An Analysis on the Value Pursuit Discount Store Customers Using Means-end Chain Theory

In this study, it was attempted to identify the clues for the value promotion that may be operated as a consumers' motive by shedding new light on the consumer value as well as by reconstructing each of the variables that had been analyzed in the meantime through the means-end chain theory(MEC). In this study, 202 copies of effective questionnaires were used by Yang & Ju(2012)’s data. As a result of the study, there are at least four important managerial or theoretical implications from this study: First, all of the store selection attributes were verified to have positive influence on the relationship quality. Second, even though the store selection attributes had been verified to exert positive(+) influence on the relationship quality, according to the verification result of the mediating effect, the consumer value was verified to be influenced only by the relationship quality rather than by the store selection attributes. Third, as a result of the path analysis on the proposed model after modification, with regard to the relationship quality of the general supermarkets in our country, it was verified that only the product factor had a statistically significant positive(+) influence and also that the social value was completely mediating between the relationship quality and the emotional value. Lastly, it may be pointed out that the concept of the MEC would be applicable to the cause and effect relationship model.