정보해석에 대한 성별차이 연구

Abstract

Commercial firms seek to induce consumer's purchase as much as possible using diverse marketing methods. In order for consumers to perceive their need to buy the products and actually buy one, the firms must assign values to their products so that consumers may feel necessary to buy certain products. These days, we witness vigorous occurrence of marketing strategies using consumer's psychological propensities. Gender difference stands out in consumer's preference behavior. In the field of shopping propensities online, males are oriented to conveniences, thinking highly of achieving the targets, while females tend to build familiarity, have hedonic shopping motives, thinking highly of views of other consumers. In the field of educational game designs, males are more effectively attracted by designs using spatial and visual cognitive abilities though with narrow peripheral vision, while females are by designs using linguistic skills and empathy with wider peripheral vision. The purpose of this study was to ascertain that gender difference in preferences and behaviors shown in the consumer's purchase decision-making process might be explained by the influence of self- construal and levels of abstract thinking. Three sessions of studies in total examined people's difference in decision-making; the research used levels of abstract thinking (high level/ low level) as an independent variable, gender (male/female) as a moderating variable and preference for information security, consumer behavior, subjective perception of elapse of time (after one year/after two weeks), intention to apply for lectures as dependent variables. The study had findings as follows. First, there was gender difference in consumer preference. Males with high level of abstract thinking preferred abstract objects, whereas females with low level of abstract thinking preferred concrete objects. Second, there was difference in decision-making depending on levels of abstract thinking. The higher level abstract thinking had, the more subjective elapse of time people perceived, and there emerged remarkable difference in decision-making depending elapse of time. Third, there emerged moderating effects of gender in relations between levels of abstract thinking and consumer's decision-making. There were bigger differences in decision-making depending on elapse of time among groups with high level of abstract thinking in males and those with lower level of abstract thinking in females. The study found that levels of abstract thinking varied depending on gender and males were more influenced in their decision-making while having abstract thoughts, whereas females were more while having concrete thoughts. Given the argument of the existing construal level theories that the higher abstract thinking people have, the more they tend to pay attention to central, unchangeable traits of objects - resulting in more desires- this conclusion might reflect more of this researcher's male point of view with less of female one and so must be applied properly.