There’s A Major Difference Between Korean And International K-Pop Fans When It Comes To Being A Single Group-Stan

Recently, a survey was conducted by K-Pop Radar about the difference between Korean and international K-Pop fans when it comes to being a stan of multiple artists. The in-person survey was held in April, with over 1,000 fans participating in the event through the use of an app. 900 Korean fans and 180 international fans were included in the survey.

The results of the survey showed just how different the two groups are when it comes to being a stan of just a single K-Pop artist compared to multiple artists.

Jimin (BTS) | SBS

Overall, a higher percentage of Korean fans considered themselves single group-stans — 60%, to be precise — while a much smaller percentage (around 25%) of international fans gave themselves the label of single-stans. Therefore, only 40% of Korean fans consider themselves multi-stans, while about 75% of international fans did.

Korean and international multi-stans vs. solo group-stans

Interestingly, what fans chose as the reason they started stanning a certain artist was different between the two groups as well. The participants were asked, “How did you first fall for your favorite artist(s)?”, and were allowed to choose multiple answers.

For Korean fans, “performance clips” was their top answer, with 64% of the group’s total votes. Meanwhile, “songs” was listed second with 55%, “self-produced variety content” earned 38%, “other variety content” had 37%, “SNS such as Twitter” 18%, and finally “recommendation from friends” 17%.

Alternatively for international fans, “songs” came in first place with 76% of the vote, while “performance clips” earned 63%. “Self-produced variety content” came in third with 50%, “other variety content” in fourth with 43%, “SNS such as Twitter” in fifth with 26%, and “recommendation from friends” in sixth with 17%.

Korean vs. global fans on how they started stanning their favorite artist(s)

The data from this survey was recently shared on an online forum, where Korean netizens shared their own thoughts on being a multi-stan versus a solo group-stan.

| Instiz

• “Those of you who agree, do you have a single favorite group at all? Or do you like all groups about the same? Just curious”
• “Isn’t this obvious, though? LOL. How could anyone like JUST one group? There are so many of them out there”
• “Same”
• “Me, too”
• “Haha. I’d say the same”
• “It’s pretty much impossible to like only one group these days”
• “Only 40%? That’s lower than what I’d expect”
• “I only like one group, though…”
• “For me, it’s like I have my one absolute ult (and it won’t ever change). But I also look up other groups if I become intrigued. Haha”

International K-Pop fans chimed in with their opinions as well.

Do you consider yourself a single group-stan or a multi-stan?