A Comparative Study of Museum Cultural Creative Products’ Outreach Strategies Between China and South Korea from the Perspective of Hunan Culture

A Case Study of Hunan Provincial Museum and Korean Museums

Abstract

Amid the intensifying global competition for cultural soft power, cultural creative products’ outreach has emerged as a critical pathway for enhancing national cultural influence. This study examines the Hunan Provincial Museum alongside the National Museum of Korea and Gyeongbokgung Palace as primary research objects, employing comparative analysis, case study methodology, and cross-cultural communication theory to systematically analyze the similarities and differences in Sino-Korean cultural creative outreach products' strategies. The findings reveal a significant complementarity between the two countries' outreach models: China adopts a "civilizational dialogue" orientation, leveraging its profound historical resources to pursue academically grounded outreach; South Korea, by contrast, is driven by "emotional consumption," achieving mass cultural dissemination through lightweight narratives. Accordingly, China may draw upon South Korea's experience in private-domain traffic management and IP lightweighting, while South Korea can benefit from China's expertise in deep IP development and regional cultural differentiation. Both nations can further pursue East Asian cultural synergy through collaborative initiatives such as shared digital repositories and joint UNESCO heritage nominations. Balancing "traditional authority" with "modern communicative power" in cultural outreach offers practical insights for cross-cultural communication in an era of globalization.