오늘날 전통시장은 급격한 유통환경 변화와 유통·물류 관련 기술발달로 인하여 온라인·모바일 쇼핑 등 다양한 경쟁업태 증가로 환경적인 어려움을 겪고 있다. 이에 정부 및 관련 기관은 전통시장의 경쟁력을 강화하기 위하여 대형마트의 영업시간 및 의무휴업일 규제를 시행하고, 전통시장 개선책으로 문화관광 측면에서 접근을 제안하는 등 전통시장을 위한 지원을 하고 있다. 그러나 몇몇 선행연구에서는 전통시장의 시설 및 환경개선 등 전통시장 활성화 방안의 효과가 미미한 것으로 나타났다. 이에 따라 본 연구에서는 전통시장 활성화를 위한 정부 및 관련 기관과 전통시장들의 노력이 어떠한 성과를 내고 있는지 확인하고자 하였다. 구체적으로, 전통시장 활성화 방안 및 활동들이 소비자들에게 있어 브랜드로서 소매점 자산평가에 어떠한 영향을 미치고, 이를 통해 강화된 전통시장의 소매점 자산이 소비자들의 이용에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 실증 분석하였다. 실증분석을 위해 전통시장 이용경험이 있는 소비자 400명을 대상으로 설문 데이터를 수집하였으며, 전통시장 활성화 방안 → 소매점 자산 →이용의도에 대한 구조적 인과관계를 구조방정식모형으로 분석·검증하였다. 분석 결과, 전통시장 활성화 방안인 시설 및 환경개선, 고객 참여문화행사, 다양한 결제수단, 다양한 채널을 활용 광고 및 홍보 모두 소매점 자산을 형성하는 데 긍정적인 영향을 미쳤으며, 그 중 시설 및 환경개선이 소매점 자산에 가장 큰 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 현재 관련 기관에서 지원하는 사업이나 실무자들이 어떤 활동에 우선적으로 투자와 집중을 해야 할지에 대한 관리 방안을 제시하는 데 도움이 될 것이다. 또한 전통시장의 소매점 자산은 소비자들의 전통시장 이용의도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 결과적으로 본 연구는 전통시장의 차별화된 경쟁력 확보를 위한 효과적인 활성화 방안과 소매점 자산 관리의 중요성을 제시하고 있다.
Today, traditional markets are facing environmental difficulties due to rapid changes in the distribution environment and the development of distribution and logistics-related technologies which have led to the emergence of various competitors such as online and mobile shopping. In order to strengthen the competitiveness of traditional markets, the government and related organizations are providing support for traditional markets by implementing regulations on business hours and mandatory holidays of large discount stores and proposing approaches in terms of culture and tourism. However, some previous studies showed that the effects of traditional market revitalization , such as improving facilities and environments of traditional markets, were insignificant. Therefore, this study attempted to confirm the results of the efforts of the government, related organizations, and traditional markets to revitalize the traditional market. Specifically, we empirically analyzed how projects and activities to revitalize traditional markets affect retailer equity evaluation as a brand for consumers, and how retailer equity in traditional markets affect consumers’ usage intention of traditional markets. For empirical analysis, survey data were collected from 400 consumers with experience using traditional markets, and structural causal relationships for traditional market revitalization → retailer equity → usage intention of traditional markets were analyzed and verified in a structural equation model. As a result of the analysis of research model, facility/environment improvement, customer-participating cultural event, possibility of various payment methods, and advertisement/public relations using various channels, which are measures to revitalize traditional markets, all had a positive effect on the formation of retailer equity. Among them, facility/environment improvement was found to have the greatest impact on retailer equity. In particular, previous studies have argued that the practical improvement effect of facility modernization projects on revitalizing traditional markets was insignificant or that further facility modernization is meaningless. However, in this study, interesting results were found that facility/environment improvement had the greatest positive effect on retailer equity. This can be interpreted as that experience improved facilities and environments when consumers visit traditional markets can greatly help consumers form positive perceptions and images of traditional markets. Second, the availability of various payment methods in traditional markets was an important factor to increase retailer equity of traditional markets perceived by consumers. The result that consumers can use various payment methods in traditional markets increases the convenience of payment methods, which ultimately means that the convenience of these payment methods can help customers highly estimate retailer equity of traditional markets. In addition, customer-participating cultural events in traditional markets had a positive effect on retailer equity of traditional markets perceived by consumers. By using SNS as well as offline cultural events that are linked to local festivals or reflecting the characteristics of local residents, traditional markets can help consumers perceive retailer equity highly that combine online and offline through various channels. Fourth, advertisement/public relations using various channels had a positive effect on the formation of retailer equity of traditional markets perceived by consumers. In particular, traditional markets supported by cultural tourism-type markets are creating various hands-on activities and events to discover local cultures that can be linked and attract consumers. However, if the contact point of advertisement/public relations is small, it will be difficult to increase consumer participation. Therefore, it is important to make and develop interesting contents that allow various experiences, but providing information related to the contents to various consumers can be an effective way to revitalize the traditional market. Finally, retailer equity had a positive effect on consumers’ intention to use traditional markets. This suggests that through efforts to increase retailer equity in traditional markets, consumers estimate the equity in traditional markets highly, and that retailer equity in traditional markets are leading to consumers" positive use of traditional markets. <표는 본문 참조> This study approached revitalizing traditional markets with a consumer-based retailer equity to evaluate current revitalization projects and activities, and contributed to the academic and practical development of the domestic traditional market in need. In addition, through the results of this study, it has practical implications for the management of which activities should be invested and focused first by projects or related practitioners currently supported by related organizations. In conclusion, if the retailer equity formation model as a brand presented through this study is applied to various types of traditional commercial districts, it can provide a management direction for small business owners suffering from difficulties such as traditional markets to build sustainable differentiated retailer equity.