Two cultures, one fandom: Comparisons of American and South Korean pop (K-pop) music fans

From the social identity theoretical perspective, the current study examines how nationality and fan identity play a role in Korean pop music (K-pop) fans’ attitudes towards one another. Specifically, the present study investigates how Korean pop music fans from two different countries, South Korea and the United States, perceive each other and how their degree of fanship influences their attitudes and perceptions towards each other. With 555 K-pop fans from each country, the present study conducted an online survey cross-culturally. The current study reveals the intergroup attitudes among K-pop fans from the two countries; while South Korean K-pop fans showed stronger negative attitudes towards American K-pop fans as their fanship increased, American K-pop fans showed a decrease in negative attitudes towards South Korean K-pop fans as their fanship increased.