Question

South Korea has the highest per capita rate of cosmetic surgery in the world. Please watch the video "Behind the plastic surgery boom in South Korea". Apply the framework of diamond of national advantage and explain why this industry is so strong in South Korea. Specifically, what factors influence South Korea’s competitiveness in plastic surgery industry? You are encouraged to conduct some outside research. Please make sure that you cite the sources and list the references

Answer 1

According to Porter's diamond model of national advantage,the most important elements for deciding the comparitive advantage in a specific industry are the demand and factor conditions.

Demand conditions refer to size and nature of the customer base and factor conditions refer to the available pool of skilled labor,technology and infrastructure in the specific industry.

In the South korean plastic surgery market ,the demand conditions play a significant role that create competitiveness in the industry.This is due to the fact that most koreans undergo plastic surgery to enhance their beauty.One in every three women between 19-29 years(33 percent of women) have undergone some sort of plastic surgery according to a survey.This number is huge in comparison to other countries like US.The need to look good and beautiful is driving the cosmetic surgery market in South korea.

Most of the surgeries are done on the enhancement of eyelids in order to make them beautiful and look more western or American.South Koreans also believe that their chances in the job market rise substantially if they undergo cosmetic surgey on their eyelids and faces.

Also,the initiatives from the government reduced the cost of the visits to the doctor which greatly influenced in increasing the size for the plastic surgery market.South korea accounts for approximately 25 percent of the global plastic surgery market ,according to estimates.