관계혜택(Relational Benefits)이 전환장벽과 점포충성도에 미치는 영향 : 오프라인 VS. 모바일 쇼핑

Abstract

본 연구는 국내의 백화점, 대형마트, 모바일 커머스를 대상으로 전환 장벽과 점포 충성도에 영향을 미치는 관계혜택에 대하여 동아시아 관점에서 볼 수 있는 체면적 혜택을 관계혜택 차원에 포함시켜 소매 업태간의 영향 차이를 실증 분석하고 고객의 점포충성도(Store loyalty)에 미치는 메커니즘을 업태 별로 비교하고자 한다. 주요 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 국내의 백화점, 대형마트, 모바일 커머스를 대상으로 확신적 혜택, 특별우대혜택, 체면적 혜택이 높을수록 전환 장벽이 높아지는 것으로 나왔다. 확신적 혜택과 특별우대 혜택은 점포 충성도에 직접적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나온 반면 체면적 혜택은 점포 충성도에 간접적인 영향을 나타내는 것으로 나왔다. 둘째, 도출된 관계혜택이 전환 장벽과 점포충성도에 미치는 영향을 오프라인 업태와 모바일 커머스와 비교한 결과 대형마트와 모바일 커머스 간의 비교에서는 확신적 혜택이 전환 장벽, 충성도에 미치는 영향과 체면적 혜택이 전환 장벽에 미치는 영향에서 차이가 있음을 확인했다.

In recent years, the retail market in Korea has been confronted by new hurdles, facing severe competition from various types of retailers: department stores, hypermarkets, e-commerce and m-commerce. In the past competition was mainly intra-type – same categories of retailers competing amongst each other. But recently this has evolved into a multi-faceted competition stemming from the internet that is more based around offline vs online contests. Marketing managers have examined the consumer store selection process and have searched for the distinguishing competitive advantage of their store. As a result, marketers have concentrated not only on merchandising but also on relational benefits as the customer maintenance strategy. Relational benefits are concerned with long-term relationships with customers, not only the main monetary exchanges. It is important for a company to establish a long-term relationship with its customers because maintaining existing customers rather than attracting new customers will help them to secure competitive advantage and generate more profits. Thus, relational benefits are becoming an ever more important strategic goal to maintain long-term relationships with existing customers. This paper has two objectives. Firstly, this study will investigate the effect relational benefits have on switching barriers and store loyalty respectively. Moreover it will explore the additional dimensions of having relational benefits in a retail context. Since previous studies of relational benefits have the viewpoint of Western industry, adopting an Asian perspective provide a wider and richer analysis. Thus, since a fundamental element of respect is added to proceedings (from“Guanxi”- a meaning of relationship or connection between stores and customers) we expect this paper significantly to existing studies. Secondly, this paper will conduct the test of group difference for examining distinctive relational benefits of each store types among department stores, hypermarkets and mobile commerce. Consumers accommodate different relational benefits with corresponding store types. For example, department store customers expect higher service levels due to the retail prices and shopping environment. Mobile shopping customers, on the other hand, are used to cheaper bargains and prompt delivery as well as many other benefits that traditional brick and mortar retailers cannot offer. The purpose of this study is to find the differences between department stores, hyper-markets and mobile commerce in terms of how their consumers perceive the various relational benefits they offer. This paper has developed the following eight hypotheses: H1 (confidence benefits), H2 (special treatment benefits), and H3 (respect benefits) have a positive impact on switching barriers. In addition, H4 (confidence benefits), H5 (special treatment benefits) and H6 (respect benefits) have a positive impact on store loyalty. H7 is that switching barriers have a positive impact on store loyalty. Lastly, H8 anticipated that the effect of relational benefits on switching barriers and store loyalty would differ depending on the types of retailer. <Figure 1> shows our research model. The sample consists of 666 respondents among which 228 were for hypermarkets, 220 were for department stores, and 218 were for mobile commerce. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using SmarPLS 2.0 and verified that composite reliability (CR), discriminant validity and convergent validity were exceeding the recommended level. The results indicated that ‘Confidence benefits’, ‘Special treatment benefits’and ‘Respect benefits’have a positive impact on switching barriers. Accordingly, H1, H2, and H3 were supported. Furthermore, ‘Confidence benefits’, ‘Special treatment benefits’ have a positive impact on store loyalty. Accordingly, H4 and H5 were supported. However, the path coefficient for ‘respect benefits’ was found non-significant and thus H6 was not supported (see Figure 2). We conducted t-tests for multi-group analysis and compared the effect of relational benefits in determining switching barrier and store loyalty among three different store types. The effect relational benefits on switching barriers and store loyalty were shown to differ depending on the types of retailer. Through the analysis we found a key feature of relational benefits for each retailer types; department store was deemed ‘respect benefits’and m-commerce was deemed ‘Confidence benefits. Table 1 shows the result of t-test between relational benefits and each retailer types. The major results and implications of this study are as follow. Firstly, we found that three types of Relational benefits – confidence benefits, special treatment benefits and respect benefits - have a positive impact to switching barrier and store loyalty levels. Retail managers should therefore consider relational benefits to manage their customer retention strategies by increasing customer satisfaction or erecting switching barriers. Secondly, we discovered that the impact of relational benefits on switching barrier and store loyalty differs significantly depending on the retailer’s types. ‘Respect benefits’ was the most distinctive relational benefit for department stores, implying that the strategy for providing consumers a sense of respect is crucial to differentiate the store in the competition. With respect to hypermarket, ‘respect benefits’ was the most important relational benefit for improving switching barriers. Thus, it is necessary for hypermarket managers to improve loyalty by preventing switching behavior through continuous service development such as supplementing quality for customer service. Lastly, ‘confidence benefits’ was the most important relational benefit for m-commerce. This implies that the ability to make the customer feel comfortable and welcome in a sterile mobile arena is paramount. In conclusion, relational benefits should correspond accordingly to different retail types. Creating an effective communication strategy that highlights the unique relational benefits of each retail types will be a key challenge for future retail businesses.