Effect of consuming imported cultural goods on trading partners’ tolerance toward immigrants: the case of Japanese anime in Korea

Abstract

The consumption of imported goods is thought to influence consumers' views and attitudes toward export countries. It is important to consider this issue especially when there is political tension and conflict between countries. Because of this historical background, political conflict exists between Korea and Japan. This paper examines the effect of viewing Japanese anime (animation) on the attitudes of Koreans toward Japanese living in Korea. The major findings of the study show that the more frequently adult Koreans view Japanese anime, the more likely they are to accept Japanese as workplace colleagues and neighbors after controlling for endogeneity bias using instrumental variables. The findings of this paper imply that via the consumption of imported cultural goods, people are exposed to positive traits of the trading partner, and thus consumers have a stronger affinity with the export country. From this, we derive the policy implication that promoting trade of modern cultural goods is effective to increase mutual understanding between trade partners, reducing political tension between them.JEL classification: D12, D74, F16, Z11, Z18

Public Opinion in a Rising Power: National and International Orientations among the Chinese Public

“…In addition, Chinese people have had increased opportunity to travel and study abroad, which yields an opportunity for direct contact with foreign countries. Studies have found that exposure to foreign cultures promotes understanding of other countries, appreciation of diversity, and recognition of the importance of coexistence (Tulasiewicz 2015; Yamamura and Shin 2016). In the reform era, Chinese people pursued their interest in other countries, through learning foreign languages and following news from other countries, for instance.…”