An Analysis of Flowers and Youth's Innovation from the Perspective of Communication Theory: A Case Study of Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season

Peng Youyou, Chen Yudi
(Mango TV, Changsha, Hunan 410000)

Abstract

[Purpose] As one of China's early travel variety shows, Flowers and Youth left audiences with the deepest impression of its diverse interpersonal relationships and distinct character traits. However, Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season sheds these previous labels, presenting a wonderful journey that demonstrates the friendliness of interpersonal communication. While leading audiences to see the world along the Silk Road, it also effectively disseminates excellent Chinese culture. This article analyzes the innovations of Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season compared with previous seasons, aiming to provide reflection and reference for travel programs. [Method] Combining broadcast performance, this study comprehensively applies theoretical methods from communication studies including cold/hot media, uses and gratifications theory, characteristics of mass media audiences, and communication functions. [Results] It deeply analyzes the logical reasons behind its success in attracting audiences and becoming a phenomenon-level hit, providing new ideas for similar travel variety shows. [Conclusion] It multi-dimensionally verifies the important impact of innovative promotion, diversified content arrangement, and mainstream value communication on shaping hit variety shows.

Keywords: communication theory; Flowers and Youth; innovation; travel reality show; variety show

1. "Cold Media" and "Hot Media" in Pre-Broadcast Promotion

1.1 Innovation: Reversing Program Image to Expand Audience Base

In recent years, variety shows have emerged in an explosive "gushing" manner, with countless dazzling programs from major platforms leaving viewers overwhelmed. Established variety shows face mounting market pressure and must seek breakthroughs and innovation points. Flowers and Youth (hereinafter referred to as "HY") has maintained its unique "HY IP" charm for ten years despite fierce competition, which is no easy feat. Against a backdrop of severe homogenization, its fresh and natural style, team travel core concept, and all-member comedian image have enabled HY to reach new heights once again, triggering nearly 100.5 billion exposures across the internet and achieving a rating of 9.2, making it a phenomenon-level hit in 2023. This season, themed around the Belt and Road Initiative countries, represents a distinctive landscape in today's variety show market [1]. This article analyzes the innovations of Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season compared with previous seasons from a communication theory perspective to identify the theoretical basis behind the program's explosive popularity.

Program promotion is the crucial step of placing well-produced excellent works before audiences. Many variety shows choose to maintain secrecy during filming, releasing only vague content marketing. However, HY's promotional approach is unconventional. The program initiated the "Walking with Light" aurora livestream on Weibo before broadcast, using nature's unique spectacle to enhance intimacy with viewers. As a travel program, it takes viewers who cannot travel thousands of miles to see the world, allowing them to experience cultural differences across countries. HY's aurora livestream broke through circles precisely because it expanded the audience base while promoting the program. Whether or not viewers continued following the main episodes after watching the aurora livestream, their participation in the livestream itself constituted successful promotion—it made the unaware aware of the program's existence and converted potential audiences into actual viewers.

1.2 The Practice of "Cold Media" and "Hot Media"

Marshall McLuhan proposed the concepts of "cold media" and "hot media." Cold media refers to media that convey limited and ambiguous information, requiring the mobilization of multiple senses and rich imagination to understand. Hot media refers to media that transmit relatively clear and explicit information, where recipients need not mobilize additional senses or associative activities to comprehend—the medium itself is "hot," requiring no "warm-up exercise" for information processing [2]. Many programs avoid revealing content before broadcast to maintain热度. However, if pre-broadcast promotion diverges from audience expectations, viewers may abandon watching. Moreover, releasing substantial program content beforehand contradicts the strategy of arousing audience curiosity, as some novelty-seeking viewers have already determined the program's theme and tone from promotional materials. If promotional content becomes homogeneous with other market offerings, the program loses its competitive edge.

Innovative promotion can compensate for the drawbacks of "hot media," and HY fully leveraged this characteristic to break audience stereotypes and present scenes different from their expectations, thereby stimulating curiosity and generating discussion. Using an aurora livestream for promotion—without hyping guests or forcing conflicts—the production team generously released it before broadcast, creating enormous热度. This approach mobilized multiple senses and imagination, making it a classic application of cold media theory.

2. Audience Characteristics: Belt and Road Study Tour for Cultural Dissemination

A core challenge in building China's audio-visual image for global audiences is how to construct a limited yet comprehensive narrative through audio-visual media to transform overseas viewers' cognition and attitudes toward China [3]. This season of HY combines "study tour + travel," and its interaction model reveals that the current media landscape is no longer limited to spectacles created by a few. Diverse interpersonal relationships construct multifaceted dialogic landscapes [4]. The quiz segments became a mouthpiece for China's recent achievements, with astonishing numbers symbolizing national honors and major projects demonstrating great power demeanor. National image possesses continuity and stability—it evolves with China's development and international communication structures while being continuously reproduced, transformed, and innovated through ongoing communication practices [5].

The HY team sincerely praised local folk customs, culinary cultures, and natural landscapes across various destinations. While celebrating diversity and harmony, they also promoted excellent Chinese culture. Foreign ministry spokespersons have praised Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season on international platforms, noting that "Dilraba, wearing Xinjiang attire and dancing Xinjiang folk dances, shines brilliantly." This season has also been recommended multiple times on overseas social media platforms. Transforming grand narratives into storytelling, diluting didactic tones, reducing communication barriers caused by cultural differences, and enhancing cross-cultural communication effectiveness [6]—the motivation of travel is "mobility," and travel narratives contain the meaning of departing from daily life toward distant places [7].

Although audiences come from all corners of the country, regional connections create shared characteristics. Viewers marvel at unseen world landscapes and feel proud of the widespread dissemination of excellent Chinese culture—this represents the unified commonality of HY's audience. Utilizing mass media audience characteristics, HY grasped the essentials of expanding its audience base and understood what viewers need. The invited guests each brought unique colors, allowing audiences to observe every guest's distinctive charm. Celebrating diversity and harmony is the inexhaustible source of the program's vitality. Audiences have grown tired of long-standing conflicts caused by personality clashes and are more willing to see program content develop toward positive social influence—this has become a new magic weapon for variety show creation.

3. Communication Functions: Entertainment and Social Dimensions

3.1 Innovation: Moving Beyond Interpersonal Relationships to All-Member Comedians

Function equals effect—only when something has effect do people acknowledge its significance. The 20th Party Congress report states that socialist core values are a powerful force for uniting hearts and gathering strength [9]. One reason HY attracted massive audiences is that viewers can relax while watching. The chief director candidly admitted spending four months on casting. After broadcast, audiences quickly discovered Hu Xianxu, who has been a natural comedian since childhood; Wang Anyu, who lets himself go when serving as tour guide; Dilraba, revealing her authentic personality; the straightforward Zhao Zhaoyi; Xin Zhilei, whose personality contrasts sharply with her appearance; "Electronic Dora" Qin Lan; and the adorable and warm-hearted eldest sister, Qin Hailu.

Riding the wave of "everything can be shipped," HY has become the variety show with the most successful pairings. Almost every variety show develops one or two combinations to increase program热度—for example, Angelababy and Zheng Kai's Thursday on-screen couple in Keep Running, or the "Three Fools" and "Three Smarties" combinations in Go Fighting, all becoming major hotspots. Unlike previous shows, HY's combinations blend perfectly. The friendly atmosphere has created a pairing for every two members, making the easygoing relationships a highlight of the program.

3.2 Uses and Gratifications Theory

In the new media era, media development stimulates and broadens people's content demands. "Audience demands involve both media technological development and media content presentation, placing audiences and programs in a constant state of 'use and dissatisfaction' tension" [10]. A major function of variety shows is entertaining the public—most viewers watch TV variety shows hoping to obtain happy leisure time, shifting attention from tedious life to discovering life's pleasures and beauty, which is the winning weapon for variety show ratings. Moderate "slowing down" has become young people's consensus, and audience demands for variety shows have shifted from fast-paced to relaxed [11].

Uses and gratifications theory examines the psychological and behavioral effects of mass communication by analyzing audience motivations for media contact and what needs these contacts satisfy [12]. Program creation is a dialogue between creators and audiences—creators must揣摩 audience psychology. In this information age, intermittent conflicts undoubtedly make programs more watchable. Under such creative circumstances, travel programs daring to try new attractions are rare. When travel programs focus lenses on guests' different perspectives and solutions to matters, attention naturally shifts to discussing guests' different personalities. Audiences transition from watching excitement to learning interpersonal strategies, not only adding highlights for guests but also enhancing audience gains and increasing viewer stickiness. Uses and gratifications theory also tells variety show creators that audience satisfaction should no longer be confined to the "amusing ourselves to death" category but should move toward more meaningful, higher-quality content creation.

4. Factors Influencing Communication Effects

4.1 Innovation: Diversified Programming for Enhanced Experience

HY's broadcast programming is distinctive. Beyond the main episodes, it includes pilot episodes, advance content, extended cuts, extra behind-the-scenes footage, and HY reaction videos. The program wins audience favor through mass content production, demonstrating full sincerity. The more creative content released, the more attractions available; the more artists appear on screen, the higher the program's热度, enriching audience viewing experiences. In the HY reaction panel, guests' immediate reactions to their on-screen performances are highly entertaining, extending beyond filmed performances to post-production exchanges of inner thoughts, showcasing chemistry after becoming familiar. HY also values audience interaction, launching secondary creation editing activities to expand program influence and conduct comprehensive promotion.

The program's livestreams during the guests' travels also captured audience preferences. Rich attractions immerse viewers, with the program dominating hot charts across major platforms. The program契合 Xiaohongshu's "grass-planting" attributes through strong interaction, obtaining 8.2 billion exposures, repeatedly breaking records and receiving Xiaohongshu's official certification as TOP1 in the variety show category. The production team also launched the HY Travel Guidebook to share the HY team's travel routes, achieving cross-circle dissemination for effective and efficient widespread promotion.

4.2 Factors Influencing Communication Effects

Four main factors influence communication effects: communication medium, content and presentation style, information repetition, and audience reception conditions [13]. HY first adopts weekly consecutive broadcasting for information repetition, increasing audience expectations and satisfying desires through repeated exposure, forming a closed loop between stimulating and satisfying desires—satisfaction stimulates further desire, which is immediately satisfied, creating cyclical viewing inertia. HY's daily broadcast content varies, starting with pre-travel pilot episodes, followed by advance clips, then main travel episodes, extended behind-the-scenes footage when audiences want more, and later combining guests to watch filming reactions. This content innovation effectively reduces audience aesthetic fatigue and enhances viewing satisfaction.

Multi-platform broadcasting increases exposure and discussion. The traditional weekly broadcast model no longer suits today's fast-paced era. In this age pursuing exposure, HY's broadcast schedule demonstrates full sincerity, releasing filming materials daily to increase audience memory points and maintain program热度. The program's promotional methods across major platforms are comprehensive, with guests also communicating with audiences on platforms, covering multi-level demographics, achieving cross-boundary success, and becoming one of the most beloved variety shows.

5. Long-Tail Effect and Derivative Program Innovation

5.1 Innovation: After-Sales Service and Derivatives, Innovative Expression Forms

After the latest season's broadcast achieved significant反响, the creative team leveraged the program's热度 to launch livestreams revealing artists' interpersonal relationships long after travel ended. Audiences with意犹未尽 feelings naturally continued following the program with its beautiful filter. When artists asked production staff how they should behave on the program, the answer was—be yourself. When positive feedback emerges, the overall trend for variety shows forms, allowing the entire team to focus on high-热度 and high-discussion topics, creating two-way feedback with audiences. The creative team immediately developed the season's IP derivative program HY Friends, featuring Season 5's guests as regulars, continuing the latest season's热度 and satisfying loyal audiences' psychology while maintaining inherent viewership.

Derivative program innovation doesn't stop at simply expanding original content—it adds regular guests from previous seasons and first-time participants as flying guests to the HY team. This unprecedented gathering of guests from all seasons creates friction between each season's styles, with different guests producing different chemical reactions—precisely what interests audiences.

5.2 Capturing Communication Under the Long-Tail Effect

The long-tail theory posits that people typically only focus on important people or events—the "head" of the curve—while ignoring the "tail" that requires more effort and cost to notice [14]. In program industry chains, the original program represents this head, while derivative programs become the tail. Early derivative programs mainly appeared in talent competition shows, composed of behind-the-scenes footage to increase newcomers' exposure, but they have now become essential components of variety shows. HY Season 5's broadcast brought the HY IP back to public view. The creative team captured the program's余热, investing costs to create derivative programs that not only continued the parent program's热度 but also introduced different creative ideas. After program热度 dissipates, what remains are loyal audiences with continued expectations—this group's demands create space for satisfaction. The program attempted many new combinations and content, with cross-season group travel being a form never attempted in previous variety shows. The derivative program's new elements and changes break fixed thinking and patterns, achieving a cross-dimensional effect, innovating program expression forms, adding discussion topics and new attractions, helping alleviate audience aesthetic fatigue and expanding program development space.

6. Implications and Future Development

Against the backdrop of high-quality development, the文艺 industry must face modernization, the world, and the future, innovating to promote mainstream value dissemination and expression, strengthening people's cognition and understanding of mainstream values [15]. Variety shows bear the responsibility of disseminating social mainstream values, shoulder the heavy burden of China's film and television industry going global, and lead the advanced trend of Chinese cultural development. Content creation originates from the people and reacts upon them. National image possesses tremendous influence and cohesion, representing a country's comprehensive strength [16]. "To better promote Chinese culture going global, carrying the Dao through culture, transmitting sound through culture, and influencing people through culture, we must explain and recommend to the world more excellent culture with Chinese characteristics, embodying Chinese spirit and containing Chinese wisdom" [17]. With continuous development of digital and internet technologies, new media shows vigorous development momentum, and traditional media needs continuous innovation and development [18].

Quality variety shows must be works beneficial to audiences ideologically. Many programs currently pursue entertainment and controversy for ratings and viewership, ignoring deeper meanings, leaving endless emptiness after brief laughter. Such homogeneous program flooding makes quality variety shows difficult to stand out, hindering innovation in the variety and film industry. Therefore, variety shows must make breakthrough changes themselves. In this content-is-king era, they must convey social ideology solidly—this is why Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season succeeded. Characters are no longer dispute creators but program mouthpieces and artist brands going global. Audiences harvest the beauty of interpersonal communication and learn the art of speaking. When variety shows remain true to their original purpose and explore what ideological influences they can bring audiences, they can discover the next breakthrough.

Variety show target audiences are fixed by program type, guests, entertainment value, themes, etc. Data shows China's variety show audiences skew toward young people in their twenties and thirties, creating age-circle固定化 and a variety show gap that makes it difficult for the film industry to produce works suitable for all ages. Travel variety shows focus on stories between people and people, people and nature, and people and society, possessing unique advantages for breaking age-circle固定化. They should break assembly-line production models and create programs符合 mainstream values. Precisely because audiences are fixed in the youth demographic, content creation should be even more refined. The essence of quality content creation requires programs with rich and profound connotations. While pursuing comedic effects, programs must emphasize educational significance, creating quality works that subtly and positively influence individuals and organizations.

Integrating these two aspects is a long and arduous journey—overemphasizing either side leads to bias. Future variety shows must strive toward works with clear themes and rich forms. This requires producers to generate new ideas and continuously practice, creating more and better works through exploration.

References:
[1] Flowers and Youth·Silk Road Season Breaks Records Upon Premiere, Hunan Radio and Television Explores New Cases of Media Convergence [EB/OL]. (2023-11-01) [2024-09-08]. https://www.163.com/dy/article/IIGE23FH0530MD86.html.
[2] Herbert Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media [M]. Translated by He Daokuan. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2000: 51.
[3] Liang Junjian. On the Generation Mechanism of China's Audio-Visual Image [J]. China Television, 2023(8): 5-11.
[4] Zhao Yuhe. Adventures and Spectacles: The Value Return of Travel Reality Shows—A Case Study of Flowers and Youth [J]. Compilation, Writing and Editing, 2018(1): 124-125.
[5] Liang Junjian. On the Generation Mechanism of China's Audio-Visual Image [J]. China Television, 2023(8): 5-11.
[6] Duan Longjiang. Dilemmas and Optimization Paths of China's Cross-Cultural Communication [J]. People's Tribune, 2021(14): 98-100.
[7] Zhang Lei, Xie Zhuoxiao. The Spatialization of Social Relations: Mobility in Travel Reality Shows [J]. China Television, 2018(7): 71-75.
[8] Guo Qingguang. Communication Studies Tutorial [M]. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2011: 151.
[9] Xi Jinping. Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects—Report at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China [J]. People's Daily, 2022(10).
[10] Tong Qingyan. Beyond Media: Uncovering the Veil of Media's Influence on Audiences [M]. Beijing: China Radio & Television Press, 2002: 64.
[11] Yu Xiwen. Analysis of the Development Path of Chinese Variety Shows—A Case Study of Slow Variety Show Back to Field [J]. Media Forum, 2021, 4(6): 10-12.
[12] Cao Qin, Yuan Chenchen. Literature Review of "Uses and Gratifications" Theory [J]. Southeast Communication, 2013(12).
[13] Zhang Guoliang. Principles of Communication Studies [M]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2021: 73.
[14] Chris Anderson. The Long Tail [M]. Translated by Qiao Jiangtao, Shi Xiaoyan. Beijing: CITIC Press, 2012: 117.
[15] Liang Deping. Analysis of the Path for Variety Shows to Innovate Mainstream Value Expression [J]. China Television, 2023(7): 54-57.
[16] Guan Shijie. International Communication Studies [M]. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2004: 1.
[17] Xi Jinping Emphasizes Strengthening and Improving International Communication Work to Present a True, Multi-Dimensional, and Panoramic View of China at the 30th Collective Study Session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee [N]. People's Daily, 2021-06-02(1).
[18] Liu Shufeng. To "Converge" Requires First "Changing"—Discussing the Convergence Development and Innovation of Traditional Media [J]. News Culture Construction, 2021(1): 33-34.

Author Biographies:
Peng Youyou (1986—), female, from Shaoyang, Hunan, bachelor's degree, third-grade literary editor, General Manager of Mango TV Drama Evaluation and Quality Control Center, research direction: film and television art and cultural economy.
Chen Yudi (1993—), female, from Lianyungang, Jiangsu, master's degree, third-grade literary editor, Head of Mango TV Training Base, research direction: publicity management and broadcasting art.

(Editor in charge: Li Yansong)