Hanryu, the Korean wave sweeps Asia : the audience popularity of a Korean serial drama, Jewel in the Palace, in Thailand

Abstract

This study investigates the audience popularity of a South Korean television drama, Jewel in the Palace, among Thai audience members in the context of the raging Hanryu phenomenon including the relationship between the degree of parasocial interaction with the main character and the level of pro-social learning from the television program. As a result of Hanryu, Korean businesses in Thailand are growing rapidly. An increasing number of business entrepreneurships, tourist endeavors, cultural exchanges, and Korean-language education schools are proliferating. This growing deluge of economic and cultural ties is also fueled by stable political and economic relations between Korea and Thailand. After Jewel in the Palace first aired in Thailand, its popularity began to climb. Media reports suggest that audience involvement, especially with the character of Jang Guem, is very high. In addition, the program has led to a greater understanding in Thailand of Korea’s historical-cultural heritage. Many materials, such as guidebooks, cartoons, VCDs, and Korean-language text books with tie-ins to the series, have hit the market, enhancing audience understanding of Korean history. The study assessed the significance of media role models and their contributions to audience engagement. Outcomes of the present study can lead to a better understanding about how to design culturally proximate programs and stimulate pro-social learning from such programs. Theoretical concepts relevant to the present study—audience identification, audience involvement, cultural proximity, modeling and social learning, and parasocial interaction are reviewed, and three research questions and a hypothesis are proposed. Understanding these audience engagement dimensions is critical in creating effective mass media programs that can influence audience members in a positive manner. Although this study has provided a number of significant findings, future research can further enhance our understanding of how such cross-cultural serial drama receptions can contribute to more meaningful media production around the world. The findings, at least, shed light on the substances for improvement of the quality of mass media production programs in Thailand and to promote more for programs quality to a more global market.