Stars Wars has attracted a cadre of dedicated fans across a multi-decade period. With the first film rapidly approaching 30 years old, the final instalment in the six episode part was released on May 19. This study looks at the impact of fandom on aspects of the consumption of the Star Wars experience, from attitudes to Star Wars, through to broader behaviours related to opinion seeking and opinion leadership. The study also uses a new measure of fandom, the “TruFan”scale, which performs well as an indicator of the influence of fandom. The study was conducted on a queue of 300 fans waiting for the midnight screening of Revenge of the Sith.

1. TruFan Role of Fandom as an influence on attitude

6. Tipping the Scales 171 .7132* Opinion Leadership (Flynn, Goldsmith, & Eastman, 1996) 173 .7633* Opinion Seeking (Flynn, Goldsmith, & Eastman, 1996) 172 .9120 Normative Pressure (Dann, 1999) 171 .8507 Emotional Quotient Scale (Wells, 1964) 165 .8244 Attitudes to Star Wars Advertising 174 .8529 Movie Optimism The Other Scales 160 .9112 Personal Involvement and Fan Loyalty (TRUFAN) 175 .8703 Fan Loyalty (Wakefield and Barnes, 1996) 163 .9224 Personal Involvement (Zaichkowsky 1985) N= Alpha Fandom Scales

8. Self Identification as a Fan 163 1.15 3.52 TruFan 175 0.97 3.95 Involvement Scale 156 0.68 3.94 Summed Fanaticism Scale 175 1.22 3.66 I like to let people know I'm a Star Wars fan 177 1.03 4.16 I will always be a Star Wars fan 177 1.05 4.02 I am a loyal Star Wars fan n SD Mean

9. Fandom and Optimism - 0.241** 0.277** The TV commercials and trailers have encouraged me to be optimistic 0.407** 0.364** 0.462** I am hopeful about Episode III 0.507** 0.459** 0.611** I believe Episode III will be a good film 0.323** 0.283** 0.339** I am optimistic about Episode III 0.407** 0.375** 0.495** The trailer left me excited Fandom Involve TruFan Correlations

10. Fandom and Advertising - 0.176* 0.203* Impressive, most impressive - 0.199* 0.166* Very persuasive 0.155* 0.159* 0.182* Not annoying Fandom Involve TruFan Correlations

11. Fandom and the Yoda Advert -0.253** -0.159* -0.202* This ad leaves me cold -0.172* -0.202* -0.295** I'm tired of this kind of advertising -0.213* -0.189* -0.326** I dislike this ad -0.194* -0.187* -0.222** This ad has little interest for me -0.152* -0.176* -0.202* I would probably skip this ad if I saw it in a magazine - 0.204** 0.189* This ad is very appealing to me Fandom Involve TruFan Correlations