Research Note: Assessing the Impact of K-pop on the Sales of Korean Brands: A Case of Automobile in the U.S. Market

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to expand upon previous research into the country of origin effect through the use of empirical data by formulating an analysis method which allows the measurement of the extent of country of origin effect by the proxy of K-pop musicians associated with country of origin image and to propose an alternative framework which provides an explanation as to the discrepancies between empirical data and prior research. Our analysis results reveal that the impact of country of origin associated with ‘PSY’ and ‘BTS’ on the automobile sales of ‘Hyundai Sonata’ was significant in the U.S. market. An asymmetric country of origin effect was found vis-àa-vis American and Japanese brands.