Journal of communication and innovation NIDA

The Communication of Sacred Beliefs as Pop Culture on Social Media among Gay and Transgender Women Spiritual Service Providers

Kangwan Fongkaew, Yingyord Manchuvisith — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This qualitative study explored the communication of sacred beliefs as pop culture among gays and transgender women spiritual service providers.

Nine participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Data collection included in-depth interviews, as well as textual analysis and content analysis of social media platforms used by participants and their followers’ feedback. John Fiske’s concept of popular culture guided the study.

The results indicated that participants’ identity of gay or transgender woman positively contributed to their ability to connect and build rapport with their followers. In the process of communicating sacred beliefs as pop culture, participants analyzed the followers’ basic information and their needs through social media tools. The communication of sacred beliefs manifested in two dimensions: the meaning dimension and practice dimension. The study also revealed that the numerous followers further innovate on these sacred beliefs, incorporating them into fashion, hereby enhancing the sacred belief in terms of spiritual and marketing dimensions. The enduring relevance of these sacred beliefs in the modern society is anticipated.

The “Butterbear” Phenomenon: Exploring Brand Character Development and PSI-PSR

Pajaree Pulintawaragoon — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This study explored the “Butterbear” phenomenon on social media platforms with the objective of examining character brand building strategies and investigating the parasocial interactions (PSI) and parasocial relationships (PSR) that consumers developed toward “Butterbear.”

This qualitative research employed content analysis of social media content through purposive sampling, which consisted of 1) official “Butterbear” brand communications disseminated through mass media and the brand's social media accounts, and 2) data reflecting PSI and PSR within “Butterbear” fan communities on social media platforms.

The findings revealed that “Butterbear's” character brand construction relied on value co-creation between the brand and consumers, facilitated through consumers' PSI with “Butterbear”. This process was significantly strengthened by a robust familial form of PSR. These findings not only explained the success of the “Butterbear” phenomenon through the theoretical lens of PSI and PSR, but also provided valuable insights for character brand design and demonstrated a successful approach to utilizing social media platforms for value co-creation.

CO-BRANDING MARKETING STRATEGY AFFECTING PURCHASE INTENTION OF DIGITAL HEALTH PRODUCT

Warapon Dansiri — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This research investigates co-branding strategies that influence consumer purchase intentions toward digital health products among consumers in Chonburi Province. The study aims to examine factors relevant to co-branding strategy development, including brand congruence, brand personality similarity, and brand familiarity, which contribute to co-brand fit in the digital health product category and subsequently lead to consumer purchase intentions.

This research employed a quantitative methodology, utilizing a random sample of 424 consumers who completed online questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis.

The findings revealed that brand image congruence, brand personality similarity, and brand familiarity significantly influenced co-brand fit, which in turn had a significant positive effect on consumer purchase intentions. Furthermore, co-brand fit was found to mediate the relationships between brand image congruence, brand personality similarity, and brand familiarity with purchase intentions for digital health products. Therefore, practitioners should design marketing activities that appropriately connect collaborating brands to create positive brand image, ensure consistency with brand and consumer personalities, and foster consumer familiarity with all partnering brands, ultimately leading to purchase decisions. These findings provide digital health product brands with guidance for developing strategies to select appropriate business partners that align with their own brand, thereby strengthening brand equity.