K-Dramas Sell the World: Korean Regulations and the Growth of Product Placement

• In Event: Management, Marketing and Programming & International Divisions - Research Presentations (Virtual)
  In Paper Competition: International Division - Research Presentation (Virtual)

Abstract

Korean media content has grown dramatically, and the product placement (PPL) found within that content has multiplied. Korean dramas especially have risen as a prominent media space where brands are actively inserted. With the growth in transnational media streaming services, K-dramas have landed much farther than the Korean peninsula, and PPL in Korean media have become one of the crucial communication business practices not only for South Korean businesses but among transnational corporations. As the audiences have broadened, so have the companies paying to place their brands within top-watched series. The purpose of this study is to examine what brands purchased space within the storylines of the top K-dramas viewed on Netflix across the world in 2020.
In order to examine the breadth of international PPL on top K-dramas streaming on Netflix in 2020, this study approaches the following three research questions: 1) What brand placements are apparent in the top K-dramas on Netflix from 2020?; 2) What kinds of product/service categories are prevalent among brand placements in the top K-dramas on Netflix from 2020?; and 3) RQ3: What were the national origins associated with brand placements in Korean dramas on Netflix that were in the list of most-watched TV shows in 2020? Based on our initial coding and training, we expect a high number of global automobile and fashion companies to be present within these dramas, in addition to global food brands, while featured coffee chains, fried chicken restaurants, and cosmetics tend to be Korean. 

Authors

• Min Wha Han, West Texas A&M University

• Emily S. Kinsky, West Texas A&M University

• Kristina Drumheller, West Texas A&M University