한류콘텐츠 경험이 국가 이미지, 한류콘텐츠 만족도 및 충성도에 미치는 영향: 유럽 신한류 잠재소비자를 중심으로

초록

A term now widely used to refer to the popularity of Korean entertainment and culture across Asia and other parts of the world, Hallyu or the “Korean Wave” first appeared during the mid-1990s when Korean TV dramas and pop music gained great popularity in China. Further, the new Korean wave, i.e., the popularity and expansion of Korean culture that was sparked mainly by K-pop since late 2010, is spreading all over the world, including to China, Japan, Southeast Asia, as well as Europe and North America. The new Korean wave has heightened the status of many Korean cultural contents, such as K-pop, TV dramas, and movies as well as Korean food, games, animation, and Korean traditional culture. When dealing with K-pop, TV dramas, and Korean movies, most previous studies on Korean wave have focused on its effects on Korea’s country image, purchase intentions for Korean products, and Korean tourism, and mainly due to interest from China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. However, because the new Koran wave is spreading all over the world, it is necessary to examine the influence of Korean wave on potential consumers in various regions, including Europe and North America. Further, the study of new Korean wave should deal with the experience of Korean wave contents that encompass various types of Korean culture, including not only K-pop, TV dramas, and movies, but also games, animation, Korean food, and other Korean traditional culture. To fill in this research gap, this study empirically examined the effects of Korean wave contents experience on Korea’s country image, customer satisfaction with the Korean wave contents, and customer loyalty while targeting consumers in England and France in Europe. In September 2012, a survey was conducted among 300 Korean wave customers in England and France (England: 150, France 150). The collected data were analyzed by the structural equation models (SEM) along with AMOS program. The study’s findings show that the experience of Korean wave contents had a positive effect on contents satisfaction, while showing an insignificant effect on Korea’s country image. Further, Korea’s country image and the experience of Korean wave contents positively influenced customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction had a positive effect on customer loyalty. Although the experience of Korean wave contents did not affect Korea’s country image, through additional analysis, this study found that a group of consumers considered to have a medium involvement in Korean wave contents had a stronger sense of Korea’s image than did a low‐involvement group or a high‐involvement group. This result implies that Korean wave contents increase Korea’s national image among consumers with a medium involvement in Korean wave but additional experience (more than six types of contents) reduces the perception of Korea’s image. The theoretical and practical implications for the ongoing, stable expansion of the new Korean wave are discussed. First, this study suggests that given that consumers in Europe and other potential markets are different from those in Asia, including China and Japan, it is essential to first increase the interest and awareness of Korean wave and Korean culture in those markets. Second, this study reveals that to expand the new Korean Wave, it is necessary to do a comprehensive analysis and systematic management of Korean cultural contents and the Korean image. Third, this study implies that we need to provide various ways for European consumers to experience the various contents of the Korean wave, such as offering contents in different languages, not only English; support and activation of Korean wave clubs; and up to date information about Korean wave contents. Last, this study reveals that an image promotion strategy is necessary to improve Korea’s national image. For example, while actively utilizing the idol group, Korean wave music concerts, and fan meetings of Hallyu stars, we need to use the new media (e.g., Youtube and SNS) that consumers of the new Korean wave use.

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