With the globalisation of music, it has grow to be ever simpler for individuals around the globe to find and join with completely different genres and artists. This has sparked vacationers’ curiosity in visiting the locations the place their favorite music originated or the place iconic musical occasions, equivalent to festivals, happen.
Due to an revolutionary empirical examine by Dr Seongseop (Sam) Kim and Dr Antony King Fung Wong of the Faculty of Resort and Tourism Administration (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic College, working with a co-author, we now know extra about how a world music phenomenon, Okay-pop, can drive vacationers’ preferences and decision-making.
Music tourism has a storied historical past, from the European “Grand Excursions” of the seventeenth century to fan pilgrimages to Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis and the Beatles’ iconic Liverpool haunts. Nonetheless, this phenomenon – outlined as vacationers travelling to locations related to music and/or musicians, previous and current – has grown exponentially in latest a long time. “Pop music, being a major cultural image, has advanced into a serious vacationer attraction”, the researchers inform us.
Though the world music map has lengthy been dominated by Western pop and its commercialised business, the tide is popping. “Newly rising sources of latest pop music”, notice the researchers, “replicate the ever-increasing dislocation of cultural globalisation from the Western context”. A standout case is that of Korean pop, or “Okay-pop”, which has formed a vibrant burgeoning music tourism business in South Korea (hereafter Korea).
“In accordance with a latest business report launched by Korea Basis”, the authors inform us, “the variety of world Okay-pop followers exceeds 156 million”. Okay-pop music – represented by the record-breaking boy band BTS – is without doubt one of the nation’s largest exports, accounting for at the very least 0.3% of its GDP. Within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Okay-pop music has even performed a task in Korea’s – and the world’s – tourism restoration. “Certainly”, say the researchers, “the Korean authorities is trying to combine its tourism improvement and promotion with Okay-pop tradition”.
The speedy rise of music tourism has not gone unnoticed by students. Research in fields starting from cultural geography to ethnomusicology, in addition to tourism, have make clear the consequences of music – together with Okay-pop – on tourism outcomes, from participation in live shows and music festivals to curiosity within the tradition, garments and delicacies of origin international locations. “It has additionally been additionally documented that the spin-off results of music affect journey to musicians’ hometowns or international locations”, the researchers report.
Though the literature on music and tourism is rising, 4 important analysis gaps stay. “First”, say the researchers, “there have been few efforts to empirically analyse the consequences of music on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of potential vacationers”. Second, students have paid little consideration to consumption worth – the perceived advantages that prospects can get hold of from consuming a services or products – within the context of music tourism. The consumption worth of music consists of “ongoing emotions, feelings, pleasures, nostalgia and catharsis” elicited via viewers members’ engagement with and responses to music content material.
The third drawback is that “current educational information concerning the relationships between music and its followers’ attitudes or meant locations is usually descriptive or qualitative”, say the researchers. Quantitative research of this matter are missing. Fourth and at last, the fashions developed so far to measure shopper involvement with Okay-pop tradition have failed to include various constructs, together with music consumption worth and viewers involvement.
The researchers got down to fill these essential gaps. “This examine aimed to analyze the underlying structural relationships between perceived consumption values of Okay-pop music, viewers involvement, familiarity, and behavioural intention”, they inform us. Primarily based on a rigorous literature assessment, they first hypothesised that the perceived worth related to consuming Okay-pop music will increase each emotional involvement with and referential reflection on the music – two key dimensions of viewers involvement.
Subsequent, the researchers hypothesised that “people who’ve a excessive degree of emotional involvement and referential reflection with regard to Okay-pop music (and performers) usually tend to re-arrange their private schedules to proceed in participating with Okay-pop music”. Such elevated behavioural involvement with Okay-pop music and/or singers can in flip “set off eager curiosity in and familiarity with the homeland of Okay-pop music and singers as a potential tourism vacation spot, and affect journey intentions”.
To quantitatively take a look at their proposed framework linking Okay-pop music consumption worth to vacationers’ precise attitudes and behavior, the researchers designed an internet survey measuring these constructs, which they administered to overseas audiences of Okay-pop. A lot of the respondents had been common customers of Okay-pop who resided in the USA. The survey gadgets used to measure Okay-pop consumption worth “included options of the singers, fanship, efficiency high quality, background, curiosity in mimicking singers or singing, and curiosity in lyrics”. The researchers additionally examined numerous dimensions of viewers involvement, in addition to the intention to journey, store and eat meals in Korea, the music’s origin nation.
The evaluation yielded a number of essential – and typically shocking – findings. “First”, say the researchers, “the perceived character and visible efficiency worth of Okay-pop music weren’t important in explaining emotional involvement or referential reflection”. This was inconsistent with the findings of earlier research specializing in Western music, maybe as a result of “Western vacationers is probably not prepared to simply accept the femininity or mushy masculinity of Okay-pop boy bands”, the researchers counsel.
The researchers discovered that two dimensions of Okay-pop consumption worth, specifically imitation and attachment worth, had a constructive affect on audiences’ involvement. In addition they obtained the first-ever empirical proof that emotional involvement with Okay-pop enhances two sub-dimensions of viewers involvement: referential reflection and behavioural involvement. “Subsequently, the perceived worth of and emotional involvement with Okay-pop music amongst Western audiences play an important position in enhancing total Okay-pop music experiences”, the authors inform us.
Additional confirming the researchers’ hypotheses, the perceived consumption worth of Okay-pop music was discovered to not directly have an effect on vacationers’ precise behavioural intentions via viewers involvement. “Music performs a considerable position in fostering familiarity with the music’s nation of origin”, the researchers report, “and in driving the intention to eat its merchandise or journey inside the nation”. This discovering has an essential implication: Okay-pop music may not be restricted to rising vacationers’ purchasing and journey intentions associated to Okay-pop music, “however might additionally have an effect on their total perceived familiarity with Korea and their willingness to eat Korean meals”, say the researchers.
These novel insights into the connection between Okay-pop music consumption and tourism have essential sensible implications for stakeholders within the tourism business. “Vacation spot advertising and marketing organisations in Korea ought to think about the right way to successfully capitalize on Okay-pop music in tourism improvement and advertising and marketing”, say the researchers. This might embody creating video clips of potential tourism locations to advertise locations which are unfamiliar to world vacationers, in addition to “creating tailored advertising and marketing methods and meals menus that combine Okay-pop music tradition and Korean traditions into their merchandise”.
Providing the first-ever empirical insights into the intricate relationships between Okay-pop consumption worth, viewers involvement and vacationer behavioural intentions, this analysis supplies a useful reference for vacation spot entrepreneurs and tourism companies. Understanding how Okay-pop music not directly influences journey intentions can information tourism organisations to leverage this world musical phenomenon to draw and retain guests – with important implications for vacation spot competitiveness and tourism restoration within the wake of COVID-19.
As a remaining notice, the researchers level out that neither intercourse, age nor ethnicity affected the perceived consumption worth of music or its penalties for vacationer behaviour. “Music can play a important position in creating significant relationships and social bonds amongst music followers no matter socio-cultural, spiritual, and political variations”, they conclude.
Kim, Seongseop (Sam), Kim, Sangkyun, and Wong, Antony King Fung. (2023). Music-induced Tourism: Korean Pop (Okay-pop) Music Consumption Values and Their Penalties. Journal of Vacation spot Advertising & Administration, Vol. 30, 100824.