The effects of destination product placement in TV drama on the intention to visit South Korea : An Indonesian audience case

Abstract

This study uses the hierarchy of effect by Lavidge and Steiner as the groundwork theory to examine the process and the effect of product placement in Korean dramas as a Korean tourism marketing strategy to persuade Indonesian audiences to visit Korea. Cognitive, affective, and conative psychological responses were used to explain the process of the audience’s response toward advertising exposure using 475 valid online survey data samples from Indonesian viewers as the source market. The empirical results confirmed that people go through a hierarchical process in response to advertising exposure, indicating both recall and informativeness as cognitive response affect brand attitude in terms of both attitude toward the drama itself and PPL destinations. The positive brand attitude led to visit intention among the viewers. Results strongly suggest that K-drama is an effective media to promote Korean tourism. Practical implications and limitations are also presented.