From Entertainment to Identity: Cultural Identity and Framework Reproduction in "Foreign Online Celebrity" Videos

Abstract

This study uses the popular foreign influencer "Baobaoxiong" as a case to explore how foreign influencers shape China’s national image through specific media frames, aiming to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for more effective communication of China’s image. Based on framing theory, this study employs content analysis to analyze 50 episodes of "Baobaoxiong’s" videos and 4108 bullet comments on the Bilibili platform, investigating how foreign influencers influence the audience’s recognition of China’s urban culture and national image through localized communication practices. The findings reveal that at the high-level framework, "Baobaoxiong" systematically promotes a relaxed and pleasant city lifestyle through the "citywalk" theme, reinforcing the audience’s sense of identification with China’s urban life by repeatedly using this frame. At the medium-level framework, the interaction and presentation of family members in the videos enhanced the emotional resonance and social affinity of the content. At the low-level framework, the sentiment analysis of the bullet comments shows that positive sentiments significantly outweigh negative ones, indicating a strong identification with "Baobaoxiong’s" content. The TF-IDF analysis of the bullet comments revealed that the audience’s focus was not only on the "citywalk" cultural exploration but also on Chinese cultural symbols and brands, which further enhanced their cultural identification.