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Wendi McLain wouldn’t call herself a “Swiftie,” the nickname for Taylor Swift’s superfans. But as a doctoral candidate in Auburn’s Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management, hearing about people desperate to attend the pop star’s Eras Tour concerts made her want to learn more.

“The very beginning of this project came from me being fascinated by people buying tickets,” she said. “I had a friend saying she should have taken a vacation day because she spent eight hours on the computer trying to get tickets — and she didn’t even get them.”

Did you attend an Eras Tour concert? If so, be part of the research!

Swifties, join the study

Two years ago, when McLain was a teaching assistant in the school’s Hotel and Restaurant Management program, she noticed the undergraduates around her were obsessed with Swift. When she told them about her dissertation, she realized it was an incredible opportunity to connect them with academic research.

“It was a segue for me to teach them about research and how we pivot an interesting conversation into something we actually do in graduate school,” she said. “A lot of them don't realize that hospitality is not just an undergraduate degree; at Auburn, we have a master's program, a PhD program and lots of professors doing research in this area.”

Finding fans

For her dissertation, McLain is researching the process of co-creation, which is how fans organically create activities that positively impact the live event experience. She’s taking a triphasic approach, studying fan behavior during the anticipatory, experiential and reflective phases — otherwise known as before, during and after the show.

“They’re doing things that have nothing to do with what her concert organizers planned,” McLain said. “They’re buying outfits or making outfits, they’re making and trading friendship bracelets and all of that came from the fans — that didn’t come from the artist.”

McLain is currently recruiting participants who attended an Eras Tour concert and are willing to share their experience, and her data will be used for both her dissertation and future research. She plans to eventually expand her studies into how user-generated content on social media is impacting the fan experience, especially for younger generations.  

“The thing I’m most interested in is the importance of content produced afterward compared to content produced in the anticipatory or experiential phases,” she said. “Because if it is more important, then as live event managers, we need to start focusing more on that and looking at how we can promote it.”

Her path to academia

When she receives her doctorate this spring, McLain will become a three-time Auburn graduate. Her first degree came in 2000 when she earned a bachelor’s and then interned at Disney World before launching a career in hospitality.

“I just fell in love with the hospitality industry,” she said. “All of this goes back to Dr. Susan Hubbard. I credit her for getting me into it as an undergrad when she was my faculty advisor.”

Over the years, McLain stayed in touch with Hubbard, now dean of the College of Human Sciences, and when she moved back to Auburn in 2014, Hubbard encouraged her to continue her education. McLain assumed she would go right back to work after graduating with a master’s, but she soon found she loved teaching, and with the support of Hubbard and faculty members Dr. Alecia Douglas, Dr. Yee Ming Lee and Nicole Gaillard, she decided to work toward earning a PhD.

“Nicole really taught me about teaching and engaging with students, and I loved that so much I just rolled right into the doctoral program,” she said. “As a non-traditional student, it’s taken me a little bit longer to get through the PhD portion of it, but everyone was just so nice and supportive, and I’ve loved the program.”

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She’s also grateful to School Head Dr. Martin O’Neill for helping with her job search — especially since getting hired at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she currently teaches full-time, earlier than anyone expected.

“Going into the program, no one in my family is in academia, and Dr. O'Neill was wonderful at preparing the PhD students for a job search,” she said.

Inspiration from Auburn

While McLain’s research goal is to craft best practices for live event managers in the entertainment industry, she said there’s a lot to be learned from collegiate athletics, especially at Auburn. She recalls being at a football game the Tigers were losing and realizing the behavior of the fans was driving the atmosphere — just like they would at a Taylor Swift concert.

“The stadium was packed, the students were going crazy and I just remember thinking, ‘We are acting like we’ve won the national championship,’” she said. “Being a fan and student and alumnus, I can say that Auburn does it top notch, even without a winning team. And that fascinates me.”

She sites activities like tailgating traditions, pregame festivities and wearing gameday outfits as vital aspects of the fan experience. And now, her office at Southern Miss reflects that she’s a fan herself.

“I have all this Auburn memorabilia,” she said. “Everyone that comes in my office says, ‘Let me guess; you’re an Auburn grad.’”