Comfort, camaraderie, conflict, contamination: examining identity and boundary work in fan experiences during troubling times

During troubling times, consumers may turn to their favourite fandom to help them through, and we posit that there are overlooked aspects of fandom that hold value during troubling times. Using the context of 2020 and the release of the Harry Potter at Home initiative, we explore how fans experience fandom during troubling times. We find that fans may experience their fandom as: (1) comfort, (2) camaraderie, (3) conflict, or (4) contamination. We extend marketing theory by (1) reconceptualising fandom as an inherently imaginative phenomenon, (2) identifying fandom as providing stability and creating instability in troubling times, (3) explaining how identity and boundary work helps fans navigate troubling times, and (4) providing a framework for how the same fandom can be both stabilising and destabilising, depending on whether trouble is internal or external to it.