많은 기업이 오늘날 인터넷의 급속한 발전과 함께 인터넷을 통한 소비는 주요 소비 방식 중 하나가 되었으며 인공지능(AI)과 각종 스마트기기가 보급되면서 무인매장이라는 새로운 형태의 쇼핑장소가 등장했다. 무인 매장은 카메라 웹캠, 인공지능, 빅데이터 등의 4차 산업혁명 기술을 사용하여 많은 인건비와 관리 비용을 절감하고 무인 매장의 운영을 보다 효율적으로 만든다. 과거 무인매장에 대한 연구는 주로 기술적 측면을 분석하고 무인매장의 운영과정과 배후기술 원리를 탐구하며 소비자의 소비의향에 대한 연구가 적기 때문에 본 연구에서는 무인매장의 특성에서 출발하여 무인매장의 특성이 어떻게 소비자의 지각된 가치와 방문 의도에 미치는 영향을 연구하였다. 가설검증을 위해 소비자를 대상으로 설문 조사를 실시하였고 구조방정식모형을 사용하여 가설검증을 하였다. 연구 결과 무인매장이 갖고 있는 4가지 특성이 모두 소비자의 지각된 유용성과 지각된 용이성에 유의한 정(+)의 영향을 미쳤고 지각된 위험성에는 유의한 부(–)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 검증되었다. 또한 무인매장 특성으로 편리성, 즉시성, 안전성, 인공지능의 활용 등 4가지 특성이 모두 소비자 방문의도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인되었다. 지각된 유용성과 지각된 용이성은 모두 방문의도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났지만 지각된 위험성은 방문의도에 부정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 소비자의 지각된 가치가 무인매장 특성과 방문 의도와의 관계를 매개하는 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 추가 분석을 통하여 요인들 간의 평균은 무인매장 방문 경험이 유의한 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 분석된 결과를 바탕으로 이론적, 실무적 시사점을 제시하였으며 무인매장과 관련 발전적 의견을 제시하고, 한계점 및 향후 연구 방향을 논의하였다.
Purpose: Today, with the rapid development of the Internet, consumption through the Internet has become one of the main consumption methods, and with the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and various smart devices, a new type of shopping place called unmanned stores has emerged. Unmanned stores use 4th Industrial Revolution technologies such as webcams, artificial intelligence, and big data to reduce labor and management costs and make unmanned store operations more efficient. In the past, research on unmanned stores mainly analyzed them from a technical aspect and explored the operation process and behind-the-scenes technical principles of unmanned stores. Since there was little research on consumers’ consumption intentions, this study took the characteristics of unmanned stores as a starting point and analyzed each aspect of unmanned stores. Research design, data, and methodology: The impact of characteristics on consumers’ perceived value and visit intention was studied. To empirically test the hypothesis, a survey was conducted and 518 valid questionnaires were collected. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify the validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation model was analyzed using AMOS to verify the main effect and mediation effect hypotheses. Results: As a result of the study, it was verified that all four characteristics of unmanned stores had a significant positive (+) effect on consumers’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and a significant negative (-) effect on perceived risk. In addition, it was confirmed that the four unmanned store characteristics of convenience, immediacy, safety, and use of artificial intelligence all had a positive effect on consumers’ visit intention. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use both influenced visit intention. Although it appears to have a positive effect, perceived risk appears to have a negative effect on visit intention. Additionally, consumers’ perceived value was found to have a mediating effect in the relationship between unmanned store characteristics and visit intention. Lastly, through additional analysis, it was found that there was no significant difference between the averages of the factors in the experience of visiting unmanned stores. Conclusions: This study presented theoretical and practical implications based on the result analysis, presented developmental opinions related to unmanned stores, and discussed limitations and future research directions. This study presents the following theoretical implications. Based on previous research related to various types of online and offline distribution channels and Unmanned commerce, the characteristics of Unmanned store were extracted and the influence of those on the customer perceptions and visiting intention were identified through empirical analysis. The practical implications are as follows. First, this study will help establish better marketing strategies not only for existing retailing companies but also for new retailers that want to establish unmanned stores by identifying how the characteristics of unmanned store affect the customer perceptions and intentions. Second, with the results from the Chinese consumers’ response to unmanned stores, a marketing strategy that increases the attractiveness of the channel by enhancing customer perceptions is necessary for Korean companies’ overseas expansion.