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"Korean Soft Power and Fan Consumption Choices: an Ethnographic Study of Indonesian Hallyu Fans"
Speaker: Peter von Staden, Professor KEDGE Business School
Abstract: In tourism studies fans and their consumption choices are, in the main, considered in terms of the relationship between the devotees, the cultural product(s) and tourism. This study begins with a more distant causal factor, to wit, soft power. Encouraged by the international popularity of Hallyu, South Korea supports their sources of attractive power to advance national interests. To be sure, Hallyu is an explanatory factor in the soft power ratings that South Korea enjoys, perhaps most notably in Indonesia. However, measurement of soft power largely relies on macro-level aggregated data sets that are rather blunt instruments. Alternative approaches are called for and, to this end, the present ethnographic study employs in-depth interviews of Indonesians to provide a more nuanced understanding of the fan learning process, their consumption choices and what this means for Korean soft power policy.