소비자 신뢰도 향상을 위한 제품 전략의 구전 효과: 온라인 식품 유통 플랫폼을 중심으로 (The Effects of Product Strategy for Improving Consumer Trust: Evidence from Online Food Delivery Platforms)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국유통학회
· 수록지 정보 : 유통연구 / 28권 / 4호 / 1 ~ 27페이지
· 저자명 : 황인서, 이예령, 최정혜

초록

본 연구는 온라인 식품 유통 플랫폼이 소비자 신뢰도를 높일 수 있는 제품 전략을 적용하였을 때 나타나는 플랫폼에 대한 소비자 온라인 구전 양상 변화를 확인하고, 나아가 해당 소비시장에 대한 소비자 관심도가 이러한 변화에 미칠 수 있는 영향력을 검증하였다. 이를 위해 국내 소셜미디어 채널에서의 각 플랫폼에 대한 온라인 구전량 데이터, 포털에서의 검색량 데이터 등 다양한 데이터를 활용하여 실증분석을 진행하였다. 실증분석 결과, 온라인 식품 유통 플랫폼 내 신선식품 카테고리 전문성 강화 전략은 '전문성' 차원의 신뢰도를, 친환경 요소의 강화 전략은 '호의성' 차원의 신뢰도를 향상시켜 온라인 구전량과 유의한 정(+)적 관계가 존재하는 것으로 나타났다. 한편, 신선식품 카테고리 전문성 강화 전략의 효과는 신선식품 소비시장에 대한 소비자 관심도에 의해 약화되고, 친환경 요소 강화 전략의 적용은 친환경 소비시장에 대한 소비자의 관심도에 의해 약화되는 것으로 확인되었다. 본 연구는 온라인 식품 유통 시장에 주목해 온라인 식품 유통 플랫폼이 신뢰도 향상을 위해 실행할 수 있는 제품 전략의 효과를 실증적으로 분석하였다는 점에서 의의를 갖는다. 이에 플랫폼의 제품 전략 및 해당 소비시장에 대한 소비자의 관심도가 온라인 구전 양상 변화에 미칠 영향을 예측하고, 이에 대응할 전략을 수립하는 데에 기여하며 학문적 및 실무적 시사점을 가질 것으로 기대된다.

영어초록

1. Introduction As consumers have adapted to a non-face-to-face living environment due to COVID-19 and diversified their food consumption behaviors, the online food shopping market has been experiencing continuous growth (Jung & Moon, 2020). With the market expansion, competition has intensified as a large number of new platforms have entered the market. To ensure market share and sustain business growth, it has become essential for platforms to implement appropriate product strategies to improve consumer trust (Kang & Nam, 2022). Improving consumer trust can positively impact on the company's long-term performance by increasing consumer awareness of the product and fostering persistent purchase intentions (Liu & Tang, 2018). Additionally, prior research has shown that consumers’ trust in the platform significantly influences online word-of-mouth (Brown & Reingen, 1987). Based on these findings, this study aims to address the following questions: First, how does the product strategy implemented by the food e-commerce platforms affect consumers’ e-WOM about the platforms? Second, does this impact vary based on the overall level of consumer interest in the consumption market?

2. Hypotheses Development Consumer trust in a product or service plays a crucial role in their intentions to engage in e-WOM. The credibility of a brand can influence consumers’ purchasing behavior and their willingness to maintain ongoing relationships or share related experiences (Sam & Tahir, 2010; Trivedi & Yadav, 2020). In the context of Food e-commerce platforms, different strategies can be employed to build consumer trust, such as reinforcing category expertise to enhance expert-based trust or reinforcing eco-friendly elements to enhance benevolence-based trust (Kim & Lee, 2014). Moreover, as consumer interest increases, it may lead to an upsurge in information search behavior and higher expectations, potentially resulting in expectation discrepancies (Shin & Park, 2020). Based on these discussions, the following hypotheses have been formulated. To test the hypotheses, the research model was constructed as shown in Figure 1.
[H1] Implementing a strategy to reinforce fresh food category expertise will have a positive relationship with the amount of e-WOM about the platform.
[H2] Implementing a strategy to reinforce eco-friendly elements will have a positive relationship with the amount of e-WOM about the platform.
[H3] As the search volume of fresh food-related keyword increases, the positive relationship between the amount of e-WOM and a strategy to reinforce fresh food category expertise will weaken.
[H4] As the search volume of eco-friendly-related keyword increases, the positive relationship between the amount of e-WOM and a strategy to reinforce eco-friendly elements will weaken.




3. Data and Analysis To test the hypotheses, the authors collected e-WOM data related to each online food delivery platform, consisting of the amount of e-WOM per-week for 14 platforms from January 2017 to December 2020, a period when the food e-commerce market experienced continuous growth of more than 100%.
The dependent variable in the study is the amount of e-WOM for each online food delivery platform on major domestic social media. To address potential outliers and heteroscedasticity in the data, the authors employed a log transformation. There are two types of independent variables used in the study: First, a binary variable was created to measure whether the platform reinforced fresh food category expertise, using the time when the platform established its own specialized page for fresh food. Second, another binary variable is created to measure whether the platform reinforced eco-friendly elements in its product strategy, based on the time when the platform started using eco-friendly packaging materials. Additionally, the authors used the search volume of fresh food and eco-friendly keywords as moderators to examine the effect of consumer interest on the relationship between each product strategy and e-WOM. Lastly, control variables include accumulated time after the launch of each platform, COVID-19-related variables, and cumulative e-WOM volume for platforms over the past 4 weeks.
The linear regression model is employed to estimate each parameter for the proposed model. To address the seasonality of e-WOM and the heterogeneity of platforms, the model includes both fixed effects and random effects.
Based on the estimation results, the authors suggest the following findings. Firstly, implementing product strategies to reinforce fresh food category expertise or eco-friendly elements within the platform has a positive relationship with consumers’ e-WOM about each platform, supporting H1 and H2. Online food delivery platforms can demonstrate their expertise in the category by establishing fresh food specialized pages and showcasing corporate social responsibility for the environment through the use of eco-friendly packaging materials. These strategies can enhance consumers’ expert-based trust and benevolence-based trust about the platform, leading to an increase in the amount of e-WOM. Next, if consumers’ interest in the relevant market increases, the effects of the existing product strategies tend to weaken for both strategies, supporting H3 and H4.
An increase in consumer interest can result in higher consumer expectations due to more information search behavior, which may reduce the effectiveness of the strategies. However, the estimated decline in the product strategy effects is relatively small, indicating that the overall e-WOM continues to increase up to a certain level. This suggests that the value of using product strategies remains even after consumer interest increases.




4. Conclusion This study confirmed the impact of the product strategies implemented by the online food delivery platform on e-WOM, and the moderating effect of consumer interest in each market. The findings underscore the importance of consumer trust in the operation of online food delivery platforms, particularly in terms of increasing consumers’ e-WOM. Furthermore, this study contributes valuable insights to the online food delivery market, offering practical considerations that firms can take into account when establishing differentiated operating strategies to secure competitiveness.

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