KOREASCHOLAR

Consumers often make a series of decision in which one choice follows another. Consumers' choice, however, is not always based on economic rationality. Most choice research focuses on the decision processes by which consumers choose among a set of alternatives, independent of the way they arrive at the choice (Khan & Dhar, 2006). Recent research sggests that prior decisions can also serve as a license to choose options that are inconsistent with the salient self by boosting a person’s self-concept. Specifically, self-licensing occurs when past moral behavior makes people more likely to do potentially immoral things without worrying about feeling or appearing immoral. (Merritt, Effron & Monin, 2010). This research examined the influence of licensing effect on consumer choice. In other words, the process underlying the licensing effect may be largely nonconscious. Also individuals frequently encounter self-control dilemmas in which long-term goals conflicts with temptation. Thus, an understanding of goal fulfillment processes is of substantial importance for understanding consumer behavior at the individual level. Therefore, this research is to examine the consumer response in the licensing situation and additionally, for deeply understanding of licensing effect of consumers, qualitative research approach is needed.

• Hyo-Jin Jeong(Kyungpook National University)
• Dong-Mo Koo(Kyungpook National University)