아이돌 협업이 애니메이션 향유층 확대에 미치는 영향 윈터와 ˂사랑의 하츄핑˃ 사례를 중심으로

초록

This study examines the impact of collaboration between idols and animation on expanding the audience base for animated content, focusing on the case of Winter, a member of the K-pop idol girl group aespa and her collaboration on the original soundtrack(OST) of the animated film <Heartsping: Teenieping of Love>. <Heartsping: Teenieping of Love> is an animated film from the <Catch! Teenieping> series, which originally targeted young children. However, Winter’s participation in the OST contributed to a broader audience reach, extending to teenagers and adults, and increasing related content consumption. This study particularly aims to explore how the fandom power and recognition of K-pop idols influence audience expansion for animation. Accordingly, it examines how idol collaborations contribute to broadening the age range of the audience and stimulating content consumption. To investigate this, a survey was conducted to measure awareness of the collaboration, recognition of the content, audience interest across different age groups, and consumption patterns. Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) was employed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of idol collaborations on audience expansion and content engagement, with content recognition as a mediating factor. The findings reveal that Winter’s OST collaboration significantly enhanced recognition of <Heartsping: Teenieping of Love> and contributed to attracting new viewers, including teenagers and adults, leading to increased content consumption. The study also examines whether the impact of collaboration varies by age group and quantitatively evaluates its role in audience expansion. These research findings suggest that collaborations between idols and animation can serve as a crucial strategic tool for expanding audience demographics and promoting content consumption.

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