캐릭터 상품 소비에서 나타난 기호소비에 관한 연구: 팝마트 라부부를 중심으로 = A Study on Symbol Consumption in Character Product Consumption: Focused on Pop Mart's Labubu

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As consumer society deepens, commodities function beyond their use value as signs that mediate social meaning and identity. This study examines LABUBU, a character product by Pop Mart, as a case and adopts Baudrillar (1970)’s theory of sign consumption as the primary theoretical framework to analyze the structure of sign consumption and the process of self-identity construction in character merchandise consumption. The analytical framework was structured into a tripartite system of visual signs, textual signs, and interactive signs, drawing on Baudrillar (1970)’s theory in combination with McCracken (1986)’s model of cultural meaning movement and Belk (1988)’s concept of the extended self as complementary frameworks. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study, with product information, Pop Mart’s annual report, and consumer practices on digital platforms serving as analytical materials. The findings indicate that LABUBU's visual form, which combines grotesque and cute elements, establishes a distinctive sign system differentiated from the prevailing aesthetic grammar of the character merchandise market. The probabilistic consumption structure of blind boxes functions not as a means of satisfying consumer desire, but as a narrative sign that systematically reproduces it. Social media displays and community activities operate as interactive signs that socially circulate consumed signs, and a bidirectional process of meaning production was identified in which consumers actively reinterpret and reconstruct sign meanings through customization and secondary creation. This form of sign consumption manifests as a contemporary expression of conspicuous consumption as theorized by Veblen (2017), while simultaneously functioning as a process of collective identity formation through which consumers affiliate with specific taste communities. Furthermore, the LABUBU figurine is integrated as an object through which consumers materially construct the boundaries of the self, consistent with Belk (1988)’s extended self framework. This study demonstrates that character merchandise consumption constitutes a semiotic process of social meaning production and identity construction beyond material exchange, and theorizes sign consumption as a dynamic and circular process that encompasses active meaning reproduction by consumers, rather than unidirectional reception.