Factors Making Chinese Students in Thailand Satisfied with Thai Drama “BuppeSannivas” (Love Destiny)

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the viewing behavior of the BuppeSanniwas television drama of Chinese students in Thailand, 2) to study the storytelling factors that make Chinese students in Thailand satisfied with the BuppeSanniwas drama, and 3) to study the marketing communication factors that make Chinese students in Thailand satisfied with the BuppeSanniwas drama. The study applied the concept of television viewing behavior, concept of storytelling, and the integrated marketing communication theory as a conceptual framework for the qualitative research method. The data sources of this research were 14 Chinese students living in Bangkok and the in-depth interview method were applied to get data from them. The relevant data was also analyzed and summarized by descriptive narrative method. The results showed that; 1) The majority of the Chinese students who watched the soap opera were in the age range of 24 years and above. Most of them are single and were the master’s degree students and study at the bachelor and doctoral levels, respectively. It was found that the behavior of watching the TV drama was different from both viewing channel, frequencies and places to watch the TV drama. However, environmental factors, social context and behavior of peer groups who were both friends and family members or the lovers would affect the behavior of the drama watching. The elements of drama that the Chinese students liked the most were the setting, dialogue, theme, and plot, respectively. The integrated marketing communication strategies and marketing mix strategies applied to promote the drama marketing affecting the satisfaction of Chinese students towards BuppeSanniwas drama series.