Suyanto Suyanto

South Korea has a good image overseas due to the success of its national branding. With the Korean Wave as their national branding, Koreans introduce their country and culture through Korean entertainment. Indonesia is one of the Asian countries exposed to the Korean Wave, especially Korean dramas. This paper aims to analyze the determinants of changes in perceptions and the desire of Indonesians to visit South Korea as a tourist destination. International strategy theory, international marketing theory, and Korean Wave types are analyzed. The research sample consists of 237 randomly selected Korean Wave fans and non-fans. Data were collected using a questionnaire adapted and modified from previous studies. Respondents received questionnaires on-line via Google Forms. Multiple linear regression analysis was used in this study. The findings show that international strategy and marketing can adequately explain changes in the perception and desire of Indonesians to visit South Korea as a tourist destination. The Korean Wave has a positive and significant effect on changes in public perceptions toward Korea. The significant level of 0.000 <0.05 concludes that the four Korean Wave variables (Korean music, food, dramas, and products)simultaneously have a positive effect on changes in the perception of Indonesians people toward South Korea. However, K-pop and K-food were not found to determine the intention to visit South Korea as a tourist destination.

Research in recent years has shown that Bitcoin is a virtual asset that is used as a medium of exchange and investment tool other than shares and bonds, the development of the digital era has opened up opportunities for Bitcoin to be chosen as part of an investor’s portfolio. The focus of this study is to examine the impact of nine key determinants on Bitcoin price. The data used in the study are daily data starting from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2022. The main data source is taken from Investing.com, and the estimation method applied is the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The main finding shows that Bitcoin Volume impacts Bitcoin Price negatively, which is in line with the demand theory. Another finding is related to the substitute effect of Ethereum Volume, Litecoin Volume, and Gold Volume, each of which influences Bitcoin Price positively, suggesting that these three commodities are substitutes to Bitcoin. In contrast, whereas Oil Volume has an insignificant effect on Bitcoin price in the short term, it has a negative significant impact in the long term. In addition, LQ45 stock index Volume influences Bitcoin Price positively in the short term, suggesting that LQ45 stock index and Bitcoin substitute for each other. Moreover, Google Trends impacts Bitcoin price positively in the long term. In terms of the income effect, either the Indonesian GDP or US GDP has a strong positive effect on Bitcoin price in both the short and long term.

The Korean Wave, also known as Hallyu, is a phenomenon of globalization of South Korean culture that has influenced many aspects of life in various countries. Indonesia is a country affected by the Korean Wave due to globalization through the media. This paper aims to analyze the impacts of four detailed movie-related Korean Wave variables (visual, vocal, celebrity, and language) on intention to visit South Korea, with country image as a mediating variable. The research sample consisted of 302 fans and non-fans of the Korean Wave who either experienced or were interested in Korean Wave cultural contents. Data were collected from September to October 2023. The results were analyzed using the Partial Least Squared Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). The results confirm that four Korean Wave traits positively affect Indonesian tourists’ desire to travel to Korea. Improving the movie quality, including visuals, voice, celebrity, and language, might motivate Indonesian tourists to visit Korea. Likewise, the country’s image is positively and significantly influenced by each of the four Korean Wave variables. The findings were statistically significant at 5% significance level. Moreover, the study discovered that the perception of the country considerably affected the desire to travel and served as a go-between for the effects of film visuals, celebrity presence, and language on the decision to visit.

Electronic commerce is gaining importance as a hub for product sourcing, helping businesses earn a competitive edge, and connecting with consumers. Despite its enormous benefits, very few microenterprises in Indonesia adopted electronic commerce. This study analyzes three determinants influencing electronic commerce adoption in microenterprises and evaluates the impacts of these three determinants on firm performance. The paper adopts the TOE (technology, organization, external environment) framework. The quantitative explanatory method uses a questionnaire distributed directly to 113 Indonesian microenterprises’ owners registered in the database of the East Java Department of Cooperative, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises from October 2023 to July 2024. The collected data were processed via structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS). The findings indicate that a decision to adopt technology has a direct, positive, and significant impact on the adoption of electronic commerce in Indonesian enterprises. Second, organizational context (such as firm size or age) has a positive and significant effect on the willingness to adopt electronic commerce. Third, the external environment has a positive influence on the adoption of electronic commerce. The results confirm the positive impact of the adoption of electronic commerce on the performance of Indonesian microenterprises. These findings justify the importance of TOE contexts in supporting electronic commerce adoption in Indonesian microenterprises and, in turn, increase the performance of the corresponding micro-firms.

Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology under fundamental research grant number 109/E5/PG.02.00.PL/2024.
The authors do not have permission to share the data because the raw data are collected under a license from the East Java Department of Cooperative, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study investigates the influence of Korean popular (K-pop) music values on behavioral intentions toward tourism, positing emotional involvement and referential reflection as mediating variables. Utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), data were analyzed from a sample of 153 Indonesian K-pop fans aged 18 to 50. Data were collected between January and April 2025 via questionnaire, adhering to strict ethical protocols regarding informed consent and confidentiality. The results indicate that four dimensions of K-pop music values —character-visual, imitation-attachment, message-vocal, and idol-aesthetic — exert significant positive effects on tourism behavioral intention through the mechanisms of emotional involvement and referential reflection. Path analysis reveals a sequential process: first, the four K-pop value measures significantly enhance both emotional involvement and referential reflection; second, these mediators positively influence behavioral intention; and third, this intention manifests in four specific tourism-related attitudes, namely familiarity with Korean culture, shopping and travel intentions, interest in Korean cuisine, and motivation to learn the Korean language. Collectively, these findings validate the mediating roles of emotional involvement and referential reflection in translating music values into tourism behavioral intentions.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Economic growth and foreign direct investment constitute critical determinants of environmental sustainability. This study empirically examines the nexus between these factors and environmental degradation, proxied by the ecological footprint and carbon emissions, while controlling for urbanization and natural resource depletion. Leveraging the strictly complete panel dataset from 17 selected Asian economies spanning 1990 to 2023, the analytical framework incorporates a comprehensive suite of diagnostic tests, including assessments of multicollinearity, cross-sectional dependence, stationarity, cointegration, and model specification. Diagnostic results confirm the absence of multicollinearity, establish stationarity at first differences, and validate long-run cointegration for both environmental models. Empirical evidence delineates five key findings. First, economic growth exhibits a positive and significant impact on both ecological footprint and carbon emissions, whereas its squared term exerts a negative and significant effect, corroborating the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Second, foreign direct investment increases the ecological footprint significantly, supporting the Pollution Haven Hypothesis. Conversely, foreign direct investment reduces carbon emissions, suggesting the presence of the Pollution Halo Hypothesis. Next, urbanization significantly amplifies the ecological footprint but mitigates carbon emissions. Finally, natural resource depletion significantly reduces the ecological footprint while intensifying carbon emissions. Collectively, these results underscore the complex roles of economic growth and foreign direct investment in environmental sustainability and affirm the concurrent applicability of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, Pollution Haven, and Pollution Halo theoretical frameworks within the Asian context.