DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT AND FAN LOYALTY: ASSOCIATIONS OF BTS COMEBACK COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTION WITH ARMY LOYALTY

Abstract

This study examines the associations of BTS comeback communication and social media interaction with ARMY loyalty. A quantitative explanatory design was employed using an online survey of 108 ARMY members who actively used X and followed the official account @BTS_official. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling, and the 28-item questionnaire measured BTS comeback communication, social media interaction, and ARMY loyalty on a five-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed in SPSS using item validity tests, Cronbach's alpha, regression assumption tests, multiple linear regression, t-tests, an F-test, and the coefficient of determination. All items were valid, and the three constructs demonstrated very high internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.976 to 0.980. BTS comeback communication was positively and significantly associated with ARMY loyalty (B = 0.579; t = 7.400; p < 0.001), while social media interaction was also positively and significantly associated (B = 0.447; t = 7.208; p < 0.001). Together, the predictors significantly explained ARMY loyalty, F(2, 105) = 587.037, p < 0.001, with R² = 0.918. The findings indicate that coordinated comeback messages and participatory interaction on X were jointly associated with sustained fan support within the study sample. The results should be interpreted cautiously because the residuals did not fully satisfy the normality assumption, and the predictors showed substantial empirical overlap.