원산지 효과에서의 조절변수의 영향에 관한 연구: 제품 관여도와 브랜드 친숙도를 중심으로

Abstract

세계경제의 글로벌화에 따라 제품의 판매범위가 신속적으로 확대되었다. 이로 인해 소비자가 제품을 구매할 때 제품 간에 비교하고 선택하는 경우도 많아졌다. 브랜드 명성 이외에 제품의 원산지는 외재적 정보단서 중의 하나이며 소비자의 제품평가에 중요한 영향을 미친다. 이러한 현황에 따라서 본 연구는 원산지 이미지가 제품평가에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지와 원산지 효과에서 제품 관여도와 브랜드 친숙도가 미치는 영향을 조사하기 위하여 실증분석을 실시하였다. 본 연구에서 원산지 국가는 미국과 한국을 선정하였으며 고관여 제품 스마트폰과 저관여 제품 치약을 조사대상 제품으로 총 8개 브랜드를 조사하였다. 중국 20대의 대학생과 직장인을 조사대상으로 설문조사를 통하여 데이터를 수집한 후에 SPSS 통계분석 프로그램을 이용하여 가설을 검증하였다. 연구 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 원산지 효과에 대한 재확인은 원산지 이미지가 제품평가에 영향을 미치며, 원산지 이미지가 높을수록 제품평가가 높을 것이라는 것으로 나타났다. 원산지 이미지가 낮은 국가는 원산지 이미지가 높은 국가보다 기술력, 제품 품질, 브랜드 명성 등의 영역이 상대적으로 약하기 때문에 소비자들은 원산지 이미지가 높은 선진국의 제품에 대하여 더욱 호의적인 것으로 해석할 수 있다. 둘째, 원산지 효과에서 제품 관여도의 조절작용에 대한 조사 결과는 제품 관여도가 다름에 따라 원산지 효과는 차이가 있으며, 제품 관여도가 높을수록 원산지 효과가 강할 것이라는 것으로 나타났다. 소비자들이 고관여 제품을 구매할 때 원산지 이미지에 의하여 더욱 긍정적으로 품질을 지각한다는 것을 알 수 있다. 반면 소비자들이 저관여 제품을 구매하는 과정에서 사고의 관여도는 아주 낮으며 제품의 원산지 이미지에서 영향을 많이 받지 않는다. 그 이유는 저관여 제품 경우보다 고관여 제품 경우에는 상대적으로 지각된 위험이 더욱 크기 때문에 원산지를 이용하여 제품 품질을 판단하는 것이 더욱 중요한 것이다. 셋째, 원산지 효과에서 브랜드 친숙도의 조절작용에 대한 조사 결과는 브랜드 친숙도가 다름에 따라 원산지 효과는 차이가 없다는 것으로 예상과 다르게 나타났다. 다시 말하면 원산지 효과에서 브랜드 친숙도는 조절효과가 없다. 소비자들이 원산지를 통하여 제품평가를 할 때는 브랜드 친숙도에서 영향을 받지 않는다. 따라서 원산지 이미지는 높은 브랜드 친숙도의 제품에도 중요한 것을 알 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 제품 관여도와 브랜드 친숙도를 조절변수로 한정하여 조사하기 때문에 향후 연구에서는 다른 조절변수가 원산지 효과에 미치는 영향을 조사할 필요성이 있다. 조사대상 제품은 스마트폰과 치약으로 하기 때문에 향후 연구에서는 다양한 제품 카테고리를 조사해야 한다. 그리고 본 연구는 중국 20대의 대학생과 직장인이라는 특정한 집단을 조사대상으로 조사하기 때문에 향후 연구에서는 다양한 집단의 폭넓은 표본을 조사대상으로 고려하여 연구해야 한다.

핵심용어: 원산지 효과, 제품 관여도, 브랜드 친숙도, 제품평가| With the globalization of world economy, the scope of product marketing has expanded so rapidly that the situation for consumers to compare and select among products occurs more than before. Apart from brand reputation, product’s country of origin is one of the extrinsic cues that greatly affecting consumers’ product evaluation. Thus, this research is an empirical study to investigate how country of origin image affects product evaluation and how product involvement and brand familiarity affect country of origin effect. In this research, the US and Korea were selected as country of origin. High involvement product smart phone and low involvement product toothpaste were studied with 8 brands. After collecting data through a survey on the Chinese university students and office workers aged from 20 to 29, hypotheses were tested with SPSS statistical program. The results of the research are as follows. Firstly, as the test for country of origin effect, it showed that country of origin image affects product evaluation and product evaluation is higher when country of origin image is higher. Compared to a country with high image, a country with low image is relatively weaker in technology, product quality, brand reputation and other fields. This can explain that why consumers are in favor of products from developed countries. Secondly, as the test for the moderating effect of product involvement in country of origin effect, it showed that the difference of country of origin effect exists with different product involvement and country of origin effect is stronger when product involvement is higher. Consumers use country of origin image more dependently to evaluate products when buying high involvement product. On the other hand, consumers’ thinking involvement is low and they are not affected much by country of origin when buying low involvement product. That is because the risk felt is more severe and evaluating product through country of origin is more important when consumers buy high involvement product compared to low involvement product. Thirdly, as the test for the moderating effect of brand familiarity in country of origin effect, it showed that the difference in country of origin effect does not exist with different brand familiarity. It means that there is not moderating effect from brand familiarity in country of origin effect and consumers are not affected by brand familiarity when evaluating product with country of origin. As a result, country of origin image is the same important though it is for a product with high brand familiarity. In this research, product involvement and brand familiarity were studied as moderating variables. Other moderating variables’ influences in country of origin effect should be studied in further research. The products studied in this research are smart phone and toothpaste. Other various product categories should be studied in further research. In addition, targets investigated in this research are the Chinese university students and office workers aged from 20 to 29. Further research needs to investigate other different population groups.

Keyword: country of origin effect, product involvement, brand familiarity, product evaluation; With the globalization of world economy, the scope of product marketing has expanded so rapidly that the situation for consumers to compare and select among products occurs more than before. Apart from brand reputation, product’s country of origin is one of the extrinsic cues that greatly affecting consumers’ product evaluation. Thus, this research is an empirical study to investigate how country of origin image affects product evaluation and how product involvement and brand familiarity affect country of origin effect. In this research, the US and Korea were selected as country of origin. High involvement product smart phone and low involvement product toothpaste were studied with 8 brands. After collecting data through a survey on the Chinese university students and office workers aged from 20 to 29, hypotheses were tested with SPSS statistical program. The results of the research are as follows. Firstly, as the test for country of origin effect, it showed that country of origin image affects product evaluation and product evaluation is higher when country of origin image is higher. Compared to a country with high image, a country with low image is relatively weaker in technology, product quality, brand reputation and other fields. This can explain that why consumers are in favor of products from developed countries. Secondly, as the test for the moderating effect of product involvement in country of origin effect, it showed that the difference of country of origin effect exists with different product involvement and country of origin effect is stronger when product involvement is higher. Consumers use country of origin image more dependently to evaluate products when buying high involvement product. On the other hand, consumers’ thinking involvement is low and they are not affected much by country of origin when buying low involvement product. That is because the risk felt is more severe and evaluating product through country of origin is more important when consumers buy high involvement product compared to low involvement product. Thirdly, as the test for the moderating effect of brand familiarity in country of origin effect, it showed that the difference in country of origin effect does not exist with different brand familiarity. It means that there is not moderating effect from brand familiarity in country of origin effect and consumers are not affected by brand familiarity when evaluating product with country of origin. As a result, country of origin image is the same important though it is for a product with high brand familiarity. In this research, product involvement and brand familiarity were studied as moderating variables. Other moderating variables’ influences in country of origin effect should be studied in further research. The products studied in this research are smart phone and toothpaste. Other various product categories should be studied in further research. In addition, targets investigated in this research are the Chinese university students and office workers aged from 20 to 29. Further research needs to investigate other different population groups.

Keyword: country of origin effect, product involvement, brand familiarity, product evaluation