Creator Economy Thrives on Hidden Two-Way Dependency Between Stars and Fans
A new study reveals that content creators and their audiences are locked in a mutually dependent relationship—viewer engagement directly shapes creator success, which in turn influences what audiences see and experience. Understanding this dynamic is critical for platforms, brands, and creators seeking to build sustainable business models in the $100+ billion creator economy.
Originaltitel: Online content creators’ and viewers’ interdependent journeys
<p>The creator economy features a pertinent, growing role of content creators and -viewers, revealing this service sub-sector’s rising economic, and strategic, contribution. In parallel, though the customer/stakeholder journey concepts are gaining traction, little is known about the interdependence characterizing online content creators’ and viewers’ (users’) engagement through their respective role-related journeys, as, therefore, explored further in this article. Building on prior literature, we argue that the unfolding of a content viewer’s journey with a creator’s content is fueled by the former’s engagement in their content-related interactions, in turn also impacting the content creator’s journey. To explore these issues, we adopt interdependence theory’s core interactional tenets (i.e., perceived interaction outcomes [i.e., costs/rewards], comparison level, and comparison level for alternatives) and theorize regarding their respective effect on viewers’ journey-based content engagement. We posit that viewers’ engagement also impacts the content creator’s journey, as summarized in a set of Propositions. Overall, the Propositions illustrate how interdependence theory-informed interactional tenets affect content viewers’ and creators’ interdependent role-related journeys, offering novel insight.</p>