Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Fandom is a way of life. Much like daily activities such as eating, walking,

watching television, reading books and the like, fandom is a habitual activity for a fan.

Sandvoss described fandom as the “regular, emotionally involved consumption of a

given popular narrative or text”. There are emotions invested in the part of the fan such

as adoration, idolization and other extreme feelings of fondness. A simple appreciation

of a media text may result to repeated and regular consumption.

Background of the Study

K-pop differs in many respects from these previous successes. First, it has

already been around for at least 15 years—longer than the golden years of the Hong

Kong movies (from the late 1980s to late 1990s) or of the Japanese “J-pop” wave

(during the 1990s). Second, it has witnessed enough K-pop groups consistently scoring

regular hits in charts around the world for Billboard to open a “K-pop Hot 100” world

chart in 2012 and YouTube to add a specific “K-pop” entry to its existing musical entries.

Lastly, K-pop is attracting a very diverse audience in all the countries concerned: not

only teens and twenties (as often believed) but also and increasingly their parents, and

not only the native populations but also the immigrants in regions such as the US or

Europe. All this triggers a sense of a true “cultural” tidal wave.

According to Deen (2012), Hallyu has undoubtedly reached the Philippine

shores. Their dramas, actors and actresses, music videos, cosmetic products and

fashion have drawn the attention of a great number of Filipinos. In her paper entitled
“Korean Wave: the Great Splash on the Philippine popular culture and life,” Flores

(2012) stated that the Korean wave has swept the Philippine shore in many forms

including popular culture and life. Also, she stressed that Korean wave has become an

unstoppable force in today’s pop culture. Moreover, Flores (2012) concluded that the

Korean wave was a tsunami and thus expects more Korean wave will come to shore.

In addition, Flores (2012) reiterated that K-pop music and dance was the effect of

the second wave of Hallyu in the Philippines. She added that K-pop is well known for its

focus on dance and performance with less focus on lyrics and content. According to

Korea net, the official website of South Korean Government, K-pop plays an important

role in Hallyu’s spread. The website stated that the power of word of mouth and the

ripple effect of online media sites like YouTube have been a major factor for the K-pop

to go beyond Asian market.

In the Philippines, the rising popularity of K-pop can described as unique (Hicap,

2009). Korean music, according to Choy (2012), introduced through teledrama shown

on local Philippine TV. As time goes by, it became more popular on our society.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the level of K-pop influence to the Senior High

School students of Alangalang National High School.

Specifically, it seeks to find answer to the following question:

1. What is the level of K-pop addiction of Senior High School students in terms of

the following stages of K-pop fandom:

b. The makeover

c. Building the collections;

d. Pilgrimage to Seoul;

e. First date; and

f. Giving back?

Significance of the Study

The study on the level of k-pop influence to senior high school students offers

benefits to the following:

Parents. The result of the study will be benefit by having awareness of k-pop influence

to their children.

School Administrators. The result of the study will provide knowledge regarding to the

level of k-pop influence of senior high school students.

Researchers. This study will help the researchers in giving knowledge about

understanding their research.

Scope and Delimitation

This study will be conducted among Senior High School students of Alangalang

National High School, S.Y 2019-2020.

This research aims to determine the level of K-pop influence of SHS students. To

meet the objectives of the research, descriptive design will be used. Research-made

questionnaire will be used in data gathering.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

In her study entitled, “K-popped! Understanding the Filipino Teens’ Consumption

of Korean Popular Music and Videos,” Alanzalon (2011) attempted to look into the

popularity of Korean popular (K-pop) music among Filipino teens aged 15-19 years. In

her study, she used the combined assumption of Straubhaar’s Cultural Proximity

Theory, Ball Rokeach and De Fleur’s Media Dependency Theory and Blumler and

Katz’s Uses and Gratifications Theory. Alanzalon (2011) conducted both traditional and

online survey quantitative among 270 Filipino teenage K-pop fans, and focus interview

(qualitative) to six Filipino fans of six Korean groups in the Philippines. She determined

the variables of consumption of K-pop consumption of K-pop context and needs of the

fans satisfied by K-pop context. Results of Alanzalon’s study revealed that Filipino teens

highly exposed to Korean popular music, and consumed this media texts from their

everyday by utilizing various media, most especially the Internet. Also, Alanzalon (2011)

stated that Filipino fans are also attracted to the cultural offerings of K-pop content

especially the visual elements including the physical appearance of the artists (face,

fashion, hairstyle) and visual aspect of the music videos (choreography, sets).

Moreover, Alanzalon (2011) found that consuming K-pop content gratified the

entertainment need of the fans though it’s appealing visual elements and high quality

content (song, choreography, and talented artists). The study of Alanzalon (2011) has

bearing to the current study because it describes the first stage ‘getting to know you

stage’ and second stage the ‘makeover.’

influenced by Korean entertainment of Teenager in Mueang District, Chiangmai

Province,” focused on the consumer behavior and the most influence factor that

consumer are favors from the Korean entertainment media cause too much influence to

consume and cosmetic is the most product that consumer likes. Wonkboonma (2009)

concluded that the most influential factor of the Korean entertainment is the interest to

Korean singer and celebrities and the advertisements of products. Wonkboonma’s

paper has relevance to the present study because it discussed the third stage of K-pop

Fandom ‘building the collections.’

A study conducted by Deen (2012) entitled “Formation, Purpose, and Gains: An

exploratory study of Hallyu Fan club in the Philippines,” focused on the formation and

purpose of Hallyu fan clubs. Deen included responses to an online survey from

administrators of 22 Philippine Hallyu fan clubs and used a combination of descriptive

statistics and content analysis. According to Deen (2012), there exists a strong

subculture of Hallyu fans in the Philippines. She added that the formation of Hallyu fan

clubs driven by fans themselves. She found out that the main purpose of Hallyu fan club

formations include the need to express support for the artist/s and socialize with others.

She concluded that importance of socialization with other fans emerged as a strong

motivator for joining fan clubs. The study of Deen (2012) has bearing to the current

study because it discussed the stage four ‘finding a support group.

In the study conducted by Lee (2005) entitled “From Fandom to Tourism: An

Examination of Self Expansion Theory,” he attempted to examined the impact of pop

stars on a destination from the perspective of fans. He investigated whether fans at

motivation, satisfaction, attachment, and loyalty in the destination context by applying

self- expansion theory. In particular, Korean pop star’s fans used as the study example

of Korean pop-culture. Lee (2005) utilized a quantitative method to provide empirical

support for the impact of fandom on tourism. Results of Lee’s study revealed a new

character of fans, a high level of self- expansion. According to Lee (2005), fans self-

expansion was significant in influencing their fandom and travel motivation. As a result,

a high degree of fandom had a significant effect on travel satisfaction and destination

loyalty. Lee’s study is among the first studies to investigate the impact of fandom on

tourism, providing new insights in understanding the niche segment from the pop-

culture fans’ perspective. Lee’s examination of self-expansion theory on fandom and

tourism has helped to bridge the link between a fan and a destination, extending the

literature on destination studies, and suggesting meaningful implications for destination

marketers. Lee’s study has bearing to the current study because it described the fifth

stage of K-pop fandom ‘Pilgrimage to Seoul.’

Definition of Terms

The following term is defined operationally:

Level of K-pop Influence. It refers to the average score of SHS students in the

questionnaire screen for k-pop influence.