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Korean Academic Society of Business Administration
[ Article ]
korean management review - Vol. 48, No. 6, pp.1545-1568
ISSN: 1226-1874 (Print)
Print publication date 31 Dec 2019
Received 06 Aug 2019 Revised 16 Oct 2019 Accepted 22 Oct 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2019.48.6.1545

위계적 로열티 프로그램과 소비자 등급: 지각된 부러움과 공정성이 기업 태도에 미치는 영향

유동호* ; 이지은**
*(주저자) 경북대학교 경영학부 dhyoo00@knu.ac.kr
**(교신저자) 중앙대학교 경영학부 jlee114@cau.ac.kr
Lower-Tier Consumers in Hierarchical Loyalty Programs: The Effects of Perceived Envy and Fairness on Consumers’ Attitudes toward the Corporation
Dongho Yoo* ; Jieun Lee**
*School of Business Administration, Kyungpook National University, First Author
**School of Business Administration, Chung-Ang University, Corresponding Author

초록

로열티 프로그램은 기업과 소비자와의 관계를 관리할 수 있는 효과적인 마케팅 도구로 알려져 있다. 하지만 기업들의 로열티 프로그램 성과는 그들의 기대에 미치지 못하고 있으며, 재무적 관점에서 로열티 프로그램의 영향력에 대해 조사한 일부 선행연구들은 그 효과에 의문을 제기하고 있다. 이와 관련하여 최근 연구들은 로열티 프로그램의 긍정적 효과를 설명하는 선행연구들이 많은 혜택을 받는 소비자들을 중심으로 연구를 진행하고 있음을 문제점으로 지적하였다. 또한 로열티 프로그램의 유형에 따라 소비자들의 등급이 다양할 수 있음에도 불구하고 혜택 유무만을 중심으로 연구를 하였다는 한계점을 가지고 있다. 이에 본 연구는 위계적 로열티 프로그램 내 최상위 등급 아래에 있는 하위 등급 소비자들을 중심으로 연구를 진행하였다. 본 연구는 2번의 실험으로 구성되어 있다. 실험 1의 결과, 상위 등급 소비자와의 등급 차이가 클 경우 혜택의 차이는 하위 등급 소비자들의 기업 태도에 영향을 주지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 등급 차이가 작을 경우에는 상위 등급 소비자와의 혜택 차이가 작을수록 하위 등급 소비자들의 기업 태도는 더 긍정적이었다. 그리고 기업 태도에 대한 소비자 등급과 혜택의 차이를 선의적 부러움과 악의적 부러움이 매개하는 것으로 나타났다. 실험 2의 결과는 실험 1의 결과가 공정성 수준에 의해 달라질 수 있음을 보여주었다. 즉, 소비자 등급 차이가 클 경우 하위 등급 소비자들의 기업 태도는 혜택 차이와 관계없이 공정성 수준이 높을수록 더 긍정적이었다. 하지만 소비자 등급의 차이가 작을 경우에는 혜택 차이와 공정성 수준 모두 기업 태도에 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 공정성 수준이 높을 경우에는 혜택의 차이가 작을 때보다 클 때, 공정성 수준이 낮을 경우에는 반대로 혜택의 차이가 클 때보다 작을 때 기업 태도가 더 긍정적이었다.

본 연구의 결과는 위계적 로열티 프로그램 내에서의 등급별 혜택과 소비자 등급의 차이, 그리고 공정성 수준에 따라 낮은 등급 소비자들의 태도가 달라질 수 있음을 보여주고 있으며, 이를 바탕으로 기업의 효과적인 로열티 프로그램 관리를 위한 시사점을 제공해주고 있다.

Abstract

Loyalty programs are effective tools in marketing and in managing relationships with consumers; however, the financial impact of many loyalty programs rarely meets expectations. In this regard, recent studies have pointed out that prior studies describing the positive effects of loyalty programs had focused on consumers who receive benefits from such programs. Furthermore, existing studies have not sufficiently examined whether the effect of loyalty programs can be influenced by various consumer tiers.

This research investigates the impact of lower-tier consumers’ relative status in loyalty programs and the “benefit gap” among tiered levels on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, by presenting two studies. Study 1 shows that the benefit gap between two groups with a large status difference does not significantly affect the attitude of lower-tier consumers and does so positively as the gap reduces. The mediating effects of benign and malicious envy are confirmed. Study 2 shows that the results of study 1 are affected by lower-tier consumers’ perceived fairness regarding their status in a loyalty program. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study.

The results of this study show that the differences in benefits provided by loyalty programs and in consumer tiers affect the attitudes of consumers in the lower tier. Furthermore, this study provides practical implications to management for improving efficiency and effectiveness of loyalty programs.

Keywords:

Loyalty program, Lower-tier consumer, Benefit gap, Consumer status, Envy, Fairness level

키워드:

로열티 프로그램, 하위 등급 소비자, 혜택 차이, 소비자 등급, 부러움, 공정성 수준

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• 저자 유동호는 현재 경북대학교 경영학부 강의초빙교수로 재직 중이다. 중앙대학교 경영학과 마케팅 전공으로 박사 학위를 취득하였다. 주요연구분야는 기업의 사회적 책임 (CSR), 아트 인퓨전, 소비자의 사회적 관계를 활용한 마케팅 전략 등이다.

• 저자 이지은은 현재 중앙대학교 경영학부 마케팅 전공 교수로 재직 중이다. 미국 Purdue 대학교에서 박사 학위를 취득하였고 삼성전자 글로벌마케팅연구소에서 연구원으로 근무하였다. 주요연구분야는 SNS에서의 소비자 구전, 소셜 미디어 마케팅, 소비자-브랜드 관계 등이다.