ZMET Analysis
Is K-Pop Globally Sensational?
Culture and Fashion Trends in ConsumptionProf. Yuri Seo
Group 12013198007 Jaesun Kim
2015198023 Changhyun Kim2015195030 Yejee Moon
2015198026 Je In Huh
Is K-pop Globally Sensational?
Group 1: Jaesun Kim, Changhyun Kim, Yejee Moon, Je In Huh
A. Group Description and Relevance
In news articles and media in Korea, K-pop seems to possess tremendous power in
the global market. However, does this also apply to the reality? Or have we been
brainwashed by these images that the media has created? What if we have been
overestimating the influence of K-pop since we are living in Korea? This analysis started
from these doubts. Sometimes Koreans even use ‘gukbbong’ to indicate excessive
patriotism. In order to get objective view, we thought our interviewees should have both
deep understanding of Korean culture and cultural experiences from other nations outside
Korea. Thus, group 1 – we chose ‘people who have multicultural backgrounds’ as our
consumer group.
To clarify, we set Koreans who have experiences of living both in Korea and
other countries for at least 3 years each (For Korean university admission, students who
had lived in foreign countries for at least 3 years can apply for “special admission track”
as overseas residents. Thus, we set 3 years to be the minimum period for qualification of
our interviewees.) or foreigners who have deep understanding or experiences related to
Korea as our respondents. In our opinion, people who met our criteria could offer more
objective views than Koreans who has been living only in Korea, while still being not
ignorant to K-pop.
B. Analysis Description
Jaesun
She is 20 years old and a student majoring in Mass Communication at Yonsei
University. She had lived in Myanmar from 2000 to 2013. She graduated an international
high school run by the US embassy. After the graduation, she came back to Korea. She is
ethnically South Korean and her nationality is South Korean even though she had lived in
Myanmar for most of her life. She was the only respondent who had living experiences in
South-East Asia where K-pop is more sensational compared to Western countries.
Changhyun
Changhyun is 23 years old, and she had lived in the States for 8 years. She had
spent 4 years in the West Coast, California, and then moved to East Coast, Virginia, and
lived there for another 4 years. She is currently double majoring in Creative Technology
Management and Asian Studies division. Changhyun qualifies our criteria of selecting
respondents in the way that she has plenty of sociocultural experiences in both domestic
and foreign countries. Also the fact that she majored in Asian studies made her a more
interesting respondent as she could provide an academic view towards K-pop.
Yejee
Yejee is a middle-aged male who was born in Croatia but also shares Italian
culture thanks to his mother who is Italian. He first visited Korea as an assistant professor
at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2007, and currently is a professor of
Uunderwood International College at Yonsei University and also gives lectures to
graduate students of Cultural Anthropology Department in the same school. His main
focus is to study Korean youth culture and on feminism, and K-pop is a key factor of his
study material, Hallyu or Korean Wave. He has been living in such a multicultural
background and still is dedicated to delve into different cultures, utilizing his insights from
his experiences.
Je In
Je In is a 21-year-old college student who attends Underwood International
College in Yonsei University. She is qualified for conducting the interview with three
degrees: her preference in K-Pop, her multicultural experiences of living abroad, and her
interests in the two sides of K-Pop – on the stage and off the stage. She resided abroad for
3 years in total. By having the experiences of living in both a Korean society and a
Canadian society, Je In has both the perspectives of Korean and that of Canadian. After
living abroad, she came to Korea and entered an international college, therefore continuing
the multicultural lifestyles.
Collecting and Analyzing the Data
For analyzing the data, we thought that Hermeneutics was more appropriate than
Phenomenology. In our ZMET interviews, the respondents have selected images that best
represent their perceptions or experiences about K-pop. Since ZMET images are
symbolizing respondents’ personal thoughts, the researcher inevitably has to focus on
interpreting the meaning of the image as in Hermeneutics rather than focusing on
phenomenological analysis.
To combine each data, we firstly gathered and shared our interview experiences
with ZMET images. We tried to find out commonality among our interviews. Since all
respondents were from different countries and debated on broad concept of K-pop, it was
hard to find out common grounds. So we drew our ZMET images and wrote down
keywords representing images. Like what we did in the workshop during the class, we
divided images into several themes. We clarified our hypothesis and made logics by using
the themes and keywords. Then, we could come up with our own conclusion.
C. Themes about Meanings
1. Visual Appearances
1-a. External Aspects
The most noticeable factor in every aspect of feasible culture-related products is on
the imagery. K-pop is not an exception to this rule that many people who are either
interested in or studying the matter, intuitively and almost instinctively grasp the visual
factors of such culture first. Our participants also seemed to be paying attention at the
external features of the components of K-pop industry. For instance, the most significant
trait that Je In looked at was on so-called “knife group dance” or kalgunmu. Its meaning
comes from the formation of the choreography that is “as accurate as if it were cut by a
knife”. She thinks it is a very interesting phenomenon observed almost solely in K-pop,
which lead to the differentiation and ultimately to the success of it.
Similarly, Jaesun also pointed out the most noticeable element that caused the
current success of K-pop to be on the overall visual effects seen in various aspects of the
performances. In fact, according to researches on human body, vision is the most
dominant sensory function, and the “ultimate purpose of the visual process is to arrive at
an appropriate motor, and/or cognitive response.” In accordance with the current tendency
of growing popularity of K-pop, compared to the past several decades, more entertainment
companies try to make vivid contrast with other competing companies in the same field by
employing visuals. For example, Jaesun said that from the nuance of K-“pop”, she
believes that the target market of K-pop should be the group that wants to appreciate the
colorful sensory stimulation, since “pop” suggests the general vibe of the genre to be
bright and dynamic.
1-b. Internal Aspects
On contrary to Je In’s somewhat positive view shown on 1-a, Yejee pointed out
some potential problematic aspects related to the mass’s attention leaning mostly toward
the exterior of k-pop artists. For the photo he and chosen, he said 2NE1’s team concept is
“girl power”. In fact, members of 2NE1 demonstrate their powerfulness through their
dance motions and uniquely designed bright-colored outfits. However, Yejee further
mentions that despite their dazzling appearance and attitude on stage, “they are dependent
on corporative decisions that sometimes they are put aside or their life is highly
regulated.” He then continued that this kind of phenomenon could be seen as a paradoxical
aspect of K-pop culture and its industry; however brilliant it promotes its players, the
actual performers will just always be meekly following the corporative decision.
On the same note, Yejee also noticed that sometimes the alteration of
“image” or “concept” is deliberately used, based on psychological assumptions. For
example, on the photo of Girls’ Generation, they are wearing schoolgirl uniforms. When
Girls Generation first came out, they were wearing schoolgirl-like costumes. As they
continued to come up with new albums, instead of accelerating onto “sexy” concept as
what the typical girl groups would display, they stopped at the “girlish” step.
According to the ZMET analysis, it is evident that there is the discrepancy
between the fancy faces of K-Pop and the realities behind the stages. Je In pointed out
(refers to Je In image 2) that the celebrities of K-Pop are wearing masks in order to hide
their real faces behind their artificial behaviors. Because the consumers of K-Pop
recognize the celebrities’ personalities as they see them through the TV shows, it is the
celebrities’ fate to disguise their personal life.
The attention on the appearances of K-Pop also raises the problems of the
standardization of beauty. According to Je In, nice-looking celebrities definitely have
impact on the standards of beauty. Some celebrities’ inappropriate ways of losing weight
forms the standard of beauty, regardless of their unhealthy diet. Je In mentioned that she
also was influenced by Yoona (refers to Je In image 3) and encouraged to loose weight.
This standardized measure of beauty leads to further stereotypes of the overall Koreans –
that all Koreans are beautiful. Changhyun pointed out (refers to Changhyun image 5) that
K-Pop stars are portrayed as beautiful people with perfect physical images. The
idealization of entertainers in K-Pop industry changes foreigners’ entire view about
Koreans in general. This may provoke negative perceptions that K-Pop celebrities spend a
lot of effort and expense on beauty care and plastic surgery.
The tendency to put emphasis on the appearances causes the excessive competition
in the K-Pop industry. Despite that are limited chances for the people who want to become
K-Pop artists, there are tons of idol trainees and applicants for audition programs. Je In
described this by showing an image of students taking an exam (refers to Je In image 5).
Although the spotlight on the stage looks dazzling, thousands of trainees who doesn’t
succeed fall behind every year. This increases the gap between the well-known celebrities
and those who are not well-known. She brought an image of two men who show a
significant gap in their income in Je In image 1.
2. Scope of K-pop
2-a. K-pop represents hybridity
Both Yejee and Changhyun described K-pop as a culture of hybridity. First,
Changhyun defines K-pop as hybrid music that is produced by various musicians.
Accordingly, she included not only idol groups but also Korean indie bands under the
category of K-pop musicians. Changhyun Image 4 shows the album cover of Urban
Zakapa, a Korean underground band of K-pop. While describing this image, she noted that
most of the Americans who know K-pop do acknowledge that there are different music
genres within K-pop. Meanwhile, Yejee alluded K-pop song to an ‘ice cream waffle’, as in
Yejee Image 4. Ice cream waffles are a combination of different ingredients. Similarly, K-
pop song is a fusion of different elements. For instance, a lot of K-pop songs (especially
songs by idol groups) are not limited to a certain genre. Rather, they are a combination of
different music genres such as R&B, pop, and EDM. From this, it can be concluded that
K-pop song itself is a hybridity of musical elements.
2-b. K-pop as a Limited Genre
Unlike Yejee and Changhyun, Jaesun defined K-pop in a different way. She
thought that only music by idol groups could be included as K-pop. For her, the term
‘pop’ connoted happiness and lightness. Accordingly, hip-hop and ballad musicians in
Jaesun Image 4 and 5 could not be categorized as ‘K-pop’ musicians, but just Korean
singers. Although she personally like these musicians, their music was too ‘heavy’ to be
considered as pop. We have found out that the term ‘pop’ is understood differently. Since
the term ‘K-pop’ itself is a combination of ‘pop’ and K (which represents Korea), its
scope could be determined by the scope of pop.
3. Status of K-pop in the Globalized World
As mentioned from our introduction, our main goal was to find out whether the
status of K-pop in the global world was overestimated or not. From our respondents, we
could find an interesting answer to this question. Since all of our respondents have
experiences both in Korean and foreign countries, they did mention how reactions towards
K-pop differed based on national backgrounds. If we divide popularity of K-pop in four
scale, there would be ‘overwhelming,’ ‘popular,’ ‘neutral’ and ‘indifferent.’ K-pop in
Korean media seems to be ‘overwhelming.’ However, from our respondents, we figured
out that K-pop is between ‘popular’ and ‘neutral’ in foreign countries.
3-a. K-pop as a Dominant Culture
Changhyun describes K-pop as a strongly dominant, even ‘destructive’ culture in
Korea. In marketing terms, something – whether it is a technology, culture or a trend – is
called to be ‘destructive’ when it has such a big impact that life will never be the same
prior to it. Changhyun image 6 fragmentarily shows how K-pop is destructive in Korea. In
Korea, we can hear K-pop songs literally everywhere. Also, themes about K-pop music
could be frequently seen in variety shows or other Korean medium. In culture news
section, it is all about K-pop stars and singers. From all of this, one can say that K-pop
indeed have an excessive ‘destructiveness’ in Korea.
K-pop also created a unique fan culture known as ‘fandoms.’ Fandoms do a lot of
activities related to the celebrities that they support. For instance, Yejee mentioned about
how foreign K-pop fans are avidly making K-pop related products such as the fan-art like
Yejee Image 5. Also, Changhyun said that foreign K-pop fandoms create and develop
various social media such as K-pop forums (as in Changhyun Image 2). Since foreigners
do not have sound searching engines (as in Changhyun Image 3) that Koreans use, they
have to actively use K-pop forums when they want to search certain K-pop songs. Foreign
fandoms seem to be larger than they really are because they do a lot of activities in various
fields.
For these reasons, a lot of Koreans assume K-pop to be dominant (or major) not
only in Korea but also in foreign countries. But is K-pop truly sensational in foreign
countries? According to our findings, our answer is “No”.
3-b. K-pop as a Minor Culture
Our respondents thought that K-Pop is still a minor culture in foreign countries,
even though international interest of K-pop is gradually increasing. Interestingly, the
respondents gave different reasons for this.
Jaesun (Myanmar): In Myanmar, K-pop itself was not that big, but it was even
harder to find K-pop girl groups. Jaesun thought that it was because of the different
beauty standards of women in Korea and Myanmar. In Myanmar, fat and curvy
women as in Jaesun Image 6 are considered to be the ideal physical image of
females. K-pop girl groups were too skinny for their criteria of beauty, so there
weren’t many Korean girl bands which had been successful in Myanmar. Boy
bands, on the other hand, made more success than girl bands because Burmese
preferred men who were skinny with white skins, just as the K-pop boy groups in
Jaesun Image 2 and 3.
Changhyun (America): Changhyun pointed out that K-pop was perceived
differently according to western area and eastern area of the States. In the Eastern
Coast, K-pop is considered to be a “low key, nerdy culture” whereas Western
Coast is more open to K-pop. In California, some people knew about K-pop due to
Megan Lee (Changhyun Image 1), who is a famous Korean-American singer from
California. However, in Virginia, Changhyun reminisced that she could not openly
reveal the fact that she was a K-pop fan. First of all, there weren’t many students
who knew about K-pop, and even if they knew about K-pop, they were more like a
minor group of manias. Changhyun thinks ethnicity is the reason for the different
status of K-pop between East and West of the States. Western Coast has an
ethnically diverse population that were centered by Asian-Americans, while
Eastern Coast is mostly constituted of WASP (White Anglo-Saxon People).
Je In (Canada): Canadians were mostly indifferent about K-Pop and Korean
culture. Unlike Koreans’ perceptions towards themselves that K-Pop is a global
trend, most of the Canadians Je In met didn’t know about K-Pop, or they had little
information about it. Je In admitted that the Korean media reports were
exaggerated than the reality. She was asked several times about PSY when she
mentioned that she was from Korea, but there were no further awareness or interest
towards K-Pop. Besides PSY, K-Pop boy groups were also recognized by very few
foreigners – Japanese immigrants. Most of the Japanese immigrants were fans of
K-Pop boy groups, but they were still a small minority. Other Canadians were
indifferent about the listeners of K-Pop just like they were indifferent about K-Pop
itself. They didn’t have any stereotypes about the minority fans.
D. Discussion and Conclusion
According to the interviewees, K-pop has some paradoxical or problematic aspect
within its industry. We could find out how the interest of entertainment companies were
based on the market economy and the standard of beauty was wrongly-set according to the
logic of the market on the media. For instance, some points were raised upon 1-b that
intensify both excessive competition among entertainers and the negative perceptions on
K-pop celebrities. However, K-pop still has merits in terms of visual effects as it was
mentioned in 1-a. Because of its unique and dazzling visual enjoyment it provides with
consumers, K-pop has potentials to appeal to the general public in other parts of the world
as well.
The definition of K-pop could differ depending on how the listeners set the range
of musical genre(s) that it is confined to. Some respondents insisted that K-pop is a limited
genre solely created by idol groups. However, all interviewees agreed that there are some
other Korean songs that express emotions other than those that are often dealt within the
idol-music boundary. It implies that K-pop has to acknowledge its limitation, expanding
and advertising its wide scope. We figured out how dominant or “destructive” K-pop
music is in Korea, and also how it does not have that much of an impact outside of Korea.
From here, we assume that by noticing the contrast between the status of K-pop within
and outside Korea could fill in the gap between the isolated point of view that K-pop is
already global.
Works Cited
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Howard, Keith. "K-pop—The International Rise of the Korean Music Industry." Ethnomusicology Forum 24.2 (2015): 298-300. Web.
Kim, Jae-heun. "Yang Hyun-suk Sees Bright Future in K-pop in Global Market." The Korea Times. 02 Nov. 15. Web.