Mascot as Government’s KOL: A Case Study of Big Waster in Hong Kong

Abstract

Recently, the Hong Kong government’s use of mascots is becoming popular. Through the case study of Big Waster, the mascot of the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, this research aims to reveal strategies of deploying mascots on social media communication and their limitations. Big Waster has been personified as a Key Opinion Leader (KOL), who is defined as somebody who is an expert on a certain topic and whose opinions are well-respected, to share its environmental tips. This qualitative research applied McCracken’s (1989) meaning transfer model (MTM) to find out how meanings borne by Big Waster transferred to policies and ultimately people. Ten posts with altogether 2340 comments were selected from Big Waster’s Facebook account for close analysis. The findings reveal a particular strategy at each of the three MTM stages, namely, emotional engagement with audience through anthropomorphism at the pre-endorsement stage; timely parody of popular culture at the endorsement stage; and tactical use of social media to drive actions at the post-endorsement stage. Using the findings of this case study, future research could work towards guidelines for the public sector’s deployment of mascots on social media.

Keywords

Mascot communication / cultural communication / public communication / environmental communication / climate communication / United Nations / sustainable development goals (SDG) / social media / KOL / key opinion leader / Hong Kong government / Cantonese

References

[1] Bergkvist, Lars, & Zhou, Qiang. (2016). Celebrity endorsements: A literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Advertising, 35(4), 642-663. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2015.1137537.

[2] Butler, Julianna M.; Fooks, Jacob R.; Messer, Kent, & Palm—Forster, Leah H. (2020). Addressing social dilemmas with mascots, information, and graphics. Economic Inquiry, 58(1), 150-168. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12783.

[3] Cayla, Julien. (2013). Brand mascots as organisational totems. Journal of Marketing Management, 29(1—2), 86-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2012.759991.

[4] Fontes, Claudio Luiz, & Lodi, Marluce. (2023). Art Olympic mascots and brand humanization: An exploratory study from the consumer’s perception. Marketing & Tourism Review, 8, 1-32.

[5] Garretson, Judith Anne, & Niedrich, Ronald W. (2004). Spokes—Characters: Creating character trust and positive brand attitudes. Journal of Advertising, 33(2), 25-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2004.10639159.

[6] Glaser, Barney G., & Strauss, Anselm L. (2017). Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research . Routledge.

[7] Hong Kong Free Press. (2023, August 5). Explainer: What is ‘soft resistance’? Hong Kong officials vow to take a hard line against it but provide no definition. Available online: https://hongkongfp.com/2023/08/05/explainer—what—is—soft—resistance—hong—kong—officials—vow—to—take—a—hard—line—against—it—but—provide—no—definition/ (accessed on 3 June 2024).

[8] Jain, Varsha, & Roy, Subhadip. (2016). Understanding meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements: A qualitative exploration. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 19(3), 266-286. https://doi.org/10.1108/qmr—03—2015—0020.

[9] Ko, Yong Jae; Asada, Akira; Jang, Wonseok (Eric); Kim, Daehwan, & Chang, Yonghwan. (2022). Do humanized team mascots attract new fans? Application and extension of the anthropomorphism theory. Sport Management Review, 25(5), 820-846. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2021.2014184.

[10] Li, Yaoqi; Liu, Biqiang, & Xie, Lishan. (2022). Celebrity endorsement in international destination marketing: Evidence from eye—tracking techniques and laboratory experiments. Journal of Business Research, 150, 553-566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.06.040.

[11] Martin, Diane M.; Bullis, Connie; Tillotson, Jack, & Schouten, John. (2014). Only you can prevent brand burnout: Cultural branding and the case of Smokey Bear. In Brand Mascots (pp. 211-223). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203527757—21.

[12] McCracken, Grant. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. The Journal of Consumer Research, 16(3), 310-321. https://doi.org/10.1086/209217.

[13] Miller, Felicia M., & Allen, Chris T. (2012). How does celebrity meaning transfer? Investigating the process of meaning transfer with celebrity affiliates and mature brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 443-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.001.

[14] Radomskaya, Valeriya, & Pearce, Philip P. (2021). Adding character: The role of destination mascots in tourism development. Tourism Management, 84, 104248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104248.

[15] Sah, Sunita, & Fugh—Berman, Adriane. (2013). Physicians under the influence: Social psychology and industry marketing strategies. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 41(3), 665-672. https://doi.org/10.1111/jlme.12076.

[16] Schattschneider, Ellen. (2005). The bloodstained doll: Violence and the gift in wartime Japan. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 31(2), 329-356. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjs.2005.0058.

[17] Scher, Jose U., & Schett, Georg. (2021). Key opinion leaders—A critical perspective. Nature Reviews Rheumatology, 17(2), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584—020—00539—1.

[18] Septianto, Felix, & Paramita, Widya. (2021). Cute brand logo enhances favorable brand attitude: The moderating role of hope. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 63, 102734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102734.

[19] Siu, Bo Hei. (2022, July 23). Is Big Waster male or female? Wong Kam—sing revealed an inclusion of a hairy chest in the initial design. The design team explained resemblance between father (Wong) and son (Big Waster). HK01. Available online: https://www.hk01.com/article/795716?utm_source=01articlecopy&utm_medium=referral (accessed on 5 June 2024).

[20] Soltani, Ali; Pieters, Johannes; Young, Janette, & Sun, Zhaohong. (2018). Exploring city branding strategies and their impacts on local tourism success, the case study of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(2), 158-169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2017.1410195.

[21] Srivastava, Rajesh. (2021). Effectiveness of films, sport, celebrity or mascot to content in the advertising—A dilemma for global brands. Journal of Promotion Management, 27(5), 716-739. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2021.1880518.

[22] Tian, Shiyun; Tao, Weiting; Hong, Cheng, & Tsai, Wan—Hsiu Sunny. (2022). Meaning transfer in celebrity endorsement and co—branding: meaning valence, association type, and brand awareness. International Journal of Advertising, 41(6), 1017-1037. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2021.1940059.

[23] Turcotte, Jason; York, Chance; Irving, Jacob; Scholl, Rosanne M., & Pingree, Raymond J. (2015). News recommendations from social media opinion leaders: Effects on media trust and information seeking. Journal of Computer—Mediated Communication: JCMC, 20(5), 520-535. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12127.

[24] Xiong, Liping; Cho, Vincent; Law, Kris, & Lam, Lianne. (2021). A study of KOL effectiveness on brand image of skincare products. Enterprise Information Systems, 15(10), 1483-1500. https://doi.org/10.1080/17517575.2021.1924864.

[25] Xu, Jing (Bill); Yan, Libo, & Pratt, Stephen. (2022). Destination image recovery with tourism mascots. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 25, 100732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2022.100732.

[26] Yoda, Hiroko, & Alt, Matt. (2007). Hello, please! Very helpful super kawaii characters from Japan . Chronicle Books. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA90893177. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA90893177.

[27] Zhao, Yiyi; Gang, Kou; Yi, Peng, & Yang, Chen. (2018). Understanding influence power of opinion leaders in e—commerce networks: An opinion dynamics theory perspective. Information Sciences, 426, 131-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2017.10.031.