An Analysis of the Influential Relationship between Cultural Promotion Activities and Social Capital in the Traditional Market: A Comparative View with Routine Merchant Activities

Abstract

The focus of traditional market revitalization policy is shifting from physical improvement projects to social regeneration efforts designed to stimulate the declining traditional market by means of cultural instruments in Korea. Given this trend, this study analyzes what kind of cultural promotion activities sponsored by public assistance influence social capital formation on the traditional market. The causative factors derived from cultural promotion activities are awareness transition activities, grassroots expansion activities, and empowerment activities, In comparison to cultural promotion activities, the causative factors derived from routine merchant activities are routine interactions, economic interactions, fellowship activities, and autonomous activities. The influence relationship model designed to denote the resultant factors consists of reliability, participation, network, and sense of community. The study results revealed that cultural promotion activities and routine activities had a positive impact on social capital formation. In the case of cultural promotion activities, awareness transition activities and grassroots expansion activities were found to largely exercise a positive influence, whereas empowerment activities showed a negative influence. In addition, in the case of routine merchant activities, fellowship activities and autonomous activities, which include communal characteristics, were shown to exercise a more intense influence on social capital formation.