청주시 소매점 유형별 가격분산에 관한 연구 - 식료품과 생필품을 중심으로

The Price Dispersion of Foods and Necessities Market Basket in Cheongju City

  The purpose of this study is to examine how wide the range of price dispersion of a food and necessities market basket in Cheongju city. The wide range of price found in food and necessities market implies that consumers could reduce the cost through comparison-shopping among more than one shopping mall or market.   The results are summarized as follows:   1.The rate of price dispersion of food and necessities market has a 54% in total price.   2.Consumers could save 18 to 45 percent of purchase costs by comparing prices across the many markets.   The results of this study implies that consumers need to develop their skills of searching, gathering, and managing information and that not only price efficiency but also information efficiency is very important for enhancing consumer welfare.