Abstract

Purpose - Six months have passed since the amendment of the SSM regulation law; however, as yet, there is no confirmed research or report on the effects of this amendment, which are indefinite. Further, there have been no attempts to study the effects of the SSM regulation law from the consumers' viewpoint, which is important because consumers are the main agents that are greatly influenced by the amendment law. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the consumers' attitude toward the SSM regulation law as well as the effects of the SSM regulation law on the changes in purchase behavior. Research design, data, and methodology - This study was initiated from four research problems that are linked to consumer reaction to the SSM regulation law. Research problem 1: What is the consumers' reaction (perception, attitude, and perceived fairness) to the SSM regulation law? Research problem 2: How do the consumers' reactions to the SSM regulation law differ by consumers' characteristics? Research problem 3: Could the SSM regulation law change a consumer's purchase behavior? Research problem 4: Is it necessary to amend the SSM regulation law? This study collected the data through the interview and survey of housewives for the purpose of solving the research problems. The interview was conducted as a pilot study for the field survey. We interviewed three housewives, who were: an employed housewife, a full-time homemaker, and a manager of a housewife club, respectively. We then conducted a field survey of 232 housewives who were housewife club members or elementary school parents in Chunghcheong-do. Results - We verified the reliability and validity of the data, and analyzed it to solve the research problems. The main findings of this study were as follows. First, consumers still have a positive attitude toward large discount chains and SSM, which has been the case since the law was introduced. Second, perceived risk of consumers associated with traditional markets and small neighborhood shops was low. Third, consumers think that amendments of the SSM regulation law are important, and they positively assess the satisfaction, necessity, and propriety of the law. Fourth, although the SSM regulation law caused inconvenience to consumers, this law did not have any influence on the usage frequency and the use-behavior of large discount chains. Finally, consumers reacted very negatively to the toughening up of the SSM regulation law. Conclusions - In short, consumers still have a positive attitude toward the SSM regulation law. However, this act did not have any influence on the use-behavior of large discount chains (General Super Market). Thus, policy making authorities require active communication and promotions to enhance the effect of the SSM regulation law. This study was of the nature of exploratory research, which did not focus on hypothesis testing, but on finding solutions to the research problems. Therefore, this study is no more than a simple data analysis. Future studies should attempt to investigate the actual effects of the SSM regulation law, on the basis of sufficient literature review and real sales data.