Exploring Transcultural Communication via Perceived Social Distance and Intergroup Acceptance toward K-Pop and Asian Culture

Abstract

Well-known K-pop (Korean popular music) bands have gained the status of pop music icons, owing to their widespread popularity around the world. This study explored the interrelations between a set of relevant social and psychological factors to explain how K-pop has also contributed to a one-of-a-kind transcultural communication phenomenon on the Internet via social media. An online survey was conducted with a sample of non-Asian American college students, as K-pop is highly popular among this group of music fans. A path analysis was performed to test a conceptual framework that integrated social distance theory, common ingroup identity model, and dialectical mode. The conceptual framework theorizes that perceived social distance and intergroup acceptance between individuals of non-Asian and Asian descent, as well as perceived musical similarity between Western and K-pop cultures, will underscore the intention for transcultural social media communication about K-pop. The current study contributes to advancing the literature by addressing the social-psychological domain of transcultural communication in the context of popular entertainment across social, cultural, lingusitic, and national boundaries.