**1. Introduction**

This study aims to contribute to the development of value co-creation between firms and their customers. Specifically, the study will focus not only on the advantages of the company but also on the advantages of the customer and will have implications for maximizing the customer's happiness. These days, while algorithms are being used to drive purchases, there are also active attempts by firms to engage customers and build brand experience together [1, 2]. This study takes the latter position and focuses on customer-brand engagement (CBE). This study will focus on highly engaged customers and investigate the benefits that CBE brings to them and present "the other side of CBE." There have been various studies that have addressed the benefits that CBE can bring to firms [2, 3]. On the other hand, Aoki and Ishizuka [4] focused on customers' benefits and suggested that CBE contributes to improved customer well-being with qualitative data for specific brands. This study tests their statement using quantitative data for a wide range of genres.

### **1.1 Customer-brand engagement**

CBE has been viewed as a precursor to brand loyalty [5, 6]. Brand loyalty includes attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty [7, 8]. While behavioral loyalty increases corporate management metrics such as market share [7, 9–11], attitudinal loyalty refers to a customer's emotional attachment toward a brand [8, 12]. This study focuses on attitudinal loyalty and examines how it influences on customers.

CBE was defined as: "The level of a customer's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral investment in specific brand interactions" [13]. These inherent qualities remain the same in online CBE studies [14, 15]. This study follows Hollebeek's definition of CBE [13] and focuses on highly engaged customers.

### **1.2 Fandom as a phenomenon of high engagement**

In this study, the phenomenon of "fandom" is discussed in relation to CBE. Fandom is a general popular culture, including pop music, romance novels, comics, Hollywood mass-appeal stars, and so on, that has been reshaped by a specific group of people with a passion for it [16]. Pearson [17] points out that digital development has blurred the boundaries between firms and individual fans and is giving rise to new forms of cultural production. The ambiguity of the boundary between firm and customer has been noted in customer engagement studies, for example, Jaakkola and Alexander [18] point out that customer engagement behaviors contribute to value co-creation.

Under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions, people were subjected to various behavioral restrictions. Entertainment was deemed unnecessary, and various events had to be canceled or scaled back. However, fans continued to support their favorites in a variety of ways. In doing so, the fans themselves found their lives fulfilling and happy by engaging in online streaming and communication with other fans through social networking services. In fact, earlier studies have even shown that being a part of a fandom increases happiness [19, 20].

Such relationship could be explained as an ultimate CBE; customers are spending their time and passion to co-create value with the firm. Fandom is not only about real people but also about a variety of things, including in-game characters, specific regions, and buildings, even endorsements of specific brands are included.

### **1.3 The relationship between customer-brand engagement and well-being**

Aoki and Ishizuka [4] focused on highly engaged brand customers, including both hedonic and utilitarian brands, and suggested that CBE could increase customers' well-being. They examined the process of deepening customer engagement and considered how the brand-customer relationship impacts customer's well-being using PERMA model developed in positive psychology to measure flourishing [21]. PERMA stands for positive emotions, engagement, relationships with others, meaning in life, and accomplishment.

It has been argued that happiness and well-being, despite being closely related concepts [22], should be distinguished [23]. Ryff [24] delineated well-being as enduring life challenges, such as having a sense of purpose and direction, achieving satisfying relationships with others, and gaining a sense of self-realization. Seligman [21] also pointed out that well-being sometimes includes hardships; however, people could still find life satisfaction and feel a sense of accomplishment. He defined well-being as the ultimate objective of positive psychology and argued that well-being is sustainable *The Relationship between Fandom and Well-Being DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106870*

and separate from "happiness" in the aspects of time span [21]. In terms of fandom, while each activity is one time, the overall activity is sustained and embedded in the lives of the participants. Thus, this study focuses on the relationship between fandom and well-being as encompassing even happiness.

Aoki and Ishizuka [4] found that all the PERMA elements were included in the deepening CBE process and that of these, relationships with others are deeply related, based on qualitative data. This study aims to provide quantitative support for their finding by surveying those involved in fandom representing highly engaged customers. This study will investigate the following research question: Does fandom increase the well-being of the participants?
