Local governments pursuing urban regeneration these days utilize arts and culture in order to generate unique local flavors and to create conditions for local residents to engage in culture while improving the quality of life. In particular, the value...
Local governments pursuing urban regeneration these days utilize arts and culture in order to generate unique local flavors and to create conditions for local residents to engage in culture while improving the quality of life. In particular, the value of the craft industry encompassing cultural, technological and industrial characteristics has drawn much attention. Craft villages have been established across the country for the purpose of revitalizing the local economy and developing cultural tourism resources. In each craft village, the operational power belongs to workshops run by a person or two. An increase in sales and the number of visitors can lead to outcomes of cultural urban regeneration.
Due to a paradigm shift, the core of the industry no longer lies in products but in the importance of service economy. While the existing cultural urban regeneration focuses on improving physical environments, an approach from a service perspective that innovates services offered to consumers and improves environments is necessary in deducing successful strategies for the craft industry.
This study raised two research questions in order to derive measures of service innovation for the craft industry—with the aim of successfully establishing a cultural urban regeneration project.
First, what are the current consumer perceptions of the craft industry service?
Second, what are the ways to improve the service design process of the craft industry (based on analysis of consumer perceptions) aimed at revitalizing cultural urban regeneration?
To address the abovementioned questions, this study conducted an empirical analysis of consumers and research into the service design of the craft industry.
To start with, the causal relationship between the quality of service at workshops, perceived value and satisfaction was analyzed, and consumer perceptions of the craft industry examined. A closed-ended online survey was carried out with 244 consumers with experience of visiting workshops, and the research hypotheses were tested through the analyses of frequency, reliability, confirmatory factors and structure equation model—using the programs SPSS and AMOS. The results of the hypothesis verification revealed that the quality of service at workshops had a significant impact on the overall quality of service; the overall quality of service impacted perceived value; and the overall quality of service and perceived value impacted satisfaction. All the research hypotheses were thus adopted. These findings verified that an awareness of the quality of service at workshops affected perceived value and satisfaction, and further confirmed that the quality of service at workshops must be improved first and foremost as an innovative strategy to elicit consumer satisfaction.
Next, a service design methodology was used to derive strategies for service innovation in the craft industry—aimed at invigorating cultural urban regeneration. For the service design of the craft industry, a conceptual model of the craft industry was established after identifying and defining service problems and developing services. The subject of the research was Burim Market’s Creative Crafts Village in Changwon, where cultural urban regeneration was implemented centering around workshops.
The research into service design shed light on three key changes. First, there was a change in consumer class—as a conceptual future model of the craft industry. The existing craft consumer group could be divided into those consuming craft items and those engaged in the craft culture. As per the changing role of consumers, a more proactive group known as “the value creation class” was added—who shared their experience and information, and intervened in the production of craftwork.
Second, the role of craftsmen was expanded. The role of craftsmen went from performing the existing tasks of producing and selling craftwork to diversifying craft items through various collaborations and providing improved workshop services as active subjects.
Third, a policy change is currently required with regards to the direction of the urban regeneration support. The research confirmed that the existing policy that focused on physical support such as rent assistance must undergo change in order to improve services at workshops—including the operation of urban regeneration support centers, specialized personnel support, and support for enhancing craftsmanship capabilities. Furthermore, measures to innovate the craft industry service—such as online service reinforcement, and reinforcement of cultural · local resource utilization—were deduced.
The purpose and implications of this study are as follows: in terms of academic significance, it analyzed the service value network, researched into the industry’s ecosystem through an expert survey and proposed an advanced service design methodology through qualitative research involving consumer questionnaires. In addition, the consumer satisfaction survey that preceded service design research provided a logical basis for the necessity and direction of the research. By adding another “value-creating” consumer class to the existing two groups—those purchasing craftwork and those enjoying it—the study sought to diversity the model of the consumer class in the arts and culture market.
As for policy-level implications, it called for a change in the cultural urban regeneration support system. While the existing policy gave too much weight to physical support, it was deduced that the future policy direction should focus improving workshop services through support for operational staff at crafts villages and support for craftsmen to enhance their capabilities. Furthermore, it provided practical implications by conducting a multi-dimensional analysis of consumer satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and needs—using various tools of service design such as literature review, in-depth interviews, persona configuration, mapping of consumer sentiments, analysis of value system, development of a situation-based behavioral model and a presentation of consumer blueprints.
Nevertheless, this study was not without limitations. First, it did not represent the entire craft industry as Burim Market’s Creative Crafts Village was the only target of the service design research. In other words, a different set of results may be obtained when applied to another local crafts village with its own unique characteristics. Second, due to the lack of practical application of the conceptual model of the craft industry derived from this study, it is difficult to verify whether or not it can function properly. Regrettably, this study failed to propose specific measures such as a detailed prototype at each stage of service design. Lastly, as a follow-up study, the effectiveness of the research results can be analyzed by conducting a satisfaction study on the conceptual model of the craft industry derived from this study.