Sociological factors affecting the consumption behaviour of die-hard Disney fans towards merchandise purchasing: A case study in Hong Kong Disneyland

This recent research investigated the rationalities and sociological factors of the consumption behaviours a group of die-hard Disney fans towards Merchandise purchasing. There is a huge number in group members of Hong Kong Disney fans created has an impressive 91,000 members in different age groups and genders as of April 2024 on Facebook group, "I really like Disney information sharing group"(Chinese: 我真係好鍾意迪士尼資訊分享群) (Facebook, n.d.). It is believed that there should be some sociological motivations and factors to drive their active and dedicate participation and consumption behaviour in purchasing and collecting Disney-authorized merchandise. Therefore, Disney dedicated fans will be the focus group of this study.

This study adopted qualitative research, conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 interviewees both online and face-to-face, in order to deeply explore their subjective and unique rationalities. The research reveals that the consumption behaviours of Hong Kong Disney dedicated fans are rational. In other words, it means that the Disney dedicated fans' decision-making process involves rationally based rational considerations. of rationalities in their decision-making process of merchandise purchasing. Finally, it was summarized and revealed that the sociological factors behind the consumption behaviour of Disney fans to purchase goods are related to individual family backgrounds, personal attitudes, and social relationships.