1. Introduction
Since the opening of the education market in Korea, imports of foreign infant education materials are rapidly increasing. This is because of the high level of Korean enthusiasm for educating Koreans to be better educated from the infant stage at the world level. Therefore, it is needed to conduct in-depth study on Korean consumers' responses and attitudes toward foreign education materials. Therefore, it is needed to deeply examine the development and preference factors of foreign infant education materials.
Choi and Hyun (2011) developed Infant English textbook evaluation scale, Cha, Choi, Lee, and Kim (2011). The study on the opening of the education market in Korea, Choi (2002) and Kim, No Reference (2011) have been studied in the aspect of Infant English textbook evaluation and education service. However, studies that provide a framework for systematically analyzing the preference factors of foreign infant education materials are very limited. The reason is that there are various difficulties in developing products by combining the preferences of consumers(Hwang, Shin, Kim, & Jung, 2017).
Unlike past consumers, modern consumers get information on products through the use of information and communication devices and social media such as the Internet. And more various products are purchased in various countries. For example, through SNS and overseas direct purchasing agents, it is more difficult than ever to select preferred products in the flood of products. Also, in terms of producers and developers, the input time is shorter and technology is much higher than in the past to develop products to meet the needs of various consumers.
The purpose of this study is to identify the factors of choice of infant education materials preferred by Korean consumers through foreign infant education materials. This study aims to provide a means for Korean firms to benchmark and utilize in future product development. For this purpose, this study aims to provide an analysis framework and research method for the selection of important factors for foreign infant education materials and how each sub-elements are preferred. Especially, this study intends to provide more relevant variables by suggesting preference attributes of foreign infant education materials in terms of brand convenience, brand equity, distribution network, and service quality.
2. Theoretical Background and Literature Review
2.1. The Status of Foreign Infant Education Materials
Infant Education Materials are a sheet on the sheet printed with the HS classification for the children's intelligence development textbook which is 42cm × 29cm in width and 21cm × 29cm in height. It is a textbook for intelligent development of children aged 4 to 5 years, printed on a sheet of paper used for language ability, numerical ability, and observation. It is an infant education material that is used for one to three years of language, number and observation field education aimed at developing the intelligence of infants.
It is classified in HS 4903.00-0000 (Korea Customs Service) by applying the Customs Tariff Schedule Chapter 49, Note 6. In this study, the subjects of HS Code 4903 are selected focusing on picture books for children. [Table 1] is the latest amount of Infant Education Materials imported from USA, UK, Italy, China, and Hong Kong.
Table 1: Infant Education Materials Import for Major countries
Source: Korea Customs Service(2018)
2.2. Prior research review
2.2.1. Service quality
There are two reasons for measuring service quality. First, the starting point of improvement, upgrading, and redesign is measured. Second, the importance of service quality related to securing competitive advantage is increasing (Kim, 2001). The SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988) is the most widely used model to measure service quality so far. The SERVQUAL model of PZB, named Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry scholars, consists of five dimensions: service quality, tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy. The tangibles are determined by the external appearance of the service organization's building exterior, service facilities and staff appearance(Shin & Lee, 2018).
Reliability is determined by observance of service appointment time, provision of service at the appointed time, and mistake. Responsiveness is determined by accurate service delivery time commitments, prompt service, and employee volunteerism for services(Jung & Moon, 2018). The assurance is determined by the customer's confidence in the employee, the sense of safety of the customer, the kindness, and the business knowledge. empathy is influenced by customer interest, customer convenience, personal interest and customer benefit. The process of recognition of service quality is affected by the difference between the achievements of the five dimensions and expectations. [Table 2] shows examples of questionnaire items for measuring service quality.
Table 2: Service quality measurement item
Source: Kim(2001)
On the other hand, Cronin and Taylor (1992) proposed a SERVPERF model that uses only 22 items of 5 dimensions of PZB (Parasuraman, et al., 1988), but measures service performance without expectation. These two models are the two axes of existing service quality measurement methods, causing constant debate about whether or not to measure expectations in service quality measurement (Lee & La, 2003).
2.2.2. Brand equity and attitudes
Keller (2002) regarded brand knowledge as a source of brand equity and regarded the components of brand knowledge as brand awareness and brand image. The brand image is determined by the type of brand association, favorability, strength, and uniqueness. Aaker (1996) and Keller (2002) suggested brand components, brand recognition, superior quality and positive image. When all three of these factors are met, branding is maximized (Lee, 2011).
Keller (1999) defined an image by dividing the brand image attributes into product-related attributes and non-product-related attributes. Keller said that high-value brands are unique and mean better than other brands, and they also have strong retained and favorably rated associations. Brand image refers to the meaning that a particular brand is interpreted through the consumer's sense agency. This is a complex concept that includes all the emotions, attitudes, and associations as an image formed in people's minds, apart from "What is the actual product?" In other words, the brand image can be defined as the overall expectation that the consumer has about the brand of the company (Kim & Jo, 2004).
In addition, the constituent factors of the brand image are the quality of the product, the service provided, the reputation of the company, the policy, the marketing effort, the type of consumer using the product, the color, the packaging, the price, The type of the seller, and the manufacturer (Kim & Jo, 2004; Ha, 2018). As such, image attributes are not formed by any one factor, but rather various and complex. In other words, it includes not only the intrinsic factors of the product itself, but also the external factors and the feeling formed in the mind of the consumer purchasing the product.
Brand attitude is a tendency for consumers to consistently evaluate the brand in a friendly or unfriendly manner. Brand attitudes are relatively stable and have been used as a continual trend to understand and predict consumer behavior such as brand choice.
Brand attitudes are generally defined as an internal, overall assessment of an individual's brand and are measured in terms of friendship or preference. According to cognitive learning theory, consumers form attitudes based on beliefs about product attributes and decide whether to purchase. On the contrary, the brand attitude is defined as a multidimensional concept combining emotional factors and cognitive and behavioral intentions according to researchers. In recent years, there has paid an attention to research on the complex effects of hedonic value and utility value of a brand. Brand attitudes are also gaining more strength from a multidimensional view rather than a single dimension (Choi, 2006).
Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) provided a model to explain the formation of complex brand attitudes. They described multidimensional brand attitudes by distinguishing brand attitude from brand emotion, brand trust, and brand loyalty. If Brand trust and brand emotion are formed, it is suggested that they show the specific response of brand loyalty. In other words, when a consumer is persuaded by being exposed to a specific brand message, the consumer builds a positive brand attitude based on the formation of the attribute belief about the brand. In addition, the brand attitude is a comprehensive evaluation factor for the brand, and ultimately it is an important asset that influences the purchase intention (Keller, 1993; Keller, 1998).
Therefore, the brand image is a criterion for the consumer to prefer and decide the product, and the brand image that the consumer perceives influences the brand asset, thereby allowing the consumer to continuously select the brand. A desirable brand image is formed through a combination of benevolent, powerful and unique associations in the mind of the consumer (Lee, 2011).
2.2.3. Purchase intent and perceived risk
The purchase intention refers to the consumer's anticipated or planned future behavior, which is the probability that beliefs and attitudes are transferred to action. In order to fulfil the physiological, psychological, and social needs of the consumer, the consumption behavior must go through the purchase decision process. Consumer behavior models for identifying these consumer purchasing decisions are presented in various ways. Some of them are approaching in terms of maximizing utility and others in terms of consistency of purchasing behavior. Therefore, it may be expected that it will greatly help consumers to understand purchasing behavior when considering economics.
In the decision-making model of Engel and Blackwell (1995), the intention to act is directly related to the purchase intention. There is a preference and purchase intention which are the most important measure of consumer attitude toward brand. The concept is as follows. Aaker (1997) proposed a central concept of differentiated marketing and defined the degree of attachment to a particular brand that represents consumers' preference. The purchase intention refers to the future behavior of the consumer, which means that the attitude of the belief can be made into behavior (Ko & Yoon, 2004).
Li (2007) found that the perceived risk for foreign products is higher than that of domestic products in terms of perceived risk and product evaluation. However, Hampton (1977) found that domestic brands have a higher perceived risk of foreign-produced goods than products produced domestically. So country of origin affects the perceived risk to the product. In addition, perceived risk for foreign goods has a relation to affect product evaluation.
3. Foreign Infant Education Materials Preferences
3.1. Research Framework
This study was built upon the literature on the use of foreign infant education materials. Domestic consumers have derived the top four attributes and the sub - attributes per high attribute, which are expected to have the greatest influence when using foreign infant education materials. In this way, it is possible to make up for the lack of research on preference and utilization factors of foreign infant education materials.
It is also possible to analyze the priorities of factors that affect more closely through the combination of attributes, rather than identifying factors that affect the use of foreign products as in previous studies. Therefore, this study intends to identify the product proliferation of foreign infant education materials for domestic consumers in the future and to present the product and service quality preference variables preferred by domestic consumers.
[Figure 1] shows the overall research framework for this study. This study derived the relationship between brand equity (brand image, loyalty, awareness), distribution network, specialty stores, and department stores), and service quality (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy). In addition, foreign infant education materials are selected for consumers who want to use or purchase foreign infant education materials in order to determine the attributes to be considered in favor of foreign infant education materials.
Figure 1: Research Framework
Source: Made by authors
3.2. Conjoint Analysis Method
Conjoint analysis is a representative method of analyzing consumer utility. It is a technique that estimates the utility of the consumer to the attribute of the product and predicts the product to be selected by the consumer (Lee, 2004). In other words, when you have made several alternatives for any product, service, or store, you can measure the consumer's preference for that alternative. It is an analytical method that estimates the relative importance and the utility and part-worth of each attribute level given by each consumer. Attributes are independent variables that influence consumer choice. Conjoint analysis therefore explores the relative importance that consumers place on each attribute in a product or service. It can be used in various areas such as grasping the attribute combination of the most preferred products, developing new products, predicting market share of various alternatives, segmenting consumer market, optimizing pricing and positioning products in the market.
The purpose of the conjoint analysis is to derive new product ideas through grasping the importance of product attributes and identifying customer characteristics by market segmentation(Kim, 2014). The conjoint analysis method of this paper is briefly summarized as follows. Once the conjoint analysis method is selected as a research method, it is possible to derive the attributes to be analyzed through the study of the factors, and then to derive the sub-attributes of the attributes.
Because it is a full-profile method of combining all the properties, the best profile can be extracted with the appropriate number (eg 16 or 25) with the SPSS program. Then select the appropriate profile evaluation method. Later, a survey is used to estimate the partial value, relative importance and preference of service attributes based on the data selected or ranked by the subjects. Based on these results, interpret the results. [Figure 2] is a concrete implementation procedure for conjoint analysis.
Figure 2: Process of Conjoint Analysis Method
Source: Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham (2006)
4. Selection of preference attributes and conjoint design
4.1. Foreign Infant Education Materials Selection of preference attributes
Foreign infant education materials Prior to conducting conjoint analysis for optimal combination of attributes at preference, Researcher firstly determines the attributes to be considered when using foreign infant education materials. In order to accomplish the purpose of this study, the attributes to be used were selected based on existing literature studies and the combination of attributes that could have the greatest effect in favor of foreign infant education materials.
In addition, the final level of attributes can be determined by consulting with former and current practitioners and related professionals engaged in selling foreign infant education materials as well as literature studies. [Figure 3] is a infant education materials preferred attributes and sub-attributes.
Figure 3: Infant Education Materials Preferred Attributes
Source: Made by authors
4.2. Conjoint Analysis Card Design (BIB Test)
Once the important attributes and sub-attributes to be included in the conjoint analysis have been determined, researchers decide how to create the foreign infant education materials preference attribute profile. There are two methods, Full Profile Method and Trade-Off Method.
The overall profile design method can create a virtual profile using all the attributes to be used, present them to the respondent, and set the profile in the order of preference. Tradeoffs, on the other hand, pair up two attributes at a time to create an intersection table with the levels of these attributes. In addition, the preference order is recorded starting from the cell showing the combination of the most preferable attribute level, and then the utility is estimated using the attribute level (Lee, 2004).
In this paper, the Full Profile Method is used to explain the expected results. However, when using the above method, the number of profiles becomes too large, so the researcher as well as the respondents have difficulty in ranking. To overcome these drawbacks, Fractional Factorial Design can be used to minimize the possible combinations of attributes that are considered in favor of virtual foreign infant education materials. And the Orthogonal Plan of the SPSS statistical package can be used among factor design methods.
The number of attributes used in this paper is 4 in total. There are a total of 17 sub-attributes, 5 for product benefit, 3 for brand equity, 4 for distribution network, and 5 for service quality. A total of 300 virtual combinations (5×3×4×5) can be generated by combining these sub-attributes. Since it is impractical to list all of these profiles, a total of 25 profiles can be presented through SPSS orthogonal planning. Through this study, it is possible to discover preferences of foreign infant education materials by attributes and sub-attributes. However, it is very difficult to list 25 profiles according to the degree of preference and rank them from the first to the 25th. Therefore, it is possible to measure the preference through the BIB test developed by the Japanese psychologist Professor Hiraki (Seo, 2014).
The BIB test is one of the experimental design methods in statistics. Its purpose is to reduce the number of experiments. This means that the human's fingers are all 10 normally. In particular, it starts from the point that it is the limit of human being to rank within the range of five fingers in one hand. It is necessary to repeatedly extract 5 or more individuals from 10 or more individuals by a certain rule in advance and to rank the extracted 5 or more individuals. And then calculates the same effect as ranking the 10 or more whole entities by a defined calculation process (Seo, 2014).
[Table 3] shows the profile map for the BIB test. In this study, 25 profiles were selected, so a researcher can create 25 cards and include 3 profiles on each card. For these three profiles, enter the number from 1 to 3 according to preference. Based on a total of 25 cards, three different profiles are randomly placed on each card. Let the total profile appear on the card three times. Each card is ranked first to third, then scored and ranked for each profile. The calculation method for each profile is shown in [Table 4].
Table 3: Profile Layout for BIB Test
Table 4: Calculation of profile
When you do this, each profile will score between 3 and 9 points. Since the total number of profiles presented is 25, they have duplicate values between 3 and 9, and they can not rank from 1 to 25.
Finally, the preferences of each profile should be ranked by the nature of the conjoint analysis. Therefore, ranking is given to the tie profile, but a random number table is used for the fairness of the measured value. In other words, a series of 5-digit random numbers extracted by a computer to the origin point is added to one-tenth (for example, 0.54321 if 54321). In addition, the ranking of each profile is calculated, and based on this, the preference of the survey subject can be grasped and conjoint data can be constructed (Seo, 2014).
5. Conclusion
The WTO, which was launched in 1995, has been in control of all goods, services, and intellectual property rights beyond the system that had previously only managed trade in goods. Therefore, the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) has become effective. GATS has also included education in a service product and in the trade (Min, 2011).
GATS delivers educational services overseas. Remove or lower obstacles to install and operate facilities that can provide services to students in your country or abroad. There is a primary purpose in creating favorable conditions for educational service providers. In the framework of the global world economy, Korea's educational market is finally forced to accept GATS. Therefore, it turned out to be a turning point directly exposed to external competition.
The education market starts with infant education and encompasses a wide range of educational services related to activities such as elementary school, junior high school, high school, junior college, four-year university, special education institution, and classroom. It is expected that the effect will be great, because not only textbooks but also general goods and educational equipment according to education are all inclusive.
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of brand benefit (functional, symbolic, social, economic, psychological), brand equity (brand image, loyalty, awareness), distribution network (internet, discount store, specialty store, department store) Service quality (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) were selected as important attributes. Through this, a framework for future research is presented. The advantages of the conjoint analysis method have been extended to the study of Infant Education Materials. Based on this, we will identify important attributes that are considered in preference of foreign infant education materials and help to establish and implement future marketing strategies.
The limitation of this study is that it suggests the conjoint analysis method for foreign infant education materials and presents related variables. However, the results of the conjoint analysis were not obtained through the questionnaire. Therefore, in future studies, it is necessary to examine the preference of preference attributes of foreign infant education materials through conjoint analysis. Foreign infant education materials using the Importance-Satisfaction Conversion Index should be considered as a measure of service quality measurement (Choi & Kang, 2011). In addition, as in the study of Oh, Jang, and Lee (2012), factors affecting the quality of service of foreign infant education materials will also play an important role as control variables.
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