• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.67 no.1
• /
• pp.95-109
• /
• 2017

The objectives of this study are to develop a cosmetic involvement scale focusing on Korean men in their 20s and 30s, verify its validity and examine the characteristics of this group. The results of this study's analyses showed that cosmetic involvement scale could be classified into 5 factors: 'trend & interest involvement', 'prestige sensitivity involvement', 'price and value involvement', 'skin involvement,' and 'obligatory involvement'. Also the cosmetic involvement of the target group was classified into 'amusing high-involvement group', 'rational low-involvement group', and 'obligatory high-involvement group'. This study has significance in showing differences of cosmetic involvement factors by gender and proposing a cosmetic involvement scale of Korean men in their 20s and 30s, which has taken men's distinctiveness into consideration.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.804-818
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences of the information searches and purchasing behavior Korean men in their 20s and 30s, focusing on cosmetic involvement. Research methods consisted of qualitative and quantitative approaches. For the qualitative approach, in-depth interviews and participant observations were conducted to investigate male customers' cosmetic characteristics in information searches and purchasing behavior. Then, the study conducted a quantitative study methodology based on the questionnaires from the in-depth interviews, participant observations, and literature review. The study surveyed 340 Korean men in their 20s and 30s. The cosmetic involvement of the target group was classified into the amusing high-involvement group, the rational low-involvement group, and the obligatory high-involvement group. The results from this study indicated that the groups of male customers classified by cosmetic involvement showed statistically significant differences in terms of information searches and purchasing behaviors. Especially, the obligatory high-involvement group generally displayed high-involvement traits likewise the amusing high-involvement, was more similar to the rational low-involvement group regarding cost effectiveness than the obligatory high-involvement group. Moreover, the classifications of men generally had different characteristics of cosmetic purchasing behavior and information searches than women. This study has a distinctive significance compared with other studies in discovering differences of cosmetic purchasing behaviors of Korean men in their 20s and 30s' cosmetic involvement groups classified using qualitative and quantitative approaches.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.550-558
• /
• 2021

Fructus Corni, the fruit of Cornus officinalis, has long been used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. We recently suggested that it was effective against benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Corni Fructus (CF) water extract on BPH induced by testosterone propionate (TP) in noncastrated and castrated animal models. BPH was induced in Sprague Dawley rats by an intramuscular injection of TP in castrated or noncastrated rats. Finasteride (FINA) treatment was used as a positive control for inhibition of BPH. According to our results, CF administration inhibited excessive enlargement of development of the prostate in both the noncastrated and castrated groups compared to the control and FINA-treated groups. The inhibitory effect of CF on BPH was associated with inhibition of expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, 5α-reductase type 2, steroid receptor coactivator-1, androgen receptor (AR), and prostate-specific antigen. Serum levels of the stress hormone cortisol increased during BPH induction by TP in both the noncastrated and castrated groups, but they were attenuated significantly by CF administration. However, insulin and IGF-1 levels were not increased in the BPH-induced groups and CF, and no effective results were found by CF administration. These results point to a beneficial effect of CF on BPH through inhibition of AR signaling pathway activity and imply that CF shows excellent potential as a therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of BPH.