미디어이용정도와 정보획득수준이 국가 및 상표 이미지에 미치는 영향 －중국과 일본 및 하이얼(Haier)과 소니(Sony)를 중심으로－

This study analyzed the effects of media use and information acquisition on the nation images of China and Japan and the brand images of Haier and Sony among the respondents in their fifties residing in the Busan and Kyoungnam area. Major findings include that although both the amount of media exposure and acquired information had positive influence on nation and brand images, information acquisition appeared to be a stronger explanatory variable. Use of newspapers and magazines rather than television and the Internet also made a more contribution to the formation of the positive images of nations and brands. On the comparative study between the nation images, which are more stable and fixed, and the brand images, which are relatively unstable and flexible, the unstable brand images appeared to be affected more by respondents’ media uses. This study confirms that the difference in media use can be associated with the different formation of nation and brand images, and strongly suggests that marketers need to consider the qualitative aspect of information acquisition through media use as well as the simple amount of media exposure when they execute media strategies to improve nation and brand images among the audience of target countries.