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Abstract
This study employs a cross-cultural perspective to examine how local audiences perceive and enjoy foreign dramas and how this psychological process differs depending on the cultural distance between the media and the viewing audience. Using a convenience sample of young Korean college students, this study, as predicted by cultural discount theory, shows that cultural distance decreases Korean audiences’ perceived identification with dramatic characters, which erodes their enjoyment of foreign dramas. Unlike cultural discount theory, however, cultural distance arouses Korean audiences’ perception of novelty, which heightens their enjoyment of foreign dramas. This study discusses the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as their potential limitations.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government NRF-2013S1A3A2055285
Notes
1. Because the exact number of non-American audience members is not available, it is difficult to make a broad claim regarding the 63 million viewers.
2. This inferential statistic was obtained through a generalized mixed model that accounts for the statistical independence violation due to repeated evaluations of dramas among audience members who watched Korean, Asian, and/or U.S. dramas.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Young Min Baek
Young Min Baek (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is an assistant professor at Yonsei University. His research interests cover public opinion research, new media and politics, and quantitative research methods.
Hye Min Kim
Hye Min Kim (B.A., Yonsei University) is a candidate for a master’s degree at Yonsei University. Her research interests include computer-mediated communication (CMC) effects on perception and social influence of new media particularly in political context.