구독경제 유형과 제품 유형 차이가 구독 의도에 미치는 영향

Abstract

Purpose: While most of the studies on subscription economy focus on online media streaming services, consumer goods subscription services are already actively being implemented in the market. In this study, the type of subscription service (replenishment vs. curated) and product type (hedonic vs. utilitarian) examined the effect of subscription intention in the consumer goods subscription economy. Furthermore, based on previous studies, the factors mediating this relationship were classified into shopping convenience and perceived enjoyment, and the relationship was examined. Research design, data, and methodology: Consumers’ opinions on consumer products subscription services were collected through the pretest, and based on this, advertisement stimuli for drugstore’s Health & Beauty subscription service and Super supermarkets’ Food & Groceries subscription were produced. Subsequently, an experiment was conducted on 822 randomly recruited people through Amazon MTurk. Experiment 2 (Subscription service type: Replenishment subscription vs. Curated subscription) × 2 (product type: Hedonic goods vs. Utilitarian goods) was designed between groups, and experimental participants were exposed to advertising stimulation of subscription services were asked to respond to the measurement questions of Subscription intention, Shopping convenience, and Perceived enjoyment. Results: As a result of the experiment, the interaction effect of the subscription service types and product types on the subscription intention was confirmed. In addition, through PROCESS macro, the partial mediating effect of shopping convenience was proved in the relationship between subscription service types and subscription intention, and the complete mediating effect of perceived enjoyment was found in the relationship between product type and subscription intention. Conclusions: The study provides the following academic and practical implications. First, for the performance of product subscription services, companies need to change the types of subscription services depending on whether the supplied products are hedonic or utilitarian products. Second, when the subscription service type is Replenishment subscription, it is necessary to focus on the convenience for consumers, and when the product type is hedonic, it is important to improve customers’ enjoyment of shopping. Third, this study has verified the role of factors dealt with in existing shopping studies through experimental studies on subscription services, which are attracting attention as a new trend following the sharing economy. Finally, the influence of perceived enjoyment and shopping convenience, which have been studied as important parameters or regulatory variables related to shopping, was expanded to consumer goods subscription services.