The most important conclusions from this study are as follows. First, newspapers in South Korea, Germany, Austria, and Japan had a common point related to the media frame of nanotechnology in spite of differences in cultural background. In all countries' newspapers, positive description on nanotechnology was overwhelmingly greater than negative. The primary frames defining nanotechnology were "Research & Development" and "Economic Benefits." These results are similar to existing studies. Therefore, the study again found that the media frame on nanotechnology had common characteristics in positive description, research and development, and economic consequences.
Second, there were obvious differences among countries even though the 4 countries showed similar media frame patterns. The risk-oriented frame was found only in South Korean newspapers. German newspapers emphasized economic benefits relatively more than other countries. In addition, "Research & Development" and "Economic Benefits" reached 91.2% of all frames. The frame concentration in Germany was higher than in other countries. This reflected that the German newspapers couldn’t report on nanotechnology with various perspectives. In Austria and Japan, newspapers demonstrated relatively higher "Policy" and "Research & Development" scores.
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Third, the more "Research & Development" increased per time period, the more "Economic Benefits" decreased. Furthermore, the environment and health themes were identified in a risk-oriented frame in that order.
Finally, the differences in media frame by countries included the cultural characteristics of each country. Consistent with the analysis on the effect of cultural dimensions on media frames using a logistic regression model, a specific cultural dimension and a media frame resonate with each other. The lower the power distance was and the stronger the uncertainty avoidance was, the more frequently the "Policy" frame was identified. This meant that the cultural dimensions of relying on experts and preferring a system based on expertise was reflected in the "Policy" frame.
The "Economic Benefits" frame was observed more frequently in a culture with stronger individualism. Germany had the strongest individualistic culture followed by Austria, Japan, and South Korea in that order. Correspondingly, Germany showed the highest ratio of "Economic Benefits" followed by Austria, Japan and South Korea in that order. It indicated that the cultural dimension emphasizing competition and economic benefits resonated with the media frame related to economy.
This study compared the media frame of nanotechnology observed in the newspapers in South Korea, Germany, Austria, and Japan. Moreover, this study found that cultural factors had effect on the media frame, but were ignored in existing studies up to now. Accordingly, using culture dimension as the independent variable in the research model, comparing the difference in media frames expands the theoretical perspective of the framing study.
Existing studies were limited to descriptive methods measuring the number of cases from which media frames were extracted. However, this study added a new approach to framing theory and methodology divided into three perspectives. First, this study empirically
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examined the cultural effect on media frame. While a number of studies assumed that macrolevel factors including culture had an effect on frame building, there was no previous empirical investigation. Therefore, this study was significant in that it built a regression model evaluating the media frame using cultural dimensions and verified the quantitative variables for comparing countries.
Second, this study examined not only the presence of the media frame but also its salience. Existing studies focused only on the "presence" of media frame. They demonstrated only the difference in media frames but failed to empirically demonstrate the correlation of factors affecting the media frame. Therefore, this study empirically verified how the salience of each media frame was observed differently depending on its attribution as well as on a specific factor.
Third, the media frame was identified by clustering frame elements. This approach excluded coders' influence on frames based on the complexity of an issue but clarified the emergence of new frames and disappearances of old frames. Compared to existing studies using the same method, for example, "Ambivalence" in earlier study disappeared and "Overview of Nanotechnology" was emerged in German newspapers, and "Medical Benefit" in earlier study was changed into "Research & Development" and "Policy" in this study. Additionally, the risk-oriented frame was observed only in South Korea. Thus, because a media frame is determined not subjectively but empirically, the study approach to extract a new frame by clustering elements overcame the methodological limitations of existing studies.
This study also contributed to the literature comparing media content between cultures and to science communication studies. While existing studies focused on the early development phase of nanotechnology, this study identified long-term tendencies by
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analyzing news articles for 15 years, including 2010s when the potential risks of nanotechnology were discussed in society. Moreover, unlike existing studies limited to national comparisons between Europe and the US or between the US and Asia, this study expanded into regional and cultural comparisons that included German-speaking culture and Confucian culture. In addition, as comparing 2 countries has a limit in how it can inform generalizing results, this study attempted to overcome such a limit by studying 4 countries with different cultures.