본 연구는 20대 소비자의 애국심 정도에 따른 일본 브랜드 구매 행동을 규명하고자 한다. 연구방법은 20대 성인 대학생 235명을 대상으로 설문 조사를 통한 연구를 진행하였고, 설문내용은 20대 소비자의 겉옷과 속옷에 대한 기본적인 구매 태도를 질문한 뒤 대표적인 일본 브랜드 U브랜드의 겉옷과 속옷에 대한 구매 태도를 조사하였다. 그리고 애국심과 U브랜드 구매의 상관관계를 알아보기 위하여 애국심에 관한 질문을 하였고 마지막으로는 기본적인 인적사항을 조사하였다. 연구 결과는 첫째, 겉옷과 속옷에 대한 소비자의 구매 태도에 유의한 차가 있었다. 20대 소비자들은 겉옷을 구매할 때에는 디자인을 가장 중요시 여기고 속옷을 구매 할 때에는 기능성을 가장 중요한 요인으로 선택하였다. 둘째, U브랜드의 겉옷과 속옷에 대한 소비자들의 태도가 다른 점이 확인되었다. U브랜드의 겉옷 디자인에 대한 평가는 다소 긍정적이진 않으나 가격에 만족하는 경향을 보였고 U브랜드의 속옷제품의 기능성에 대한 점수는 다소 긍정적인 응답을 얻었다. 셋째, 애국심 평균을 기준으로 고저집단으로 나누어 t-test 분석한 결과, U브랜드의 의류 제품에 대한 태도와 구매 특성에 유의미한 차이를 보였다. 고애국심 소비자가 저애국심 소비자보다 U브랜드 겉옷 제품에 대해 가격과 상품성 등을 부정적으로 생각하였는데, 디자인의 평가에서만 유의한 차이가 없었다. 속옷제품에서는 저애국심 소비자는 고애국심 소비자보다 U브랜드 제품의 가격, 디자인, 기능성 등에 대해 긍정적으로 생각하고 있었다.

Online consumer reviews have become a substantial part of consumers’ decision-making process as they provide consumers abundant information on products and services. Some individuals will pay attention to certain components (e.g. price), whereas some will focus on other components such as images.

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of food scandals on trust towards the corporate brand and purchase intention in Japan. Drawing on Mayer, Davis and Schoorman’s Model of Organizational Trust (1995) this study explores the effects of perceived trustworthiness, trust, and perceived risk on a consumer’s intention to purchase. In Japan, consumers were outraged when some top hotels and department stores were found to have mislabeled foods, selling cheaper alternatives instead of the expensive foods offered on the menu and using expired products (Grace, 2007; Japan Today, 2013; Kageyama, 2007; Onishi, 2007; Spitzer, 2013). The various food scandals have led to product shunning, fear, distrust and suspicion among consumers (Garretson & Burton, 2000; Niewczas, 2014; Smith & Riethmuller, 1999; Yeung & Morris, 2001). Thus this research was conducted to identify the influence of food scandals involving well-established Japanese supermarkets on consumer trust and risk perception. The influence of culture in shaping purchase intention was also explored. Trust itself is a concept that is elusive with myriad definitions ranging from Luhmann’s (1979) sociological theory of trust that looks as trust being a function of high perceived risk and experience to Deutsch (1973) who defines it as the willingness to be dependent on others in the belief that the other party will not disappoint intentionally. Luhmann (1979) argues that in order for trust to be apparent there has to be high-perceived risk. Various studies have also focused on trust being operational when there is risk‐taking behavior (Anderson & Narus, 1990; Canning & Hammer‐Llyod, 2007; Doney & Canon, 1997; Morgan & Hunt, 1994). In the food sector, as consumers lose control over knowing about the food we eat due to the increasing complexity of the food system trust becomes an essential component. Consumers have to trust food producers ranging from farmers to food companies as well as the public authorities to ensure food safety, quality and adequate supply. Consumers display different and inconsistent reactions regarding food safety that affects the perception of quality and their willingness‐to‐pay (Berg, 2004; Brewer & Rojas, 2008).

Research into country-of-origin effects has been conducted since the 1960s, and the research focus has gradually shifted from country-of-origin to ideological effects, such as consumer ethnocentrism, animosity, and more recently, consumer cosmopolitanism. From the postwar period to the 1980s, globalization brought a negative consumer attitude toward foreign products, but a positive one among an increasing number of consumers after the mid-1990s, partly due to the prevalence of the internet (Terasaki, 2016a). Even though the exact number is still unknown, cosmopolitan consumers are increasing faster than ever before (Riefler & Diamantopoulos, 2009; Cleveland et al., 2011; Grinstein &Wathieu, 2012). The concept “consumer cosmopolitanism” was first introduced by in Cannon et al. (1994), and since then a number of empirical studies have been conducted using the Cannon, Yoon, McGowan & Yaprak’s Cosmopolitanism (CYMYC) scale. Although consumer cosmopolitanism has become a popular theme in international marketing (Terasaki, 2016b), little research has been conducted examining the antecedents for cosmopolitan consumers (Riefler & Diamantopoulos, 2009). Our study fills this important gap in the emerging literature, using sequential mixed methods. This is important because we specify where prospective cosmopolitan consumers are, and what elements of products and services, and in some cases advertisements, potentially attract them.

This study attempted to identify differences in Korean food consumption behaviors between groups of Japanese consumers segmented in accordance to their food-related lifestyles. This study was performed to provide Korean food service companies basic information to implement a strategy for the globalization of Korean food. As a result of the empirical analysis, the food-related lifestyles of Japanese consumers were deduced to the following four factors: "health and safetyoriented lifestyle", "palate and safety-oriented lifestyle", "economic efficiency-oriented lifestyle", and "simplicity-oriented lifestyle". Further, as a result of the cluster analysis, food-related lifestyles were classified into the following three groups: "a group highly interested in food-related life", "an economic efficiency-oriented group", and "a simplicity-oriented group". Second, there were significant differences in demographic characteristics and the characteristics of Korean food consumption behaviors between the groups. Third, also in a comparison of satisfaction with and loyalty to Korean restaurants with crucial attributes during the selection of Korean food, there were significant differences between the groups. Therefore, it is necessary to develop various Korean food products that will cater to Japanese consumers in accordance with each segmented group.

A survey on the quality improvement and preference for green onion kimchi by Chinese and Japanese consumers was conducted by 30 Korean specialists in order to develop an improved green onion kimchi product. The long green onion shape, kimchi juice, seasonings, off-odor of fermented sea food, and stimulatory flavor of green onion were the main issues considered for the improvement of green onion product. Usage of the favorite ingredients of the Chinese and Japanese consumers was also suggested. The percentages of Chinese and Japanese who already knew green onion kimchi were 54.1% and 30.3%, respectively, whereas 46.8% of Chinese and 28.1% of Japanese have actually tried green onion kimchi in Korea. There was no significant difference in the preference for green onion kimchi between Chinese (3.25/5.0) and Japanese (3.17/5.0) consumers. For recommendations for improving the quality of green onion, Chinese consumers thought off-flavor, fibrous texture, and fermentation level were more significant while the Japanese considered red color, various taste, MSG content, and length of green onion. Seasoned tofu with green onion and rice were suggested as complementary foods to green onion kimchi by the Chinese and Japanese, respectively.