Fandom in comic-con: Cosplay tourists’ interaction and emotional solidarity

The fan experience, a fast growing sub-culture at comic conventions, has yet to be considered in tourism literature. Integrating research on expectancy violations theory, social identity theory (SIT), and emotional solidarity, this study investigates how positive and negative tourist-to-tourist (T2T) interactions are influenced by cosplayer identity and lead to emotional solidarity at comic conventions. Findings indicate that cosplayer identity has a significant positive effect on their positive T2T which in turn affects their emotional solidarity, while leaving negative T2T unaffected. Furthermore, fascination as important environmental cues was found as a moderator between T2T interaction and emotional solidarity. This study offers insight on how to enhance the fan experience as a marketing tool.