• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.29 no.1 s.139
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• pp.114-123
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to see how Korean American people use and negotiate appearance in the US. 22 Korean American women at the age of 20s to 50s were interviewed and the verbatim texts from the interviews were interpreted. Discourses on appearance style followed by consumer stories such as American vs. Korean culture, gender, class, generation as well as personal background were recorded. The results of this study revealed that Korean Americans had diverse interpretations about their appearance and styling to fit the condition of their everyday lives. Korean immigrants did not simply assimilate dominant culture over time but maintained transcultural identities depending on contexts. This study showed that researches dealing with cultural variables could have more insights about personal experiences and social meaning processes through interpretative approach.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.67-75
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• 2008

This study examines the importance of group identity (kin, friends, co-workers) when gift recipient changes among American and Korean consumers. Female college students and academicians completed a self-administered questionnaire. Four hundred fifty-eight respondents evaluated the perceived importance of group identity when buying an apparel gift for kin, friends, and co-workers. The results suggest that the importance of group identity may influence the type of gift a recipient receives. The results show that when buying a gift for kin, friends, and co-workers that both young and older American consumers place greater importance on self rather than the opinion of other group. The older and younger Korean respondents rated the opinion of each group (kin, friends, and co-workers) to be more important than self. Recommendations for future research on the affect of culture on consumer purchases are suggested.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.24 no.5 s.83
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• pp.53-68
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• 2006

This study examines Korean and American undergraduate students' intimacy toward the grandmother and their attitudes toward the elderly and aging. The study also identifies the variances that influence undergraduate students' attitudes. The subjects were 397 Korean and 364 America undergraduates. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine frequency, percentage, meat standard deviation, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$, t-test, Duncan test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression. The results of this study were as follows; 1) Both Korean and American undergraduates' attitudes were mid-range, but their intimacy level toward their grandmother was high. 2) The Korean undergraduates' intimacy level differed significantly according to sex and religion, and it showed a significant correlation with attitudes toward the elderly and aging traits, when the student had lived with and had frequent contact with the grandmother. The American undergraduates' intimacy level, however, was significantly different according to the presence of the grandmother. There was also had a significant correlation with the undergraduate students' attitudes toward the elderly and aging traits, frequency of contact with the grandmother and year. 3) The variables that affect the Korean undergraduates' intimacy level toward the grandmother were attitude, cohabitation with her, gender, frequency of contact with the grandmother, and religion, which explained about 21% of total variance. Attitudes toward the elderly and aging traits were very important variables for Korean undergraduates' intimacy with their grandmother. The American undergraduates' intimacy was affected by the variables of attitude, frequency of contact with the grandmother, year, and the presence of the grandmother, which explained about 19% of the total variance. Attitude toward the elderly and aging traits were the most important variables for American undergraduates' intimacy with their grandmother.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.807-816
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• 2001

The purpose of this research was to compare American Korean consumers perceptions or evaluations of womens formal wear and casual wear. Results revealed that two groups classified differently the products in formal wear, not casual wear. In general, compared to Korean subjects, Americans rated the Korean business formal wear as more fashionable, attractive, stylish and of having higher quality than U.S. formal wear, indicating they were more likely to purchase. On the other hand, compared to U.S. subjects, in general, Koreans rated higher the U.S. casual wear as more liking, purchasing, comfortable, and appealing than Korean casual wear. Regarding clothing image toward each picture, there was a statically difference in both groups. To increase American or Korean exports of apparels, companies must look globally to develop new markets for their products.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-25
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• 2017

This essay investigates how the industrialization of the US food system was closely linked to US foreign policy, gender issues, and the rise of consumerism in the Cold War era. While many scholars in American studies and women's studies over the past few decades have paid increasing attention to the interrelationship of gender politics and the media industry in shaping US domesticity, they have seldom studied how and why reading gender issues in relation to environmental discourse in general and the industrialized US food system in particular can help us better understand the complex relationship between environmental and social problems that we are facing today, both collectively and individually. In this context, this essay shows how US national politics have not only created the ideal of American domesticity that promotes traditional gender roles and consumerism at the expense of gender equality, but also negatively affected women's somatic and mental health writ large. By closely examining the cultural implications of Nixon's and Khrushchev's Kitchen Debate in the 1950s alongside newspapers, photographs, advertisements, and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (1963), I argue that reading Cold War consumer culture in relation to the US food system leads readers to see the invisible links between gender politics and today's environmental and social problems in comparative and global contexts.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.177-182
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• 2015

The brand and product awareness of Korean electronics companies in the North American market has grown significantly and North American consumers has been recognized as an innovative technology products good performance of Korean electronics appliances. The consumer need of energy saving has led to a rise in market share because Korean electronics appliances have the excellence in energy saving aspects. The expansion of smartphones and mobile devices and the development of smart grid technology can affect electronics market. Domestic companies are continuously develop new product to provide consumers convenient with a variety of additional features combined consumer products. This study proposes a convergence model for sales prediction of electronic appliances using sales data of A company from the North American market. We develop the convergence model for sales prediction based on based on artificial neural network and genetic algorithm. In addition, we validate the superiority of the proposed convergence model by comparing the prediction performance of traditional prediction models.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.801-807
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• 2007

The objectives of this study were to develop Korean dishes acceptable for quick-service Korean food restaurant franchising operations in the U.S. and to test consumer preferences of 6 Korean dishes developed. One hundred American consumers evaluated beef(Bulgogi), pork(Jeyuk-bokkeum), chicken(Dagkalbi), noodles with seasoned vegetables(Japchae), braised tofu(Dubujorim), and stir-fried kimchi (Kimchi-bokkeum). Consumer preferences for color and aroma of the three dishes(Bulgogi, Jeyuk-bokkeum and Dagkalbi) were not different with most indicating they liked these attributes. Bulgogi was preferred over Dagkalbi and Jeyuk-bokkeum was least acceptable. Consumers rated the flavor of the Bulgogi from a little too mild to just right while both the Dagkalbi and Jeyuk-bokkeum were rated from just right to too strong. Overall acceptance was inversely related to spiciness. Bulgogi and Dagkalbi were ranked significantly higher than Jeyuk-bokkeum with Bulgogi receiving a slightly higher score. Overall acceptance was higher for the Japchae than the Kimchi-bokkeum. Dubujorim was intermediate and not preferred or disliked more than either of the others. Consumers rated the flavor of the Japchae and the Dubujorim higher than the Kimchi-bokkeum, indicating that the flavor of the Kimchi-bokkeum was too strong. Almost half indicated both the Dubujorim and Kimchi-bokkeum were slightly or much too hot. The Japchae and the Dubujorim were ranked equally high and significantly higher than the Kimchi-bokkeum. We suggest that control of spiciness is a main factor to develop Korean dishes acceptable for quick-service Korean food restaurant franchising operations in the U.S.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.997-1005
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• 2004

The purpose of this research is to measure the sensibility and preference of American consumers for domestically-manufactured cotton fabrics through 7-points scale questionnaires and the 4-dimensions and 8-axes system. The key words included such images as masculine-feminine, new-old, casual-classic, and ambiguous-orderly. The images of cotton fabrics were classified through a cluster analysis. This research also included an investigation of relationship between sensibilities for cotton fabrics and their physical characteristics. The sensibilities of cotton fabrics were classified into 4 groups: 'feminine sensibility,' 'masculine sensibility,' 'new sensibility,' and 'casual sensibility.' This result represents that American consumers' sensibility is simpler than Koreans'. The order of preference was 'feminine sensibility', 'masculine sensibility', 'new sensibility', and 'casual sensibility.' The sensibilities of cotton fabrics were explained significantly by stiffness, weight, weft density, value, and chroma. Specifically, those were more influenced by color characteristics such as value, chroma, and hue than by physical characteristics. We should be able to tell a difference in the reaction of a trading country's consumers and domestic consumers to domestically-manufactured cotton fabrics through comparing this research with the previous work(Shin & Lee, 2002). Additionally, we will be able to establish a basic strategy for successfully advancing Korean fabrics into the American domestic textile industry. In this way we can expect to increase the competitive power of our domestic clothes brands.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.691-701
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to find out a way to apply the strength of American homeowners association to Korean housing management system through literature review on the legal basis, organizational composition and functions, and management models of homeowners association. Following is distinctive characteristics of American homeowners association. 1) Homeowners association is a juridical entity which 'Condominium Act' obliges residents to join. 2) The board of directors is decision maker. The covenant, however, gives residents right to act in committees. 3) Homeowners association has self-governing functions such as management of common spaces, permission of new construction and taxation. 4) Types of management are volunteers' self-management, association-employed management, full agency management, and some mixed types. Residents pay management charge by month or by quarter. This study suggests as follow. 1) It is needed for Korea to legislate the law to regulate the management system of detached houses. 2)Management system of Korea can be more efficient with volunteers' committees for active participation. Above all, architectural control committee is essential in the circumstance that reform of apartment is popular these days. 3) The management entity is recommended to have some self-governing function to talk about taxation policy with local governments.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.87-113
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• 2001

This study introduces the concept of image/impression of a product design, human interface elements, and the relationships between them. It is assumed that the human interface can be decomposed into detailed design elements, called human interface elements. This study attempts to build functional relationships between the image/impression of a product and human interface elements. Two different human factors experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach suggested in this study. A total of 35 audio/visual consumer electronics products (e.g., CD players, VCRs) were shown on a display screen and the subjects were instructed to evaluate them in terms of eight image/impression dimensions. One experiment was conducted using Korean subjects while the other using American subjects. The functional relationships were modeled by using the multiple linear regression technique. Similarity and difference between the Korean and the American subjects were analyzed. The approach suggested in this study is expected to help designers and developers identify important design variables to enhance the subjective satisfaction of a product design.