습관적 구매의 유형에 따른 소비자의 양면적 반응에 관한 연구

Abstract

In the field of marketing, the consumer's habit is considered as an important variable directly influencing company’s performance. Habitual buying behavior is related with the market share, consumer lifetime value and share of wallet, and it has a tremendous impact on the financial performance of the company in the long-term point of view(Ehrenberg and Goodhardt 2002; Wirtz, Mattila and Lwin 2007). Under the circumstances, it is essential for companies to understand consumer behavior in order to analyze consumer demands minutely and develop strategies to induce appropriate habitual purchase. Regardless of this importance, not many studies have been performed on how consumer habit is developed and what its characteristics are in relation to consumers’ purchase and consumption behaviors(Wathieu 2004; wood and Neal 2009). Most studies focused on either verifying the direct and indirect influence of habit or investigating in to the relative influence on repeated buying behavior in comparison with other variables in measuring customer loyalty or intention to use(Woisetshlager et al. 2011). Also, most studies measured habit based on the frequency of repeated behaviors, and therefore, are limited in the behavioral aspect, and failed to clearly distinguish the scope in relation to the concept of inertia(Assael 1998; Knox and walker 2001; Liu-Thompkins and Tam 2013). For habitual purchase is not simply the habitual choice but also the purchase behavior manifested as a result of repeated experience relating to the consumption and purchase of specific product(Murray and Haubl 2007). Therefore, it may include the repeated purchase of the same brand up to the purchase of various brands(Lee and Jeon 2015; Martin 2008). In other words, habitual buying behavior is not limited to the repeated behavior of choosing brands but also includes the consumption and purchase of product, and regarding the fact that various patterns of purchase behavior including the repeated purchase of the same brand can appear according to the habit of consuming specific product. In this regard, there are limitations in understanding habitual buying behavior solely based on existing studies that are limited to the stage of choosing brands. Therefore, this study empirically investigated into the multidimensional structure of habitual buying behavior by reestablishing the concept of the behavior based on the essential characteristics of habit and approaching the matter in terms of consumption behavior. Also, this study focused on identifying the differential influence of dual responses based on the types of habitual purchase, and verified the moderating effect of personal and situational factors that are expected to influence habitual purchase. The results of the research can be summarized as follows. Study 1 measured the actual habitual consumption experience of consumers, classified the patterns of habitual purchase, and examined the discrimination between types to confirm the validity of classification. As a result, it was found that the habitual buying behaviors classified based on the characteristics of each pattern were identified as 4 groups: carryover habitual purchase, hierarchical habitual purchase, value-based habitual purchase, and usage-based habitual purchase, depending on the diversity of consumer desire and switching barrier as shown in the study by Lee and Jeon(2015). The additional post hoc test performed between groups showed significant difference between the types of habitual purchase. Study 2 & 3 verified the difference in dual responses of consumers depending on the types of habitual purchase. Study 2 examined differential influence by each type of habitual purchase regarding hedonic goal and utilitarian goal and verified moderating role depending on general action/inaction priming. First, for consumers with hedonic consumption goal, the verification of Hypothesis 1 confirmed that consumers who habitually purchase the same brand exhibited more positive responses such as cross-buying intention and willingness to pay more compared with consumers habitually purchasing various brands. On the contrary, for consumers with utilitarian consumption goal, consumers habitually purchasing various brands exhibited more intense negative reactions such as replacement purchase intention and low-margin purchase intention compared with consumers who habitually purchase the same brand. Second, the verification of Hypothesis 2 confirmed the intensification of the result of Hypothesis 1 when primed with general action compared with when primed with general inaction. This indicates that factors related with unconscious cognitive process influence future decisions when consumers habitually purchase certain products. Study 3 reviewed the difference in reactions between habitual purchase types according to ambivalence while having focus on the effect of hedonic consumption goal of habitual purchase. Upon verifying Hypothesis 3, it was found that the moderating effect of ambivalence depending on habitual purchase types is significant. Specifically, consumers who habitually purchase the same brand reacted sensitively positive responses compared with consumers who habitually purchase various brands when consumers’ ambivalence was high. On the contrary, consumers who habitually purchase various brands reacted sensitively negative responses. In theoretical viewpoint, this study has significance for expanding the scope of study on consumer's habit by investigating that consumer’s habitual purchase can lead to the repeated purchase of various brands including the repeated purchase of the same brand. This study also has significance academically for it discovered various variables having relevance to habitual purchase while approaching the subject matter in a general viewpoint and considering both positive and negative responses of consumer’s habitual purchase. In practical viewpoint, this study which focused on the dual responses of consumers according to habitual purchase could help companies to understand consumer’s habit clearly, and seek out a customer habituation strategy in the long-term point of view.

Key words: habit, habitual purchase, types of habitual purchase, dual responses, consumption goal, priming effect, ambivalence