Lightweight translation as emotional support in global communication: A qualitative analysis of Pop Mart

Against the backdrop of global consumer culture, Pop Mart has emerged as a representative cultural phenomenon within the designer toys industry. Drawing on grounded theory, this study analyzes 3584 user comments from YouTube and Bilibili with NVivo 15 and employs a three-stage coding process to uncover the emotional-support pathway in Pop Mart's "lightweight transduction" strategy. The findings show that by simplifying visual symbols, reducing contextual load, and softening affective representations, Pop Mart creates products that can be easily interpreted and emotionally projected across diverse cultural settings. The analysis further reveals that the brand activates emotional resonance through symbolic visual transduction, enhances communication efficacy through participatory user dissemination, and mitigates cross-cultural friction via adaptive mechanisms. Ultimately, Pop Mart converts symbolic capital into sustainable commercial value through intertwined cycles of commercial circulation and cultural feedback. This study not only explicates the role of "lightweight transduction" in enabling emotional support but also offers new theoretical and practical insights for cultural brands seeking to achieve both cultural resonance and commercial scalability.