주(住)생활은 인간의 생존에 있어 필수적인 요소인 의식주 중 하나로, 주생활이 이루어지는 공간인 주거에 대한 만족이 우리 삶에 미치는 영향은 매우 크다 하겠다. 본 연구에서는 현재 우리나라의 가장 보편적 주거 형태인 아파트에 대한 소비자들의 주거만족도를 평가하는 모형을 개발하고, 이를 전국적 규모의 데이터를 통해 실증해 봄으로써, 아파트 주거만족도에 영향을 미치는 요인을 규명하고, 주거만족도가 기업이나 거주민들의 삶에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 살펴보았다. 분석결과, 본 연구에서 도출된 세부 만족요인인 상품만족, 관계만족, 환경만족, 사회만족요인이 모두 주거만족도에 긍정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 이러한 세부 만족요인 중 상품만족요인이 나머지 세 요인보다 주거만족에 미치는 영향이 큰 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 주거만족도는 해당 기업에 대한 추천이나 재구매 의도, 브랜드 이미지 개선과 같은 기업성과 증진에 긍정적 영향을 미쳤고, 거주민의 삶의 질 향상과 행복감 증진을 통해 거주민 관련 성과에도 긍정적으로 작용하는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 한편, 주거만족도가 기업성과와 주민성과에 미치는 영향을 비교한 결과 기업성과에 미치는 영향이 더 큰 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구 결과를 통해, 주거만족이 해당 기업의 성과나 거주민의 삶에 미치는 영향을 확인할 수 있었고, 관련 기업에게 주거만족 관리와 관련된 유용한 시사점을 제공할 수 있을 것이다.

Housing is essential for life, and housing satisfaction has a major impact on both individuals and society. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants and outcomes of residents`` satisfaction with apartments, the most popular type of residence in Korea. To do so, we propose the KARSI (Korea Apartment Resident Satisfaction Index) model and validate it using a large-scale nationwide sample. The present paper consists of two studies. In study 1, we develop the KARSI measurement model and propose four satisfaction factors-product, relationship, environmental and social factors-as determinants of resident satisfaction. In study 2, we extend the model by adding outcome variables related to residential satisfaction to examine how residential satisfaction influences companies and residents. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the proposed model. The results show that all four satisfaction factors have significant positive influences on residential satisfaction. In particular, the product factor is the most influential determinant of residential satisfaction. Furthermore, residential satisfaction has a significant positive impact on both companies and residents. Specifically, it has a positive impact on companies by increasing word-of-mouth recommendations, repurchase intentions and brand image. Residential satisfaction also has a positive impact on residents`` lives by improving their quality of life and happiness. Residential satisfaction has a greater impact on companies than on residents. This research has several theoretical implications. First, our study extends the housing satisfaction literature by investigating the topic from a service marketing perspective. Previous studies on housing satisfaction have been conducted mainly in the fields of public administration, construction engineering and urban engineering. Hence, there remains an overall lack of research on housing satisfaction from a managerial perspective. Our research contributes to the existing literature on housing satisfaction by taking the perspective of companies and consumers. Second, we show that there are four factors influencing residential satisfaction, and that these factors have different relative impacts. The four satisfaction factors (i.e., product, relationship, environmental and social factors) may correspond to outcome quality, interaction quality, physical environment quality and social responsibility quality in the service quality literature. We found that each quality dimension has a significant effect on residential satisfaction, and that among them, outcome quality has the greatest influence. Our research also has useful practical implications. First, our KARSI measurement model was adopted by related organizations for residential satisfaction evaluation, and it gave construction companies the advantage of being able to increase apartment prices. This in turn aided in decreasing the side effects of the price ceiling system for apartments. Second, companies can use our research to understand which factors are important for increasing residential satisfaction and to tailor their business strategies accordingly. Third, companies can compare their own results using the KARSI model with those of competitors and can utilize the findings in making decisions about resource allocation or future strategic directions. Fourth, this research highlights the importance of residential satisfaction and gives individuals, governments, and consumer organizations a new way of thinking about the topic. The present study has several limitations, which provide opportunities for future research. First, there may exist factors influencing residential satisfaction which are not included in the present model. Because our study deals with housing satisfaction from the perspective of service management, we focus on factors that companies can manage and control. Further investigations of various kinds of factors that influence housing satisfaction may extend the present research. Second, the χ2 value of the model is somewhat large, probably due to the large sample size or complexity of the model. Since other goodness-of-fit indices suggest that the model is adequate, future studies can reexamine the model from a different perspective. Third, we evaluate the way residential satisfaction influences the three outcome variables of word-of-mouth recommendations, repurchase intentions and brand image. However, as these variables are indirect measurements of a company``s performance, future research could add variables to measure a company``s performance more directly. Overall, the present study shows the importance of housing satisfaction for companies and individuals, and it provides useful implications for researchers and practitioners.