화장품 선도사용자와 후기사용자의 심리적 특성과 사회적 활동 비교 연구

Comparison of Psychological Characteristics and Social Activities Between Early Users and Late Users for Cosmetics

The rapid growth of the cosmetic market has accelerated the continuing development of new products. Accordingly, the roles and influence of the consumers who are purchasing and using new products earlier than others have also become important. This paper investigated the psychological features, social activities, and purchasing behaviors for comparing the features of early adapters who purchase new products earlier and the general users who purchase them later. For data collection, an online survey was conducted with women in their 20s and 30s in the metropolitan area in Aug. 2014. Two hundred and seventy-four (274) respondents participated in the survey. In accordance with the data analysis, the respondents were classified into 3 groups: trend leaders, trend followers, and an indifference group based on trend innovation and opinion leadership related to cosmetics. For the analysis of the number of new cosmetic products held by respondents, the trend leaders were classified into early adapters and the trend followers and indifference group into general users. The early adapters and general users showed a distinct difference in all aspects of psychological features and social activities. All fields in psychological features and social activities showed higher points in the order of trend leaders, trend followers, and the indifference group. The early adapters emphasized communication more than online and offline activity participation with very high self-attachment, confidence, and innovation. The early adapters were positioned at a higher average monthly purchasing amount than general users. Furthermore, the early adapters showed higher purchasing frequency than general users. The purchasing frequency of most early adapters was once or twice per quarter and once or twice a month. For purchasing channels, the general users visited brand stores or made purchases via online shopping. The early adapters had a significantly higher preference for department stores where they could purchase new products from a variety of domestic and foreign brands earlier.