A Study on the Effects of Viewing Motivations of the BL(Boy’s Love) dramas on the satisfaction and the purchasing intention of the spin-off products - focused on Chinese female viewers

BL(Boy’s Love) content is gaining popularity worldwide, especially on the web. In particular, the growth of BL web dramas is notable, and the largest viewing group of BL web dramas is Chinese females. This study derived motivation for watching BL web dramas through a survey targeting Chinese women, and empirically analyzed the relationships among viewing motivation, viewing satisfaction, and consumption intention of BL web drama derivative products. Results identified the motivations for watching BL web dramas as; ‘preference for BL culture’, ‘sexual interest’, ‘empathetic choice’, ‘escapism’, ‘pursuit of beautiful love’, ‘awareness of gender equality’, ‘topic’, ‘performer preference’ and ‘BL CP preference’. Among these, ‘'escapism’, ‘pursuit of beautiful love’, ‘preference for performers’, and ‘preference for BL CP’ were found to significantly influence viewing satisfaction, while ‘sexual interest’, ‘pursuit of beautiful love’, and ‘preference for BL CP’ were shown to impact the intention to purchase spin-off products. In addition, viewing satisfaction was found to mediate viewing motivation and derivative product consumption intention. The results of this study are expected to increase understanding of women's motivations for watching BL web dramas and contribute to establishing production strategies and improving profits for future BL web dramas.