한국 소비자들의 명품에 대한 개념 특성에 관한 연구

Abstract

The emergence of the luxury market has led numerous academic researchers, as well as marketers in the luxury market, to pay attention to both identifying luxury brand features and measuring perceptions toward luxury brands. Especially, Korea is a significant emerging market for luxury goods. Young consumers and male consumers are getting into the luxury market fast and these new segments will keep increasing. There are only a few studies related to distinctive definitions of luxury brands and measurement development for the Korean market. However, there are some limitations in these previous studies in that they did not capture the nature of luxury due to their inappropriate of subjects and approach in data collection and to lack of a perspective of Korean specific features. Thus, the purpose of this research is to identify Korean consumers’ perceptions toward luxury products and, ultimately, to develop a reliable and valid measurement items for the luxury products’ features for the Korean market. Defining the three high constructs(functional, emotional, and symbolic aspects) as a key needs and benefits on luxury brands, we looked at four stages of development for generating and deducting items by luxury industry experts and luxury consumers, as well as for testing measures by 20th~60th consumers. As a result, this study confirmed that luxury brands consists of high quality, high price, unique design, and luxury store; the emotional aspect construct combines craftsmanship, VIP service, and high social status; and the symbolic construct includes brand heritage and being a well-known brand. Finally, 22 measurement items (Measures of Luxury Brand for Korea: LBK) were developed for the conceptual features for luxury brands from a Korean perspective. This study provided understanding of Korean consumers’ perceptions toward luxury brands from an academic perspective. For the managerial implication of this study, LBK can be utilized to judge both luxury brands and mass brands, to diagnose current a brand’s luxuriousness, from the customer’s point-of-view, and, finally, to measure a Key Performance Index (KPI) of luxury brand companies.