Character merchandise thrives on the powerful cultural force of fandom. Fans don't just consume content – they actively engage with it, which influences their purchasing decisions.
"Consumers will continue to gravitate toward character merchandise as a way to express their passion areas and individuality. Brands can look to appeal to consumers across demographics by leveraging characters from various interest areas."
Katie Hansen, Senior Analyst - Retail & eCommerce
For the purpose of this report, character merchandising is defined as the use of popular (typically fictional) characters from the world of entertainment to promote the sale of consumer goods, including those lines of merchandise that have been especially created to bear the name and image of the character. Characters typically derive from a number of different media, with the most popular being the following:
Character merchandising seeks to promote the sale of consumer goods via the licensing of copyrighted intellectual properties and other means such as television networks, product brands or sports organizations and teams.
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