More than mouse ears: Creative Disney fan identity and consumption

This study, undertaken over several weeks of onsite fieldwork in the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks in Anaheim, CA, examines identities, representational strategies, and approaches to product consumption among three specific fan groups who frequent the parks. Informed by Michel de Certeau, Pierre Bourdieu, and Erving Goffman, I analyzed the consumer and producer relationship dynamics created by fans choosing to represent their fandom in unique, unexpected, and in some cases, confrontational ways. These three fan groups were examined via in-depth interviews and participant observation, both within the parks and as part of each group’s social media presence.