그린국가이미지 형성과정에 대한 근거이론 연구: 베트남 M⋅Z세대를 중심으로

Country image is a complex concept that has been shaped by a variety of factors, including culture, history, and political systems. In recent years, however, the concept of country image has begun to evolve because of global changes such as climate crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and technological advancement of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This study adopts a grounded theory approach to identify the key factors that contribute to the formation of a green country image(GCI). The study collected primary data from Vietnamese Gen M⋅Z to explore their perceptions of GCI and the factors that influence their GCI perceptions, and the qualitative data analysis program Nvivo R1. As a result of analyzing the paradigm model for the formation of GCI, ‘awareness of environmental issues and expansion of the green economy’ were derived as causal conditions that cause the formation of GCI. Next, ‘the occurrence of a global pandemic and economic growth’ was derived as a contextual condition. And the paradigm element captured as the central phenomenon in the GCI formation was ‘essential capabilities for national development and system change’. In addition, the mediating conditions were derived as ‘advanced technology development, economic and national benefits, and the action/interaction strategy of the paradigm model was ‘green national development model and GCI formation’ were derived. Lastly, as an outcome of the GCI formation, Vietnamese Gen M⋅Z shows high trust in green country products, high quality evaluations, active purchasing behavior, a strong desire to travel or visit green countries, and positive attitudes toward immigration to green countries. In conclusion, this study identifies the GCI formation process of Vietnamese Gen M⋅Z through a paradigm model and derive a situational theory model by defining the GCI concept and confirming the structure. This paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.