An Impact of Search Volume on Export: Construal Level Theory Perspective

This study aims to explore how search volume for keywords with a high level of construal of Hallyu, 'K-POP', and keywords with a low level of construal, 'BTS' affect exports differently. We collected export trade data from the UN Comtrade and ‘K-POP’ and ‘BTS’ search volume from Google Search Engine, respectively. According to the analysis results, both K-POP Google web and YouTube search volume had a statistically significant effect on exports. On the other hand, BTS Google web search volume did not affect exports, but BTS Google YouTube search volume had a negative effect on exports. The results provided evidence that the overall effect on search engines is different for K-POP and BTS, which means that negative online information is more detrimental to BTS group brand reputation than K-POP Hallyu brand in the long run.