Abstract

The current paper aims to review the articles published in The Korean Journal of Consumer and Advertising Psychology, covering areas in the field of research, researcher, theoretical background of research, its objectives and methodology, and recommends future directions for consumer research. The analysis includes a total of 448 articles across 59 volumes of the journal’s 18-year history, from the publication of its first issue in 2000 to the 18th in 2017. The findings show the overall characteristics of research in academia, as well as how the research trend has evolved over the last 18 years. The key findings are as follows: First, in The Korean Journal of Consumer and Advertising Psychology, although the number of articles written by the researchers from the department of psychology has been higher in proportion, the number of research conducted by scholars from others fields, such as business is increasing in trend. This phenomenon precisely reflects how communication and integration are taken more importantly in a modern day society. Second, not only exploring the linear relationship of independent and dependent variables but also an increasing number of research examining moderating and mediating variables implies the potential progress in the relevant field of research. Third, contrary to what is mentioned earlier about interdisciplinary approach in conducting research, the theoretical background of most research is limited to narrow spectrum of topics in psychology. This indicates the large body of research is skewed in terms of theories used and thus, the necessity to widen scope of topics of studies in consumer and advertising psychology. Fourth, the majority of research today depends heavily on experimental studies, and there remains to be very few studies based on surveys, qualitative research, and biological measurements. This leads to a challenge in understanding the evolving state of consumption and a lack of research that explain the relationships between consumers’ biological or physical traits and their consumption behaviors. Fifth, the point of consumption studied and the types of media used reveal an inadequate reflection of time. This can be supported by the fact that most of the research observes scenes prior to consumption and that print advertising is the most commonly used medium. Finally, we discuss how the research in The Korean Journal of Consumer and Advertising Psychology has progressed over the past 18 years - its commendable components as well as areas of improvement -and provide recommendations for future research.