Disseminating Miao new year culture via emojis: a Labubu-style trendy toy IP approach

As lightweight digital media such as social media and short videos have gradually become the primary channels for teenagers to access information and engage in social expression, the traditional offline-dominated dissemination of ethnic minority cultures has faced high barriers, making it difficult to effectively integrate into teenagers' daily life and resulting in a gradual decline in communication effectiveness. The Miao New Year, a vital traditional festival of the Miao ethnic group with profound cultural connotations, has low recognition among teenagers and has not yet formed a communication path adapted to the digital media environment. This study takes Miao New Year culture as the research object and explores the feasibility of using original IP emojis as a carrier for cultural dissemination based on teenagers' media usage habits. Through literature analysis, questionnaire surveys and design practice, the study developed the original IP image "Miao Nuo Zai" and a series of themed emojis, and conducted user tests on the design outcomes. The results show that most teenagers hold a positive attitude towards this communication form, believing that the emojis have a strong emotional appeal and usage intention, and can arouse their interest in Miao New Year culture to a certain extent. This study argues that integrating lightweight digital media with traditional cultural content helps lower the threshold of cultural dissemination and provides a feasible path for the contemporary expression and dissemination of ethnic minority cultures among teenagers.