Caught in the Craze: Understanding Consumer Engagement in the Labubu Phenomenon - A Quantitative Social Media Study Examining how Emotions, Sentiment, and Discussion Topics are Associated with Online Consumer Engagement

Sammanfattning

Rapidly evolving digital trends have today become increasingly embedded in contemporary consumer culture. However, research has yet to fully explain which factors are associated with consumer engagement within highly viral digital trend environments. This paper extends the understanding of digital consumer behavior by investigating how discussion topics, sentiment patterns, and emotional expressions relate to consumer engagement in the Labubu phenomenon. Using Reddit as a data source, the study analyzes user-generated social media discussions through a quantitative text analysis approach combining topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and emotion detection. The results show that specific discussion topics and emotions are associated with higher levels of consumer engagement, while sentiment and emotional expressions also relate differently to engagement depending on the discussion context. We discuss several theoretical and managerial implications of these findings and contribute to a deeper understanding of consumer engagement in fast-moving digital trend environments.