• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.159-170
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• 2016

In this study, the authors examine the ways in which social media ultimately affects the attachment of individuals to their favorite brands. Through an analysis of data using multiple linear regression, this study finds that SNS (social networking site) users that post status updates for a wide audience have no bearing on the individual's use of socialization agents. Those who consume social news passively are, however, likely to depend on socialization agents for determining their final purchase decisions. Socialization agents, both personal and non-personal, also play a role in the formation of brand attachment among individuals who depend on these social sources. Based on these results, marketers are encouraged to establish an online footprint of a social nature to formulate brand awareness and to provide a means for users of social media to improve their brand attachments to their favored brands. As this research was conducted exclusively in the predominantly collective culture of South Korea, further studies could attempt to analyze social networking use and socialization agent use via a cross-culture study, particularly one including an individualistic culture.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.277-292
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• 2005

The objectives of this study are to examine the degree of propensity for symbolic consumption among adolescents and its factors, and to investigate the effects of demographic variables - sex, grade, father's education, mother's education, father's job, mother's job, monthly allowance, monthly household income - self-esteem, and socialization agents variables - parents, friends, mass media - on the propensity. In this study, the propensity for symbolic consumption is defined as the propensity to consume products through their affective, subjective, and symbolic value rather than through their practical and utility value. The data used in this study were collected from 509 adolescents who are in the 2nd grade of middle or high schools in Pusan. The research results can be summarized as follows: 1. The propensity for symbolic consumption were found to have significant differences according to sex, father's education, mother's education, mother's job, and monthly allowance. 2. It differs significantly according to adolescents' self-esteem. That is, the lower self-esteem adolescents have, the higher propensity for symbolic consumption they show. 3. It also differs significantly according to the degree of communication with parents, the degree of accepting friends' view, the degree of communication with friends, the degree of informative influence from friends, and the degree of taking in mass media.