The Production and Consumption of Experience: Inter-Asian Responses to Small Screen Tourism in Korea

Abstract

Goal and objectives of the dissertationThe primary aim of this research is to conceptually develop and empirically examine the underlying mechanisms and structures through which audiences perceive/experience transnational TV drama(s) and the ways in which these may influence tourists' experiences when they become screen tourists at the filmed locations in the inter-Asian dimension. The following six main objectives are developed in order to achieve the aim of the study:1. To identify key attributes, the so-called production values of transnational TV drama production and consumption2. To identify the dimensions of audience involvement in the context of screen tourism associated with transnational TV drama3. To examine how the production side constructs, contextualises, and guides audience consumption and in turn influences tourists' experiences when they visit filmed locations4. To develop an integrated framework for modelling the influence of transnational TV drama production and consumption on screen tourism experiences5. To empirically examine the structural relationships of the integrated framework of production values and the audience involvement and the ways in which these viewing experiences may influence touristic experiences at screen tourism destinations6. To examine whether there are cross-cultural differences by nationalities in terms of audience's viewing experiences with the programme and screen tourism experience.MethodologyMixed methods were adopted with preliminary qualitative driven in-depth interviews and a following up quantitative questionnaire survey. As a first stage of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with the production team of Daejanggeum, known in English Jewel in the Palace, one of the most successful and popular Korean TV dramas in Asia and beyond. The interviewees included director, producer, camera director, lighting director, set director and writer, and the main purpose of the interviews was to identify key elements of production values of the programme for the production and consumption. Thereafter, quantitative structured questionnaire survey as a hypothesis testing was undertaken in order to investigate the causal relationships between multi-variables including level of exposure, production values, audience involvement, on-site screen tourism experiences and post-visit screen tourists' behaviour.ResultsAudiences as potential tourists, their previous viewing experiences, and touristic appeal of textual, visual and aural representations of a transnational TV drama are themselves complex and cannot be reduced to some single motif. As conceptually and empirically examined in this study, level of exposure, production values, and audience involvement played a crucial role in influencing the level of screen tourism experiences at screen tourism destinations. Of the two dimensions of production values, Story and Character is the stronger vehicle provoking more positive screen tourism experiences. This includes: educational and moral messages; attractiveness of main characters; excellent overall casting; outstanding performances of the actors; interesting content; originality of story (lines); enhanced emotional involvement and identification; structure of narrative and plot; topicality; and embedded meanings in certain parts of the set.Regarding audience involvement, behavioural and emotional involvement is more closely tied to the screen tourism experiences. Especially, the constructs of emotional engagement and involvement are more likely to provoke audience's behavioural intention to visit the filmed locations of the programme. However, cognitive and critical reflection of audience involvement did not emerge as a distinct dimension, which indicates that cognitively oriented audience involvement including cognitive interaction and critical reflection was not considered as one of the major vehicles to construct and influence viewing experiences of a TV drama as well as on-site screen tourism experiences. …