Celebrated individuals often take on a sacred status, producing intense feelings among their fans. Because celebrities are usually protected and distant, their fans turn to celebrity-related products, which themselves may become cherished and sacred. After a celebrity dies, relevant products become even more significant as remedies for feelings of loss. This research examined expressions of grief and consumption-related emotions posted on internet message boards in response to the death of race car driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr. The research finds that fans use two processes: introjection and incorporation to deal with the loss of the celebrity. These processes help fans cope with grief and serve as narratives in their post-death self-identity creation, and also contribute to the mythology of the celebrity after death.
AbrahamNTorokM (1994) Mourning or melancholia: Introjection versus incorporation. In: AbrahamNTorokM (eds) The Shell and the Kernel (trans. RandNT) University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp.107–24.
ArnouldEJThompsonCJ (2005) Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twenty years of research. Journal of Consumer Research31(4): 868–82.
4.
BaeH-SBrownWJKangS (2011) Social influence of a religious hero: The late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan’s effect on cornea donation and volunteerism. Journal of Health Communication16: 62–78.
5.
BelkRW (1988) Possessions and the extended self. Journal of Consumer Research15(2): 139–68.
6.
BelkRWCostaJA (1998) The mountain man myth: A contemporary consuming fantasy. Journal of Consumer Research25(3): 218–40.
7.
BelkRWWallendorfMSherryJFJr (1989) The sacred and the profane in consumer behavior: Theodicy on the odyssey. Journal of Consumer Research16(1): 1–38.
8.
BiressiANunnH (2005) Reality TV: Realism and Revelation. London: Wallflower Press.
9.
BonsuSKBelkRW (2003) Do not go cheaply into that good night: Death-ritual consumption in Asante, Ghana. Journal of Consumer Research30(1): 41–55.
10.
BrownWJ (2010) Steve Irwin’s influence on wildlife conservation. Journal of Communication60(1): 73–93.
11.
BrownWJBasilMDBocarneaMC (2003) Social influence of an international celebrity: Responses to the death of Princess Diana. Journal of Communication53(4): 587–605.
12.
CastroT (2010) Fans flock to Michael Jackson’s mausoleum. LA Daily News, 25 June 2010. Available at: www.dailynews.com/ci_15380653 (accessed 15 August 2010).
13.
CaugheyJL (1984) Imaginary Social Worlds: A Cultural Approach. Lincoln: University of Nebraska.
CohenJ (2004) Parasocial break-up from favorite television characters: The role of attachment styles and relationship intensity. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships20(2): 187–202.
16.
ConnorT (2001) Daytona crash kills Earnhardt: NASCAR legend, 49, collides on final lap. New York Post, 19 Feb, 7.
17.
CouldryN (2000) The Place of Media Power: Pilgrims and Witnesses of the Media Age. London: Routledge.
18.
CovaBCovaV (2002) Tribal marketing: The tribalisation of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing. European Journal of Marketing36(5/6): 595–620.
19.
CovaBPaceS (2006) Brand community of convenience products: New forms of customer empowerment – the case ‘My Nutella the community’. European Journal of Marketing40(9/10): 1087–105.
20.
CurasiCFPriceLLArnouldEJ (2004) How individuals’ cherished possessions become families’ inalienable wealth. Journal of Consumer Research31(3): 609–22.
21.
EyalKCohenJ (2006) When good friends say goodbye: A parasocial breakup study. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media50(3): 502–23.
22.
FineJ (2006) Media’s master manipulator. Business Week, 18 Sept, 24.
23.
GabelTGMansfieldPWestbrookK (1996) The disposal of consumers: An exploratory analysis of death related consumption. In: CorfmanKPLynchJGJr (eds) Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 23. Minneapolis: Association for Consumer Research, pp. 361–7.
GentryJWKennedyPFPaulKHillRP (1995) The vulnerability of those grieving the death of a loved one: Implications for public policy. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing14(1): 128–42.
26.
GilesDC (2002) Parasocial interaction: A review of the literature and a model for future research. Media Psychology4(3): 279–305.
27.
GraysonKShulmanD (2000) Indexicality and the verification function of irreplaceable possessions: A semiotic analysis. Journal of Consumer Research27(1): 17–30.
HillsM (2006) Not just another powerless elite? When media fans become subcultural celebrities. In: HolmesSRedmondS (eds) Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture. London: Routledge, pp. 101–18.
30.
HortonDWohlRR (1956) Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry19: 215–29.
31.
HughesZ (2003) Tupac lives! Why fans are fascinated by stars who die tragically. Ebony58(10): 112–15.
32.
JamesC (1993) Fame in the 20th Century. New York: Random House.
33.
JenkinsH (1992) Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge.
34.
JenkinsH (2006a) Do you enjoy making the rest of us feel stupid? alt.tv.twinpeaks, the trickster author, and viewer mastery. In: JenkinsH (ed.) Fans Bloggers, and Gamers. New York: New York University Press, pp. 115–33.
35.
JenkinsH (2006b) Star Trek rerun, reread, rewritten: Fan writing as textual poaching. In: JenkinsH (ed.) Fans Bloggers, and Gamers. New York: New York University Press, pp. 37–60.
36.
JohnsonR (1997) Grievous recognitions 2: The grieving process and sexual boundaries. In: SteinbergDLEpsteinDJohnsonR (eds) Border Patrols: Policing the Boundaries of Heterosexuality. London: Cassell, pp. 232–52.
KearA (1997) Eating the other: Imaging the fantasy of incorporation. In: SteinbergDLEpsteinDJohnsonR (eds) Border Patrols: Policing the Boundaries of Heterosexuality. London: Cassell, pp. 253–74.
39.
KozinetsRV (1999) E-tribalized marketing? The strategic implications of virtual communities of consumption. European Management Journal17(3): 252–64.
40.
KozinetsRV (2001) Utopian Enterprise: Articulating the meanings of Star Trek’s culture of consumption. Journal of Consumer Research28(1): 67–88.
41.
KozinetsRV (2002) The field behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research39(1): 61–72.
42.
Kubler-RossEKesslerD (2005) On Grief and Grieving. New York: Scribner.
43.
LennonJFoleyM (2000) Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death and Disaster. New York: Continuum.
44.
MartinPYTurnerBA (1986) Grounded theory and organizational research. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science22(2): 141–57.
45.
McCaneBR (1991) Bones of contention: Ossuaries and reliquaries in early Judaism and Christianity. Second Century: A Journal of Early Christian Studies8(4): 235–46.
46.
McCrackenG (1989) Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research16(3): 310–21.
47.
McCutcheonLEMaltbyJHouranJAsheDD (2004) Celebrity Worship: Inside the Minds of Stargazers. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica.
48.
MulvihillMFarmerDH (1999) The Treasury of Saints and Martyrs. New York: Viking.
49.
O’GuinnTC (1991) Touching greatness: The Central Midwest Barry Manilow Fan Club. In: BelkRW (ed.) Highways and Buyways. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, pp. 102–11.
50.
O’GuinnTCBelkRW (1989) Heaven on Earth: Consumption at Heritage Village, USA. Journal of Consumer Research16(2): 227–38.
51.
PresnellKK (2008) Media, celebrities, and identification: An examination of fan relationships with Dale Earnhardt amid the culture of NASCAR. Doctoral dissertation, Regent University, VA (UMI No. 3321380).
52.
RichinsML (1994) Valuing things: The public and private meanings of possessions. Journal of Consumer Research21(3): 503–21.
53.
RojekC (2001) Celebrity. London: Reaktion.
54.
RojekC (2007) Celebrity and religion. In: RedmondSHolmesS (eds) Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader. Los Angeles: Sage, pp. 171–80.
Sanchez-PardoE (2003) Cultures of the Death Drive: Melanie Klein and Modernist Melancholia. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
57.
SandstromKLMartinDDFineGA (2006) Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality. New York: Oxford University Press.
58.
SoraS (2005) Treasures from Heaven: Relics from Noah’s Ark to the Shroud of Turin. New York: Wiley.
59.
StraussALCorbinJM (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
60.
SullivanR (2001) The last lap. Time Magazine157(9): 60–9.
61.
ThompsonCJ (1997) Interpreting consumers: A hermeneutical framework for deriving marketing insights from the text of consumers’ consumption stories. Journal of Marketing Research34(4): 438–55.
62.
ThomsonM (2006) Human brands: Investigating antecedents to consumers’ strong attachments to celebrities. Journal of Marketing70(3): 104–19.
63.
WaltherJB (1995) Relational aspects of computer-mediated communication: Experimental observations over time. Organizational Science6: 186–203.
64.
WangY (2007) A star is dead: A legend is born: Practicing Leslie Cheung’s posthumous fandom. In: RedmondSHolmesS (eds) Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader. London: Sage, pp. 326–40.
