Effects of Hallyu on Chinese Consumers: A Focus on Remote Acculturation

Abstract

Remote acculturation is a modern form of non-immigrant acculturation, which has primarily been used to investigate local people’s acculturation toward one or more foreign cultures. It has been approximately 30 years since the introduction of the first Korean TV drama Jealousy into China in 1993, and China is the birthplace of the Chinese term of Hallyu. Chinese people have experienced a long-term and far-reaching impact of Hallyu and Korean culture. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the effects of Hallyu (e.g., degree of use of Hallyu cultural contents, the Hallyu image, and Hallyu cultural familiarity) on Chinese consumers, with a focus on remote acculturation. A total of 623 Chinese consumers’ survey data were collected, and an analysis of a structural equation model (SEM) was conducted to verify the research hypotheses. The results manifest that the degree of use of Hallyu cultural contents, the Hallyu image, the Hallyu cognitive image, the Hallyu affective image and Hallyu cultural familiarity positively influence Korean cultural orientation, while the Hallyu image, the Hallyu cognitive image and the Hallyu affective image exert a negative impact on Chinese cultural orientation, but the degree of use of Hallyu cultural contents and Hallyu cultural familiarity do not significantly negatively affect Chinese cultural orientation. Moreover, Korean cultural orientation brings about a positive effect on attitudes toward Korea, while Chinese cultural orientation negatively impacts on attitudes toward Korea. Additionally, attitudes toward Korea generate a positive influence on visit intention to Korea, along with the intention to purchase Korean products. Overall, this paper enriches the research objects of remote acculturation, extends the research scope of remote acculturation and provides a new perspective for studies on Hallyu by introducing remote acculturation into the exploration of Hallyu.