Emotional Attachment to Brands in the K-Pop Industry the Case of Male K-Pop Bands in Russia
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Emotional attachment to brands in the K-pop industry The case of male K-pop bands in Russia Alina Skvortsova Bachelor’s thesis March 2020 Marketing Degree Programme in International Business Description Author(s) Type of publication Date Skvortsova, Alina Bachelor’s thesis March 2020 Language of publication: English Number of pages Permission for web publi- 68 cation: x Title of publication Emotional attachment to brands in the K-pop industry The case of male K-pop bands in Russia Degree programme International Business Supervisor(s) Zoccoli, Marcella Assigned by JAMK Center for Competitiveness Abstract K-pop (abbreviation for “Korean pop”), the 7th most popular music genre in the world as of 2019, is nowadays actively promoting in other countries outside of South Korea. However, despite the enormous market potential, there has now been little active marketing in Rus- sia aside from several concerts. Yet, it can be assumed that at the start of targeted actions, the genre will face cultural rejection. The objective of this research is to study how the Russian fans perceive and experience the K-pop male bands as an overall brand. The data obtained can be used to design messages used for future marketing in the country. In order to achieve the objective, 14 semi-structured personal interviews and one group interview with female fans in Russia were conducted according to the model suggested by the Customer-Based approach to branding. The results showed that overall, fans in Russia generally view male bands more in relation to specific artists within bands or focus on particular bands without viewing them as a whole set of “male K-pop bands”. However, they all share the same brand characteristics: they are bright, supportive, warm, and can provide motivation or distraction. Additionally, the performers are visually attractive, and the content provided is generally viewed as high-quality. Fans show high levels of emotional attachment to bands. The results may be utilized as a base for further research of impact of this emotional at- tachment on artists themselves. Additionally, the results may be used by K-pop companies if they choose to start active marketing in Russia. They can also be used by other foreign artists who are targeting the audience with psychological characteristics similar to female K-pop fans of Generation Z but are unsure of which messages to communicate. Additional- ly, the results will be useful for domestic performers who may wish to replicate the service provided by K-pop bands. Keywords/tags (subjects) K-pop; Russian fans; brand; branding; celebrity branding; Generation Z; customer-based brand equity Miscellaneous (Confidential information) 1 Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Motivation for the research ........................................................................ 4 1.2 Research question ....................................................................................... 6 1.3 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................. 7 2 Literature Review ........................................................................................... 7 2.1 K-pop ........................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 K-pop and its defining characteristics .................................................... 8 2.1.2 K-pop in Russia ...................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 K-pop in other countries ....................................................................... 12 2.2 Brands and branding ................................................................................. 13 2.2.1 Brand ..................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Branding ................................................................................................ 14 2.2.3 Celebrity branding ................................................................................ 14 2.3 Generation Z .............................................................................................. 16 2.4 Theoretical framework .............................................................................. 17 2.4.1 The Cognitive Consumer Perspective ................................................... 19 2.4.2 The information-processing theory of consumer choice ..................... 20 2.4.3 Customer-based brand equity .............................................................. 21 3 Methodology ................................................................................................ 23 3.1 Research Approach .................................................................................... 24 3.2 Research Context....................................................................................... 25 3.3 Data Collection .......................................................................................... 25 3.4 Data Analysis ............................................................................................. 28 3.5 Verification of the results .......................................................................... 30 2 4 Research results ........................................................................................... 31 5 Discussion .................................................................................................... 45 5.1 Answers to the research question ............................................................ 45 5.2 Practical and managerial implications ...................................................... 45 5.3 Assessment of the results in the light of literature ................................... 46 5.3.1 Brand awareness and brand recall ....................................................... 48 5.3.2 Non-product related attributes ............................................................ 48 5.3.3 Non-Product-related attributes ............................................................ 48 5.3.4 Benefits ................................................................................................. 49 5.3.5 Attitudes ............................................................................................... 50 5.3.6 Favorability, strength, and uniqueness of brand associations ............. 50 5.4 Limitations of the research ....................................................................... 51 5.5 Recommendations for future research ..................................................... 51 References ........................................................................................................... 53 Figures Figure 1. Linear Communication (adapted from Heding et al. 2008, 85) .................... 18 Figure 2. Communication process (designed by the researcher) ................................ 18 Figure 3. Three forms of cognition applied to brands (sourced from G. Franzen and M. Bouwman 2001, 178) .............................................................................................. 20 Figure 4. Dimensions of brand knowledge (sourced from Keller 1993, 7) .................. 22 Figure 5. K-pop Male Bands Brand Image .................................................................... 47 Tables Table 1. An example of the data analysis spreadsheet ................................................ 29 Table 2. Data filtering ................................................................................................... 30 3 1 Introduction Music is an important part of our daily lives. It plays in shopping malls, on the radio, in someone’s headphones. Artists from any part of the world can have their tracks playing on any continent with the spread of the Internet and social media. To the date, music has undergone many stages of development before it reached us in the form we know today. The process has been described by Wetzel (2011). Europe’s first widespread music consisted of church songs and prayers. Notation printing was invented in the sixteenth century. In those times, music was shaped by traveling composers. Seventeenth-century saw the violin invention of the Stradivari family. In the next stage, musicians and composers found themselves tied to noble courts, yet by the end of the eighteenth century, they gained their independence. The century transitioned into the nineteenth-century era of traveling pianists. In this perios, the first features of popular music culture emerged as musicians had loyal listeners and known names. The post-war era of the twentieth century saw the Beatles, and this moment is believed to be the start of popular music industry as we know it today. Finally, the twenty-first century is marked not only music piracy and online streaming platforms; it is the most globalized stage at which music as an industry has ever been. The modern music industry allows artists from any country to share their music with the world. (11-52.) The worls just needs to listen. When asked about most popular music artists, an average European might recall names like Halsey, Ariana Grande, or Coldplay. It can also be artists like Eminem, NF, or One Direction. Regardless of names, the artists we recall are likely to have one thing in common: they originate from the United States or from another major English-speaking country. The American music industry is undoubtedly a global force. And yet, in the past years South Korea,