The purpose of this study is to comprehend the influence of globalization factors of Korean traditional liquor on Korea national brand image and purchasing intention toward traditional liquor. Also, this study tries to investigate foreign tourists' awareness of the relation between different types of Hanryu(so-called Korean-wave) and Korean national brand image, and purchasing intention toward traditional liquor.
There's still no prominent result of research in the field of the interactive structure of Hanryu, in spite of many prior studies. In this light this study is intended to go beyond the existing studies in its contents. In this study Hanryu, is categorized into tangible and intangible factors according to prior studies, and empirically tested the relationship between the two factors.
This study focuses mainly on visiting Japanese and Chinese tourists visiting Korea. Out of 700 individuals 617 were chosen, 300 of which were Japanese, 259 were Chinese, and the remaining 58 were other nationalities.
In order to find the globalization factors of Korean traditional liquor, professionals interview was performed first from August 2009 to October 2010, and the status of the foreign tourists to Gyeong-Ju(218 tourists in pre-test) and Seoul were analyzed.
The main study results and implications are as follows; First, the greater part of research samples were visiting tourists. Also, the motivation to try Korean traditional liquor came mainly from recommendations from acquaintances and so called word-of-mouth marketing.
Second, globalization factors of Korean traditional liquor identified 4 factors; superiority of traditional liquor, special knowledge of traditional liquor, the quality of traditional liquor, and promotion factors. These factors partly coincide with Korean food globalization factors shown in prior research(Lee, Y. J., 2008).
Third, the globalization factors except the superiority and special knowledge of Korean traditional liquor, the quality and promotion factors were directly related to Korean brand image and traditional liquor purchasing intention. More concretely, respondents presented "taste" as the most important factor (53.6%) among the quality factors of traditional liquor. This fact proves the quality of Korean traditional liquor is a key factor deciding national brand image and purchasing intention.
Fourth, the Korea national brand image had an influence on purchasing traditional liquors. This fact shows that national a brand image can be a powerful factor deciding Korean traditional liquor purchasing and conforms to prior studies.
Fifth, Hanryu had moderating effect on brand image and purchasing intention of Korean traditional liquor. In particular, tangible Hanryu of Korean food and clothing group and intangible Hanryu of Korean drama group had moderating effect on brand image and purchasing intention of Korean traditional liquor. This fact implies that foreign tourists having experience of Korean food can better understand and respond to Korean traditional liquor in combining with Korean food marketing using TV-plays, movies, music and stars.
Sixth, the quality factor in Korean food group was more meaningfully related to Korean traditional liquor purchasing intention than clothing group and drama group. This result partly conforms to prior research(Kim, Y. K. et al., 2008) and implies that the characteristics of Hanryu are not the same and needs to be classified.
Seventh, promotion of Korean traditional liquor to Japanese tourists had more influence on the Korea national brand image than Chinese tourists. So the hypothesis 7(there will be a difference in influence of globalization factors of Korean traditional liquor on Korea national brand image toward traditional liquor between the two nations) was accepted.
Eighth, this study suggests that ministries relating to traditional liquor(Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, or Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, etc.) should perform advertisement and public relations activities through various channels such as major international media and embassies on and off lines, so that they can effectively play the role of Hanryu. Utilizing these strategies in respect of government will greatly contribute to improvement of national brand image and purchasing intention of traditional liquor in the near future.
Finally, this study will contribute to utilizing as Korean traditional liquor marketing data lacking in prior studies and especially help for encouraging Korean traditional liquors in overseas markets. Also, it suggests a study further focusing on Korean traditional liquor, professional groups and enough foreign samples who are more aware of Korean liquor culture in the future.