• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.25-51
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• 2012

Researches about the relationship between SST(Self Service Technology) and TRI(Technology Readiness Index) have been carried out after TRI was developed by Parasuraman and his colleagues(2000). We hypothesize Consumer Readiness can also influence consumer's motivation, attitude, and intent to use SST. Currently, there has been no research on this subject. In this study, we investigated the relationship between TR, Consumer Readiness and SST Core Attitudinal Model which Dabholkar & Bagozzi(1994) proposed. The researchers also investigated moderating effects of consumer traits and situational factors to verify the acceptance of such forms of service delivery by all kinds of consumers and under different situational contexts. Self consciousness, the need for interaction with an employee, and the technology anxiety were used as consumer trait variables. Perceived waiting time and perceived crowding were used as situational variables. 380 questionnaires were distributed to a sample group of people in their 20's and 30's, and the data were analyzed with structural equation model using AMOS 18.0 program. All of Cronbach's alpha values representing reliabilities were satisfactory. The values of Composite Reliability(CR) and Average Variance Extracted(AVE) also showed the above criteria, thus providing evidence of convergent validity. To confirm discriminant validity among the constructs, confirmatory factor analysis and correlations among all the variables were examined. The results were satisfactory. The results of this study are summarized as follows. 1. Optimism and innovativeness of TR partially influenced the motivation to use SST. People who tend to be optimistic use SST because of ease of use and fun. The innovative however, usually use SST due to its performance. However, consumer readiness of role clarity, ability and self-efficacy influence all the components of motivation to use SST, ease of use, performance and fun. The relative effect of consumer readiness on the motivation to use SST was much stronger and more significant than that of TR. No other previous studies have examined the effects of Consumer Readiness on SST usage motivation, attitude and intention. It is academically meaningful that the researchers verified that Consumer Readiness is the important precedent construct influencing the self service technology core Attitudinal Model. Our findings suggest that marketers should consider fun and ease of use attributes to promote the use of self service technology. In addition, the SST usage frequency will rise rapidly when role clarity, ability, and self-efficacy which anybody can easily handle SST is assured. If the SST usage rate is increased, waiting times for customers could be decreased. Shorter waiting time could lead to higher customer satisfaction. It may also result in making a long-term profit owing to the reduced number of employees. Thus, presentation of using SST by employees or videos showing how to use it will promote the usage attitude and intent. 2. In SST core attitudinal model, performance and fun factors among SST usage motivation affected attitudes of using SST. The attitude of using SST highly influenced intent to use SST. This result is consistent with previous researches that dealt with the relationship between motivation, attitude and intention. Expectation of using SST could result in good performance just like the effect of ordering menu to service employees and to have fun since fun during its use could promote more SST usage rate. 3. In the relationship among motivation, attitude and intent in SST core attitudinal model, the moderating effect of consumer traits(self-consciousness, need for interaction with service employees and technology anxiety) and situational factors(perceived crowding and perceived waiting time) were tested. The results also supported the hypothesized moderating effects except perceived crowding. The highly self-conscious tended to form attitudes to use SST because of its fun compared to those who were less self-conscious because of its performance. People who had a high need for interaction with service employees tended to use SST for its performance. This result indicates that if ordering results are assured, SST is easily accessible to even consumers who have a high need for interaction with a service employee. When SST is easy to use, attitudes strengthen intent among people who had a high level of anxiety of technology. People who had low technology anxiety formed attitudes to use SST because of its performance. Service firms must ensure their self service technology is designed to be easy to use for those who have a high level of technology anxiety. Shorter perceived waiting times strengthened the attitude to use self service technology because of its fun. If the fun aspect is assured, people willing to use self service technology even perceive waiting time to be shorter than it actually is. Greater perceived waiting times form higher level of intent to use self service technology than those of shorter perceived waiting times. This implies that people view self service technology as a faster alternative to ordering service employees. The fun aspect of self service technology will attract a higher rate of usage for self service technology. 4. It has been proven that ease of use, performance and fun aspects are very important factors in motivation to form attitudes and intent to use self service technology regardless of the amount of perceived waiting time, self-consciousness, need for interaction with service employees, and technology anxiety. Service firms must consider these motivation aspects(ease of use, performance and fun)strongly in their promotion to use self service technology. Ease of use, assuring absolute performance compared to interaction with service employees', and adding a fun aspect will positively strengthen consumers' attitudes and intent to use self service technology. Summarizing the moderating effects, fun is the most valuable factor triggering SST usage attitude and intention. Therefore, designing self service technology to be fun will be the key to its success. This study focused on the touch screen self service technology in fast food restaurant. Although it has its limits due to the fact that it is hard to generalize the results to any other self service technology, the conceptual framework of this study can be applied to future research of any other service site.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.254-282
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• 1977

To obtain information on the inheritance of the quantitative characters related with the vegetative and reproductive growth of rice, the $F_1$ seeds were obtained in 1974 from the all possible combinations of the diallel crosses among five leading rice varieties : Nongbaek, Tongil, Palgueng, Mangyeong and Gimmaze. The $F_1$'s including reciprocals and parents were grown under the standard cultivation method at Chungnam Provincial Office of Rural Development in 1975. The arrangement of experimental plots was randomized block design with 3 replications and 12 characters were used for the analysis. Analytical procedure for genetic components was followed the Griffing's and Hayman's methods and the results obtained are summarized as follows. 1. In all $F_1$'s of Tongil crosses, the longer duration to heading was due to dominant effect of Tongil and each $F_1$ showed high heterosis in delaying the heading time. It was assumed that non-allelic gene action besides dominant gene effect might be involed in days to heading character. However, in all $F_1$'s from the crosses among parents excluding Tongil the shorter duration was due to dominant gene action and the degree of dominance was partial, since dominance effects were not greater than the additive effect. The non-allelic gene interaction was not significant. Considering the results mentioned above, it was regarded that there were two kinds of Significantly different genetic systems in the days to heading. 2. The rate of heterosis was significantly different depending upon the parents used in the crosses. For instance, the $F_1$'s from Togil cross showed high rate of heterosis in longer culm. Compared to short culm, longer culm was due to recesive gene action and short culm was due to recesive gene action. The dominant gene effect was greater than the additive gene effect in culm length. The narrow sense of heretability was very low and the maternal effects as well as reciprocal effects were significantly recognized. 3. The lenght of the of the uppermost internode of each $F_1$ plant was a little lorger than these of respective parental means or same as those of parents having long internodes, indicating partial dominance in the direction of lengthening the uppermost internodes. The additive gene effects on the uppermost internode was greater than the dominance gene effect. The narrow as well as broad sense of heritabilities for the character of the uppermost internode were very high. There were significant maternal and reciprocal effect in the uppermost internode. 4. The gene action for the flag leaf angle was rather dominance in a way of getting narrower angle. However, in the Palgueng combinations, heterosis of $F_1$ was observed in both narrow and wide angles of the flag leaf. The dominant effects were greater than the additive effects on the flag leaf angle. There were observed also a great deal of non-allelic gene interacticn on the inheritance of the flag leaf angle. 5. Even though the dominant gene action on the length and width of flag leaf was effective in increasing the length or width of the flag leaf, there were found various degrees of hetercsis depending upon the cross combination. Over-dominant gene effect were observed in the inheritance of length of the flag leaf, while additive gene effects was found in the inheritance of the width of the flag leaf. High degree of heretabilities, either narrow or broad sense, were found in both length and width of the flag leaf. No maternal and reciprocal effect were found in both characters. 6. When Tongil was used as one parent in the cross, the length of panicle of $F_1$'s was remarkedly longer than that of parents. In other cross comination, the length of panicle of $F_1$'s was close to the parental mean values. Rather greater dominent gene effect than additive gene effect was observed in the inheritance of panicle length and the dominant gene was effective in increasing the panicle length. 7. The effect of dominant genes was effective in increasing the number of panicles. The degree of heterosis was largely dependent on the cross combination. The effect of dominant gene in the inheritance of panicle number was a little greater than that of additive genes, and the inheritance of panicle number was assumed to be due to complete dominant gene effects. Significantly high maternal and reciprocal effects were found in the character studied. 8. There were minus and plus values of heterosis in the kernel number per panicle depending upon the cross combination. The mean dominant effect was effective in increasing the kernel number per panicle, the degree of dominant effect varied with cross combination. The dominant gene effect and non-allelic gene interaction were found in the inheritance of the kernel number per panicle. 9. Genetic studies were impossible for the maturing ratio, because of environmental effects such as hazards delaying heads. The dominant gene effect was responsible for improving the maturing ratio in all the cross combinations excluding Tongil 10. The heavier 1000 grain weight was due to dominant gene effects. The additive gene effects were greater than the dominant gene effect in the 1000 grain weight, indicating that partial dominance was responsible for increasing the 1000 grain weight. The heritabilites, either narrow or broad sense of, were high for the grain weight and maternal or reciprocal effects were not recognized. 11. When Tongil was used as parent, the straw weight was showing high heterosis in the direction of increasing the weight. But in other crosses, the straw weight of $F_1$'s was lower than those of parental mean values. The direction of dominant gene effect was plus or minus depending upon the cross combinations. The degree of dominance was also depending on the cross combination, and apparently high nonallelic gene interaction was observed.