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Cover Sheet:

Student Name:	xxxxxxxxxxx
Student ID:	xxxxxxxx

Degree Title:	MBA
Level:	Level 7

Module Title:	DISSERTATION
Module Code:
Supervisor:	xxxxxxxxxxx

Assignment Title:	NATION BRANDING ON STEROIDS
Word Count:	13,000 (Excluding reference, appendix, abstract,acknowledgements)

I, xxxxxxxxxxx confirm that this submission is my own work and I accept all responsibility for anycopyright infringement that may occur as a result of this submission.

Date of Submission:

03/01/2018

NATION BRANDING ON STEROIDS

A STUDY OF THE KOREAN WAVE’S ROLE IN NATION BRANDING

& ITS IMPACT ON K-COSMETIC SALES IN CHINA

xxxxxxxx

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of requirements for the

degrees of xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research would not have been possible without the support and encouragement ofmany individuals.

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, xxxxxxxxand all the tutors in the MBA, international marketing program at Coventry University,London Campus, for their earnest guidance, attentive direction and endearing supportthrough an arduous but fulfilling year. Their professionalism and commitment willcontinue to inspire me in my pursuit of academic excellence.

Next I would like to express my gratitude to my classmates and friends at CoventryUniversity for their wonderful companionship. Special thanks to xxxxxxxxxx, forstanding by me in good times and bad times. Finally I am very grateful to my parents fortheir love and understanding and to my dearest partner, who has been a source ofstrength and inspiration in the writing of this dissertation.

ABSTRACT

The recent surge in demand for K-Cosmetic in China - a term encompassing all cosmeticimports from Korea - has been the subject of great interest to many industry observers.

Many reasons have been extrapolated for this phenomena and among them the KoreanWave is widely regarded as one of the main factor. While this observation is widelyresearched and investigated, so far very few theoretical studies have been undertaken tounderstanding the role of the Korean Wave in the context of a nation branding process.

This study aims to bridge this research gap. Employing a combinatorial mix of theoriesfrom COO research, nation branding and Korean Wave studies with primary data collectedthrough an E-survey and personal interviews with K-Cosmetic users, a conceptualroadmap was conceived describing the relationships between the Korean Wave as anorigin image and the other country-of-origin images and showing how their interactivity hasculminated in the surge in demand for K-Cosmetic in China. The findings will give newinsights into how countries can formulate a viable nation branding strategy to establish apresence in crowded global marketplace.

Key words: Korean Wave, COO Effect, PCatI, PCI, Country Image, Inverse COO, NationBranding, K-Cosmetics

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 4

LIST OF FIGURES 8

LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS 8

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 9

1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND 9

1.1.1 The Korean Nation Brand in China 9

1.1.2 K-Cosmetic in China 10

1.1.3 Introduction to the Korean Wave 10

1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 11

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 12

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION 12

1.5 OUTLINE OF THIS THESIS 12

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 13

2.0 INTRODUCTION 13

2.1 THE COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN CONSTRUCT (COO) 13

2.1.1 Types of COO Images 13

2.1.2 PCatI as Ground-Level Operationalisation 14

2.1.3 PCatI as a Catalyst : Affective 15

2.1.4 PCatI as a Catalyst : Cognitive 16

2.1.5 PCatI as a Catalyst : Normative 17

2.1.6 Korean Wave as a PCatI 18

2.2 THE DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 3 IMAGES 19

2.2.1 Inverse COO Effect 21

2.2.2 Evidence of Inverse COO Effect 22

2.3 NATION BRAND AND NATION BRANDING 23

2.3.1 The Korean Wave Roadmap 26

CHAPTER SUMMARY 27

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 28

3.1 INTRODUCTION 28

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 28

3.2.1 A Brief Survey of Past Approaches 29

3.2.2 Sequential Explanatory Design 31

3.2.3 Conceptual Model 31

3.3. DATA COLLECTION METHOD 32

3.4 SAMPLING STRATEGY 33

3.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN 34

3.5.1 E-survey design 34

3.5.2 Interview Plan 35

3.5.3 Item Generation 35

3.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION 37

3.8 RESEARCH SCOPE & LIMITATIONS 37

CHAPTER SUMMARY 38

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 39

4.1 INTRODUCTION 39

4.2 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS 39

4.2.1 Proﬁle of interviewees 39

4.2.2 Proﬁle and analysis of respondents 39

4.3 Comparative Analysis of Main Variables 42

4.3.1 Cumulative mean scores of main variables 42

4.3.2 Finding and Discussion of Hypotheses 1 43

4.3.2.1 E-survey ﬁnding & discussion 43

4.3.3 Finding and Discussion of Hypotheses 2 45

4.3.4 Findings and Discussion of Hypotheses 3 47

4.4 KEY MODERATING FACTORS 49

4.4.1 Gender 50

4.4.2. Age Range 51

4.4.3. Travel History 51

CHAPTER SUMMARY 51

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATION 53

5.1 CONCLUSION 53

5.2 RECOMMENDATION 54

LIST OF REFERENCE 58

Appendix 1 E-survey Questionnaire 66

Appendix 2 68

CUSUM test for main variables 68

A 2.1 Pop culture (PCatI) 68

A 2.3 Country image (CI) 72

Appendix 3 75

Gender comparison 75

Appendix 4 76

A SNIPPET OF RESPONSES TO THE TWO INTERVIEWS : QUESTIONS POSED TO

TWO RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS 76

Appendix 5 78

Ethical certiﬁcation 78

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Halo Model of Origin Images 18

Figure 2.2 HMOI framework 19

Figure 2.3: Bi-directional COO eﬀect 20

Figure 2.4: Inverse COO Framework 22

Figure 2.5: Nation Brand Hexagon 24

Figure 2.6: Nation Branding Roadmap 26

Figure 3.1: An Approach to Business Empirical Research 28

Figure 3.2: Sequential explanatory design 31

Figure 3.3: Conceptual Model 32

Figure 3.4: Six - dimensions of PCI 36

Figure 3.5: Global assessment scale 37

LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS

Table 3-1 Overview of related research papers 29

Table 4-1 Interviewees’Proﬁle 40

Table 4-2 Respondents’proﬁle 41

Chart 4-1 Comparative analysis of total mean scores 43

Table 4-3 Total mean scores 43

Chart 4-2 PCatI Highlights 44

Chart 4-3 PCI Highlights 45

Chart 4-4 CI Highlights 49

Table 4-4 Key moderating factor analysis 51

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND

1.1.1 The Korean Nation Brand in China

In the early 1990s, a consumer revolution swept across urban China as domesticconsumption of foreign goods took off (White, 2000). In spite of the vast opportunities, theKorean nation brand did not find itself in a good place. The market for foreign goodscontinued to be dominated by US, European and Japanese brands and Korean brandsstruggled to find a niche (The economist, 2004).

In one of the first ever country-of-origin effect studies undertaken in China to compare theattitude of Chinese consumers towards foreign products (Zhang,1996), the study foundthat despite cultural similarities between China and South Korea, Japan and USA were stillrated more highly in country-of-origin perception than Korea in the minds of the Chineseconsumers. Of the many possible factors influencing the disparity, the study concludedthat it was lingering stereotype of South Korea as a lesser developed economy, comparedto the Japanese and US “more developed countries”image (Bilkey & Nes, 1982) thatremained an impediment in the minds of the Chinese consumer (Porter, 1990).

Then in 1997, Korea’s country image suffered a further humiliating blow as the contagionof the Asian financial spread across Asia crippling economies in its wake. Investors fledand the country tethered on the brink of bankruptcy. A US$55 billion loan provided by theIMF and friendly nations represented the largest single bailout in history up to the point(Kim, 2000). The IMF crisis was and remained a low point in the Korean national psyche(Korea Herald, 2017).

Fast-forward twenty years to 2017, and a completely different picture emerged. Chineseconsumers no longer rate Korean products as second tier among foreign imports. In fact,Korean-made products can be seen challenging the supremacy of US, Japanese andEuropean products in all sectors of the consumer market ranging from cars, mobilephones, TVs to fashion (Jin, 2016). South Korea is now one of China’s favourite outbound

tourist destination (Lee & Nornes, 2015) and young Chinese consumers look up to Koreaas the new “Mecca”for latest electronic gadgets, fashion and beauty trends (Chang & Lee,2017)). But nowhere is the trend more salient than the dramatic surge in cosmetic sector.

1.1.2 K-Cosmetic in China

International brands from France, USA and Japan traditionally dominated the Chinesemarket which together accounted for 40% of cosmetic imports in 2013 (Bain & company,2013). Until 2012, Korean cosmetics products (hereinafter referred to as K-cosmetic)accounted for less than 5% of the Chinese cosmetic market (KITA 2017) until a dramatic252% surge in demand in 2013 catapulted K-Cosmetics pass traditional market leaderslike US & Japan to become the top imported cosmetic country brand in China(International Trade Administration, 2016).

This surge in demand for K-Cosmetic is a visible demonstration of the dramatictransformation of the Korean nation brand in the last two decades and it has stirred greatinterest and debate among both industry observers and academics alike (Fan, 2010).

Many reasons have been extrapolated, among them the Korean Wave is widely regardedas one of the main factors.

1.1.3 Introduction to the Korean Wave

In the last twenty years pop cultural exports from Korea in the form of TV dramas, TVprograms, pop music and films has been so successful and well-received that the term

‘Korean Wave’was minted by the Chinese press (China Daily, 2001) to describe the

Korean Wave’s ubiquitous reach and broad appeal in countries all across Asia. No countrywas spared this contagion, it has been reported that whether you are in Singapore, Beijing,Taipei, Manila, Bangkok or Hanoi it is hard to turn on the TV and avoid Korean dramas(Korea Times, 2001).

All research into the origins the Korean Wave concur that the popularity of Korean TV

drama was the trigger for the Korean Wave in China (Kim, 2007). The outbreak can betraced back to 1997 when the TV drama, “What is Love All About?”first broadcasted onthe state-run Chinese television (Korea Times, 2004). As Korean soap operas and popularsongs caught on, the Chinese media coined the trend “韩流”which can be translated as

“Korean Wave”(China Daily, 2001) and transliterated into Korean as “Hallyu”. It is

interesting to note that the Chinese word “韩流”was even introduced into a contemporaryChinese Dictionary (Kim, 2003).

The export of Korean cultural products between 1998 and 2015 increased by 21.5 times,from US$189m in 1998 to US$ 4 billion in 2014. Growth in the value of exports were drivenby the sharp increase in market value of Korean TV dramas in the destination markets. In2002, TV dramas accounted for 76.8% of total cultural exports, by 2005, this percentagehad jumped to 92% (Jin & Yoon, 2017). Contrary to what many skeptics suggest, theexport push in the early stage was largely driven by the private initiatives of Koreanentertainment companies such as CJ Entertainment, SM, YG and JYP, which are allprivately-owned and profit-driven entities (Lee, el at, 2015).

By 2012, what was first regarded as a fringe product with limited economic gravitas finallycaught the attention of Korea’s economic planners. The 2012 SERI-PCNB NBDO NationBrand Rankings Report published annually by Samsung Economic Research Institute(SERI) listed the Korean Wave as the “new pillar”in Brand Korea, noting its contribution tothe export economy and recognised the Korean Wave’s role in raising the profile of otherKorean products like automobiles and K-Cosmetics (Lee, 2012).

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1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

That there is an correlation between the success of the Korean Wave and the surge indemand for K-Cosmetic everyone seems to agree (Chang & Lee, 2017). To what extendand how the process can be explained from a nation branding perspective, the studies sofar has been scattered and limited. Existing literature on the Korean Wave have beenfocused on investigating of the impact of the Korean Wave more from a social-culturalperspective. Very little theoretical research is available to understand the role of theKorean Wave in the context of a nation branding process. This project addresses theresearch gap. Employing a combinatorial mix of theories from COO research, nationbranding and Korean Wave studies with primary data collected through an E-survey andpersonal interviews with K-Cosmetic users, a conceptual roadmap was conceived tooutline the relationships between the Korean Wave as an origin image and the other originimages and how their interactivity has culminated in the surge in demand for K-Cosmeticin China.

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The primary goal of this study is to examine the role of Korean wave in nation brandingand the impact on K-cosmetic sales in China.

The specific objectives of this study are:

•Using existing theories from COO research, Nation Brand research and Korean Wave

studies to build a Korean Wave Roadmap to situating the Korean Wave in the nationbranding process with consequent impact on K-Cosmetics sales in China.

•To establish the validity of the Korean Wave Roadmap by validating the correlative

relationships between the Korean Wave as a Product Category Image (PCatI), theProduct Country Image (PCI) and Country Image(CI) among K-Cosmetic users in China.

•To present a set of “prescripts”or pointers for developing a new approach to nation

branding studies in the future.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The objectives of this study prompt the following research question :

Has the Korean Wave influenced the Korean nation branding process in China withconsequent impact on the demand for K-Cosmetic in China?

1.5 OUTLINE OF THIS THESIS

There are five chapters in this study. Chapter one introduces the research subject,objectives, rationale and significance. Chapter two contains a review of literature andexplore the theories critical to the study. Chapter three deals with the methodology anddesign of the research with details of its limitations. Chapter four focuses on the findingswith a descriptive analysis based on the data derived from the survey and personalinterviews. In chapter five a conclusion is presented with a recommendation for futureresearch direction.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

The focus of this literature review is on current research relating to nation branding startingwith a survey of origin images found within COO studies with a focus on the product-category image (PCatI). The study then moves on to look at new research pertaining toorigin-image frameworks with a particular emphasis on the Inverse COO Effect. Finally thestudy reviews the key concepts current in nation branding research to secure anoverarching umbrella perspective of the nation branding process. At the end of the chapter,findings are integrated to build a Korean Wave Roadmap outlining the role Korean Wave’srole in nation branding process and its impact on the sale of K-Cosmetics.

2.1 THE COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN CONSTRUCT (COO)

Marketing researchers have long noticed the effect a Country-of-Origin (COO) label has onbuyer behaviour (Dichter, 1962). Schooler (1965) in a landmark study was the first to testempirically that “made in”labels does make a difference in a consumer’s evaluation of aproduct. Research on the COO construct has since flourished and it is among one of themost researched topics in marketing studies today (Papadopoulos, 2002; Pharr, 2005;Jain, 2007). Here are some of the key areas relevant to the present investigation.

2.1.1 Types of COO Images

For years, COO research has been dogged by confusion over a lack of uniform taxonomyto standardise important COO concepts, definitions and its many subordinate constructs(Verlegh & Steenkamp, 1999; Hsieh, 2004; Bhaskaran & Sukurmaran, 2007; Roth andDiamandopoulos, 2009). To address this shortcoming, Carneiro and Faria (2015) labouredat length to delimitate important conceptual domains decomposing the COO construct into

3 essential image types as Country image(CI), Product(s) Country image (PCI), Productcategory image(PCATI) and their functionalities.

1. Country Image (CI) is a country’s overall image, a description or an observation, a set

of beliefs about a country and its people independent of any direct reference toproducts from the country (Martin & Eroglu, 1993). Essence of CI can be observed incomments like ‘Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa’or ‘Nepalesewill overcome this disaster, they are a hardy lot’. These statements represent theconsumers’overall perceptions of a country and it is people without consideration forthe products the country produces.

2. Product(s) Country Image (PCI) is the image of a country evaluated based on the

country’s overall perceived capacity to produce quality goods (Hsieh et al, 2004).

Examples of PCI are imbedded in comments like ‘if this product is made in Japan itshould be ok’or ‘products from Sweden are generally reliable’. This summaryimpression of a country and it is ability to produce goods may originate from theconsumers’prior experiences with the country’s other products and services, fromhearsay or from the media (Han, 1989). As an evaluative protocol, the PCI can be seenas a tacit endorsement of a country’s overall capability to produce goods fit for globalconsumption (Diamantopoulos, 2011).

3. Product Category Country Image (PCatI) is a composite construct that ties a country’s

description with a particular category of products the country is well-known for (Hsieh,2004). Examples here include Iranian carpets, French luxury products, Germansausages, K-Cosmetics, Cuban cigars, Hollywood movies. As suggested by Laroche(2005), because of a narrower focus, certain PCatI can co-exist with other image typeseven though they appear contradictory. The study cited the example of Iranian rugswhich may be highly regarded (PCatI), while Iran’s country image (CI) and otherproducts (PCI) may be negatively rated.

2.1.2 PCatI as Ground-Level Operationalisation

Some researchers have suggested that the PCatI represents ground-leveloperationalisation of the COO effect (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy, 2000), that is,

origin images only become expressive when product and country fuse into a cognisantentity, albeit, in the mind of the foreign consumer (Andehn, et al 2015). Furthermore, AsRoth and Romeo (1992) have long argued, to think in terms of categories is human. Thetendency to box ideas, thoughts and observations into mental schemas is fundamental tothe human psyche (Pavelchak, 1989, Sujan, 1985). Benn et al. (2015) found in a study ofon-line shoppers that 95% of participants still navigate through ‘virtual departments’tosearch for products just as they would navigate to the correct aisle in a physical store.

Consumers - online or off-line - are still reliant on products' categories to help them

locate items they need.

In addition, subscribing to the PCatI ground-level argument also implies thatpsychological engagement with a country comes through a consumer’s priorengagement with a country’s product. As Lee (2008) astutely observed, consumers donot actively go out seeking information about other countries, they go out actively insearch of products they need. It is the product that initiates and activates meaningfulinteraction with the country-of-origin and these experiences or impressions of theseexperiences, once seeded, are stored as mental categories, that is, as PCatI.

2.1.3 PCatI as a Catalyst : Affective

From this ground-level, PCatI has been observed to function as a catalyst imbuing otherimages in the origin image group with affective spillover effects (O-Shaughnessy andO’Shaughnessy, 2000). Andehn et al (2015) has found that priming participants who haveno previous knowledge about Chile with favourable information about the quality and finecraftsmanship of Chile’s copper artefacts (a quasi-PCatI), actually lead them to evaluateChile as travel destination more positively. A dormant country image (Chile) thus becomes

enlivened when consumers make a subtle but crucial connection between the little theyknow about a country and their exposure to a product category from the country(Diamantopoulos, 2011). Some researchers postulate that country images independent ofproducts do not exert strong influences, their usefulness in a evaluative protocol is onlymade possible by the amplifying effect provided by an intermediary like a PCatI (Andehn etal, 2015).

For example, a group of consumers have a positive experience tasting Chilean berries andafter reading a label that says : “berries gathered from the last wilderness on earth, Chile”-

the passive country image in their minds becomes imbued with new and evocativeintimations of the wild, so that in their perceptions, “Chile”becomes notionally entangledwith exotic natural products. The next time these consumers comes across anotherChilean product, honey, the entangled image - “natural produce from Chile”- becomes an

active cue influencing their purchase intentions.

2.1.4 PCatI as a Catalyst : Cognitive

In the same way, a dormant PCI may be enhanced when a PCatI fusion takes place. APCatI fusion is not simply the alliance of a product and a place but a fusion of two symbolsresulting in something that may deviate dramatically from the sum of its parts (Andehn etal, 2015). This new meaning that emerges from a combination of symbols, sometimesreferred to as the formation of iconicity (Deacon, 1997) is often the result of theinterrelation between a country and a particular product category (Keller, 1993). Iconicitywhich is usually characterised by the presence of strong affective attributes also carriesstrong cognitive undertones.

For example, one of Singapore’s most effective and longest-running campaigns was theemotive Singapore Girl series of advertisements for Singapore Airlines (SIA). Created in1972, the Singapore Girl icon symbolised attributes of warmth, grace and charm todistinguish SIA’s Superior in-flight services (Wong, 2015). But the icon had an unintendedconsequence, Singapore Airline became effectively a PCatI, recognised all over the worldas an insignia for efficiency, safety and service quality. As a consequence the countryimage, Singapore, reaped huge dividends fused with the airline’s name and reputation.

(Crawford, et al; 2017). Researchers Martinez and Alvarez (2010) have also found in asurvey, that even though Turkey as country may evoked negative responses, the country’sreputation as a tourist destination was not affected (Martinez & Alvarez, 2010). The parallelexistence of iconic destinations and negative country images shows that the PCatI do notalways depend on inputs from a country images to thrive. On the contrary, the PCatI canbecome a catalyst for positive change. For example, tourists who visited iconicdestinations in Turkey may come away with new impressions of the country : “everything isso well organised in Turkey, it’s not as bad as the media portrayed”.

To return to the example of consumers who tasted berries from Chile. The next time thesesame group of consumers buy honey from Chile and have another positive experience,

their perceptions of the quality of “Chilean products”are re-enforced. If this process isrepeated again and again, over time what was first perceived as Chile’s skill at producingonly one type of product becomes gradually enlarged to include the country’s generalability to produce quality goods, re-enforcing the PCI.

2.1.5 PCatI as a Catalyst : Normative

Obermiller and Spangenberg (1989) identified three mechanisms in origin imageprocessing - the affective, the cognitive and the normative. In the preceding sections wediscussed at length the affective and the cognitive mechanisms of the PCatI. In thissection the focus is on the normative. To understand the normative mechanism,descriptive norms must be distinguished from injunctive norms (Cialdini et al, 1990). Aninjunctive norm is a code of conduct setting out what is acceptable and unacceptablesocial behaviour in a group a person belongs to (Rimal, 2008). Injunctive norms enforcesbehaviour through identity which may be based on ethnicity, nationalism, religion or evensectarianism (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2002).

Descriptive norms, on the other hand, are sets of encoded everyday behaviours (Cialdini &Trost, 1998). These norms provide information on how “most others”are behaving,thinking and in the context of our study, consuming and purchasing. These “typicalbehaviours”or norms are then used as heuristic cues for decision-making in every aspectof daily life which again in the context of our study, may include consumption patterns,consumption attitudes and buying habits (Mollen, el at, 2013).

In the context of COO research, a PCatI can be understood as a precursor of a descriptivenorm (Cuddy, 2009; Hornsey, 2008). The PCatI remain implicit until the consumerarticulates the content of the image and the PCatI makes a crucial leap from image-basedconstruct to a word-based construct. At this point, the PCatI then assumes a new “body”inthe form of opinions, anecdotes or narratives about products and their attributes and arepassed from one person to another via a word-of-mouth process until eventually theybecome a set of collective beliefs, “what most others think”, a descriptive norm.

A descriptive norm can assume a local or communal variety, it can spread and become

regional set of beliefs, or it can transcend cultural and geographical boundaries to become

the global axioms influencing buying behaviour worldwide. Through a word-of-mouthprocess, today people around the world somehow believes unequivocally that “Germancars are reliable”or “the best wine comes from France”. The effectiveness of thesedescriptive norms, Nisbett and Wilson (1997) surmised, stems from people having afundamental inability to resist the global narratives about products and their attributes.

To return to the example of consumers who tasted berries and was impressed. What ifthese consumers pass on their impressions to another group of consumers. Theseconsumers go to the supermarket, taste the berries and honey and have the same positiveexperiences. These group of consumers then pass on their impressions to another groupand this goes on and on until the belief in Chilean natural products becomes a collective-perception, “what most others think”, exerting normative influence on the people of thecommunity.

2.1.6 Korean Wave as a PCatI

The Korean Wave is a PCatI. According to the definition provided Josiassen (2013),products within a PCatI share common features, meet similar needs and enjoy the samestereotypical perception. At face value, the constituents that make up Korean Wave - K-Pop, K-TV Drama, K-movies - all have commonalities as media products and meet similarpsychological needs. And no doubt, consumers in China perceive all the products in theKorean Wave through a common stereotypical lens - pop culture from Korea. In thestandard PCatI definition (Carneiro and Faria, 2015), groups can be broad in scope, suchas German cars, Japanese electronics or narrow and specific in scope like Italian sportscars and Scottish whisky. The Korean Wave fits the broad category with many sub-categories such as K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Movies, subsumed under an umbrella appellative.

As a PCatI, the Korean Wave functioned as a powerful catalyst accelerating the diffusion

of Korea’s new image across China by dominating the radio, the TV and the internet.

Transmission across mediascapes is the fastest and most far-reaching of the five globalflows (Craig & Douglas, 2005). Unlike elite or fringe culture, which influences smallelements of a population, popular culture like the Korean Wave has the ability to diffuseinformation for a mass audience with great rapidity (Kim & Richardson 2003). So in arelatively short time, Brand Korea riding on the back of a powerful image like the KoreanWave swiftly permeated the consciousness of consumers with great impunity, impacting

the other images in the COO image group, and through a “chain effect”benefited otherproducts that bear the same Korean identity (Lee and Lockshin, 2011), K-Cosmetic beingthe prime example.

Purchase

Intention

Product

Evaluation

CATEGORY

IMAGE (PCatI)

Based on this discourse of Korean Wave as a PCatI, establishing the correlativerelationship between K-cosmetic usage and high PCatI exposure (Korean Wave) forms thebasis of the first hypothesis :

Hypothesis 1 (H1): That for users of K-Cosmetics, there is a correlation between exposureto Korean wave and preference for K-Cosmetics.

2.2 THE DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 3 IMAGES

In a recent study, Josiassen et al. (2013) developed a new framework to better portray therelationship between the 3 origin images. The framework was named Halo Model of OriginImages or HMOI (see figure 2.1). From the figure 2.1, note that with the exception ofterminology, the basic concepts proposed here are essentially the same.

Figure 2.1: Halo Model of Origin Images

Traditional Model of

Image Origin

COUNTRY

IMAGE (CI)

Halo

Model of

Origin

(source : Josiassen, 2013)

Building on Josiassen’s HMOI model (2013), Andehn et al. (2015) went on to elaboratehow 3 images interact and exert predictive influences on each other and ultimately onbrand equity (see figure 2.2). Both Basic origin image and Product country image arepositioned to have predictive influence on county origin image and all have variousdegrees of influence on Brand Equity (Josiassen et al, 2013).

Figure 2.2 HMOI framework

(source : Andehn et al. 2015)

But once the characteristics of the product category image as a ground level operative areincorporated, the causal dynamics of the model changes and the arrows of influence in thechart becomes bi-directional ( See figure 2.3).

6 important changes are highlighted here :

1. prior encounters with the product may change the way a consumer perceive the

country image(CI),

2. prior encounters at the PCatI level may change the way a consumer perceive a country

image(CI).

3. prior encounters at the PCatI level can also have predictive influence on the Product

county image (PCI).

4. prior encounters at the product category image(PCatI) Level can also have predictive

influence on other products.

5. prior encounters at the product country image(PCI) level can also change the way a

consumer perceive the country image(CI)

6. prior encounters at the Product country image(PCI) level can also have predictive

influence on other products.

Figure 2.3: Bi-directional COO effect

PCI

PRODUCTS



2

PCatI

source : Developed by author

2.2.1 Inverse COO Effect

A new branch of COO research called Reverse or Inverse COO Effect provides the

theoretical underpinning needed to support the bi-directionality of influence discussed inthe previous section. The term reverse COO first surfaced in a study by Lee and Lockshin(2011). Investigating the relationship between a destination product and the destination apotential reversal of image relationship became apparent. Later this subject was picked upby White (2012) in a study dedicated to study of the Inverse COO effect. The purpose ofthe study is to see if a positive perception of a brand will lead to a more positive perceptionof that brand’s country of origin.Three countries and international brands were chosen forthe study: Red Bull and Austria, Skype and Estonia, and IKEA and Sweden. The overallpresumption is that brand attitude will have an effect on country image when the country-

of-origin of a product is known. The findings using survey-experiment method came outpositive.

This new Inverse COO effect research is based on the same premise - that in today’sglobalised consumer market, consumers are likely encounter foreign products beforeencountering the product’s country of origin (see figure 2.4). Product beliefs, it wouldseem, have an impact on country images and therefore nation branding can take occur viaproducts.

Figure 2.4: Inverse COO Framework

(Source : White, 2012)

In addition, Lee, Lockshin and Greenacre (2016) also observed, this reverse process mayhave an auxiliary effect - as product beliefs generalise into favourable country imageshave a chain effect enabling the traditional COO effects to benefit other products of thiscountry.

2.2.2 Evidence of Inverse COO Effect

In one of the first survey of its kind, Park (2004) worked in conjunction with the ChinaSocial Research Institute in a survey of 2,017 respondents (1,000 in Beijing and 1,017 inShanghai) between 1-25 March 2003 to understand the reason behind the growingpopularity of the Korean Wave in China. The stated aim of study was to understand how

differences in individuals’perception of Korea and Korean culture affect the preference forKorean TV dramas.

The results from the survey, as it turned out, revealed an inverse causal relationship - thatit is not the fondness for Korea and the Korean people that was the reason for watchingKorean dramas, on the contrary, they found that it was the regular exposure to Koreandramas that “makes Chinese people like Korea more”. The survey is anotherdemonstration of how the PCatI, in this case the Korean Wave, can have an inverseimpact on the other images the COO group.

Based the observations on the bi-directionality and inverse properties of the PCatI, thestudy hypothesise that an exposure to the Korean Wave must have correlative implicationsfor the PCI and CI.

Hypothesis 2 (H2) : That for users of K-Cosmetics there is a correlation between exposureto the Korean Wave (PCatI) and positive perceptions with the Korea’s Product CountryImage (PCI).

Hypothesis 3 (H3) : That for users of K-Cosmetics, there is a correlation between exposureto the Korean wave (PCatI) and positive perceptions with Korea’s Country Image (CI).

2.3 NATION BRAND AND NATION BRANDING

Having explored the inverse relationship between PCatI and PCI and CI the study nowlooks at the role of the Korean Wave from an overarching umbrella perspective, that is,through the concept of Nation Branding.

The concept of Nation brand was first put forward by Anholt in 1996 (Anholt,1996) whoobserved that a country’s reputation function much like brand images of companies andproducts. In the globalised world where countries compete fiercely for a share of foreigndirect investments, tourists and export markets (Anholt, 2007), marketing and brandingtools can help countries project their reputation more effectively.

And it is from this functionalist perspective that nation branding studies have grown and

diversified into the following genres : country-of-origin studies which looks at the promotionof a country’s exports to the world (Papadopolous and Heslop, 1993); place or destinationbranding which looks at the country’s ability to attract foreign tourists (Gartner, 1989);foreign investment which looks at the country’s strategy to attract foreign investment(Johansson & Moinpour, 1977); establishing the country as a desirable place to live, workand study, and public diplomacy (Kotler, 2002). The different dimensions of nationbranding is best captured in what is widely known as Anholt’s Nation Brand Hexagon (seefigure 2.5)

Figure 2.5: Nation Brand Hexagon

(source : Anholt, 2005)

While the hexagon represents the different dimensions of a nation brand, it is still anobjective representation of the country image. How people outside the country actuallyperceive the country can be quite different. Firstly, people outside the country do notdifferentiate between official and non-official sources of information about a country.

Secondly, information about a country do not come neatly packaged as cultural, political orinvestment categories but as stereotypes, anecdotes, fragmented narratives, disjointedbits of information from hearsay and usually undocumented sources.

It was Fan (2010) who came out with a very brilliant proposition to help researchers bridgethe conceptual divide by using four terms to define the facets of nation branding; namely,identity, image, reputation and nation brand.

First, “identity”is how the people from the country perceive itself. It embodies thecharacteristics of a nation and what its people perceive to be central, enduring anddistinctive.

Secondly, “image”is how others perceive the country. A nation’s image is defined by thepeople outside the country. Their perceptions are shaped by stereotypes, by mediacoverage, as well as personal experiences gathered through travels, hearsay, experienceswith people or products from the country. A country’s image inevitably consists of powerfulstereotypical content, carrying cognitive, affective and normative dimensions (Verlegh &Steenkamp, 1999). They may not be a true picture of the objective reality of the nation, yetthey are nonetheless pervasive, influencing all kinds of buying decisions (Loo & Davies,2006).

Thirdly, “reputation”is defined as the feedback received from the other (Whetten andMackey, 2002). Fan (2010) sees reputation as a reciprocal of image, since both arecomponents of a symmetrical communications process between the nation (self) and itsinternational stakeholders (other). Whereas an image exists in the perceptions ofaudiences (White, 2012), something they take in passively, reputation is what activelytranspire after the image becomes articulated, socially transmitted and is collectivelybelieved to be true.

Finally, Fan (2010) went on to define nation branding as the process by which a nation’simages can be monitored, refined and improved upon. These images, the foreigner’sperceptions of a country, whether it’s a country image (CI), a product-country image (PCI)or a product category image (PCatI) resides at the core of a nation branding process and itis in the assimilation these origin images, recognising their dynamic interconnectivity,understanding their influences and functionalities, that the basis for comprehensive nationbranding framework can be found.

2.3.1 The Korean Wave Roadmap

e PCatI

The origin images and their functionalities forms the basis of the Korean Wave Roadmap.

In the roadmap the Korean Wave is recognised as functioning as a product categoryimage (PCatI). As the prototypical image, the Korean Wave is the trigger the nationbranding process with predictive influence on the product country image (PCI) and thecountry image (CI) through an Inverse COO effect. These images become the elementsthat forms the essence of the nation brand with a COO effect on other Korean productsincluding K-Cosmetic.

Below is a conceptual roadmap representative of the Korean nation-branding process inChina.

Figure 2.6: The Korean Wave Roadmap

Inverse PCI

Invers

COO

(Source: Developed by author)

CHAPTER SUMMARY

This Literature Review has traversed across research terrains that had for most partexisted independent of each other, namely, COO studies and nation branding studies. Inthe last two decades since the introduction of the concept of nation branding in 1996, therehas been little exchange of ideas or interspersing of expertise between the two fields ofseemingly related fields of research. COO research with an illustrious history spanning fivedecades have always delimitated its enquiry to the confines of country-of-origin imagesand how these images influence buyer intent while nation branding has its starting point atthe country level, focusing on how the application of marketing expertise can contribute tothe image equity of nation states. There is much that both disciplines can inform andenrich each other. This integrative approach, incorporating the knowledge of origin imagesin COO studies into the development of a nation branding framework, in a way, representsafirst attempt of its kind, one that may help bridge an important literature gap between twovitally important fields of studies.

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

According to Wangner (1997), methodology refers to the way a conceptual or empirical

investigation is structured in order to advance the growth of scientific knowledge. Thissection of the paper starts with a discussion on the different approaches adopted byresearchers for constructing measures, data collection, data analysis and the rationalebehind the choice of both E-survey and individual interviews as the appropriate means totest the validity of the Korean Wave Roadmap.

The structure this chapter, as shown in figure 3.1, is based on recommendations forconducting business research (Flynn, et, al 1990). The chapter will start with a researchdesign, followed by a description of the data collection method, to issues relating tosample selection, questionnaire construction and a pilot test before arriving at dataanalysis.

Figure 3.1: An Approach to Business Empirical

(Source: Flynn et al. 1990)

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is an overall framework that provides guidance for data collection and

data analysis within a stipulated timeframe (Churchill, 2005). The table below (see table

3.1) provides a summary of previous surveys collated from published articles in the last 5years in research areas related to the present investigation. The summary reviews theirdata collection methods, sample sizes, the strengths and weaknesses in theirmethodologies with the purpose of informing the research design to guide the presentstudy.

3.2.1 A Brief Survey of Past Approaches

The review of related research articles as below Table 3.1:

Table 3.1: Overview of related research papers

OVERVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH PAPERS (Source : Author)
Authors	Publication	Method	Strengths	Weaknesses
Renee B, KimJe Hyun LeeToulanyThavisay	The Effect of theKorean Wave onChineseConsumersBrandPreferences(2017)	Paper survey withsample size of 225respondents whichmeets the basicrequirements for bothExploratory andConﬁrmatory FactorAnalysis	Comprehensivestatistical testing byused both exploratoryfactor analysis (EFA)and structural equationmodelling (SEM) toapplied all proposedhypothesis.	.Sample gatheredonly from Chinesevis i tors to Seoul ,Korea & Not fromsamples of Chineseconsumers in China.
MassoudMoslehpour,Wing-KeungWong, KienVan Pham	RepurchaseIntentions ofKorean BeautyProducts amongTaiwaneseConsumers(2017)	437 questionnairesCombination of bothweb-based andtraditional paper-basedquestionnaires.	comprehensivequantitive datacollection with manyvariables used as bothindependent anddependent variables.(COO, WOM, PP, RI )	Only quantitativeapproach
RossarinWangwiboolkij	FactorsInfluencingRepurchaseIntention Of ThaiFemaleCustomersToward KoreanCosmetics inBangkok(2012)	Traditional paper-based questionnaireswith 100 respondents	Identified positivehypothesis result asBoth attitudes andperceptions are crucialvariables oncustomers’repurchaseintention.	. Limited to customersof single K- Cosmeticbrand, Etude House.Majority of femalecustomers arestudents as onlyyoung people.

The first example used a paper survey ( Kim, et al, 2017). The shortcomings are obvious.

Constraint by geography, the survey can only collect samples from Chinese visitors in

Korea who might be respondents with pre-disposed preference for Korean products.. Insame way, the third example (Wangwiboolkij, 2012) through the use of a paper surveycould only manage a sample size of a 100 respondents, which is too small to berepresentative of the target population. Therefore, for the present study, E-survey isdeemed a better method because it allows a collection of samples from a cross-section ofChinese consumers without geographical constraints.

All the three samples used only quantitative data collection and a deductive approach to

test the hypotheses. The advantage in doing so is the ability to generalise and have datareflective of a whole population or a sub-population because a larger sample is randomlyselected (Carr, 1994). With the availability of statistical software such as SPSS quantitativedata analysis is also less time-consuming (Connolly, 2007). However, the sole use ofquantitative research approach tends to overlook the actual experiences and perspectivesof a respondent functioning in the highly controlled settings of a survey (Ary et al, 2013).

The use of qualitative method, on the other hand, allows an analysis of consumerbehaviour that is broader and deeper in scope (McMurray, 2004). However, the limitationof such a strategy is the sample size - face to face interviews are very time consuming andthere is a limit to the number of interviews that can be conducted over a short period oftime.

Many researcher have found the combination of the qualitative and quantitative to beeffective and complimentary (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2002). Based on the review of thedifferent methods and approaches employed by researchers, a mixed method approachcombining an E-survey and personal interviews is deemed to be the best approach for thepresent investigation. The reasons are: 1) In this study, E-survey is still one of the bestmethods because it allows a collection of samples from a cross-section of Chineseconsumers without geographical constraints. 2) Face-to-face interview allows to morecomplete understanding the research question based on personal experience. Thus use ofmixed methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) helps mitigate purists’concerns andprovides the needed depth of understanding.

3.2.2 Sequential Explanatory Design

The research methodology included a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approachesfollowing the process outlined in the sequential explanatory design (see figure 3.2). An E-survey was conducted supplemented by qualitative data collected through personalinterviews. The use of both structured questionnaires in a survey and semi-structuredinterviews in mixed-method approach has been widely used in the generation ofconfirmatory results (Harris & Brown, 2010).

Figure 3.2: Sequential explanatory design

(Source: Creswell 2007)

3.2.3 Conceptual Model

To test the validity of the Korean Nation Branding Roadmap, K-cosmetic users in Chinawas selected as the context. Employing a survey instrument developed around the 3 COOconstructs - PCatI, PCI and CI - the goal is to test the correlation relationship betweenpreference for K-Cosmetic and exposure to PCatI(H1), PCI(H2) and CI(H3) based on the 3hypotheses from the Korean Wave Roadmap.

Hypothesis 1 (H1): That for users of K-Cosmetics, there is a correlation between exposureto Korean wave and preference for K-Cosmetics.

(refer to chapter two 2.1.6)

se PCatI

Hypothesis 2 (H2) : That for users of K-Cosmetics there is a correlation between exposureto the Korean Wave (PCatI) and positive perceptions with the Korea’s Product CountryImage (PCI).

(refer to chapter two 2.2.2)

Hypothesis 3 (H3) : That for users of K-Cosmetics, there is a correlation between exposureto the Korean wave (PCatI) and positive perceptions with Korea’s Country Image (CI).

(refer to chapter two 2.2.2)

Figure 3.3: Conceputal Model

Inverse PCI

Inver

COO

(Source: developed by author)

3.3. DATA COLLECTION METHOD

In recent years, the use of online surveys, one type of electronic surveys, has beendeveloping rapidly in marketing research because of the diffusion of Internet technology

(Miller, 2006). Other practical advantages of an E-survey also include convenience ofsetup procedures, rapid updating of questionnaires, speed of recruitment, interactive datacapture and instant monitoring of responses.

There are many survey platforms available on the internet today including monkey survey,BOS and Google survey. After careful deliberation, wenjuan.com, a Chinese-languagebased platform established in July 2013 in China was deemed most suitable for theproject. Wenjuan.com is a credible platform providing a full range of auxiliary servicesincluding survey format design, rosters or fun quizzes, and most importantly, easyaccessibility through the use of the social media platform, WECHAT (wenjuan officialwebsite, 2015), the most popular social networking platform in China today has astaggering 490 million active users (eMarketerMessaging, 2017). That means, arespondent in China can easily access the survey from multiple platforms including PC,laptop or the mobile phone. Data collected will be exported to the IBM SPSS software forCUSUM calculation (Cumulative sum test) including the minimum, maximum, mean

scores, frequency, percentages and standard deviation.

To ensure the reliability of the data collected at the interviews, notes were taken and arecording using the voice memo function on an Apple mobile phone device was made.

Voice Memos uses a built-in microphone device to ensure the recording is audible and noimportant details are left out.

3.4 SAMPLING STRATEGY

Sample selection in a study must be consistent with the research objectives and take intoaccount practical considerations (Dubois & Duquesne, 1993). The present study used self-selected samples from everyone who are registered in Wechat platform. According toHKTDC report (2017), post-80s and post-90s generations represent the major consumergroup for imported cosmetic products in China. Since the present research focuses onbuyer behaviour among consumers of K-cosmetic the sample range was set at males andfemales aged between 20 to 39 in China who have a history of K-Cosmetic purchase inthe last 12 months. Since the survey is a measurement of exposure and attitudes towardsto foreign products and foreign countries, travel history of respondents was used to definefamiliarity with foreign products and also used as an indicator of social-economic status.

The perennial difficulty with online survey is always an inadequate sample size. Accordingto Hinkin (1995), both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis have been shown to beparticularly susceptible to sample size effects; a sample size of 150 observations shouldbe sufficient to obtain an accurate solution for an exploratory factor analysis, whereas aminimum sample size of 200 is recommended for confirmatory factor analysis. The presentsurvey has a sample size of 255 participants ensuring the test meets the minimumrequirements for both confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis.

Creswell (2002) emphasised the importance of selecting respondents that can provide rich

and elaborate responses to questions presented. Consistent with this purpose,homogeneous sampling has been used to select the 2 participants. Both have more than 5years of K-cosmetic usage and deep immersion in the Korean Wave. In addition, the 2interviewees are also females aged between 25 and 27 with a travel history to at lest 10foreign countries, representative the proﬁle of K-cosmetic users in China (HKTDC, 2017).

3.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

A pre-test was conducted to check the questionnaire before formulating the final version.

The pilot in the study invited five Chinese respondents presently residing in UK toascertain the following : 1) test the understanding of questionnaires; 2) obtain feedbackfrom respondents; 3) gauge the length of time needed to to complete the questionnaires.

All participants completed the questionnaires and had no difficulties understanding the

questionnaires. The average of time needed to complete the survey was 4 minutes. Thefeedback from respondents in the pilot study was also satisfactory.

3.5.1 E-survey design

Four sections with 28 closed-question items were included in this E-survey format (SeeAppendix 1):

•Section 1: Personal information (4 questions)

•Section 2: Exposure & attitude to pop cultures from the 4 countries (7 questions)

•Section 3: Exposure & attitude to overall improvements in product development (PCI)

from the 4 countries the past five years. (7 questions)

•Section 4: Exposure to country images (CI) of the4 countries surveyed (10 questions)

A selected response/multiple choice format for country categories (France) (Korea)

(Japan) (USA) was used throughout the survey. For every question, the respondent will beasked to rate from (1) to (4), (1) being the lowest rating, (4) being the highest. To simplifythe answering mechanism, a 4-point Likert scale with no neutral option was used ratherthan the more elaborate 5-point and 7-point Likert scale.

The four countries (France) (Korea) (Japan) (USA) were selected because they representthe COO of the major foreign cosmetic brands in China between 2011 to 2015 (TPISR,2016). Although country-to-country comparisons was not the emphasis of the survey, themulti-country results provided a marker from which the (Korea) category can bebenchmarked from.

3.5.2 Interview Plan

The design of interview used a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire format toencourage the interviewees to provide more information (see transcript in Appendix 2).

The questionnaire contained both general as well as focused questions on the elements ofthe Korean Wave and the coding and the resulting framework that emerged were based onthe study of transcribed interviews.

The average length of time for each interview was about 30 minutes. It was agreed beforethe interview that the research results would be presented anonymously so that theinterviewees could feel free to express themselves openly. Permission was also sought tohave the whole interview recorded. As the interviews were semi-structured, follow-upquestions relevant to the topic were used to deepen the subject enquiry (Wengraf, 2001).

3.5.3 Item Generation

Apart from Section 1 which collected personal information, the survey had 3 test sections.

Section 2 had 7 items, Section 3 had 10 items. Section 2 tested the respondent’s exposure

to pop cultural products from the four countries. Section 3 tested their attitudes towards theProduct Country Images (PCI) of the four countries with an itemisation based on six-dimension scale (see figure 3.4) developed by Adamantios (Adamantios D, 2011). Section4tested their attitudes towards the Country Images (CI) of the four countries using anitemisation based on the global assessment scale (see figure 3.5) developed formeasuring Country Image (Michel La, 2005).

Figure 3.4: Six - dimensions of PCI

Figure 3.5: Global assessment scale

(source : Michel, 2005)

Carneiro and Faria (2016) suggested that instead of a blind application of a “generic”

domain map, researchers should have the discretion to adapt and re-formularise a mapbased on the specific needs and context of the survey. So in addition to the existing itemslisted in the two scales which were cognitive inclined - economic, technological, human/social and political - other inputs reflecting cultural and social dimensions were added.

3.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION

The researcher has taken note of the following ethical principles : honesty, objectivity,confidentiality, integrity, openness and respect for intellectual property. To ensure properdisclosure, a cover letter introducing the purpose of the research was presented at thestart and a statement highlighting the ethical considerations of the survey provided. Thisgave assurance to respondents that their privacy were protected and the informationprovided will not be forwarded to a third party and will be used for purposes related to theresearch. All primary data collected over the 10-day period were subsequently deletedupon the completion of the data analysis.

3.8 RESEARCH SCOPE & LIMITATIONS

For the present research, time was a major constraint. To mobilise respondents in Chinafrom London where the author resided was a big challenge. Although the researcherappreciated the need for a bigger sample size to fully reflect the population of K-Cosmeticconsumers in China, only the minimum could be achieved in this present context.

In the same way, although the advantages in combining an E-survey with on-site papersurveys was recognised, the prohibitive travel expenses and time required for such anundertaking meant only E-survey and interviews in London was possible.

Finally, the study was also constrained by history. The Korean Wave is a subject spanningtwo decades. That meant a great deal of enquiry had to be retrospective. But within thelimited context of our survey, that historicity cannot be fully reflected in the survey whichwas designed ensure data can be collected from the respondents in the shortest timepossible.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

A good research design is one that enables a study to meet its research objective. In this

instance, the use of a mix method approach turned out to be the most effective solution. Acombination of quantitative data collected through the E-survey re-enforced by qualitativedata collected from face-to-face interviews provided the study with a well-roundedperspective of the subject. This contrast with the quantitative only approach used inprevious research examples where the potential variety of viewpoints that could beobtained from respondents is curtained by the framing of a predetermined questionnaire.

But in this instance, the integrative use of a mix method approach has considerablyenriched the data collection pool and has helpful in providing a “human context”for thedescriptive analysis in the next chapter.

The development of the questionnaires to study the 3 variables took on a balancedapproach by ensuring the items selected in the questionnaire not only reflect therequirements of theoretical conformity but also take into consideration the unique contextof the respondents. For example, taking into consideration the restricted access toinformation in the Chinese context, unlike many other surveys in this genre, no itemscoding for knowledge of governance and political development were selected in thesection on country image. Finally, statistical techniques were used sparingly with onlystatistics relating to hypothesis testing incorporated into the exercise.

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents analysis of the data collected from the 255 respondents whoparticipated in the E-survey between 16th November and 24th November and also datafrom 2 personal interviews with K-Cosmetic users. The chapter starts with data analysis forthe three cumulative variables - Product Category Image(PCatI), Product CountryImage(PCI) and Country Image(CI) - followed by a descriptive analysis. Qualitative datafrom the two interviews is then selectively integrated into the descriptive analysis atrelevant intersections to provide greater depth to the analysis. The combined results of thedescriptive analysis provides a basis for validating the three hypotheses in the KoreanWave Roadmap outlined in Chapter two (refer to 2.3.1) A special section highlighting thekey moderating factors influencing the variables is followed by a short discoursesummarising the findings.

4.2 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

4.2.1 Profile of interviewees

Table 4-1 outline the profiles of the two interviewees. Snippet of responses to the two

interviews and questions posed can be found in appendix 5.

Table 4-1 Profit of interviewees

Interviewee	Gender	Age	Education	Occupation	Location	Travelhistory
Interviewee 1	Female	24	Master	Graduate Student	Zhenjiang	10+
Interviewee 2	Female	26	college	Project Manger	Mianyang	10+

4.2.2 Profile and analysis of respondents

Age, gender, travel history and history of K-cosmetic usage are the key variables surveyed

in the frequency distributions. The profile of the respondents is presented in Table 4.2.

Table 4-2 Respondents’Profile

Demographicfactors	Frequency(n=255)*	Percentage	Demographicfactors	Frequency(n=255)*	Percentage
Gender			Top 8 Locationof respondents(province)
Male	58	23%	Shenzheng	81	32
Female	197	77%	Anhui	78	31
			Jiangsu	25	10
Age			Shanghai	10	4
20-24	75	29%	Zhejiang	9	3.5
25-29	49	19%	Sichuan	8	3
30-34	48	19%	Heilongjiang	6	2
35-39	83	33%	Huibei	4	1.5

Countriesoutside Chinatravel history			Purchaseproﬁle
0	113	44%	K- cosmeticUser	255	255
HK, Macau,Taiwan	96	38%	Non K-cosmeticuser	0	0
Japan, SouthKorea, Tailand	92	36%
Europe	36	14%
America	23	9%

As illustrated in the table 4.2, Of the 255 respondents - 58 were males (23 per cent) and

197 were females (77 per cent). Respondents aged between 20-24 years old and 35-39

years old represent the largest groups, each accounting for about 30 per cent of sample,followed by age groups 25-29 years and 30-34 years old, each accounting forapproximately 19 per cent. Gender distribution in China show males accounting for 52.2per cent of the total population and young male working adults have been been observedto be the new driving force behind China’s booming cosmetics market, playing almost asimportant a role as their female peers (SCMP 2017). In addition, The age-range profile ofthis sample is consistent with the study of K-cosmetic users in China published by Kantar(Kantar 2017) which shows that K-Cosmetic users in China are mostly between 20 to 39years of age.

This sample reflects the age and gender characteristics of K- cosmetic users in China.

Social-economic status can be indirectly measured through a respondents’investmenthistory, property-purchase history and also travel history (Herbert & Green 2017). In orderto avoid intrusive questions an informed choice was made to use travel history as analternative to indicative social economic status. Based on this item, the sample show over40 per cent of respondents having no prior experience travelling outside China while 60per cent of respondents have traveled to 1-8 countries, out of which HK, Macau, Taiwanand Japan, South Korean, Thailand are the most popular destinations. The sampleprovided a good representation of the different social-economic demographics in China.

The top two locations from which respondents come from are Shenzhen and Anhuiprovince constituting 30 per cent of the samples. Other locations include Jiangsu,Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Sichuan, Heilongjiang and Hubei. The sample provide a goodgeographical spread so that samples are not just collected from major tier 1 cities butinclude respondents from the 2nd and 3rd tier cities. Cities in China divided 3 tiers (CNBC,2017). Tier 1 cities are major cities directly administered by the central governmentincluding Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing, along with Guangzhou andShenzhen. Tier 1 cities represent the most developed areas of the country with the mostaffluent consumers. Tier 2 and tier 3 cities are provincial and sub-provincial capital cities.

All respondents are active K-Cosmetic users having purchased or used K-Cosmetic in the

past one year.

4.3 Comparative Analysis of Main Variables

4.3.1 Cumulative mean scores of main variables

Employing the constructs developed by Triandis (1998), minimum, maximum, mean,standard deviation of the 24 items were used to evaluate the correlation between the threevariables (see chart 4-1 & table 4-3). The Chart below is a comparison of the cumulativemean scores of the 4 countries surveyed in all three categories. From the chart (4-1) andtable (4-3) we observe that (KOREA) secured the highest cumulative mean scores in allthree categories. Tables showing minimum, maximum, mean scores and standarddeviation for these variables can be found in appendix 2.

Chart 4-1 Comparative analysis of total mean scores in PCAI, PCI & CI Categories

2.3

1.725

1.15

0.575

PCATI PCI CI PCATI PCI CI PCATI PCI CI PCATI PCI CI

KOREAN USA JAPAN FRANCE

Category Axis

PCATI PCI CI

Countries	Total Mean Scores
	PCATI	PCI	CI
(K) South Korea	2.263	2.222	2.296
(F) France	1.818	2.022	2.019
(J) Japan	1.861	2.081	2.085
(A) USA	2.256	2.140	2.160

Table 4-3

Total Mean Scores (K) (F) (J) (A)

4.3.2 Finding and Discussion of Hypotheses 1

4.3.2.1 E-survey finding & discussion

Section 2, the PCatI category, is a measure of the exposure to pop cultures from the 4countries surveyed. (Korea) has the highest cumulative mean score. This infer that amongK-Cosmetic users in China, exposure to the Korean Wave is high. All respondentsindicated high level of viewership of Korean TV dramas in the past one year (M = 2.282).

All expressed strong likelihood to introduce Korean TV dramas to family and friends (M =

2.290) and all show strong product affinity by remembering lead actors and theme songsfrom the Korean TV dramas they watched (M = 2.313). (see appendix 2).

Chart 4-2

PCatI Highlights

Watched TV drama

Introduce to friends

Theme songs

0 0.6 1.2 1.8 2.4

KOREAN USA JAPAN FRANCE

Chart 4-2 shows (USA) as the closest rival to (Korea) for the cumulative mean score,

which is justifiable because TV programming around the world is still dominated byproductions made in the USA (The New York Times, 2014); China notwithstanding. But ifgrowth rates from the last two decades are taken into account, the numerical edge (Korea)has over (USA) in the cumulative mean score shows how far the Korean Wave has comein challenging the traditional dominance of US-originated TV programs in China. In 1990,China imported programs from more than 23 countries, with the USA and Japan being the

two leading foreign suppliers. South Korea did not export programs to China until themid-1990s. By 2001, 45% of imported TV dramas still originate from the US, 10% fromFrance and only 6% came from Korea (Park, 2004). Today the popularity of the Korean TVdramas in China is indisputable.

The findings also show viewership of (Japan) and (France) TV dramas having beenconsiderably cannibalised by the rise of the Korean Wave. Whilst the category “French TVdrama”is almost non-existent as a PCatI construct in China, the diminishing influence of(Japan) TV drama is a subject of considerably intrigue considering (Japan) TV dramasremained very popular until the 1990s. Suffice it to note that the Korean Wave’s success inChina was not a “given”but it had to thrive in a very competitive environment to reach

where it is now.

4.3.2.2 Interview findings & discussion

When asked to name reasons why 2 interviewees prefer Korean TV drama, Interviewee 1replied : “I used to watch US TV dramas regularly. But US-made TV dramas are mainlyaction and adventure dramas, cop shows, Korean TV dramas in contrast, are about loveand relationships, I feel more emotionally connected to the Korean TV dramas because Ifeel I can relate to the stories, the people, the place better.”This is how Interviewee 2 put it:“With US TV drama, I feel I am watching something far away, but with Korean TV dramasIfeel I are watching something happening around me.”

According to the emotional attachment theory, strong feelings about an object affect how a

person is likely to interact with the object (Bowlby 1979). The desire to interact generatedby (Korea) TV dramas is most strikingly articulated in question (4) in Section 2 of the E-survey (see appendix 1) when respondents were asked : “Which TV celebrities would youlike to meet?”. Korean celebrities scored much higher than TV drama celebrities from the(USA). When asked to name actors from US TV dramas, both interviewees struggled to

recall the names of actors from (USA) TV dramas they watched, a contrast to namingKorean actors from popular Korean TV dramas where the two interviewees had noapparent difficulties. The conclusion is, in spite of the high viewership enjoyed by (USA),Chinese viewers it would seem, find US TV dramas mentally appealing but remain

emotional unattached with subjects and the country.

The findings from the two interviews show that high affinity qualities of the Korean Wave isafactor high interactivity and high word-of-mouth activities. Studies have shown that highaffinity factor with a country, which is an affective mechanism, has a significant influenceon willingness to buy foreign products from that country and interest to visit the country(Oberecker and Diamantopoulos, 2016).

Finally, both interviewees confirmed the observation that the PCatI is ground level COOeffect. Previous to exposure to Korean TV dramas, both interviewees had very littleknowledge of Korea, its culture and its people.

The above E-survey and interview findings leads to the conclusion that there is evidenceof a high level of exposure to the Korean Wave among K-Cosmetic which lents support tohypothesis1 :

Hypothesis 1 (H1): That for users of K-Cosmetics, there is a correlation between exposureto the Korean Wave and preference for of K-Cosmetics.

4.3.3 Finding and Discussion of Hypotheses 2

4.3.3.1 E-survey Findings & Discussion

In this category the respondents were asked to indicate which country in their opinion hasmade the most progress in overall product development in the past five years in respect toquality, reliability, innovation, packaging, pricing and promotion. (Korea) again has thehighest cumulative mean score with positive ratings for packaging, quality and pricing (seeappendix 2 & chart 4-3).

Chart 4-3 PCI Highlights

Quality

Packaging

Pricing

1.8 1.925 2.05 2.175 2.3

KOREA USA JAPAN FRANCE

As noted in the Literature Review (refer to 2.1.1), PCI can be seen as a measure of a

country’s overall ability to produce quality goods fit for international consumption. That(Korea) could outperform the (USA) and (Japan) in this category represents a remarkableturnaround, recalling the results from the 1995 COO survey (Zhang,1996) that showedKorean’s PCI languishing behind US and Japan.

4.3.3.2 Interview Findings & Discussion

Interviewee 2 remarked that it was only five years ago a Japanese mobile phone like Sonywas still regarded as a premium product in China. “Now, five years later, Samsung hasreplaced as Sony as premium imported mobile phone in China, comparable in quality andprestige with an Apple iphone,”interviewee 2 said. Evidence of this seismic shift in the PCIlandscape has affected categories of products ranging from house appliances to electronicgadgets. “The change in attitude has been very subtle,”interviewee 1 commented, “unlikeattitudes five years ago, these days, qualitative differential between Korean and Japaneseproducts no longer a concern for the Chinese consumer, in fact the opposite is true,”Interviewee 2 juxtaposed : “people are saying, why buy Japanese and pay more.”Whenasked if the sea change in attitudes towards Korean products is a result of the KoreanWave, Interviewee 1 commented : “the Korean Wave is definitely a factor, if not the mainfactor.”

The item “packaging”also deserved special mention. Of the 8 questions in the PCIquestionnaire Korea scored the highest rating for “packaging”(see appendix 2). When the

two interviewees were asked what aspects of Korean products they find most attractive,

“packaging”and “design”were listed as main factors. (Korea) is not only perceived to be

able to improve in product quality, it is recognised for its ability to excel in overall brandingexpertise ensuring that the products finds a fit with the consumer in terms of design andaesthetics, user experience and psychological congruity, an expertise mirroring theremarkable achievement of the Korean Wave in packaging Korean media content for theChinese market. As discussed in literature review (refer to 2.1.4), the influence of the

Korean Wave as a PCatI though steeped in affective qualities also carries significantcognitive undertones shaping the overall perception of a country’s ability to producegoods.

The results in this section validates the observation that favourability generated byexposure to the Korean Wave is also followed by positive belief in the country’s overallability to innovate, create and produce goods fit for world consumption, therefore lendingsupport for hypothesis 2 :

Hypothesis 2 (H2) : That for users of K-Cosmetics there is a correlation between exposureto Korean Wave (PCatI) and a positive perception of the Korea’s Product Country Image(PCI).

4.3.4 Findings and Discussion of Hypotheses 3

4.3.4.1 E-survey Findings & Discussion

In Section 4, the Country Image (CI) category, (Korea) secured the highest cumulativemean score among the 4 countries surveyed. Respondents were asked to give theiropinion in a variety of items ranging from choice of travel destination, lifestyle and cultureand items relating to their perception of the country’s general development. The constructswere based on Laroche’s “desire for interaction”in Country Image measurement (Laroche,2005).

Chart 4-4 CI Highlights

Hot topic

travel destination

fashion

0 0.625 1.25 1.875 2.5

KOREA USA JAPAN

FRANCE

(Korea) came out ahead in the following items (see chart 4-4 & appendix 2) : hot topic,travel destination and fashion trends. The item “Hot topic”indicate heightened word-of-mouth activities. Whether it’s word-of-mouth activity on the mobile or word-of-mouthactivity on social media, “hot topic’suggest things “Korean”garnering substantial interestamong in the Chinese in the public domain. When asked what do they talk usually about,the two interviewees commented that much of the content of internet chatter on socialmedia platforms revolve around the Korean Wave - latest Korean TV dramas, Korean popstars, Korean fashion and so forth.

4.3.4.2 Interview findings & discussion

Aspirations to know more about things Korean and increased word-of-mouth activities also

translate into visits to destinations and the desire to interact. People are likely to travel todestinations that are most talked about. This is confirmed by interview 1 who mentioned

that her intention to visit (Korea) has been largely inspired by images and attractionsgathered from K-TV dramas she saw. (see Appendix 3)

The item “fashion trending”demonstrates cultural affinity. The desire to interact and knowmore about another culture usually inspire a degree of cultural mimicry (Chartrand, T.L., &Bargh, J.A. 1999). Individuals automatically mimic aspects of the cultural groups they lookup to which may include postures, gestures, mannerisms, speech patterns, syntax,accents, facial expressions, and even moods and emotions (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999;Chartrand et al, 2005; Bargh et al, 2001;). There is evidence that Korean mannerisms and

expressions imbedded in Korean TV dramas have already permeated the Chineseeveryday vocabulary and lifestyle (Chae 2006; Choe 2007; Han 2005; Hong et al, 2007;Hwang 2008; Iwabuchi 2008; Kim et al. 2007). Typical colloquial terms like “opa”(bigbrother) or “gamsahamnida”(thank you very much), kimchi (Korean side dish) are nowcommonplace expressions in Chinese everyday life. In the case of interviewee 2,aspirations to take up dancing lessons in Korea can be interpreted as a pre-attentive urgeto mimic body movements (Förster, 2004).

The 2005 report published by the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI)summarised their field observation of the effect of the Korean Wave on foreign consumersin a four-stage process. In the first three stages, foreigners become avid consumers ofKorean dramas, movies, and music, buy products that are directly derived from Koreanpop culture, buy Korean electronics and other everyday items made in Korea and cruciallyin the fourth and final stage, the foreign consumer admires Korean culture and mimics theKorean lifestyle (US-Korea Institute at SAIS, 2010).

The data analysed described as above lents support to hypothesis 3 (H3) bydemonstrating that there is correlation between exposure to the Korean Wave andexposure to the country image.

Hypothesis 3 (H3) : That for users of K-Cosmetics, there is a correlation between exposureto the Korean Wave (PCatI) and positive perception of the Korea Country Image (CI).

4.4 KEY MODERATING FACTORS

The table 4-4 shows how the key moderating factors- age, gender and travel history - hasan influence on the three variables.

Table 4-4 Key moderating factor analysis

Main cumulative variable(Mean)	Product categoryimage(PCATI)	Product countryimage (PCI)	Country image(CI)
Key moderating factors
GENDER
Male	2.07	2.07	2.17
Female	2.31	2.26	2.32

AGE
20-24	2.25	2.25	2.46
25-29	2.47	2.42	2.8
30-34	2.34	2.35	2.39
35-39	2.18	2.07	2.18

TRAVEL HISTORY
None of travel history(Outside of China’s mainland)	2.29	2.24	2.42
Traveled 1-6 countries(Outside of China’smainland)	2.35	2.33	2.6

4.4.1 Gender

We note that for the 3 variables, gender is an important moderating factor.

Female respondents it would seem, has significantly higher exposure to the Korean Waveand that has an obvious carry-on effect on the PCI and CI. Female respondents alsoshowed higher regularity watching Korea TV drama, higher affinity by remembering themesongs from the TV dramas and higher loyalty by the willingness to introduce them to familyand friends.

In all three categories male respondents have significant lower mean scores, the mostobvious being the PCatI category. But results show that male respondents may not beactive viewers now but are more likely to watch Korean TV drama in the near future whichmay be signs of a new trend among male viewers in China. On the PCI level, both areequally concerned about quality and see (Korean) as the most progressive in overallproduct development among the 4 countries. We note that among female respondentspackaging is an important consideration. (see appendix 4).

4.4.2. Age Range

We observed that age range is a moderating factor. Although the age range 20-24 and35-39 represent the largest age groups in the sample, 25-29 had the highest mean scoresin all three categories. In the PCatI category, those aged between 25-29 had the highestmean scores for the following three items - 1. watched K-TV dramas regularly, 2. likelihoodto introduce K-Dramas to friends, 3. ability to recollect theme songs from the dramas. (seeappendix 4) These three items indicate high product affinity and product loyalty.

4.4.3. Travel History

In the findings we note that travel history is also another important factor influencing thethree variables. Because of strict travel restrictions in China, the ability to travel is animportant indicator for social mobility and social-economic status denoting that the personis potentially more open to foreign products and foreign influences. Among the threevariables we note that those who have travelled out of China have a higher level ofexposure at the PCatI and PCI level and also a significantly higher exposure at the CIlevel.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The analysis in this chapter has yielded results that gives empirical support to the 3hypotheses set out to validate the Korean Wave Roadmap. Based on the cumulative meanscores of all three variables and the data collected from the two interviews there issufficient evidence to demonstrate that the Korean Wave did have a substantive andpositive impact on the country’s Product Country Image (PCI) and the Country Image (CI).

Many observations made in the literature review with regards the characteristics andfunctionalities of the origin images, the critical role of Product Category Image (PCatI)have all been corroborated by the findings from the data analysis. Deserving specialmention is the importance of the PCatI as ground level operationalisation which has beencorroborated the data collected from the two interviewees; the affective, cognitive andnormative influence of the PCatI on the other two images which has been corroborated bythe survey which shows simultaneous increase in cumulative mean scores in the threevariables and the Inverse COO Effect corroborated by the anecdotal evidence provided bythe two interviewees about the Korean Wave has brought seismic change in Chineseattitudes towards Korean products in the last five years.

This chapter also show how age, gender and travel history moderates the three mainvariables. The results show females, age 25-29 with a travel history have the highest levelof exposure to all three image categories, the PCatI, the PCI and the CI. Thesemoderating factors also show that the data collected in this project is largely representativeof the profile of K-Cosmetic users in China who are pre-dominantly female, working adultsbetween the ages of 25-29 with the ability to travel and are therefore potentially morereceptive to foreign influences and products.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATION

5.1 CONCLUSION

To change the foreign perception of a country’s image is a difficult and long process,usually decades in the making (Maheswaran & Chen, 2006). Country stereotypes inparticular, have this innate resistance to change because stereotypical content is oftenriddled with affective and normative entanglements, items not easily unravelled byobjective and logical reasoning (Hong & Kang, 2006).

That is why the transformation of Brand Korea from the humiliation of the Asia financialcrisis to what it is today - a trendsetter of high-tech and trendy products, is by all accountsatruly amazing story; not many other countries can achieve the same in such a shortperiod of time. It is literally, nation branding on “steroids”, the figurative “steroids”in thisinstance, being a reference to the Korean Wave.

The Korean Wave as a “super icon”helped kickstart Korea’s re-branding process after theIMF crisis in 1997. As a mass media tool it helped to accelerate the diffusion of Korea’snew image across China so that in a relatively short time, the acronym “K”found it’s wayinto the everyday vocabulary of the average Chinese person in China (Chae, 2006; Choe,2007).

The Korean Wave, as is evident from the findings, also helped to gradually enhanceKorea’s reputation as an economic powerhouse, raising the country’s profile as a “moredeveloped country”(Chen et al, 2007) capable of producing goods for the internationalconsumption. Today, Korean mobile phones, Korean TVs, Korean cars are no longerlooked upon as lesser brands but compete on equal footing with other international brandsfrom Japan, US and other developed countries. And this turnaround is most salient indramatic surge of K-Cosmetic sales in China.

At the beginning of the dissertation, three objectives were listed. The goal of Objective 1 is

the construction of a Korean Wave Roadmap based on a combinatorial study of existingtheories mined from three different sources and fields, COO research, nation brandingstudies and Korean Wave studies. This goal was achieved at the end of the literaturereview with the presentation of the Korean Wave Roadmap. The goal set for Objective 2 isto validate the Korean Wave Roadmap by testing the correlative relationships between theKorean Wave and the other origin images influencing K-Cosmetic users. This objectivewas achieved in the chapter on Findings where the data analysed from the E-survey andpersonal interviews validated and support the three hypotheses presented. And now in thefinal section of the paper, suggestions for a new approach to new nation brandingframework will be presented in fulfilment of the Objective #3.

5.2 RECOMMENDATION

Of great interest to both academics and practitioners alike is the question of reproducibility-whether lessons learned from the Korean Wave Roadmap can be replicated elsewherefor other Nation Brands. Can the same presuppositions that has guided the design ofKorean Wave Roadmap be generalised to form essential building blocks to formulate anew approach to nation branding?

The answer is a qualified yes with an important caveat. The Korean Wave experience isgrounded in two very special contexts. Firstly, it is grounded in the Korean identity andculture of the Korean people. Every country has its own distinctive identity, something thatcannot be indiscriminately copied and reproduced. Every country must find its uniqueblend of cultural, social, historical distinctiveness and allow that “personality”to betranslated into a nation brand it wants to project to the world. Secondly, the Korean Wave

took place in a very special historical context - emerging China. China in the late 1990’shas just emerged from decades of cultural insularity and economic isolation. The pent-updemand in this nascent consumer market created an inordinate demand for things foreign.

It was within such special circumstances that the Korean Wave thrived and made anextraordinary impact in the country.

Based on the Korean Wave Roadmap, three key prescripts are singled out here fordiscussion, defining “prescripts”as prescriptions for future direction. The Prescripts listedin this section are pointers for future nation branding research.

Prescript 1, a product first approach. A recurrent theme in the Literature Review is theobservation that In a globalised world, people are more likely to encounter products priorto any meaningful encounter with country. It is the encounter with a product or brand thatenables a consumer to meaningfully connect with a country and its people. At theconclusion of the paper - “Facets of country image and brand equity: Revisiting the role ofproduct categories in country-of-origin effect research”- the authors Andehn, el at (2015)anticipate that the next frontier for country-of-origin studies lies in the study of the inversenature of the country-of-origin process where a country’s reputation can be potentiallydeveloped through encounters with individual brands and products.

The acknowledgement of this inverse relationship has important implications for bothacademics and practitioners. For country-of-origin researchers, it means any seriousattempt to design a nation branding framework cannot do so without acknowledging thefundamental re-ordering of the country-of-origin “universe”. The inverse nature of therelationship has deep implications for the very constitution of the country-of-origin theoryand must eventually inform all facets of country-of-origin studies.

For practitioners, it implies that the first order in nation branding is to understand what thecountry is good at producing and how these products can be better positioned to helpforeigners connect meaningfully with the country-of-origin. Instead of simply investing vastamount of time and financial resources in advertising campaigns to market the country’simage abroad, perhaps a country will do better investing in the development of productsmost representative what the country and its people has to offer.

A country may have a host of products to offer to the world. Making a realistic assessment

which strategic products to invest and develop for the global market, identifying the rightproduct category with the most potential to enhance a country’s image, should become theunderlying philosophy for governing nation brand managers.

A positive experience with a country’s product seems to have a greater multiplier and long

term effect on a country’s reputation abroad. If there is one thing to learn from the KoreanWave case study, it is that the Korean Wave is not the artificial brainchild of a nationalcampaign or a national agency in Korea. On the contrary, the appellative “Korean Wave”was coined by the Chinese media in 2001 (China Daily, 2001) in recognition of themassive inroad Korean pop cultural products has already made among consumers inChina and this in-turn brought unexpected dividends for the country’s overall image.

A product first approach means more effort has to be invested into understanding the

normative aspect of COO processing. While Fan (2010) rightly pointed out the reciprocalrelationship between image and reputation, little is yet know known about the dynamicsbetween these two reciprocal constructs especially after the image becomes word-formand becomes a product of word-of-mouth activities. An investigation into the evolution ofconsumption norms integrating knowledge from COO studies, word-of-mouth research andfolk psychology may be the answer.

Prescript 2, an image first approach. Not enough attention so far has been given to thecrucial integration of country-of-origin studies and nation branding studies. Dinnie (2016)commented in the first ever textbook on nation branding - “Nation branding: concepts,issues, practice”- that until recently, researches in these two areas exist independently inakind of parallel universe. Intrigued by this academic divide, the author bemoaned hownation branding theories and ideas are rarely “drawn upon”by country-of-originresearchers and vice-versa. There is much however that country-of-origin studies with itsemphasis on the theoretical and the conceptual can inform nation branding studies with itsemphasis on the functional and the practical.

For example, understanding how the product category image (PCatI) can throw light onhow the foreign consumer first connect with a nation brand. Similarly, understanding thestrategic presence of prototypical products and its enlivening effects on the country’s

image can provide many wonderful insights into how foreign consumers can be primed tobecome increasingly receptive to the country’s products in general.

Finally, Prescript 3, a consumer first approach. Any comprehensive nation brandingframework must be solidly grounded in the unique context of the foreign consumer. Theforeign consumer, unlike the domestic consumer, resides in a special set of circumstancesgoverned by a different set of consumption patterns which may be highly restricted bytariffs (e.g. import duties), by travel restrictions (e.g. visas), by geographical barriers (e.g.

rural locations), by the lack of information (e.g. limited access to the internet), byinaccessibility and other unique political factors. As much as one would like to have thecomfort of “one size fit all”global generalisations it may be that in the end, besides a globaltheoretical framework, each situation requires a country-specific roadmap. How that canbe achieved is a subject beyond the scope of this present project.

Last but not least, the pointers listed above can only allude to what a future nationbranding framework can possibly look like. Much more research and rigorous intellectualenquiry is still needed to arrive at a comprehensive model fit for global applications. It isthe author’s intention that the observations derived from this paper can make a small butpositive contribution towards understanding a vast and complex subject like nationbranding to help countries, big and small, unlock their innate potential for growth anddevelopment in a globalised world.

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Appendix 1 E-survey Questionnaire

Section 1 (General information)

Gender	Female	Male

Age	20-24	25-29	30-34	35-39

Travel history	HK,Macau,Taiwan	European	Unite State	Thailand,Korea, Japan	None of all

Have you purchased or usedK-cosmetic products in thepast year?	Yes	No

Section 2: PRODUCT-CATEGORY IMAGE (PCatI)
Please rating from (1) to (4) in 4 countries for each questions,(1) indicating the lowest rating, (4) being the highest	France	Korea	Japan	USA
	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4
Which country of origin tv drama you watched most regularly inthe past year?
Which country of origin tv drama are you introduced to friendswatching most regularly in the past year?
On the internet which country of origin tv drama do you searchregularly in the past year?
Which tv celebrities would you like to meet and which country oforigin is he or she from?
Which tv drama song do you like and which country of origin isthe song from ?
Which country origin tv dramas did you re-watched in the pastyear?
In your opinion, which country of origin tv dramas will continueto be popular in China over the few years?				66

Section 3: PRODUCT-COUNTRY IMAGE (PCI)
Please rating from (1) to (4) in 4 countries for each questions,(1) indicating the lowest rating, (4) being the highest	France	Korea	Japan	USA
	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4
In your opinion, products from which country has made themost improvement in quality in the past ﬁve years?
In your opinion, products from which country has made themost improvement in value of money in the past ﬁve years?
In your opinion, products from which country has made mostimprovement in design in the past ﬁve years?
In your opinion, products from which country has made mostimprovement in packaging in the past ﬁve years?
In your opinion, products from which countries have made mostimprovement in innovation in past ﬁve years?
In your opinion, products from which country has made themost improvement in reliability in the past ﬁve years?
In your opinion, products from which country has made themost overall improvement in in the past ﬁve years?

Section 4: COUNTRY IMAGE (CI)
Rating from (1) to (4) in 4 countries for each questions, (1)indicating the lowest rating, (4) being the highest	France	Korea	Japan	USA
	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4	1 2 3 4
In your opinion, which country have gained the most popularityas travel destination in the last 5 years?
In your opinion, cuisine from which country have gained themost popularity in China in the last 5 years?
In your opinion, which country’s fashion has gained popularityamong the people in China in the last 5 years?
In your opinion, which country’s women are increasinglyconsidered beautiful among people in China?
In your opinion, which country’s men are increasinglyconsidered beautiful among people in China?
In your opinion, which country has gained the most popularityamong Chinese students as the destination for study?
In your opinion, which country has gained the most popularityamong Chinese consumers as a destination of choice forbusiness and investment?
In your opinion, which country has gained the most interest inChina in the last 5 years?
In your opinion, which country growth in economic in the last 5years?
In your opinion, which country will gain the most overall countryimage in the future year

Appendix 2

CUSUM test for main variables

A 2.1 Pop culture (PCatI)

* 1 = unlikely, 2 = likely, 3 = very likely, 4 = extremely likely

Category	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Standarddeviation	Percentage %
Section 2	Mini	Max	M	SD	* 1 2 3 4
South Korea
Watched TVdrama in thepast year	1	4	2.282	1.183	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.0
Introduce tofamily or friend	1	4	2.290	1.161	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.1

Expect to see TVdrama actors	1	4	2.239	1.154	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.2
TV drama themesong	1	4	2.313	1.131	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.3
Download andwatch TV dramaon internet	1	4	2.278	1.110	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.4
Tend to watchTV drama in thenear future	1	4	2.259	1.120	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.5
Re-watch TVdrama	1	4	2.180	1.142	32.0 29.0 19.0 20.6
TOTAL			2.263

France
Watched TVdrama in thepast year	1	4	1.847	0.894	42.0 37.0 15.0 6.0
Introduce tofamily or friend	1	4	1.815	0.905	45.0 35.0 13.0 7.0
Expect to see TVdrama actors	1	4	1.901	0.973 44.0 37.0 10.0 9.0
TV drama themesong	1	4	1.776	0.901	43.0 33.0 15.0 9.0
Download andwatch TV dramaon internet	1	4	1.835	0.924	48.0 34.0 12.0 7.0
Tend to watchTV drama in thenear future	1	4	1.776	0.901	45.0 35.0 13.3 8.0
Re-watch TVdrama	1	4	1.776	0.914	48.0 33.0 12.0 7.0
Total			1.818

Category	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Standarddeviation	Percentage %
Section 2	Mini	Max	M	SD	* 1 2 3 4

America
Watched TVdrama in thepast year	1	4	2.298	1.082	29.0 32.0 20.0 19.0
Introduce tofamily or friend	1	4	2.290	1.112	32.0 27.0 22.0 20.0
Expect to see TVdrama actors	1	4	2.239	1.061	30.0 34.0 19.0 17.0
TV drama themesong	1	4	2.180	1.097	35.0 30.0 18.0 18.0
Download andwatch TV dramaon internet	1	4	2.270	1.080	29.0 34.0 18.0 19.0
Tend to watchTV drama in thenear future	1	4	2.306	1.083	19.0 21.0 31.0 29.0
Re-watch TVdrama	1	4	2.212	1.095	32.0 34.0 15.0 19.0
Total			2.256

Japan
Watched TVdrama in thepast year	1	4	1.851	0.989 48.0 30.0 13.0 10.0
Introduce tofamily or friend	1	4	1.882	1.016	46.0 31.0 11.0 12.0
Expect to see TVdrama actors	1	4	1.835	1.017 49.0 31.0 8.0 12.0
TV drama themesong	1	4	1.913	1.057	46.0 31.0 8.0 15.0
Download andwatch TV dramaon internet	1	4	1.878	1.010	47.0 30.0 13.0 11.0
Tend to watchTV drama in thenear future	1	4	1.854	1.003	48.0 29.0 12.0 11.0
Re-watch TVdrama	1	4	1.811	1.021	52.0 26.0 11.0 11.0
Total			1.861

A 2.2 Product Country Image (PCI) - Past 5 years period

Category	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Standarddeviation	Percentage %
Section 3	Mini	Max	M	SD	* 1 2 3 4
South Korea
Product qualityimprovement	1	4	2.258	1.085	29.4 34.9 16.1 19.6
Product priceimprovement	1	4	2.235	1.072	29.8 35.3 16.5 18.4
Productcredibilityimprovement	1	4	2.188	1.070	31.8 35.3 15.3 17.6
Productinnovationimprovement	1	4	2.204	1.041	29.4 37.3 16.9 16.5
Product designimprovement	1	4	2.224	1.050	29.4 35.7 18.0 16.9
Product packageimprovement	1	4	2.251	1.057	27.8 37.6 16.1 18.4
Product overallimprovement	1	4	2.196	1.073	31.4 35.7 14.9 18
Total			2.222

France
Product qualityimprovement	1	4	2.059	0.918	31.0 40.4 20.4 8.2
Product priceimprovement	1	4	1.969	0.900	34.5 41.6 16.5 7.5
Productcredibilityimprovement	1	4	2.059	0.939 31.8 40.0 18.8 9.4
Productinnovationimprovement	1	4	1.973	0.862	32.2 44.7 16.9 6.3

Product designimprovement	1	4	2.035	0.924	31.8 42.0 17.3 9.0
Product packageimprovement	1	4	2.028	0.945	32.9 41.6 15.3 10.2
Product overallimprovement	1	4	2.031	0.955	34.1 38.4 17.6 9.8
Total			2.022

* 1 = stable , 2 = slightly , 3 = fast , 4 = very fast

A 2.3 Country image (CI)

Category	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Standarddeviation	Percentage %
Section 4	Mini	Max	M	SD	* 1 2 3 4
South Korea
Food tend in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.337	1.095	27.8 31.4 20.0 20.8
Popular Traveldestination in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.349	1.097	25.9 36.1 15.3 22.7
Hot topic in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.486	1.118	22.7 32.9 17.3 27.1
Clothes fashiontend in the past5years	1	4	2.204	1.041	25.9 30.2 16.9 27.1
Hot Investmentcountry in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.451	1.145	32.2 34.9 11.8 21.2
Attractivecountry for studyabroad in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.220	1.115	30.6 38.0 14.1 17.3
GrowthEconomic	1	4	2.165	1.074	33.3 34.1 15.3 17.3
Increased Good-looking womentend in the past5years	1	4	2.341	1.132	28.6 32.5 14.9 23.9

Increased Good-looking men tendin the past 5years	1	4	2.302	1.115	29.4 32.9 15.7 22.0
Expect overallcountry image inthe future year	1	4	2.101	1.075	36.5 33.3 13.7 16.5
Total			2.296

France
Food tend in thepast 5 years	1	4	1.961	0.967	40.0 32.5 18.8 8.6
Popular Traveldestination in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.102	1.007	34.1 33.3 20.8 11.8
Hot topic in thepast 5 years	1	4	1.910	0.941	39.6 39.2 11.8 9.4
Clothes fashiontend in the past5years	1	4	2.137 1.054	33.7 34.5 16.1 15.7
Hot Investmentcountry in thepast 5 years	1	4	1.976	0.943	36.5 38.4 16.1 9.0
Attractivecountry for studyabroad in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.043	0.965	34.5 36.5 19.2 9.8
GrowthEconomic	1	4	1.894	0.892	39.6 37.3 17.3 5.9
Increased Good-looking womentend in the past5years	1	4	2.138 1.004 32.2 34.1 21.6 12.2
Increased Good-looking men tendin the past 5years	1	4	2.114	1.023	32.5 38 14.9 14.5
Expect overallcountry image inthe future year	1	4	1.918 0.942 40.4 35.7 15.7 8.2
Total			2.019

Category	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Standarddeviation	Percentage %
Section 4	Mini	Max	M	SD	* 1 2 3 4
America
Food tend in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.051	0.914	31.8 38.8 22.0 7.5
Popular Traveldestination in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.141	0.974	29.4 38.8 20.0 11.8
Hot topic in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.275	1.009	25.5 36.9 22.4 15.3
Clothes fashiontend in the past5years	1	4	2.075	0.934	29.8 43.1 16.9 10.2
Hot Investmentcountry in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.231	0.995	25.9 39.6 20.0 14.5
Attractivecountry for studyabroad in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.357	1.069	24.3 36.9 17.6 21.2
GrowthEconomic	1	4	2.180	0.995	28.2 39.2 18.8 13.7
Increased Good-looking womentend in the past5years	1	4	2.059	0.905	29.8 42.7 19.2 8.2
Increased Good-looking men tendin the past 5years	1	4	2.102	0.979	31.4 38.8 18.0 11.8
Expect overallcountry image inthe future year	1	4	2.169	1.015	30.6 35.7 20.0 13.7
Total			2.160

Japan
Food tend in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.165	1.044	32.9 32.2 20.4 14.5
Popular Traveldestination in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.247	1.067	29.4 34.8 18.0 18.0
Hot topic in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.271	1.047	27.8 34.1 21.2 16.9

Clothes fashiontend in the past5years	1	4	2.063	1.059	38.4 31.4 15.7 14.5
Hot Investmentcountry in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.024	0.992	37.3 33.7 18.4 10.6
Attractivecountry for studyabroad in thepast 5 years	1	4	2.102	1.007	33.3 35.7 18.4 12.5
GrowthEconomic	1	4	2.039	0.987	36.5 33.3 20.0 10.2
Increased Good-looking womentend in the past5years	1	4	2.059 1.012 36.9 31.8 20.0 11.4
Increased Good-looking men tendin the past 5years	1	4	1.914	0.956	42.4 31.8 18.0 7.8
Expect overallcountry image inthe future year	1	4	1.969 0.963 40.0 31.0 21.2 7.8
Total			2.085

* 1 = disagree , 2 = may agree , 3 = agree , 4 = very agree

Appendix 3

Gender comparison

Chart4-1PCatI
Watched TV dramadd



Intro uce to frien
Listened theme song 1 9	2	2	75


			. .MaleFemale

4-2 PCI
Product qualityProduct priceProduct package 1.9	2.	1	2.	3





			MaleFemale

Chart 4-3 CI (mean)
T a el				6
r vHot Topic



Clothes 2 2.1	5 2.	3 2.4	5 2.
			MaleFemale

Appendix 4

A SNIPPET OF RESPONSES TO THE TWO INTERVIEWS : QUESTIONS POSED

TO TWO RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

Research question 1 (open ended): I understand you have been watching TV drama formany years, Can you tell me your experience with K-wave?

Interviewee 1: I watched Korean TV drama when I was in middle school almost everyday.

I kept replaying the theme songs, images of Korean TV drama appear in my mind

constantly, now I still can remember them and the name of the ﬁrst Korean TV drama Iwatched. Of course, I am still a fan of Korean TV drama and music now. Many of myfriends are like me, we usually talk about the stories of popular K TV drama and actors weliked. So in my mind, K-wave has a long history and is still well-liked by Chinese people, itaffects our minds very deeply.

Code: touching stories

The difference between Korean TV drama and US TV drama I think is K-TV dramas aremore romantic, many “love stories”and a “wide variety”. US TV drama mostly action.

Korean TV dramas are great at creating touching love stories that attract a lot of youngpeople.

Code: attractive actors

It is normal to see “handsome man”and “charming ladies”in Korea TV drama.

Interview 2: I remember re-watching some of my favourite Korean TV drama over andover again. I also listen to K-TV drama theme songs everywhere, on the train or in the car.

Oh yes, I also like to enjoy singing the songs sometimes.

Code: memorable impressions

It is “true love”, not easy to ﬁnd nowadays, “ I would like ﬁnd this true love in my life”.

Code: to be beautiful like the Korean actress

“they are so beautiful, their skin so clean and smooth, the fashion style shown on TV

drama is amazing”, so every girl wants to be like them.”

Research Question 2 (open-ended): what is the impact of K-TV drama on your lifestyle?

Interview 1: haha, one of the biggest impact is now i can communicate with my S-Koreanfriends using Korean, I have never learning Korean in school but from watching TV drama.

Code: purchase Korean make-up and mask products

“lovely packaging and innovative ingredients such as the use of snail and natural plant

ingredients, animal patter masks, as for make-up products, “I bought them because I sawthem used by some famous actress on the TV dramas, such as BB cushion, lipsticks, Ibelieve lots of Chinese people have the same experience.”

Code: Korean food product

“I like to eating out in Korean restaurants, especially fried chicken with beer and Korean

BBQ, which you can usually see in the Korean TV dramas”

Interview 2: “two years ago, I went to Seoul to get a Korean driving licence, food is verydelicious and also it is a good place for shopping.”

Code: Dance lessons

“my dream, go to Korea for dance lessons, may be for a month during my summer

holidays“

Code: Plastic surgery

“I watched some reality TV show in China, some women went through plastic surgery and

became very beautiful, so many of my friends go to Korea for plastic surgery, it turned outwell and very natural looking”

Appendix 5

Ethical certiﬁcation