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.