Factors affecting the popularity of webcomics

The distance between the content identity formed by creator and the image formed by reader

Abstract

This paper quantitatively examines the gap between content identity declared by the creator of a webcomic and content image formed by consumers. We clarify the relationship between the factors that cause the gap and the consumers' evaluation of content. For empirical analysis, data from a largescale survey of a webcomic site was used. The identity and image of webcomics were estimated using categorization theory. The results show that basically, the more similar the content identity and image are, the stronger the preferences are. However, the hypothesis assuming that the highest preference will be obtained when the content identity and image are moderately incongruent is not supported.