Women’s empowerment and transnational consumption of Hallyu in Vietnam

ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the growing popularity and consumption of Korean popular culture, known as Hallyu (Originating from Chinese, the Korean term, Hallyu is “Hàn lưu” in Vietnamese and pronounced similarly. During our interviews, we used the latter term, and in our survey we referred to “Korean cultural products”) (Korean Wave) amongst young Vietnamese women and examine its socio-cultural implications. To this end, we used in-depth interviews and a survey questionnaire as the main methods of data collection and endeavored to identify the trends and meaning of young women’s consumption of Hallyu products in Vietnam. Findings suggest that these signify the following: (i) the emergence of a new generation of womanhood in Vietnam and their empowerment as modern consumers who navigate consumer choices and complement information through the use of diverse channels, and (ii) their desire to construct a modern and cosmopolitan femininity and lifestyle underpinned by the changing role and status of women in the country. These findings add to a growing body of literature on the transnational consumption of media and goods as well as on women’s empowerment, especially in developing countries.