This belongs in the forums

Quick answer, of course it does. If you're a B or C lister this is your bread and butter, I can't buy tickets to fan meets, buy their merchandise, go see their live shows etc

The issue here is that Korean fans are not like International fans. Korean fans invest a lot of time and money into their favorite groups. For instance, they buy not all versions of their album, but bulk order albums for higher sales and try to get all the photo cards of the members by buying their albums multiple times. On top of that, whatever the group endorses or a member of the group endorses they go to the stores to buy those products or services. They also buy all their merchandise and spend tons of money to get into fan meets, fan signs, music shows, and concerts. Some of these fans even miss school or work to take photos of their idols at airports, early morning music bank arrivals, and more. In fact, every item their idol wears from designer clothes to chips to alcohol and even hangers sells out instantly. You'd be surprised some of these fans even keep the food packages that have their idol's faces on them such as pizza boxes, chicken boxes, and more. Also, these fans spend tons of money to gift their idols expensive gifts and luxuries. However, international fans don't dedicate that much of their time and money on foreign artists. There are very few people that would do all the following I listed above for their artist. On top of that Korean entertainment companies are not like American entertainment companies. Korean companies promote the idea of fantasy and delusion apart from music. They make fans buy the fantasy and delusion they create in the form of idol groups. Of course the sole purpose of these groups isn't just pretty faces, but music and dance as well basically a whole package. Furthermore, unlike western artists, idols are a lot closer to their fans. The idea of meeting their idols and having a conversation, shaking their hand or even exchanging eye contact is hard in the western industry. This also means that fans feel very personal with their favorite groups and also could possibly be a fan of them not for their music but as simple as just their face. Therefore, when idols get into a relationship, the delusion and fantasy are broken. Of course fans know they these idols would never really be theirs, but whatever money they spend on them, they want it to benefit their idol only and not anyone else. The issue here is when an idol dates, his or her love and attention are for their partner and this makes fans feel sad because they can no more fantasize nor claim the idol as theirs. I think the main problem is companies promote fans having this fantasy, which makes them so dedicated. Hence, once an idol dates they feel no need to spend that much money because all that money they are spending for him or her those idols would spend it for their significant other. Unfortunately, this culture has to change and might slowly change because now these kids would be like oh my oppa but then years down the road they'd be like the fuck was wrong with me.