이동전화 서비스의 효용과 비용요인에 따른 소비자유형 연구 = A Study on Consumer Categorizations According to the Utility & Cost Factors of Mobile Phones

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study analyzes consumption grouping and various factors of utility and cost of mobile phones that consumers perceive, and categorizes individual consumers with respect to utility-cost factors. For the study, an online survey via the Internet was conduced over a population of mobile phone users, selected from panelists of Survey Korea Institute(http://www.survey.co.kr) from November 1st through 6th. A total of 596 consumers had responded. The data analysis is based on such analysis methods as percentage, average, frequency, factor analysis, GLM Duncan and Cluster Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis and Logistic Regression. This study concludes as follows: Firstly, it turns out that phone bills expenditure varies with respect to the many socio-demographic variables of consumers and mobile phones. In particular, the more a personal allowance, the higher phone bill expenditure. With this finding, it can be concluded that mobile phone service is a consumption product that is dependant upon the paying ability of each user. As for the fee systems, consumers who choose special fee systems(such as TTL. Khai, etc.) that provide a variety of discount service pay the highest phone bill expenditure. This group is composed of the young and housewives. Thus, this special fee system is aggravating the cost burden on the users of this group. Another feature is that those who subscribed after the year 2000 when the subsidy policy for phone machines was revoked pay relatively higher bill expenditure, implying that these subscribers lack the necessary information regarding fee systems. Secondly, mobile phone dominant group pattern is `relationship-oriented group sensitive to economic factors`(the highest score in terms of personal communication utility, while economic factor has the greatest effect on cost). With these findings, it can concluded that mobile phone service is used not only as a means of communication but also as a tool to facilitate personal relations. On the other hand, those who fall under the category of `no-utility, no-cost consciousness` group account for 18.0%. This group shows relatively low satisfaction over the general mobile phone service. Thus, it is required that when deciding to use the mobile phone service, and consumer should take into considerations of both utility and cost of mobile phone service. Thirdly, consumer satisfaction over the mobile phone service is generally low. In particular, consumer satisfaction over the phone bill is very low. At the conclusion, some suggestions and directions can be presented. This study finds that consumers hold varied perceptions on utility and cost of mobile phone service. Consequently, consumers show different consumer behaviors according to their categorized groupings. Thus, mobile phone companies should map out marketing strategies to satisfy various consumer demands and to establish advertizing strategies aimed at providing more useful information to the young and early subscribers. The government, on the other hand, should realize that consumers have a lot of burdens and complaints regarding phone bills. Consequently, it is necessary that the government develop policies to improve fee systems in general and establish consumer awareness policies targeting the young and low-income people.