초록
The purpose of this study was to clarify the factors that characterize the fashion brand online communities that have a high participation rate among high school students, and to determine the impact of those factors on the high school students' commitment to the community, especially in relation to their demographics. The study was implemented through a descriptive survey method using an online questionnaire. The sample consisted of 301 members of online fashion brand communities operated on the Daum portal site. The data were analyzed by frequency, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The results are as follows: (1) Factor analysis revealed that the characteristics of a fashion brand online community are associated with three factors ; compensation/interest, interactivity, and information. (2) Regression analysis showed that the more compensation/interest, opportunity for interaction, and information the community provides, the more likely high school student members are to show a higher level of commitment to the community. (3) There was no difference in the effect of community attribute factors on the high school student members' commitment to the community according to gender. The group of students majoring in human and liberal education was the most influenced by the attributes of fashion brand online communities. The interactivity factor had a greater impact on the group of students majoring in art and physical education than on the other groups. The greater the use of the Internet, the greater the impact of community attributes on commitment. (4) In the process of developing an online community, marketers should fully consider the fact that information factors have the biggest impact on high school students' commitment to the community. Therefore, greater effort should be made to differentiate between community attributes based on high school students' majors and their amount of Internet use in order to motivate commitment to the community and brand loyalty as well.