Does the Rise of the Korean Wave Lead to Cosmetics Export?

The purpose of this research is to identify the relation between the Korean wave and Korean cosmetics export. Instead of using UN COMTRADE data as with other researches on the similar studies, this paper adopts Google Trends query index with keyword ‘Korean drama’as a proxy variable for cultural trade. With controlling export determining factors such as GDPs of import and export countries, distance, R&D, and FTA, this paper examines whether the Korean wave represented by Google Trends contributes to the explosive increase of Korean cosmetics export in the recent years. Moreover, this study also investigates the possible effects of the Korean wave on export that could vary according to the different trade groups by classifying import countries into two groups: 74 countries worldwide and 9 ASEAN member countries. The results reveal that the Korean wave indeed leads to cosmetics export to ASEAN countries but show weak relation with cosmetics export to worldwide.