KOREASCHOLAR

As the types of wedding ceremonies become diversified, and consumers’ needs become more selective, greater importance is given to wedding planners’ roles in the wedding industry, and consumers require differentiated types of wedding service. As a preliminary qualitative study in this field, an ethnographic study was conducted to identify factors valued by consumers when selecting a wedding planner in the wedding planner market, which has rapidly grown in recent years. An in-depth interview was performed with eight participants in terms of wedding planner utilization type and consumers’ understanding of wedding preparation with a wedding planner. The collected data were analyzed through taxonomy, component analysis and decision table analysis; for validation, professional wedding planners were asked to review the items valued by consumers in selecting a wedding planner. Four factors - expense characteristic, wedding planners, wedding consulting companies, and customer characteristics - were identified, along with eight sub-factors (capability, service attitude, technical communication, personal factors, wedding planner encounter paths, spouse’s satisfaction status, and companies). Out of these, price (within budget), wedding planners’ capability, wedding planners’ service attitude are expected to be meaningful in further research because they were found to be attributes commonly valued by every respondent. This study is significant in that it has made a new approach to understanding wedding planner selection attributes through ethnographic research and identified new wedding planner selection attributes.

Abstract
 I. Introduction
 Ⅱ. Background
  1. Wedding planner
  2. Selection attributes of wedding planners
 Ⅲ. Methods
  1. Research methods and procedures
  2. Research flow diagram
  3. Data collection and analysis
 Ⅳ. Results and Discussion
  1. General characteristics of research subjects
  2. Attributes considered upon selection of weddingplanners
 Ⅴ. Conclusion
 References

• Ha Jeong Kim(Dept. of Wedding Business, The Graduate School of Sangmyung University, Korea) | 김하정
• Jihun Yu(Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Sangmyung University, Korea) | 유지헌 Corresponding author