Brand Virtual Idol Marketing From The Perspective Of Emotional Interaction ——"2233 Girls" As An Example

With the maturity and popularity of virtual idols and related technologies and industries,more and more brands are willing to create and develop their brand virtual idols on the basis of traditional brand personification image to attract the attention of "Z Generation" consumers.Based on this brand-new marketing phenomenon and guided by the theory of symbolic interaction,three levels of emotion,fan culture and brand marketing,this dissertation takes the Bilibili brand virtual idol “2233 Girls” as an example to explore the construction of brand virtual idols and interactive marketing model and its impact on the relationship between consumers and brands,with the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods,including context analysis,participatory observation and depth interview.Bilibli’s motivation for the development of brand virtual idols originates from the maturity of relevant technologies,the resonance between "two-dimensional" subculture and "fan culture" and the need of Bilibili’s own brand development.“2233 Girls” has been deliberately endowed with idol like physical and personality characteristics from the internal and external dimensions,and thus to become a subculture idol symbol belonging to the brand alone.The spread of brand virtual idols mainly relies on the emotional interaction with consumers.”2233 Girls” meets the triple mental needs of consumers by showing perfect appearance,implementing intimate interaction and maintaining long-term company,so as to form an emotional close relationship with consumers.Under this interactive marketing,fan groups starts to form and gradually grow.Virtual idols with empty essence are more likely to trigger consumers’ emotional projection and form a "parasocial relationship" with consumers similar to fans and stars.Consumers who become fans will establish a cross dimensional idolatry relationship with brand virtual idols and produce a series of "back feeding" behaviors.So far,with brand virtual idols as the media,a brand-new relationship between brand consumers has emerged.Consumers as fans have become partners in the co creation of brand value of Bilibili and contribute their own strength to the spread of brand and asset appreciation free of charge.