Consumption of pop culture and tourism demand: Through the lens of herding behaviour

Sungkyu Lim, Neelu Seetaram, Sameer Hosany and Matthew Li

Annals of Tourism Research, 2023, vol. 99, issue C

Abstract: Herding is a social phenomenon where individuals act collectively as part of a group and make decisions based on the behaviour and choices of others. In this study, we conceptualise herding behaviour on social media via a two-step flow communication model and measured through Google and YouTube search volume. The estimated herding behaviour is used to develop a novel index to measure the online consumption of Korean cultural products. Monthly data between 2013 and 2019 were used to analyse tourist arrivals from 10 countries. Findings confirm that Korean wave, captured by the index, is statistically significant in predicting tourist arrivals. The study provides a generalised proxy of cultural consumption, applicable to other destinations.

Keywords: Herding behaviour; K-pop; Tourism demand; Korean wave; Cultural consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:99:y:2023:i:c:s016073832300004x

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2023.103531

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