Korean consumers’ patronage of discount stores: domestic vs multinational discount store shoppers’ profiles

TLDR

Competition in Korea’s domestic retail market has intensified as multinational discounters like Wal‑Mart and Carrefour expanded after the 1997 liberalization of distribution, challenging local discount chains. The study aims to understand Korean consumers’ discount store patronage. Researchers examined store attributes, shopping costs, and consumers’ motives, values, and outcomes such as excitement, satisfaction, and repatronage intention. Multinational discount store patrons differ from Korean discount store patrons in store image perceptions and internal orientations, with implications for theory and management.

Abstract

As the competition in domestic markets increases, multinational retailers are expanding globally. Multinational discounters such as Wal‐Mart and Carrefour have been vying against Korean discounters for market share with the full liberalization of the distribution sector in 1997. This study examined various aspects of discount store retailing (store attributes, shopping costs) and consumers’ shopping motives, values, and retail outcomes (e.g. shopping excitement, satisfaction and repatronage intention), to understand Korean consumers’ discount store patronage. Significant differences were found in store image perceptions and shoppers’ internal orientations between multinational discount store patrons vs Korean discount store patrons. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.