THE EMPOWERING MECHANISM OF DOUYIN “CHALLENGE” FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF GUANGXI ETHNIC FESTIVALS—A CASE STUDY OF THE “ZHUANG ETHNIC GROUP’S MARCH 3RD FESTIVAL”

Abstract

  Digital communication is critical for preserving ethnic festival cultures and boosting local cultural tourism. This study focuses on Guangxi’s "Zhuang Ethnic Group's March 3rd Festival" (a national intangible heritage and Guangxi’s statutory holiday) and adopts a mixed-methods approach—content analysis (500 valid Douyin videos, ≥1,000 views, coded via a 4-dimensional framework: content type, tags, cultural elements, consumption guidance; SPSS 26.0 for analysis) and multi-source data verification (official tourism reports, Douyin "Juliangshu" index, Meituan/Didi consumer data)—to explore Douyin "Challenge’s" communication logic, empowerment paths, and problems (2024–2025).

  The "Challenge" operates via "thematic tag positioning-algorithmic precision distribution-UGC large-scale spread," achieving 3.4 billion total online exposures and driving over 230 million yuan in Guangxi’s cultural tourism consumption. It innovated traditional cultural expressions (e.g., Zhuang folk songs adapted into pop/rap, bronze drum patterns integrated into video filters) and built a "content attraction-consumption conversion" chain. Key issues include severe UGC homogeneity (62% imitative content), unbalanced regional communication (73% content from Nanning/Guilin), and weak cultural-commercial links (only 21% of videos with consumption guidance). Solutions proposed: a Guangxi ethnic cultural resource database for diverse content, regional traffic support for border areas, and a "cultural IP + industrial chain" system (e.g., themed cultural and creative products).

  Theoretically, this study introduces media convergence theory (Jenkins, 2006) and digital anthropology (Horst & Miller, 2012) into ethnic festival research, quantifies how Zhuang cultural content adapts to Douyin’s algorithm, and fills the "algorithm-culture-consumption" integration gap, enriching theoretical research on ethnic festival digital communication.