청주시 대학생의 사치품과 필수품에 대한 인지

Awareness about the Luxuries and the Necessities of University Students in Cheongju

Now, the purchasing power of university students is bigger than before. And some of them use consumption to express themselves and prefer famous brand products, and they are interested in their appearance. This study tries to find university students' value system related to consumption and the meaning of consumption to them by surveying their perception of luxuries and necessities. For this study, a survey of university students in Cheongju was conducted between August 14 and August 31 2008 and 200 responses were used for analysis. The findings of this study are as follows; First, university students divide luxuries and necessities based on price and brand rather than product type. For example, low priced or free cell phones are considered necessities while expensive ones are considered luxuries. Second, many of them agreed that the criterion of necessity is "a thing that you can't do without in everyday life" and the criterion of luxury is "a thing that is behind your means." In addition, other product categories were 'unnecessary products' and 'unclassified products'. Third, factors affecting the criteria that divide luxuries and necessities included peer group's practices and rules, brands the peer group prefers, advertisements, and perception of right consumption.