Visual stimulation and communication are important parts of marketing practices. Visual merchandising (VMD) complements the visual image of any store. It also plays a critical role in encouraging consumers to purchase goods. Due to the importance of visual elements of the store, many researchers have shown interest in this area. Majority of studies have focused on fashion brands and large stores such as department stores have been frequently studied.
Previous studies have provided empirical evidences that the visual factors of the store influence the behavior of customers. However, research on VMD for small stores is very limited, and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no research on VMD in traditional markets. This dissertation investigated the effect of VMD improvement at cultural tourism markets in Daegu. In doing so, it included both consumers and merchants for comprehensive understanding of the effect of VMD improvement.
The dissertation consisted of three studies. Study 1 investigated consumers'' perceptions of visual merchandising and compared differences before and after VMD improvement. Study 2 examined differences in the perceptions between consumers and merchants regarding VMD improvement. Finally, in Study 3, the impact of consumers’ perceptions on satisfaction and purchase intention was analyzed. The impact of merchants’ perceptions on their overall satisfaction level was also evaluated in Study 3.
In order for data collection, a questionnaire containing pictorial presentations of VMD in three different types of stores was utilized. In terms of a sampling technique, a quota sampling for consumers and a snowball sampling for merchants were adopted. For a 15 days of sampling period, a total of 291 responses were acquired from consumers. On the other hand, a total of 100 merchants participated in the study during a 30 days of sampling period. Statistical techniques utilized were descriptive statistics, paired t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, factor analysis, reliability test, and multiple regression analysis using the statistical analysis program SPSS 25.0.
The results from Study 1 showed that improvement of VMD had significant positive impacts on consumers’ evaluations of the stores. Similarly, purchase intention and satisfaction level were higher after VMD improvement.
The results from Study 2 revealed that, generally, consumers’ perceptions regarding VMD improvement were significantly higher than those of merchants. However, it was found that merchants perceived higher cleanliness and comfort than consumers, which was not statistically significant.
In Study 3, an explanatory factor analysis was conducted for consumers and merchants separately. As a result, five VMD perception factors appeared in each of consumers and merchants, and they were named correspondingly; aesthetics, entertainment, cleanliness, informative cue, and display. The result of multiple regression analysis showed that consumers’ perceptions regarding aesthetics, cleanliness, informative cue, display, and entertainment significantly affected satisfaction level in order. It also revealed that consumers’ perceptions on entertainment, cleanliness, informative cue, and display significantly affected their purchase intention whereas the impact of aesthetics was insignificant. On the other hand, it was found that merchants’ perceptions on cleanliness and informative cue had significant impacts on their satisfaction level. Furthermore, the result indicated that the overall satisfaction of merchants was found to be influenced by service performance rather than revenue performance.