Rural Consumers' Prepurchase Search Behavior - With Special Reference to Home Managers in Rural Korea -

농촌소비자의 구매전 비교탐색행동에 관한 연구 - 전라남도지방의 농촌주부를 대상으로 -

This study attempts to explore and explain major socieconomic factors which determine the extent of rural consumers' external search behavior in cases of two product categories: electric appliances and clothing. For the purpose of this study, interviews were conducted with 201 home managers in four rural towns(Hwasun, Haenam, Naju, and Bulkyo) of South Cholla Province. On the whole, the hypotheses that socioeconomic status, age and the characteristics of region of rural consumers make significant differences in their shopping motivation and the extent of external search are generally supported in case of clothing. No substantial differences are found in case of electric appliances. This study suggests that the effective purchasing system and the providing of informative consumer information would be needed to rural consumers for their extensive search. It also suggests that psychological aspects and situational variables in addition to socioeconomic aspects presumably contribute to our understanding of search behavior.