Hallyu marketing: conclusions, limitations, and a future research agenda

This conclusion paper to the special issue on Hallyu marketing subjects the seven contributing papers to critical scholarly scrutiny, identifying the theoretical and methodological limitations that the field must address to mature as a research programme. Organized in the same thematic sequence as the special issue introduction, the paper evaluates each contribution’s advances and shortcomings across four dimensions: key findings, theoretical limitations, methodological constraints, and future research directions. Collectively, the papers establish Hallyu marketing’s definitional architecture, document its commercial mechanisms, identify its behavioural boundaries, and demonstrate its financial market legibility. Yet significant gaps remain: the female gaze as a cultural mechanism linking Hallyu fandom to financial market reactions is undertheorized; fan-generated creativity is conflated with firm-produced content creativity; geographic coverage excludes Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia; and the intersection of Hallyu marketing with artificial intelligence, sustainability, and emerging K-industries remains unaddressed. A five-question future research agenda is proposed to guide the next generation of Hallyu marketing scholarship.