From Celebrity Endorsement to Symbolic Participation: Analyzing V BTS as TIRTIR’s Brand Ambassador through Social Media Sentiment and Engagement

This study analyzes how V BTS, as TIRTIR’s brand ambassador, transformed celebrity endorsement into symbolic participation within social media conversations. Using a descriptive quantitative approach, the study examined public comments related to TIRTIR’s campaign featuring V BTS through sentiment distribution, engagement volume, temporal movement, and active account concentration. The findings show that neutral sentiment dominated the conversation with 2,191 comments, followed by 869 positive comments and only 7 negative comments. This pattern indicates that audience participation was not primarily expressed through explicit product evaluation, but through symbolic presence, repeated mentions, emojis, short expressions, and fandom-based interaction. Temporal analysis also shows that audience attention was strongest in the early phase of observation before declining gradually, while neutral sentiment remained dominant across most periods. The study concludes that brand ambassador effectiveness in social media should not be measured only through positive sentiment or purchase-oriented indicators. Instead, symbolic participation represents an important form of digital engagement because it sustains visibility, activates fandom expression, and strengthens public conversation around the brand.