The Influence of the Image of "Strong Female Lead" on Audience

Consumption Behavior: The Cross-Border Analysis from Role

Shaping to Marketing

Xinhong Xu

School of Liberal Arts, Heilongjiang University, 150080 Heilongjiang, China

Keywords: Feminism, Consumerism, Psychology, Marketing.

Abstract: In recent years, the image of the "strong female lead", a female character constantly appearing in film and

television, usually refers to the role setting with an independent spirit, brave wisdom, and blooming brilliance

in a certain field. They have a strong personality charm, writing a new image of contemporary women. This

image reflects the multi-dimensional and diversified characteristics of modern women and also affects the

audience's consumption behavior and the development of the film and television market. This paper studies

from the perspectives of feminism, consumerism, and emotional psychology, Taking Story of Yanxi Strategy

as a reference case, this paper analyzes the interaction mechanism between role-shaping, marketing, and

audience consumption behavior, and explores the relationship between role-shaping and marketing across the

boundary. It aims to reveal the circular interaction between film and television works and marketing,

highlights the multi-faceted nature of women embodied in the role shaping of the "strong female lead" image

in film and television, and also shows great commercial potential in marketing, driving changes in consumer

behavior and markets.

1 INTRODUCTION

This study focuses on contemporary society with the

continuous development of social politics, economy,

and culture, and the image of the "strong female lead"

in film and television has become one of the hot topics

discussed by the audience. By shaping female

characters with an independent spirit, the film and

television works show the image of a "strong female

lead" which is different from the traditional "saying

good words, doing good deeds and keeping good

intentions". The breakthrough in the role image is

more in line with the change in women's social status

and role image during the social and cultural

transformation and improves the female audience's

identification with the role.

On the other hand, with the increase of female

authors and the improvement of social status,

women's subjective consciousness is constantly

enhanced (Chen and Chen, 2019). Film and television

creation has focused on women themselves and has

paid more attention to the growth of women, the main

female drama has gradually become the mainstream.

The rich plot setting and dramatic performance arouse

the emotional resonance of the female audience and

meet the psychological needs of the female audience

for independent and self-reliant characters. The

market is to the "strong female lead" image as a

selling point to attract more audiences for the role of

consumption. These "strong female lead" images

affect the audience's value consumption and behavior

choice to a certain extent.

Therefore, this study mainly focuses on two

aspects of research, "How does the image of the"

strong female lead "in film and television work affect

the audience's consumption behavior through role

shaping?" and "What is the relationship between

character image and brand marketing?". This paper

uses the case study method to select the Story of Yanxi

Strategy as a case study. Based on the search and

reading of relevant materials and literature, this paper

analyzes the audience's core and peripheral

behavioral motivations for consumption because of

roles. The final goal is to construct the theory of

market consumption driven by role shaping from

three aspects: the interaction between role shaping

and marketing, the path analysis from role shaping to

consumption transformation, and how film and

television characters affect consumption behavior

through emotional resonance and cultural identity.

Xu, X.

The Inﬂuence of the Image of "Strong Female Lead" on Audience Consumption Behavior: The Cross-Border Analysis from Role Shaping to Marketing.

DOI: 10.5220/0014073900004942

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management (APMM 2025), pages 56-61

ISBN: 978-989-758-791-7

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

With the frequent release of a large number of film

and television "strong female lead" works, the image

of "strong female lead" has caused extensive

discussion inside and outside the industry. By

collecting and sorting out the relevant materials of the

research on the image of the "strong female lead" in

film and television in recent years, the author finds

that the research on the image of the "strong female

lead" in film and television mostly focuses on the

female image itself, and studies the construction of

the role image from the perspective of feminism

through the interpretation of female consciousness

(Xu, 2020). And the role image problem in the

context of consumerism (Xu, 2018). This paper

analyzes the social value and research value brought

by the image of a "great heroine" from the perspective

of female subjects.

Secondly, based on the image of the "strong

female lead", existing studies analyze the impact of

role shaping on the audience's emotions and

consumption behavior. The existence and

development of film and television character creation

can reflect the audience's potential psychological and

emotional needs, and the audience can obtain

emotional identification, vent their emotions, and

seek emotional resonance from the experience of the

characters (Lei and Ye, 2022). Role shaping can also

stimulate the audience's emotional types at different

levels. According to Alvin Carl Plantinga's

"Cognitive-perceptual Approach", it can be known

that a certain type of role image often enters the

audience's consciousness automatically and

unconsciously and has an impact on the audience's

emotions (Lu, 2020). Additionally, the emotion

driven by the image of the "strong female lead" can

often stimulate the audience's invisible desire for

consumption. Based on analyzing the short-term and

long-term effects of film and television roles on

consumer behavior, this paper combines Maslow's

Hierarchy of Needs to realize the problem of

satisfying one's desire layer by layer (Ye, 2007).

Thirdly, with the gradual commercialization trend

of film and television creation, it is increasingly clear

that film and television works can meet the needs and

imaginations of audiences as consumers by shaping

roles. Many plays cater to the concept of

consumerism through the east wind of the "strong

female lead" type characters, packaging the

characters into commodities to use and spread, so that

"strong female lead" plays become a symbol of

cultural consumption (Zheng, 2018).

From the above analysis, it can be seen that in the

existing research, there is a lack of systematic

exploration of the actual impact of the image of "big

woman" on marketing. This paper will study this

problem based on previous research.

3 FILM AND TELEVISION "BIG

GIRL" AND MARKETING

Story of Yanxi Strategy is a palace drama released in

2018, which was set during the Qianlong period of the

Qing Dynasty and followed the growth of the palace

lady Wei Yingluo. The success of this drama lies not

only in the excellent costume design but also in the

successful creation of the "strong female lead" image

represented by Wei Yingluo. This "strong female

lead" image also caters to the demand orientation of

the current society and forms a virtuous interaction

cycle with consumers through positive marketing

strategies, which helps the development of the film

and television consumption market.

3.1 Role Shaping

As the heroine, Wei Yingluo embodies the

complexity and depth of the role. First of all, Wei

Yingluo is not a conventional palace girl, she pursues

justice and freedom, dares to challenge authority, and

highlights the wisdom and courage of the "strong

female lead" image to survive in the patriarchal

society and power struggle. Secondly, in the process

of growing up, Wei Yingluo gradually realizes her

weakness and gradually establishes the value

direction of exploring the meaning of life. These

developments add depth to the character, making her

more multidimensional and allowing the audience to

resonate with her growth trajectory. Third, Wei

Yingluo's two complex emotional experiences show

fuller of the authenticity of the role. She balances

emotion, power, and morality, showing the image of

external beauty and inner stability of the character, so

that the audience is full of expectations for the

development of the character.

3.2 Marketing

In terms of marketing, by showing the complex

emotional relationship between the characters and the

political struggles of the court, the Story of Yanxi

Strategy attracted a large number of audiences who

liked the historical drama of the court. The heroine

Wei Yingluo's tenacious and intelligent personality

The Inﬂuence of the Image of "Strong Female Lead" on Audience Consumption Behavior: The Cross-Border Analysis from Role Shaping to

Marketing

charm can inspire the audience, especially young

females’ audience's emotional resonance.

Story of Yanxi Strategy fully utilizes modern

social media and major marketing platforms to

accurately target audiences, play character specials

and promotional videos to expand its reach, and some

popular lines even dominate the charts and hot

searches, with high popularity. At the same time, the

costumes of the characters in the drama are exquisite

and restore history, and the color scheme of the screen

abandons the bold use of Morandi color scheme,

which has been imitated and sought after by the

audience. These exquisite clothing designs and color

combinations have attracted the attention of

businesses, who have collaborated with the

production team to launch related derivative products,

which have been launched in shopping malls and

offline stores, thus triggering a consumer boom.

In addition, because Wei Yingluo shows the

image of authority is neither serval nor overbearing,

and the majority of the audience's recognition of

female independence, the audience began to buy

products related to the show of female power.

Merchants seize this opportunity to promote the

independent spirit of women and launch related high-

end products to attract consumers' purchases.

Through precise control of the market and flexible

marketing strategies, Story of Yanxi Strategy

combines character images with the consumer

market, bringing new consumer opportunities.

3.3 Consumer Reaction

After the broadcast of Story of Yanxi Strategy, the

audience had heated discussions on social media

about the spirit of independence and resistance

embodied in the characters of Wei Yingluo, Empress

Fuchai, and Concubine. They expressed their

opinions through apps such as Weibo and

Xiaohongshu, and some viewers shared wonderful

clips to express their love. During the official Weibo

broadcast, the total number of reads was nearly 800

million, the total interaction volume was over 1.6

million, comments, and the number of comments and

likes reached 52.22 million. The #Story of Yanxi

Strategy# topic has been read 11.9 billion, discussed

8.57 million, consistently occupying the top spot on

the overall chart in the hour list, and TV drama chart.

Tiktok Micro-vision has generated 127 hot search

words for Tiktok, which have been listed over 230

times; TikTok Story of Yanxi Strategy dynamic

stickers are also popular in Vietnam.

The tenacious image portrayed by Wei Yingluo in

the drama has been widely recognized by female

audiences, generating strong emotional resonance.

Wei Yingluo is no longer just a character image but

has become a symbol of female independence and

autonomy, thus establishing a long-term emotional

connection between the audience, the work, and the

characters. With the popularity of Story of Yanxi

Strategy, audiences not only feel emotional needs but

also have a strong willingness to purchase products

related to the series or characters, which proves the

leading role of character images in the market and

promotes the development of consumption.

4 CASE ANALYSIS

The Story of Yanxi Strategy effectively combines role

image with marketing, successfully achieving a

virtuous cycle between emotional resonance and

consumption motivation, role image and brand

linkage, cultural symbols, and long-term

consumption.

4.1 Emotional Identification and

Consumption Motivation

Emotional identification refers to the process in

which the audience evokes emotional resonance

through the emotions experienced by the character,

such as joy, anger, sadness, and happiness. The

audience projects their emotions onto the character,

resulting in psychological and emotional

identification. The relationship established between

the "Wei Yingluo" portrayed in the Story of Yanxi

Strategy and the audience is based on this theoretical

foundation.

The image of the "strong female lead" portrayed

in the Story of Yanxi Strategy has a strong spiritual

core. Wei Yingluo grew from an ordinary palace maid

to a female image symbolizing the power center of

the harem. Story of Yanxi Strategy builds Wei

Yingluo's growth trajectory by showcasing her

emotional experiences in family, love, and friendship.

Audiences, especially female viewers, see a reflection

of their growth in her experiences, resonating

emotionally with the character. The audience is not

only a spectator of Wei Yingluo's growth, but also a

witness of her difficulties and pain. The empathetic

emotional investment also enhances the audience's

motivation to consume for the character. Following

the series' airing, sales of products associated with the

characters—such as daily necessities and

cosmetics—surged. Viewers hoped to distance

themselves from the characters and express their

emotions by purchasing products related to the series.

APMM 2025 - International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management

The brand successfully transformed from character-

driven content to market-driven commercialization.

4.2 Role Image and Brand Linkage

Wei Yingluo is not only a symbol of female

independence but also a combination of traditional

female tenderness and modern female wisdom. The

complexity and versatility of the characters satisfy the

audience's different emotional experiences.

Emotional communication refers to the interpersonal

and group interactions that people engage in based on

certain contexts and mechanisms, to achieve the

sharing of emotions and meanings (Jiang and He,

2016). The script implants resilient and independent

female characters into people's hearts, and the brand

uses emotional identification as a communication

bridge to form an interactive model, deepening the

linkage upgrade from character image to brand

marketing.

The combination of character image and brand

linkage is not only a continuation of character image

but also injects new vitality into brand development.

Firstly, some clothing brands have launched new

Chinese style clothing, the same style of Yingluo

earrings, and the same style of Fucha Empress

bracelet based on the clothing in Story of Yanxi

Strategy as design samples. Secondly, the distinctive

makeup provides an opportunity for video special

effects. For example, the Tiktok platform launched

the Story of Yanxi Strategy role with the same makeup

shooting and online star interaction function; Camera

apps such as Tian Tian P Tu and B612 have also

launched one click cross dressing or the same filter.

Tian Tian P Tu's Story of Yanxi Strategy "My Stills"

H5 exposure has reached 200 million+, with over 40

million users participating in face changing.

Customized face changing materials and pendant

usage has exceeded 25 million users; The B612

camera used 3288W filter stickers in 20 days, and the

total exposure of stickers and screen opening in 20

days reached 125 million. Thirdly, some gaming

platforms have seized the popularity of the IP of Story

of Yanxi Strategy and launched the same mobile and

board games online, such as "Flowers Like Brocade"

and Story of Yanxi Strategy to jointly launch cross

dressing and palace survival games. Fourthly, the

well crafted cuisine in Story of Yanxi Strategy has also

allowed some catering brands to seize business

opportunities. Liangpinpuzi and Story of Yanxi

Strategy jointly created the "Imperial Afternoon Tea"

and launched a series of nut gift boxes that can

express love words; Pizzahut China launched the

Zhixin Moonshot Palace Reunion Gift Box to witness

the beauty of ending the reunion with "moon cakes in

the palace". Fifthly, with the popularity of "Yanxi

Raiders", the novel of the same name has been

uploaded to iQiyi Literature, realizing the reverse

output of literature from film and television IP. At the

same time, the audio book radio drama of the same

name based on the original script has been launched

on various application platforms such as Palm

Reading, Penguin FM, Kuwo Music, etc. The official

radio broadcast volume of Kuwo Music has reached

over 240W.

The cooperation between characters and brands

not only combines the spiritual traits of the characters

themselves with the brand value, but also promotes

product sales through emotional connections,

deepens the relationship between characters and

brands, and provides a reference for the development

of the market.

4.3 Cultural Symbols and Long-Term

Consumption

Consumption is a social and cultural process that is

closely linked to culture (He and Liu, 2013). With the

popularity of Story of Yanxi Strategy, it is no longer

just a simple film and television work but has

gradually evolved into a cultural symbol. The

exquisite costumes and thoughtful detail design in the

drama serve as carriers of cultural symbols,

continuously satisfying people's consumption desires.

The image of the "strong female lead" portrayed in

the drama continues to influence the audience's

consumption behavior as a concrete manifestation of

this cultural symbol.

Firstly, the costumes of the characters in Story of

Yanxi Strategy are exquisite, referencing various

historical materials and ancient paintings. From

willow leaf eyebrows and red lip makeup to clothing

designs such as "one ear, three pincers" and "pressed

collar", as well as the display of scene props, the

historical style is maximally restored. Secondly, the

intangible cultural heritage represented by Nanjing

velvet flowers, Guangdong fragrant cloud gauze, and

Yu Jin striking iron flowers presented in the drama

has also revitalized traditional culture. The traditional

culture and craftsmanship presented in the drama not

only attract the audience's interest in watching but

also bear the mission and responsibility of inheriting

traditional culture. Incorporating traditional culture

into film and television works provides audiences

with opportunities and platforms to understand and

immerse themselves in traditional culture.

The exquisite design in the drama gives the TV

series a rich sense of texture and a palace atmosphere

The Inﬂuence of the Image of "Strong Female Lead" on Audience Consumption Behavior: The Cross-Border Analysis from Role Shaping to

Marketing

with a strong traditional Chinese flavor, which not

only deepens Chinese audiences' recognition of

traditional culture but also deepens overseas

audiences' understanding of Chinese culture.

The TV drama Story of Yanxi Strategy has not

only been popular in mainland China, but also spread

to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas regions.

The TVB finale has set a record for the highest ratings

of mainland dramas in Hong Kong; the YouTube

single episode has nearly one million views; Overseas

broadcasting covers new media platforms in North

America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia,

and other regions. The successful broadcast of this

drama has spread traditional Chinese culture

represented by intangible cultural heritage to China

and other countries around the world, presenting the

excellent cultural heritage of the Chinese nation to the

world and letting the world experience the refinement

and excellence of Chinese culture. It also proves that

only by adhering to our own national culture and

aligning with world values can we create high-quality

content that truly satisfies audiences at home and

abroad (Wang, 2020). These traditional crafts not

only showcase the superb skills and persistence of

great country craftsmen but also demonstrate China's

cultural confidence to the world, attracting a large

number of foreign tourists to come to China for

tourism, enjoying the beautiful scenery of China,

tasting Chinese cuisine, understanding Chinese

history, experiencing the charm of Chinese culture

and promoting cultural exchange and dissemination.

5 THEORETICAL REFINEMENT

5.1 Emotional Resonance Mechanism

With the process of character development, the three-

dimensional and multi-faceted features presented by

the character establish emotional connections with

the audience. The audience experiences complex

emotions such as happiness and pain through the

character's experiences, which generate deep

emotional resonance. The audience will identify with

the value orientation conveyed by the character and

seek a sense of belonging emotionally.

5.2 Brand Linkage Mechanism

A successful character will drive a wave of

consumption, and the linkage between clothing,

catering brands, and character images not only

spreads the drama characters but also increases the

market influence and attractiveness of the linked

brand to consumers, meeting their shopping needs

and achieving the short-term consumption needs of

the audience.

Brands cater to the resonance psychology of the

audience and stimulate their consumption

expectations. Brands are no longer focused solely on

dramas; they have started addressing the broader

needs of female consumers. By collaborating with

industries such as jewelry, fashion, skincare, health,

and home goods, brands expand consumption

pathways, launch derivative products, and amplify

the consumption influence of characters. This

strategy shifts the audience's consumption behavior

from film and TV-related products to a wider range

of everyday items, fostering long-term engagement.

The sharing of resources and complementary

advantages between the main female drama and its

derivatives, with the user experience of the audience

as the center, jointly create high-quality personalized

services for the audience. While maintaining their

respective brand characteristics, the two parties

leverage each other for cross-border marketing,

enabling audiences to have a favorable impression of

the main female drama and its derivatives while

receiving high-quality services, thereby achieving

market and profit maximization through cross-border

cooperation between both parties (Li, 2020).

5.3 The Dissemination Mechanism of

Cultural Symbols

The successful portrayal of a character often depends

on the influence of the current social and cultural

environment. The image of the "big female lead"

portrayed in this drama is in line with the values of

female independence and empowerment promoted in

contemporary society. With the continuous

dissemination of character images, the image of the

"strong female lead" has gradually become a cultural

symbol, symbolizing the spiritual value of women

seeking self-worth. Consumers' adherence to this

cultural symbol also promotes the emergence of

consumer behavior.

Simultaneously, in the process of character

development, in addition to the internal personality

traits that attract the audience's attention, the external

expression and image of the character's intentions

will also have an impact on the consumer market. The

drama embeds Chinese cultural texts into popular

culture and universal values through cultural blending

(Zhang et al., 2020). The integration of traditional

culture and character images has promoted the

dissemination of traditional culture. With the gradual

expansion of the dissemination scope, these character

APMM 2025 - International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management

images integrated with traditional culture have

become symbols of national culture and have gone

global. With the support of traditional culture, more

and more brands have begun to promote traditional

culture, and more and more types of characters have

been shaped to undertake the responsibility of

disseminating culture. This has also established a

sustainable strategy for the circular development of

roles, brands, and culture.

6 CONCLUSION

This study is based on the analysis of the case of Story

of Yanxi Strategy, exploring the interactive path

between film and television character shaping and

marketing, breaking through the boundaries of

disciplines, combining cultural research, marketing

research, and consumer behavior research, deepening

the relationship between audience emotions and

consumer behavior, broadening the transformation

and integration forms of character shaping and

marketing, and revealing the cultural value of

character images.

However, due to the limited sample selection, it is

unable to fully showcase the diverse perspectives and

consumption behaviors of audiences from different

cultural backgrounds, ages, and genders, resulting in

one sidedness. In the future, cross-cultural and multi-

dimensional research on the characteristics of

audience consumption behavior can make up for this

deficiency. However, film and television creation and

audience psychology are constantly changing, and

this article ignores the dynamic relationship between

the image of the "strong female lead" and the market

in the context of social development and changes.

Based on the above analysis, this study cross

disciplinary analyzes the relationship between role

shaping and marketing, which not only provides a

new perspective for the study of consumerism

behavior, but also provides a practical reference for

brands to better utilize role images and highlights the

positive impact of role images on social and cultural

communication.

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The Inﬂuence of the Image of "Strong Female Lead" on Audience Consumption Behavior: The Cross-Border Analysis from Role Shaping to

Marketing