The influence of cultural familiarity on Tanzanian millennials’ perceptions of Korea: the mediating roles of involvement

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships between cultural familiarity (CF), Korean cultural involvement (KCI), involvement with Korean celebrities (IKC), attitude toward a country (ATCOUN), and word-of-mouth (WOM) toward Korea. Survey data were collected from 358 Tanzanian college students within Tanzania in March of 2017. The findings reveal that CF exerted a positive and significant influence on KCI, IKC, and ATCOUN. Moreover, KCI positively and significantly forms both IKC and ATCOUN. Additionally, IKC was a positive influence on ATCOUN. ATCOUN was demonstrated to be a significant predictor of WOM, while KCI was demonstrated to act as a partial mediator between CF and ATCOUN. IKC was a partial mediator between CF and ATCOUN. IKC was a full mediator between KCI and ATCOUN.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitude toward a country
• cultural familiarity
• Hallyu
• Korean cultural involvement
• involvement with Korean celebrities
• Korean celebrities
• millennials
• South Korea
• Tanzania
• word of mouth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.