우리나라 유가족의 수목장림 선택에 대한 태도와 관련요인 분석

This study aimed to find out the reason why the actual use rate of tree burial does not meet expectations despite its high preference by identifying the attitudes and influencing factors on the intention to choose forest burial as the burial method of the respondents themselves and their families. Commissioned by a professional online survey agency, the research data were collected through an online survey between July 14 and July 31, 2017 for nationwide adult men and women aged 40 or older who had recent experience of funerals for their immediate family members or spouses. The findings of this study showed that the respondents of 55% and 50% respectively responded positively to the intention of choosing the forest burial for themselves and their family members in case of death. The results of discriminant analysis of groups with high and low intention to choose forest burial showed that behavioral psychological variables such as attitudes and norms toward tree burial make a more important contribution to group discrimination than its attribute variables such as economic feasibility or management and use convenience. Overall, this study suggests that in order to make people’s high preference for tree burial actually turned into its high use rate, it is urgent to expand forest burial facilities and systematically distribute their information, and their current management and operation needs to be improved so that their funeral characteristics can be recognized as superior to other burial methods such as enshrinement in terms of economic feasibility, management and use convenience, eco-friendliness, and so on.