Beyond the Charts – How K-Pop Drives Tourism

Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, December 23, 2024 / TRAVELINDEX / With the globalisation of music, it has become ever easier for people around the world to discover and connect with different genres and artists. This has sparked tourists’ interest in visiting the places where their favourite music originated or where iconic musical events, such as festivals, take place. Thanks to an innovative empirical study by Dr Seongseop (Sam) Kim and Dr Antony King Fung Wong of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, working with a co-author, we now know more about how a global music phenomenon, K-pop, can drive tourists’ preferences and decision-making.

Music tourism has a storied history, from the European “Grand Tours” of the 17th century to fan pilgrimages to Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis and the Beatles’ iconic Liverpool haunts. However, this phenomenon – defined as tourists travelling to destinations associated with music and/or musicians, past and present – has grown exponentially in recent decades. “Pop music, being a significant cultural symbol, has evolved into a major tourist attraction”, the researchers tell us.

Although the world music map has long been dominated by Western pop and its commercialised industry, the tide is turning. “Newly emerging sources of contemporary pop music”, note the researchers, “reflect the ever-increasing dislocation of cultural globalisation from the Western context”. A standout case is that of Korean pop, or “K-pop”, which has shaped a vibrant burgeoning music tourism industry in South Korea (hereafter Korea).

“According to a recent industry report released by Korea Foundation”, the authors tell us, “the number of global K-pop fans exceeds 156 million”. K-pop music – represented by the record-breaking boy band BTS – is one of the country’s biggest exports, accounting for at least 0.3% of its GDP. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-pop music has even played a role in Korea’s – and the world’s – tourism recovery. “Indeed”, say the researchers, “the Korean government is attempting to integrate its tourism development and promotion with K-pop culture”.

The rapid rise of music tourism has not gone unnoticed by scholars. Studies in fields ranging from cultural geography to ethnomusicology, as well as tourism, have shed light on the effects of music – including K-pop – on tourism outcomes, from participation in concerts and music festivals to interest in the culture, clothes and cuisine of origin countries. “It has also been also documented that the spin-off effects of music influence travel to musicians’ hometowns or countries”, the researchers report.

Although the literature on music and tourism is increasing, four critical research gaps remain. “First”, say the researchers, “there have been few efforts to empirically analyse the effects of music on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of potential tourists”. Second, scholars have paid little attention to consumption value – the perceived benefits that customers can obtain from consuming a product or service – in the context of music tourism. The consumption value of music includes “ongoing feelings, emotions, pleasures, nostalgia and catharsis” elicited through audience members’ engagement with and responses to music content.

The third problem is that “existing academic knowledge about the relationships between music and its fans’ attitudes or intended destinations is mostly descriptive or qualitative”, say the researchers. Quantitative studies of this topic are lacking. Fourth and finally, the models developed to date to measure consumer involvement with K-pop culture have failed to incorporate diverse constructs, including music consumption value and audience involvement.

The researchers set out to fill these important gaps. “This study aimed to investigate the underlying structural relationships between perceived consumption values of K-pop music, audience involvement, familiarity, and behavioural intention”, they tell us. Based on a rigorous literature review, they first hypothesised that the perceived value associated with consuming K-pop music increases both emotional involvement with and referential reflection on the music – two key dimensions of audience involvement.

Next, the researchers hypothesised that “individuals who have a high level of emotional involvement and referential reflection with regard to K-pop music (and performers) are more likely to re-arrange their personal schedules to continue in engaging with K-pop music”. Such increased behavioural involvement with K-pop music and/or singers can in turn “trigger keen interest in and familiarity with the homeland of K-pop music and singers as a prospective tourism destination, and influence travel intentions”.

To quantitatively test their proposed framework linking K-pop music consumption value to tourists’ actual attitudes and behaviour, the researchers designed an online survey measuring these constructs, which they administered to foreign audiences of K-pop. Most of the respondents were regular consumers of K-pop who resided in the United States. The survey items used to measure K-pop consumption value “included features of the singers, fanship, performance quality, background, interest in mimicking singers or singing, and interest in lyrics”. The researchers also tested various dimensions of audience involvement, as well as the intention to travel, shop and consume food in Korea, the music’s origin country.

The analysis yielded several important – and sometimes surprising – findings. “First”, say the researchers, “the perceived character and visual performance value of K-pop music were not significant in explaining emotional involvement or referential reflection”. This was inconsistent with the findings of previous studies focusing on Western music, perhaps because “Western tourists may not be ready to accept the femininity or soft masculinity of K-pop boy bands”, the researchers suggest.

The researchers found that two dimensions of K-pop consumption value, namely imitation and attachment value, had a positive influence on audiences’ involvement. They also obtained the first-ever empirical evidence that emotional involvement with K-pop enhances two sub-dimensions of audience involvement: referential reflection and behavioural involvement. “Therefore, the perceived value of and emotional involvement with K-pop music among Western audiences play a crucial role in enhancing overall K-pop music experiences”, the authors tell us.

Further confirming the researchers’ hypotheses, the perceived consumption value of K-pop music was found to indirectly affect tourists’ actual behavioural intentions through audience involvement. “Music plays a substantial role in fostering familiarity with the music’s country of origin”, the researchers report, “and in driving the intention to consume its products or travel within the country”. This finding has an important implication: K-pop music might not be limited to increasing tourists’ shopping and travel intentions related to K-pop music, “but could also affect their overall perceived familiarity with Korea and their willingness to consume Korean food”, say the researchers.

These novel insights into the relationship between K-pop music consumption and tourism have crucial practical implications for stakeholders in the tourism industry. “Destination marketing organisations in Korea should consider how to effectively capitalize on K-pop music in tourism development and marketing”, say the researchers. This could include creating video clips of potential tourism destinations to promote places that are unfamiliar to global tourists, as well as “developing tailor-made marketing strategies and food menus that integrate K-pop music culture and Korean traditions into their products”.

Offering the first-ever empirical insights into the intricate relationships between K-pop consumption value, audience involvement and tourist behavioural intentions, this research provides an invaluable reference for destination marketers and tourism businesses. Understanding how K-pop music indirectly influences travel intentions can guide tourism organisations to leverage this global musical phenomenon to attract and retain visitors – with critical implications for destination competitiveness and tourism recovery in the wake of COVID-19.

As a final note, the researchers point out that neither sex, age nor ethnicity affected the perceived consumption value of music or its consequences for tourist behaviour. “Music can play a critical role in creating meaningful relationships and social bonds among music fans regardless of socio-cultural, religious, and political differences”, they conclude.

Kim, Seongseop (Sam), Kim, Sangkyun, and Wong, Antony King Fung. (2023). Music-induced Tourism: Korean Pop (K-pop) Music Consumption Values and Their Consequences. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, Vol. 30, 100824.