STUDY ON EFFECTS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ON REGIONAL ECONOMY

Abstract

Although it is important to understand the influence of consumer behavior on regional economy, as far as we know, no empirical research has been conducted in Japan. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to verify the economic impact of consumer's behavior on regional economy. We investigated two local merchants and four chain stores in Kyoto-city in order to compare the local economic return of consumption. As a result it was shown that if some shopping is done at local merchant, approximately 52% of consumption revenue will return to local economy, however if some shopping is done at chain store, the return rate will become about its half. This result suggests us about a desirable consumer behavior for regional vitalization.