국내 소비자들의 할인점 충성도에 관한 탐색적 연구 -부산지역 할인점을 중심으로-

As the competition in domestic retail markets increases, discount stores are expanding rapidly. In Busan, multinational discount stores such as Carrefour as well as nationwide discount stores such as E-mart and local discount stores such as Seowon mart and Aram mart have been vying one another with different competitive strategies for market share with the full liberalization of the distribution sector in 1997. This study examined the concept of store loyalty and its antecedents, to understand Korean consumers' discount store patronage. Significant differences were found in consumers' discount store loyalty and its antecedents by the types of discount stores. Major findings are 1) consumer loyalty to the nationwide discount stores is higher than that of multinational discount stores and local discount stores, 2) consumers' perception of the merchandise value for the nationwide discount stores is higher than that of local discount stores, consumers' perception of the service quality and shopping satisfaction for the nationwide discount stores is higher than that of multinational discount stores. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.