From phenomenal hits to sustained influence: the long-term operation mechanism of China's domestic costume-drama IPs—A qualitative analysis from the multi-stakeholder perspective of frontline practitioners

Chenwei Zhang; Xu Yan; Zhuowen You; Yizhuo Zhang; Bi Wilson

doi:10.54254/2753-7102/2026.37451

Abstract

Domestic costume dramas have long dominated the mainstream film and television market, yet most works face the industry predicament of 'fleeting popularity and difficulty in sustaining'—only a handful manage to develop into long-lasting IPs. Existing research largely focuses on textual content, audience communication, and capital-market perspectives, lacking a mechanistic explanation grounded in the practical agents of the industry. Taking the PDCA closed-loop operation theory and stakeholder theory as the core analytical framework, this study integrates literature research, semi-structured in-depth interviews, and case analysis to conduct a qualitative study of six frontline film and television practitioners—directors, actors, agents, and studio-city operators—and combines empirical analysis with classic long-lasting IP cases such as Nirvana in Fire, Joy of Life, and The Ghosts of Tang Dynasty. The study distills four core formation mechanisms—source filtering, quality sedimentation, industrial extension, and structural constraints—reveals the deep structural contradiction between capital's profit-seeking nature and the long-term cultivation of IPs, and constructs an evolutionary model for domestic costume-drama IPs to move from a single phenomenal work to long-term endurance, providing theoretical reference and practical pathways for the sustainable development and long-term operation of domestic costume-drama IPs.

Keywords: costume-drama IPs , long-term operation , PDCA operation theory , stakeholder theory , qualitative research

Article Information

Received: 14 September 2026

Published: 29 September 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7102/2026.37451

Article Type: Research Article

Cite this article

Zhang,C.;Yan,X.;You,Z.;Zhang,Y.;Wilson,B. (2026). From phenomenal hits to sustained influence: the long-term operation mechanism of China's domestic costume-drama IPs—A qualitative analysis from the multi-stakeholder perspective of frontline practitioners. Advances in Social Behavior Research,17(10),153-162.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About this Journal

Journal: Advances in Social Behavior Research

Volume: Vol.17, Issue 10

ISSN: 2753-7102 (Print) / 2753-7110 (Online)

Copyright & License

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