다채널 쇼핑과 유통업체 충성도의 관계에 대한 실증적 연구 (The Empirical Study of the Multichannel Shopping on Customer Retailer Loyalty)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국마케팅학회
· 수록지 정보 : 마케팅연구 / 23권 / 4호 / 1 ~ 22페이지
· 저자명 : 주영혁

초록

최근의 유통환경에서 유통업체와 고객과의 상호작용 채널이 다양화됨에 따라 다채널 고객관리(multichannel customer management)의 중요성이 증가하고 있다. 기업수준에서 다채널 이용과 고객 충성도의 관계에 대한 기존 연구의 경우 두 가지 개념이 서로 관련성이 있다고 주장되어 왔다. 그러나 이러한 연구들의 경우 직접적으로 인과관계를 고찰하지 못하거나 부분적이고 제한적인 접근 또는 측정방법을 사용하여 이를 고찰하여 왔다. 이에 대하여 본 연구는 다채널 유통업체의 회원고객을 대상으로 설문조사와 고객 데이터베이스를 통합한 자료를 바탕으로 구성요소(component-wise) 접근방법을 통하여 다채널 이용(정보탐색 및 제품구매 단계)과 고객 충성도(태도적 및 행동적 충성도)의 관계를 실증적으로 고찰하였다.
658명의 고객을 대상으로 약 18개월 동안의 고객자료를 관측한 결과 정보탐색 및 제품구매 단계 모두에서 고객의 다채널 이용은 유통업체에 대한 태도적 및 행동적 충성도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타나고 있다. 그러나 이러한 결과는 고객의 채널 이용패턴 별로 많은 차이가 있는 것으로 나타나고 있다. 즉, 모든 다채널 이용패턴이 모든 단일채널 이용패턴에 비하여 반드시 높은 충성도를 보이는 것이 아닌 것으로 나타나고 있다. 이러한 연구결과는 유통업체의 다채널 고객이 높은 매출액을 발생시키는 이유를 설명하고, 다채널 고객관리가 기업의 고객관계관리(CRM)에서 중요한 역할을 수행하고 있음을 설명함으로써 이론적 및 실무적 시사점을 제공하고 있다.

영어초록

In recent years, one of dramatic trends in the shopping environments has been the proliferation of channels through which customers can interact with retailers. Accordingly, multichannel customer management has become a very important topic to both academicians and practitioners. But, the question if the relationship between the multichannel usage and customer retailer loyalty is causal still remains unexplained and needs to be more empirical validation (Neslin et al. 2006). Even if previous research suggested that multichannel customers are profitable customers in terms of sales volume (Kushwaha and Shankar 2005; Myers et al. 2004), there has not been much explanation about why customers' multichannel usage leads higher sales volume. Accordingly, if the causal relationship between multichannel usage and customer loyalty is supported, it will be possible to explain that higher sales volume is the result of increased customer loyalty.
Existing some research on multichannel marketing has supported the relationship between multichannel usage and customer loyalty based on piecemeal approaches and measurements. While research based on survey has dealt with attitudinal loyalty, research with customer data base has focused not on customer behavioral loyalty but on customer purchase related variables (purchase frequency, purchase quantity, and purchase money, etc.). Moreover, both research has only focused on multichannel usage in product purchase stage among decision making processes. This study presents a systemetic component-wise approach to test the relationship between the multichannel usage (information search and product purchase stage) and customer retailer loyalty (attitudinal and behavioral loyalty).
First, multichannel usage has a positive effect on customers' attitudinal loyalty. It is expected that multichannel usage leads to perceived higher customer service because each channel has a unique advantage (for example, 24/7 service for Website channel) and so multichannel usage has produced a usage of service portfolio (Wallace et al. 2005). Moreover, if firm implements multichannel integration (Berman and Thelen 2004), the multichannel customers will have a seamless customer experience (for example, order by online or catalog and pick up at nearest store). Second, multichannel usage has a positive effect on customers' behavioral loyalty. It is expected that the multichannel customers will have more opportunity to firm's various marketing activities, which will enhance customers' behavioral loyalty. Specifically, it is said that customer loyalty program (for example, reward and incentive program) is one of the representative marketing activities for both retaining customer and blocking switching.
Hypothesis test was implemented by integrating data with survey data and customer database of a membership-based multichannel retail company. While information search multichannel usage and attitudinal loyalty were measured by survey to members, product purchase multichannel usage (analysing customer purchase data during six months before survey) and behavioral loyalty (observing customer defect during one year after survey) were measured by customer database. Correlation analysis shows that the correlation coefficients between attitudinal and behavioral loyalty are low and two variables are different constructs each other. ANOVA, regression and LOGIT were used as analysis methods.
Regression analysis shows that 1) multichannel usage enhances customer retailer loyalty of attitudinal aspect. This result expands the Wallace et al.'s(2004) assertion that multichannel usage is closely related to customer service portfolio. And this finding reinforces empirically Payne and Frow's(2004) claim that multichannel integration increases the perceived service quality to retailing firms. Also, LOGIT analysis reveals that 2) multichannel usage has a positive effect on customer's behavioral loyalty. This finding extends and explains empirically the existing some study (Ansari et al. 20008; Kumar and Venkatesan 2005) on the relationship between multichannel usage and exposure to marketing activities.
Moreover additional analysis with ANOVA shows that the channel usage patterns are more important to customer retailer loyalty than the number of channel used. Attitudinal loyalty is significantly different among groups with the same number of channel used, and surprisingly, specific groups with the lower number of channel used have a higher loyalty than those with the higher number of channel used. This finding extends Thomas and Sullivan's(2005) claim that all kinds of multichannel usage patterns have not always a higher sales volume than all kinds of single channel usage patterns. In other words, this result could be a application to customer loyalty of Thomas and Sullivan's(2005) study.
This study empirically provides robust evidence that multichannel usage in both information search and product purchase stage enhances customer loyalty of both attitudinal and behavioral aspects. Presently, it is said that multichannel customers have higher sales volume but there has been no explanation about if the relationship between multichannel usage and sales volume is causal relationship or simple association(Neslin et al. 2006; Neslin and Shankar 2007). This study empirically suggests that multichannel usage could enhance sales volume through higher customer loyalty. For achieving the research purpose, two stages of multichannel usage (information search and product purchase) and two types of customer loyalty (attitudinal and behavioral) were examined and integrating data with survey and customer DB was used. This research has a practical implication for multichannel retailers in terms of multichannel customer management.

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