The Effect of Curiosity and Need for Uniqueness on Emotional Responses to Art Collaborated Products including Moderating Effect of Gender

독특성 추구성향과 호기심이 아트 콜라보레이션 제품에 대한 소비자의 감정에 미치는 영향: 성별에 따른 조절효과

Companies recently introduce art collaborated products incorporating culture into a product. Art collaborated products include incorporating famous movies and/or design of an artist into a newly launched product. The introduction of art collaborated products are gradually increasing. However, research for this trend is relatively scarce. Although research concerning design has discussed a number of different factors as playing a role in influencing responses to design including culture, fashion, innate preferences, etc.), only limited attention has been paid to the processes by which consumers generate responses to product designs. People with different characteristics may respond differently. When people encounter these art products, they may become curious, may think that these products are unique, novel and innovative. People tend to show different levels of curiosity when they encounter new and novel objects, which they have rarely seen or experienced. Curiosity is defined as a desire for acquiring new knowledge and new sensory experience. Previous studies demonstrated that curiosity motivates individuals to engage in exploratory behaviors. People also show different levels of need for uniqueness, which is defined as being different from others or becoming distinctive among a larger group. Individual's need for uniqueness results from signals conveyed by the material objects that individuals choose to display. Recently, researcher have developed the need for uniqueness with three distinct constructs. These three concepts include creative choice, unpopular choice, and avoidance of similarity. Creative choice is a trait tendency of an individual by expressing or differentiating himself from others through consumptions of unique products. Unpopular choice is related to an individual's tendency to consume products, which deviates from group norms. Avoidance of similarity is linked to the avoidance of consumption behavior of products that are not famous. Past research implies that people with different levels of need for uniqueness show different motivational processes. Previous research also demonstrates that different customer emotions may be derived when consumers are exposed to these art collaborated products. Research tradition has been investigated three different emotional responses such as pleasure, arousal, and dominance. Pleasure is defined as the degree to which a person feels good, joyful, happy, or satisfied in a situation. Arousal is defined as the extent to which a person feels stimulated, active, or excited. Dominance is defined as the extent that a person feels powerful vis-a-vis the environment that surrounds him/her. Previous research show that complex, speedy, and surprising stimuli may excite consumers and thus make them more pleased and engaged in their approach behavior. However, the current study identified these emotional responses as positive emotion, negative emotion, and arousal. These derived emotions may lead consumers to approach and/or avoidance behaviors. In addition, males and females tend to respond differently when they are exposed to art collaboration products. Building on this research tradition, the current study aims to investigate the inter-relationships between individual traits such as curiosity and need for uniqueness and individual's emotional responses including positive and negative emotion and arousal when people encounter various art collaborated products. Emotional responses are proposed to influence purchase intention. Additionally, previous studies show that male and females respond differently to similar stimuli. Accordingly, gender difference are proposed to moderate the links between individual traits and emotional responses. These research aims of the current study may contribute to extending our knowledge in terms of (1) which individual characteristics are related to different emotions, and (2) how these different emotional responses inter-connected to future purchase intention of arts collaborated products. In addition, (3) the different responses to these arts collaborated products by males and females will guide managers how to concoct different strategies to these segments. The questionnaire for the present study was adopted from the previous literature and validated with a pilot test. The survey was conducted in Daegu, a third largest city in South Korea, for three weeks during June and July 2011. Most respondents were in their twenties and thirties. 350 questionnaires were distributed and among them 300 were proved to be valid (valid response rate of 85.7%). Survey questionnaires from valid 300 respondents are used to test hypotheses proposed. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to validate the research model. The measurement and structural model was tested using LISREL 8.7. The measurement model test demonstrated that consistency, convergent validity, and discriminat validity of the measurement items were acceptable. The results from the structural model demonstrate that curiosity has a positive impact on positive emotion, but not on negative emotion and arousal. Need for uniqueness has three different sub-concepts such as creative choice, unpopular choice, and avoidance of similarity. The results show that creative choice has a positive effect on arousal and positive emotion, but has a negative impact on negative emotion. Unpopular choice has a positive effect on arousal, but on neither positive nor negative emotions. Avoidance of similarity has no impact on neither emotions nor arousal. The results also demonstrated that gender has a moderating influence. Males show more negative emotion to creative and unpopular choices. Implications and future research directions are discussed in conclusion.

연구목적 - 최근 기업에서 마케팅이나 광고를 할 때 아트를 활용하여 기존의 명화나 아티스트들과 협업한 새로운 작품을 제품에 접목하거나, 마케팅에 활용하는 경우가 늘어나는 추세이다. 아트 콜라보레이션 제품을 새로운 자극으로 생각하고, 자극에 민감하게 반응하는 독특성 추구성향과 호기심이 많은 소비자일수록 아트 콜라보레이션 제품에 대한 호감도가 증가할 것으로 본다. 따라서 본 연구는 아트마케팅에 대해 전반적으로 살펴보고, 개인특성인 호기심과 독특성 추구성향이 아트 콜라보레이션 제품에 대한 소비자의 감정에 미치는 영향과 구매의도에 미치는 영향을 알아 보았다. 그리고 성별에 따라 개인특성과 소비자의 감정 사이에 미치는 영향은 차이가 있을 것이라 예측하고 성별의 조절효과를 살펴보았다. 연구결과 - 호기심은 긍정적 감정에 정의 영향을 미치며, 환기와 부정적 감정에는 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 독특성 추구성향 중 창의적 선택은 긍정적 감정과 환기에 정의 영향을 미치며, 부정적 감정에 부의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 독특성 추구성향 중 비대중적 선택은 긍정적 감정과 부정적 감정에는 영향이 없는 것으로 나타났으며, 환기에는 유의한 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 독특성 추구성향 중 유사성 회피는 소비자의 감정에 어떠한 영향도 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 성별에 따른 차이를 살펴본 결과, 창의적 선택과 부정적 감정 사이와 비대중적 선택과 부정적 감정 사이에서만 남녀 간의 차이가 유의한 것으로 나타났다. 시사점 - 소비자의 호기심을 유발시킬 수 있는 새로운 디자인이나 전략을 시도하면 효과적일 것을 알 수 있으며, 독특성 욕구 중 자신의 정체성을 표현하고자 하는 욕구가 높은 사람이 아트 제품에 대하여 감정의 영향을 많이 받음을 알 수 있다. 따라서 지속적으로 예술가들과 콜라보레이션 활동을 통해 소비자의 감성을 자극하는 제품을 생산해야 할 것이다. 성별에 따른 큰 차이가 없으므로 남녀 구분없이 모두의 관심을 끌 수 있는 마케팅을 해도 무관하다는 것을 알 수 있다.