한국형 소비자 의사결정 연구를 위한 서설 (序說) : 비교 문화적 접근을 중심으로

This essay examines the feasibility of the Korean style consumer decision research. The author argues that cross-cultural research involving Korean consumers and non-Korean consumers needs to be conducted as a foundation for the Korean style consumer decision research. The author explored the meanings and necessity of the Korean style consumer decision research. As a result, the author came up with the conclusion that such research (1) needs to be able to contribute to solving problems confronted by Korean firms and society, (2) should be able to explain and predict Korean consumers’characteristic decision behaviors without sacrificing theoretical as well as empirical rigor, (3) should be able to obtain worldwide recognition. For such research to be feasible, it seems necessary to conduct preliminary cross-cultural studies that clarifies the characteristics of the Korean consumers’ decision behaviors and psychological mechanisms underlying them. With these things in mind, the author reviewed consumer decision making articles published either in Korean Management Review or in Korea Business Review during the period of 2011-2017. The articles either directly compares Korean consumers with non-Korean consumers or deals with issues that are likely to be interesting topics for cross- cultural comparisons. The author also examines conceptual frameworks that can systematically capture the characteristics of the Korean consumers’decision behaviors. Based on these reviews and discussions, the author proposed a desirable research direction for laying the foundation of the Korean style consumer decision research.