Hallyu marketing: the global success of the Korean-style cultural branding

Hallyu marketing (i.e. the strategic deployment of Korean popular culture to promote goods and services globally) has emerged as one of the most consequential non-Western marketing phenomena of the postcolonial era. Yet despite its extraordinary commercial footprint, it remains theoretically underspecified in the academic marketing literature. This special issue advances Hallyu marketing from a descriptive practitioner concept to a theoretically grounded, empirically validated, and multi-level research programme. Drawing on seven original empirical studies spanning social network analysis, grounded theory, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, experimental design, longitudinal survey, topic modelling, event study, and archival case research across Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and South Korea, the issue establishes that Hallyu marketing is distinguished by four structural elements: female universalism as its performing myth, community clusters as its organizational infrastructure, creative content and digital platforms as its commercial mechanism, and celebrity brand ambassadorship as its instrument for converting cultural capital into firm-level financial returns. Theoretical and practical implications for Hallyu marketing and pop culture marketing more broadly are discussed.