The Effect of Franchisor's On-going Support Services on Franchisee's Relationship Quality and Business Performance in the Foodservice Industry

외식 프랜차이즈 가맹본부의 사후 지원서비스가 가맹점의 관계품질과 경영성과에 미치는 영향

Introduction The purpose of this research is to develop overall model which involves the effect of ongoing support services by franchisor on franchisee's relationship quality(trust, satisfaction, and commitment) and business performance(financial and non-financial performance), and to investigate the relationships among trust, satisfaction, commitment, financial and non-financial performance. This study also suggests franchise business or franchise system should be based on long-term orientation between franchisor and franchisee rather than short-term orientation, or transactional relationship, and proposes the most effective way of providing on-going support services by franchisor with franchisee thru symbiotic relationship among franchisor and franchisee Research Model and Hypothesis The research model as Figure 1 shows the variables on-going support services which affect the relationship quality between franchisor and franchisee such as trust, satisfaction, and commitment, and also analyze the effects of relationship quality on business performance including financial and non-financial performance We established 12 hypotheses to test as follows; Relationship between on-going support services and trust H1: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's trust. Relationship between on-going support services and satisfaction H2: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. Relationship between on-going support services and commitment H3: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's commitment. Relationship among relationship quality: trust, satisfaction, and commitment H4: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. H5: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's commitment. H6: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's commitment. Relationship between relationship quality and business performance H7: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H8: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. H9: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H10: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. H11: Franchisee's commitment has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H12: Franchisee's commitment has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. Method The on-going support services were defined as an organized system of continuous supporting services by franchisor for the purpose of satisfying the expectation of franchisee based on long-term orientation and classified into six constructs such as product category & price, logistics service, promotion, providing information & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support. The six constructs were measured agreement using a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree)as follows. The product category & price was measured by four items: menu variety, price of food material provided by franchisor, and support for developing new menu. The logistics service was measured by six items: distribution system of franchisor, return policy for provided food materials, timeliness, inventory control level of franchisor, accuracy of order, and flexibility of emergency order. The promotion was measured by five items: differentiated promotion activities, brand image of franchisor, promotion effect such as customer increase, long-term plan of promotion, and micro-marketing concept in promotion. The providing information & problem solving capability was measured by information providing of new products, information of competitors, information of cost reduction, and efforts for solving problems in franchisee's operations. The supervisor's support was measured by supervisor operations, frequency of visiting franchisee, support by data analysis, processing the suggestions by franchisee, diagnosis and solutions for the franchisee's operations, and support for increasing sales in franchisee. Finally, the of education & training support was measured by recipe training by specialist, service training for store people, systemized training program, and tax & human resources support services. Analysis and results The data were analyzed using Amos. Figure 2 and Table 1 present the result of the structural equation model. Implications The results of this research are as follows: Firstly, the factors of product category, information providing and problem solving capacity influence only franchisee's satisfaction and commitment. Secondly, logistic services and supervising factors influence only trust and satisfaction. Thirdly, continuing education and training factors influence only franchisee's trust and commitment. Fourthly, sales promotion factor influences all the relationship quality representing trust, satisfaction, and commitment. Fifthly, regarding relationship among relationship quality, trust positively influences satisfaction, however, does not directly influence commitment, but satisfaction positively affects commitment. Therefore, satisfaction plays a mediating role between trust and commitment. Sixthly, trust positively influence only financial performance, and satisfaction and commitment influence positively both financial and non-financial performance.

본 연구의 목적은 국내 외식 프랜차이즈 시스템에서 가맹점에 대한 가맹본부의 관계품질에 영향을 미치는 변수를 사후 지원서비스로 설정하고, 사후 지원서비스가 가맹점의 관계품질(신뢰, 만족, 몰입)과 경영성과(재무적 성과, 비재무적 성과)에 미치는 영향에 대한 포괄적인 모형을 개발하는 것이다. 제안된 모형을 검증하기 위하여 서울 및 경기 지역의 외식 프랜차이즈 가맹점 경영자 500명을 대상으로 설문 조사를 하여, 구조방정식을 통해 실증 분석하였다. 분석결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 사후 지원서비스 요인 중 제품범주 및 가격 요인과 정보제공 및 문제해결 능력 요인은 가맹점의 만족과 몰입에만 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 물류지원과 슈퍼바이저 지원 요인은 신뢰와 만족에만 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 재교육 및 훈련지원 요인은 가맹점의 신뢰와 몰입에만 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 넷째, 판매촉진 요인은 신뢰 만족, 그리고 몰입 모두에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 다섯째, 관계품질요인들 간의 관계는 신뢰가 만족에 긍정적인 영향을 미치지만 몰입에는 직접적으로 영향을 미치지 못하고, 만족을 통해서 몰입에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 여섯째, 신뢰는 재무적 성과에만 긍정적인 영향을 미치고, 만족과 몰입은 재무적 성과와 비재무적 성과 모두에 긍정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로 본 연구의 결과요약과 시사점, 그리고 연구의 한계점과 향후 연구방향이 제시되었다.