Social Audience and Emotional Bonding in Marvel's Transmedia Phenomenon: An Exploration of Peruvian Digital Communities

Authors

  • Tomás Atarama-Rojas Universidad de Piura
  • Beatriz Feijoo Universidad Internacional de la Rioja

Keywords:

social audience, emotional bonding, participation, transmedia storytelling, Marvel

Abstract

This article explores how activities of Marvel’s Peruvian social audience expanded and increased the emotional bonding among its participants through the movie Avengers: Endgame, which contributed to this transmedia phenomenon’s success. The research involved a netnographic study of Peruvian Facebook and YouTube communities, analyzing 40 publications and the 2,000 most relevant comments. The results show that as the movie’s premiere drew closer, social audience activities became was key to expanding and intensifying emotional bonding toward the story’s narrative elements (characters, plots, and conflicts) and the general Marvel transmedia phenomenon.

Author Biographies

Tomás Atarama-Rojas, Universidad de Piura

Tomás Atarama-Rojas (PhD) is an associate professor of transmedia storytelling and digital communication at the School of Communication, University of Piura (Peru). His research has been focused on the relevance of audiences’ participation on social media from a transmedia storytelling strategy perspective. 

Beatriz Feijoo, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja

Beatriz Feijoo (PhD) is an associate professor of advertising and marketing at the School of Business and Communication, International University of La Rioja (Spain). Her research focuses on communication and children, the use of screens in new generations, and more recently on the relationship between minors and advertising through the mobile devices. She is also the principal investigator of funded research projects (Fondecyt N°11170336—Chile; I+D+i Project—Spain ref. PID2020‐116841RA‐ I00; PENSACRIGITAL‐UNIR) on communication, new media, childhood, and adolescence. 

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Published

2023-04-13

Issue

Vol. 17 (2023)

Section

Articles

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