A Content Analysis of Customer
E-complaining to a Foreign Discount Store:
A Korea Carrefour Case
Cheol Park
Abstract
In the discount store area, foreign large retailers such as Wal-mart, Carrefour, and Costco fight hard with domestic retailers in Korea. The Korean customer is a judge in the center of such a difficult fight. Therefore, foreign retailers who are willing to win the game should pay attention to what Korean says and respond the complaint as fast as they can. This study monitored e-complaints of customers towards Korea Carrefour through analyzing contents of the bulletin board in an anti-Carrefour site. Upon examining e-complaints by category and retail attributes, there were found to be more complaints in electrical goods and food & groceries by product category, and in employee attitudes and store atmosphere by retail attributes. The implications for successful retail strategies of foreign discount stores in Korea are discussed and further research is suggested.
