This will be the landing page for a new series on celebrity fandom. Quick 1 page analyses of how fandom works for notable sports, entertainment, business, and political figures.
1. Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift Fandom: Who are the Swifties?
Taylor Swift fandom is one of the few remaining “Unifying” fandoms that appeal to the mass market. Incidentally, the NFL is probably the only sports fandom that qualifies for Unifying status. Taylor Swift has become an important part of American culture. Her tour has had a multi-billion dollar economic impact, her Swifties (fans) have demonstrated the power of community in their fight with Ticketmaster, and when she showed up at a football game, it became the biggest event of the weekend The Chiefs-Bears telecast was the highest-rated TV program of the week (with a 63% jump in female 18-49 viewers).
Taylor Swift is the biggest star in America, and she has a passionate, engaged fan base. She can move the economy, get millions to switch channels, and start TikTok trends in an instant. All this motivates the question - Who are the Swifties?
The insights and figures below are from the Next Generation Fandom Survey (2023 edition) conducted by the Emory Marketing Analytics Center. The survey collected data on sports and cultural fandom with a sample of 2468 Americans split across Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers.
Insights
Taylor Swift's fandom is strongest in younger generations and with the female segment. However, her fandom is broad and spans generations and genders. While Swift fandom peaks at 38% with Millennials, 22% of surveyed Baby Boomers indicate they are fans.
Taylor Swift fandom transcends gender. While her audiences are skewed female, 29% of male respondents consider themselves fans compared to 31% of female respondents.
Taylor Swift’s fandom is similar between political liberals (35%) and Conservatives (32%). Swift’s fandom lags with moderates (27%).
There is considerable overlap between Football and Taylor Swift fandom; 38% of football fans consider themselves Swift fans compared to only 21% of Football Apathetics.
The Full Report is below - Swift fandom by generation, gender, politics, and religion.
2. Elon Musk
Insights
Musk Fandom and Anti-Fandom are complex. Musk’s appeal varies across generations and traditional values. Musk’s appeal is concentrated with the most culturally engaged groups (Millennials, Conservative, Religious, and Sports Fans).
Musk’s fandom is best described as highly educated, younger traditionalists.
Musk has his greatest appeal amongst Millennials.
Musk has more Anti-Fans or Haters among Gen Z, Gen X, and the Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are the most negative generation.
Musk’s fandom is politically skewed. Musk enjoys a positive 14-point gap (Fans – Haters) with Conservatives but a negative 38% point gap with Liberals.
Musk scores better with more religious people. In the Non-religious segment, Musk has limited fandom (only 14%).
Musk has a slight positive gap with Football Fans (32% to 29%). Musk has a minus 27% fandom score among Non-Football Fans.
Musk also scores plus 20% with fans of elite universities (figure not shown).
The Musk Quick Look