. Dewinta et al., “Celebrity worship among k-pop fans,” in PROCEEDING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PSYCHOLOGY, 2024, pp. 440–449.

[2] A. Hizwaty, “Influence of k-pop on the behavior of indonesian fans towards the korean basketball league,” 2024.

[3] S. A. Sibagariang, N. Septiani, and A. Rodriguez, “Enhancing educational management through social media and e-commerce-driven branding,” International Journal of Cyber and IT Service Management (IJCITSM), vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 235–245, 2025.

[4] W. H. Sari and D. H. Wibowo, “Enhancing self-control: Counseling strategies to mitigate consumptive behavior in k-pop fans,” Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Terapan, vol. 8, no. 02, 2024.

[5] A. I. Hanifah et al., “The influence of fanaticism and financial literacy on consumptive behavior with self-control as a moderating variable: a study on k-pop fans in salatiga,” Journal of Islamic Economics Management and Business (JIEMB), vol. 7, no. 1, 2025.

[6] T. S. Agustina, A. T. Genc¸, and A. Prasetyo, “Spiritual capital innovative work behavior and subjective well being of startup founders,” Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 365– 376, 2026.

[7] T. Thalib, S. S. Gismin et al., “Self-control and multitasking digital media: Study of k-pop fans in makassar,” Digital Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 105–112, 2024.

[8] R. A. Setiani et al., “From consumption to creation: the empowerment of millennial k-pop fangirls in building business ventures,” Eduvest-Journal of Universal Studies, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 3016–3031, 2025.

[9] U. Rahardja, M. T. D. S. Putri, D. Cahyono, A. Adiwijaya, and R. F. Terizla, “Lifecycle based legal governance of algorithmic decision making in digital business platforms,” Legal Autonomous Web-based Governance (LAW), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 169–180, 2026.

[10] D. P. Y. A. L. Sandopart, “Between illusion and loyalty: Deconstructing parasocial relationships in celebrity endorsement on fan loyalty using a grounded theory approach,” Jurnal Ekonomi, Manajemen, dan Bisnis, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 73–87, 2026.

[11] D. Hu, S. Zhang, C. W. Chen, and R. Chen, “An analysis of the dual-pathway driving mechanism of worship behavior of virtual idol fans from the perspective of embodied intelligence: Evidence from chinese online social platforms,” International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, pp. 1–33, 2026.

[12] D. Manongga, I. Kovac, and M. Muhtarom, “Cyberpreneurial mindset as a driver of digital startup success in emerging digital economies,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 67– 77, 2026.

[13] M. A. Asyraaf Roslan, N. A. Nasharuddin, and M. A. Azmi Murad, “The social media effect: How k-pop fans are driven by social influence and community norms,” Journal of Media and Information Warfare (JMIW), vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 83–92, 2024.

[14] H.-j. Choi, “Do k-pop consumers’ fandom activities affect their happiness, listening intention, and loyalty?” Behavioral sciences, vol. 14, no. 12, p. 1136, 2024.

[15] R. Widayanti, H. Zainarthur, M. Abbas et al., “Optimizing inclusion and accessibility in digital education with adaptive learning,” Jurnal MENTARI: Manajemen, Pendidikan Dan Teknologi Informasi, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 152–164, 2026.

[16] J.-S. Park and W. Srisuwan, “Influence of k-pop fandom dynamics on digital marketing strategies for consumer electronics in southeast asia,” in ICCMETS Conference Proceedings 2025 Conference Committee, 2025, p. 148.

[17] S. Kong-Perring, “We call them idol: Globalization, transculturality, and appropriation in global k-pop fan performance,” Ph.D. dissertation, Birmingham City University, 2026.

[18] S. Saibaba, “Profiling critical thinking and ai attitudes in management education using a factor-cluster approach for the digital business era,” Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 493–507, 2026.

[19] H. Lee and J. Parc, “Too much love will kill everything: K-pop fandom’s shift from prosumer to market distorter,” Kritika Kultura, vol. 1, no. 49, p. 14, 2026.

[20] E. M. Sun, ““just pop, hold the k”: Global fandom, cultural identity, and the politics of k-pop,” Master’s thesis, Georgetown University, 2025.

[21] L. Meria, M. S. Gunawan, S. Solahudin, U. Rahardja, and A. Patel, “Enhancing digital business students competence through ui/ux design training for digital product development,” ADI Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 133–144, 2026.

[22] F. Sever and V. S. B. Rojas, “Evolution of south korea’s cultural phenomenon and its influence on consumer behavior outside of korea,” Nexus: Society and Science, p. 14.

[23] Y. Lee and S. Park, “Classifying and characterizing fandom activities: A focus on superfans’ posting and commenting behaviors in a digital fandom community,” Applied Sciences, vol. 15, no. 9, p. 4723, 2025.

[24] R. A. Sunarjo, T. Handra, R. N. Muti, and K. A. Al-Farouqi, “Artificial intelligence driven audience sentiment analytics for interactive digital broadcasting platforms,” Bridging of Emerging AI and Media Broadcasting (BEAM), vol. 1, no. 1 November, pp. 25–36, 2025.

[25] A. H. Nurani and A. Widanti, “Scarcity, fomo, and impulse buying among nct merchandise consumers,” Manajemen dan Bisnis, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 118–132, 2026.

[26] G. Bollmer and B. Tillerson, “Platform fandom: Weverse and the technological domestication of fan community,” Social Media+ Society, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 20563051251326689, 2025.

[27] E. Erika, R. T. H. Safariningsih, D. Cahyono, and N. Rangi, “Strategic integration of cloud cybersecurity for resilient digital business transformation,” ADI Journal on Recent Innovation (AJRI), vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 112–124, 2025.

[28] A. C. Wijaya, Y. Yuniawati, and O. Ridwanudin, “Digital exposure and regret: The mediating role of fomo in post-event consumer behavior,” Journal of Entrepreneurship & Business, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 170–191, 2026.

[29] D. Novitasari, F. S. Goestjahjanti, U. Rahardja, S. Santoso, S. V. Sihotang, N. A. Santoso, and G. P. Cesna, “Optimizing msme performance through marketing capabilities and digital marketing adoption,” in 2025 4th International Conference on Creative Communication and Innovative Technology (ICCIT). IEEE, 2025, pp. 1–7.

[30] L. Forner, S. Lutz, X. Zheng, and J.-P. Stein, “The dark side of fandom: Exploring the association between parasocial relationships with celebrities and aggression,” Media Psychology, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1009– 1033, 2026

[31] X. Wang and N. Keddo, “Livestreamed intimacies: Parasocial production and labour in the k-pop industry,” Convergence, p. 13548565261480985, 2026.

[32] O. Jayanagara and A. Patricia, “Analyzing healthpreneur determinants for low socioeconomic ethnic families,” Aptisi Transactions on Technopreneurship (ATT), vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 738–750, 2025.

[33] J. Liu, “Virtual presence, real connections: Exploring the role of parasocial relationships in virtual idol fan community participation,” Global media and China, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 490–511, 2025.

[34] T. N. Utami, S. Pandita, A. B. Putri, and U. Subroto, “The relationship between self-control and celebrity worship among generation z k-pop fans,” YASIN: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Sosial Budaya, vol. 6, no. 5, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://garuda.kemdiktisaintek.go.id/documents/detail/6569305

[35] R. Y. X. Wu and T. Meng, “Simulating fan discourse shifts: A thematic coding and regression model of k-pop communities under china’s korean wave ban (2016–2017),” Convergence, p. 13548565251394541, 2025.

[36] M. Cho, “Anonymous, qanon, tik-tok teens, k-pop fans,” NECSUS European Journal of Media Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 169–193, 2022.

[37] A. Paul, “The dual edge of digital belonging: Community, connection, and the risk of isolation,” International Journal of Psychology Sciences, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 359–371, 2025.

[38] A. Uzair, F. Yazar, and N. Muthahari, “Mainstreaming indonesia islam navigating culture and media in a complex society,” 2024.

[39] M. A. A. Roslan, M. A. A. Murad, and N. A. Nasharuddin, “Hedonic motivation and k-pop fandom: A qualitative observation and analysis of social media use,” Journal of Techno-Social, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 48–57, 2024.