Korean TV drama has contributed on the formation and development of the “Korean Wave.” However, there has been little study on the motives of viewing and their influences on the Korean image from the perspective of Chinese audiences.
Thus, the current study is to address Chinese audiences’ motives to watch Korean TV drama, which is the main engine of“Korean Wave,” and their relationship with Korean image, based on“the uses and gratification approach” and“cultivation theory” through survey method.
The current study sets research questions like the following:
Research Question 1: From what motives Chinese young audiences watch Korean TV drama?
Research Question 1-1: Are there any differences between Chinese young audiences’ motives to watch Korean TV drama and Chinese TV drama?
Research Question 2: Do Chinese young audiences watch Korean TV drama more if they have stronger specific motives?
Research Question 3: Are there any relationships between the viewership of Korean TV drama by Chinese young audiences and their Korean image?
Research Question 3-1: Are there any relationships between Chinese young audiences’ Korean image and their motives to watch Korean TV drama?
Research Question 3-2: Are there any relationships between Chinese young audiences’ Korean image and their viewership of Korean TV drama?
The current study produces three main findings. First, through the factor analysis, the current study finds 10 motives of Chinese young audiences to watch Korean TV drama. In other words they watch Korean TV drama because they like “elements of TV drama,” “consolation,” “social reality,” “the interaction with society,” “time spending,” “information and education,” “the uniqueness of Korean TV drama”, “relaxation,” “habitual viewing”and “entertainment” which Korean drama provides.
Second, Chinese young audiences watch more Korean TV drama if they have stronger motives of “elements of TV drama,” “habit viewing,” “relaxation,” “information and education”and “the uniqueness of Korean TV drama.” In other words, these motives attract Chinese young audiences to watch more Korean TV drama.
Third, the current study finds three dimensions of Korean image: facial, cultural decency, and tradition seeking dimensions. Factor 1 of Korean image, facial dimension is associated with the viewing motives of “elements of TV drama,” “social reality,” “habitual viewing,” “entertainment”and “the uniqueness of Korean TV drama”, and has positive relationship with the viewing time. Factor 2 of Korean image, cultural decency dimension is associated with the viewing motives of“the uniqueness of Korean TV drama,” “relaxation,” “time spending,” “elements of TV drama,” “social reality”and “information and education.” Among the motives related, only“time spending” is negatively related to the cultural decency dimension of Korean image, and other motives are all positively related. Factor 3 of Korean image, tradition seeking dimension is associated with the viewing motives of “uniqueness of Korean TV drama,” “elements of TV drama,” “entertainment,” and has positive relationship with Chinese young audiences’ viewing time.
Though the current study has a significant implication on the cultural exchange between Korean and China, it has some methodological limitations. First, measurement scale of viewing motives on TV drama needs to be reconsidered. Second, the questionnaire was to long and time consuming for the respondents to answer, and resulted in the reduction of final cases, which might influence the accuracy of results. Third, the level of measurement for the viewing of Korean TV drama was ordinal scale, which might influence the validity of results. Fourth, the sample of the current study was limited to the young audiences in Beijing, not the whole Chinese audience. Thus, future research needs to be done to overcome these limitations.
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