국내 고급소비 시장의 사회학적 분석: 수입자동차 시장을 중심으로

초록

Recently, the domestic high-end goods market has been growing rapidly. This is part of a recent phenomenon in which domestic consumers have been showing increasing preference for expensive high quality products. The expansion of the luxury goods market provides strong opportunities for domestic companies, as it demonstrates that the consumption patterns of the high-income class have remained fairly steady regardless of changes in economic conditions since the currency crisis. At the same time, however, there has been a strong mechanism that restrains excessive consumption in Korea. Consequently, domestic companies have been slow in strengthening their position in the high-end goods market, and it has been regarded as an invisible market in Korea. Into this vacuum have come foreign luxury brands, now virtually dominating the domestic luxury market. This study attempts to present the main features of the luxury market in Korea, in terms of a sociological perspective. In particular, this research interest is centered around the imported automobile market in Korea. This study found that various barriers over the imported automobile market have been decreased since the currency crisis. This study also found that the Japanese automobile has been rapidly embedding in the Korean automobile market. Hence, this study implies that it is high time for domestic companies to take a look at the current state of the market and to devise a suitable response.

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