• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.55-73
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• 2016

Marketing activities play an important role in determining sales performances for B2B companies; however, prior research implies that the effect of marketing activities in the industrial market cannot be inferred from findings in the consumer market due to their differences such as types of customers or products. We further note that B2C companies (i.e. B2B client companies) serve individual consumers, and thus, B2B sales performance can be better understood as consumer market contexts are also taken into account. In this research, we study B2B marketing activities and B2C market contexts, and their effects on B2B sales performance. To this end, we focus on three factors : sales calls conducted by B2B companies, and market commercialization and social interactions in regions where B2C companies operate. Our empirical analyses provide the following results. First, B2B sales performance improves in proportion to sales calls. When sales calls serve as the means to provide product information, they help client companies understand product benefits and make purchases accordingly. Second, B2B sales performance increases as B2C markets become more commercialized, but the effect of sales calls on B2B sales declines. Commercialized markets are more attractive to individual consumers and thus, lead to greater sales in the consumer market. However, the role of sales calls as information sources weakens as B2C companies share product information themselves and develop expertise in commercialized markets. Finally, B2B sales are greater in urban markets compared to suburbs. However, the effect of sales calls on B2B sales increases in suburban markets compared to the urban counterpart. Cohesive social interactions in suburbs hinder information diffusion among B2C companies, which in turn strengthens the role of sales calls as information sources. We theoretically contribute to the B2B marketing literature and managerially suggest strategies to improve B2B sales performance.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-22
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• 2012

Gifticon is an innovative new service of SK Marketing & Company. Launched in the end of 2006 for the first time in the world, the mobile gift certificate is in the form of a SMS message that bears a bar code to exchange with real products sent to the intended recipient through internet portal, messenger or/and mobile phones. The service started by connecting individuals (B2C business) and was expanded to the new marketing tools of companies (B2B business). While the business took off with soft progress in the initial year of launch, Gifticon business finally gained its momentum in the growth of sales in its second and third year. Yet, the data showed that the growth of user-base was getting stagnant that the number of users remained flat for the past few months. Moreover, competition from latecomers such as Giftishow from KTF and Heartcon from LG Telecom gets fierce. Particularly in B2B sector where Gifticon has made minimal profit, competitors started aggressive promotional activities, taking away shares from Gifticon. Under these circumstances, team is facing tough strategic decisions for its long-term growth; How can they further grow the business? Should they go after more massive targets for broader user-base? Should they pursue B2B business more aggressively? This case study asks students to come up with solutions for these questions by understanding concepts, theories and models for diffusion of innovations and strategies to overcome a chasm.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.105-123
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• 2016

Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives lead to positive outcomes for companies? Although it is commonly accepted that CSR is a necessary component of modern marketing communication, the empirical evidence shows that that is not always the case. If CSR is sometimes not conducive to better marketing, it behooves firms to determine the right conditions that foster more effective CSR. It is in that vein that this study aims to add to the growing body of marketing and CSR literature through a series of experiments that examines the dynamics between prior attitude toward the company, the fit between the company and the CSR cause, and consumers' accessible thoughts. This study finds that the prior corporate reputation has an impact on how consumers evaluate the CSR activities of companies. Moreover, we show that the degree of accessible thoughts and their valence can change the moderating effect of the fit between the company and the CSR cause. This is because negative information is perceived as being more diagnostic than positive information in an evaluation situation. We demonstrate that companies that have lower prior public reputations can improve the evaluation of their CSR activities in two major ways: (1) by finding CSR causes that have a lower fit with their business, or (2) by providing information that allow consumers to access more positive thoughts about the CSR activity.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.145-165
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• 1999

With the rapid spreading of the internet that is based on the development of the information network system, the paradigms of "internet round" and "cyber" are given much weight in the notion of "market." Especially, the cyber shopping for the individuals is developing rapidly creating the new life style, and also in the domestic economy the cases of building and running the cyber shopping malls are increasing. The purpose of this study is to analyse the customers' shopping styles that can be shown when the customers purchase physical goods or digital goods at the B to C EC and find the way to activate the shopping malls by controlling the factors which influence the trade. The result of the study is as follows: First, to analyse the acting style of the customers at the B to C EC, it is searched whether there is any relationship between the purchasing goods, which are divided into physical goods and digital goods. There was a cross analysis between the first factor of the five factors of the purchase decision or delay at the B to C EC and the goods type. The result of the analysis is that the purchase decision factor is different according as what type of goods is purchased. On the other hand, the purchase delay factor has no relation with the goods type. Second, the fact that the cyber shopping activities are quite different according to sexuality, age, academic background, or occupation suggests that these factors are very important to the strategy for the market-specification of the B to C EC marketing construction. The result shown in this study is sure to give great help to figure out the improvement strategies and the market-specialization strategies to accelerate the B to C EC marketing. On the side of the strategies for the improvement of the goods services, more attention should be given to the functional side for the improvement of the reliability of the goods service such as capacity, technique, and quality. And the activities of the customers are so different according to the vital statistics that the way to cope with the changeability properly should be considered.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.151-162
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• 2012

Four kinds of marketing black garlics (A, B, C and D products) from Namhae were analysed the antioxidant, nitrite scavenging activities and inhibition of nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) formation. Total pyruvate and thiosulfate contents were higher in the black garlics than fresh garlic, and their contents were the highest in B product. Total phenol and flavonoids contents in the water and 80% ethanol extracts from black garlics were higher in water than ethanol extract, and all black garlics were higher than fresh garlic. And these contents of A product were somewhat higher compared to the others. Antioxidant activities, such as DPPH, ABTs, hydroxyl and nitric oxide radical scavenging showed stronger in water than ethanol extracts. And their activities in all products of black garlic were higher than the extracts of fresh garlic, and their activities of A and B products were similar to each other. In pH 2.5, nitrite scavenging activity and inhibition of NDMA formation were stronger in the black garlics than fresh garlic, and A product was the highest. Moreover, inhibition of NDMA formation from black garlic showed similar trends compared to the antioxidant activities. Therefore, we expect that the black garlic will contribute to the inhibition of carcinogenesis in vivo.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

Social Network Service (SNS) emerged to become a major platform for consumers' social activities, affecting their choice behavior. With rapid increase in SNS adoption among consumers, firms actively apply SNS into their marketing activities and use it as an important communication medium with consumers. Particularly SNS marketing become increasingly prevalent in Chinese restaurant sector as they provide promotional information to consumers through SNS. It is urgent for firms to understand the extent of SNS impact on consumers' choice behavior, and to understand consumers' response toward SNS in order to develop more effective SNS marketing strategies. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of four SNS characteristics on brand equity and purchase intention and to determine the relative importance among these four characteristics on brand equity and purchase intention. Results show that all of the characteristics have significant influence on consumers' brand equity, and also, brand equity affects consumers' purchase intention.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.137-145
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• 2023

E-Commerce is a buzzword well known for electronic commerce activities including but not limited to the online shopping, digital payment transactions, and B2B online trading. In today's digital age, e-commerce has been playing a very important and vital role in areas such as retail shopping, sales automation, supply chain management, marketing and advertisement, and payment services. With a huge amount of data been collected from various e-commerce services available, there are multiple opportunities to use that data to analyze graphs and trends. Strategize profitable activities, and forecast future trade. This paper explains a contemporary approach for collecting key data metrics and implementing cost-effective automation that will support in improving conversion rates and sales performance of the e-commerce websites resulting in increased profitability.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.109-131
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• 2007

The purpose of this study were to a) clarify the current practice of internal marketing by contracted food service management companies, b) analyze the effectiveness of current internal marketing practices. The survey was conducted between October 12 and November 2, 2002 with the 10 contracted food service management companies; 6 large, and 4 small & medium sized companies. No significant difference was existed with the categories of internal marketing. However significant differences were existed with the service education, sanitary education, periodic interviews, rewards for best employees, incentive payments, paid -leave allowances, job function allowances, and position classes including unit manager, dietician and cook of MBO. The actual administration of internal marketing strategies showed that, the significant differences were existed with education, paid-leave, and employee welfare systems among position classes. Also the significant differences were existed with all categories of internal marketing between large and small & medium sized companies. In general, small & medium sized companies score of the internal marketing performance was lower than that of large sized companies. Therefore, the segmented internal marketing strategies depending on the analysis not only demand for employees but also the size of company, were required to be an effectively and efficiently managed contracted food management companies.

• Archives of design research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.373-382
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• 2004

The value of Korean ginseng has been known in the world since the 4th century B. C. Red ginseng is hot-steamed, and then dried for the purpose of long-term storing. Through the steaming and drying process, its moisture rate is reduced to 14% and its color becomes citrine or light yellowish brown. Its hardened structure enables long-term storage without any deformation. Especially, Korean red ginseng contains substances that promote micro-physiological activities which are not found in American or Sanchi ginseng. Ginseng is produced in diverse forms for the customer's convenience. In this study, these are classified as sliced, dried, and honeyed ginseng, granulated tea, extract, powder, capsules, tablets, drinks and candy. Package design is one of the most effective method in the marketing fields. However, in this research, we found that red ginseng packages are not variously and properly developed in materials and designs. The research pointed out the problems and discuss ways and means of the package design.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2010

Green or an environmental consciousness has been a major issue for businesses and government offices, as well as consumers, worldwide. In response to this movement, the Korean government announced, in the early 2000s, the era of "Green Growth" as a way to encourage green-related business activities. The Korean fashion industry, in various levels of involvement, presents diverse eco-friendly products as a part of the green movement. These apparel products include organic products and recycled clothing. For these companies to be successful, they need information about who are the consumers who consider green issues (e.g., environmental sustainability) as part of their personal values when making a decision for product purchase, use, and disposal. These consumers can be considered as eco-sumers. Previous studies have examined consumers' purchase intention for or with eco-friendly products. In addition, studies have examined influential factors used to identify the eco-sumers or green consumers. However, limited attention was paid to eco-sumers' disposal or recycling behavior of clothes in comparison with their green product purchases. Clothing disposal behaviors are ways that consumer can get rid of unused clothing and in clue temporarily lending the item or permanently eliminating the item by "handing down" (e.g., giving it to a younger sibling), donating, exchanging, selling, or simply throwing it away. Accordingly, examining purchasing behaviors of eco-friendly fashion items in conjunction with clothing disposal behaviors should improve understanding of a consumer's clothing consumption behavior from the environmental perspective. The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide descriptive information about Korean eco-sumers who have ecologically-favorable lifestyles and behaviors when buying and disposing of clothes. The objectives of this study are to (a) categorize Koreans on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors; (b) investigate the differences in demographics, lifestyles, and clothing consumption values among segments; and (c) compare the purchase intention of eco-friendly fashion items and influential factors among segments. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The questionnaire included 10 items of clothing disposal behavior, 22 items of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) characteristics, and 19 items of consumption values, measured by five-point Likert-type scales. In addition, the purchase intention of two eco-friendly fashion items and 11 attributes of each item were measured by seven-point Likert type scales. Two polyester fleece pullovers, made from fabric created from recycled bottles with the PET identification code, were selected from one Korean brand and one US imported brand among outdoor sportswear brands. A brief description of each product with a color picture was provided in the survey. Demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education level, income, occupation) were also included. The data were collected through a professional web survey agency during May 2009. A total of 600 final usable questionnaires were analyzed. The age of respondents ranged from 20 to 49 years old with a mean age of 34 years. Fifty percent of the respondents were males and about 58% were married, and 62% reported having earned university degrees. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the clothing disposal behavior scale, and three factors were generated (i.e., reselling behavior, donating behavior, non-recycling behavior). To categorize the respondents on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors, k-mean cluster analysis was used, and three segments were obtained. These consumer segments were labeled as 'Resale Group', 'Donation Group', and 'Non-Recycling Group.' The classification results indicated approximately 98 percent of the original cases were correctly classified. With respect to demographic characteristics among the three segments, significant differences were found in gender, marital status, occupation, and age. LOHAS characteristics were reduced into the following five factors: self-satisfaction, family orientation, health concern, environmental concern, and voluntary service. Significant differences were found in the LOHAS factors among the three clusters. Resale Group and Donation Group showed a similar predisposition to LOHAS issues while the Non-Recycling Group presented the lowest mean scores on the LOHAS factors compared to the other segments. The Resale and Donation Groups described themselves as enjoying or being satisfied with their lives and spending spare-time with family. In addition, these two groups cared about health and organic foods, and tried to conserve energy and resources. Principal components factor analysis generated clothing consumption values into the following three factors: personal values, social value, and practical value. The ANOVA test with the factors showed differences primarily between the Resale Group and the other two groups. The Resale Group was more concerned about personal value and social value than the other segments. In contrast, the Non-Recycling Group presented the higher level of social value than did Donation Group. In a comparison of the intention to purchase eco-friendly products, the Resale Group showed the highest mean score on intent to purchase Product A. On the other hand, the Donation Group presented the highest intention to purchase for Product B among segments. In addition, the mean scores indicated that the Korean product (Product B) was more preferable for purchase than the U.S. product (Product A). Stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the influence of product attributes on the purchase intention of eco product. With respect to Product A, design, price and contribution to environmental preservation were significant to predict purchase intention for the Resale Group, while price and compatibility with my image factors were significant for the Donation Group. For the Non-Recycling Group, design, price compatibility with the factors of my image, participation to eco campaign, and contribution to environmental preservation were significant. Price appropriateness was significant for each of the three clusters. With respect to Product B, design, price and compatibility with my image factors were important, but different attributes were associated significantly with purchase intention for each of the three groups. The influence of LOHAS characteristics and clothing consumption values on intention to purchase Products A and B were also examined. The LOHAS factor of health concern and the personal value factor were significant in the relationships with the purchase intention; however, the explanatory powers were low in the three segments. Findings showed that each group as classified by clothing disposal behaviors showed differences in the attributes of a product, personal values, and the LOHAS characteristics that influenced their purchase intention of eco-friendly products. Findings would enable organizations to understand eco-friendly behavior and to design appropriate strategic decisions to appeal eco-sumers.