• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.141-147
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• 2021

The foreign trends of noncompliance occurring frequently in food contact materials during the period of 2011-2019 was investigated by analyzing the food safety risk information DB in the National Food Safety Information Service (NFSI). A total of 2,042 cases of noncompliance of food utensils, containers, and packages were classified into 5 violation categories; administrative procedures, manufacturing and processing standards, residues and migration standards, labeling and advertising, and quality standards. This was again subcategorized according to non-compliance causative factors. The non-compliances in residues and migration standards comprised the largest proportion (76.4%) of the violative categories. The number of noncompliance information collected in 2011 was 88 cases and increased to 373 cases in 2019. A 72.8% of the non-compliance case was identified to be products of 4 countries (China 64.2%, Germany 4.0%, Japan 3.2%, and Taiwan 3.1%), those produce large quantities of containers and packaging products. During the period of 2011-2019, the number of illegal use of hazardous materials and illegal recycling of waste synthetic resins has decreased to less than one a year since 2014. On the other hand, after 2016, inconsistency of heat-resisting temperature labeling (Taiwan), non-compliance in paper container's strength standards, violation of printing standards, and the risk of consumer injury while using the products were newly reported due to the strengthening of consumer safety protection regulations. Migration of hazardous substances in synthetic polymer products such as heavy metals, melamine and formaldehyde in melamine tableware, primary aromatic amines which are colorant components in kitchenware such as ladles and spatulas, and phthalate plasticizers have been continuously reported with high frequency.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.51-61
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• 2023

Purpose - Since COVID-19, the government's expansion of liquidity to stimulate the economy has resulted in an increase in private debt and an increase in asset prices of such as real estate and stocks. The recent sharp rise of the US Federal fund rate and tapering by the Fed have led to a fast rise in domestic interest rates, putting a heavy burden on the Korean economy, where the level of household debt is very high. Excessive household debt might have negative effects on the economy, such as shrinking consumption, economic recession, and deepening economic inequality. Therefore, now more than ever, it is necessary to identify the causes of the increase in household debt. Design/methodology/approach - Main methodology is regression analysis. Dependent variable is household loans from depository institutions. Independent variables are consumer price index, unemployment rate, household loan interest rate, housing sales price index, and composite stock price index. The sample periods are from 2017 to May 2022, comprising 72 months of data. The comparative analysis period before and after COVID-19 is from January 2017 to December 2019 for the pre-COVID-19 period, and from Jan 2020 to December 2022 for the post-COVID-19 period. Findings - Looking at the results of the regression analysis for the entire period, it was found that increases in the consumer price index, unemployment rate, and household loan interest rates decrease household loans, while increases in the housing sales price index increase household loans. Research implications or Originality - Household loans of depository institutions are mainly made up of high-credit and high-income borrowers with good repayment ability, so the risk of the financial system is low. As household loans are closely linked to the real estate market, the risk of household loan defaults may increase if real estate prices fall sharply.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.442-452
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• 2010

Our team carried out a new program for public engagement on nanotechnology in Korea. We chose 22 monitors, who majored in science or technology and graduated from universities long time ago. Most of them were married and housewives. This 'focus group' had not only general knowledge about science or technology but also much interest in social activities. The 167 nanoproducts to be monitored were for daily life, e.g. home appliances (washing machine, refrigerator, water purifier, etc), clothing, cosmetics, food, toy, and others. And the period of it was one month. The monitors had a sheet with 10 questions, and filled them out in essay form. All of them submitted 2~3 sheets every weekend to our team. Before monitoring, our team had a meeting for introduction and explanation about the potential risk of nanotechnology as well as benefits from it. Another meeting was held after finishing monitoring to share their experience one another. The main results of the monitoring were as follows: the number of nanoproducts describing both the definition of 'nano' and the size of nanomaterials was just 2 (1.2%) the number of them explaining the technical methods enough was 15 (9/0%) the number of them accounting for the reason of functional improvement enough was 14(8.4%); the number of them doubtful as if there would be exaggeration or false knowledge was 27 (16.2%); the number of them commenting potential hazards to human health or environment was almost zero; the number of them describing about safety certification acceptable was 9 (5.4%). The monitors made a proposal containing recommendation to Government and industry. The contents were as follows: industry should make the manual in detail and correctly, Describe Certificate detailed and correctly, Do research on risk and toxicity continually, Educate employee about nanoproducts at consumer's center; Government should make indication of nanoproducts compulsory, Appoint Certificate Authority and make Certificate Mark guaranteeing the safety on nanoproducts, Make detailed explanation about nanoproducts compulsory.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.29-46
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• 1998

This study investigates how the consumers utilize the elements of information search and how consumers are satisfied with them. For this study, drives who have bought their own cars in two years were chosen for subjects of investigation. And samples were interviewed with an organized questionaire from July 8 to July 27, 1996. 300 samples were used for the final analysis. The major results from this study are as follows. 1) In general information search, consumers get a great deal of information from a talk their friends, neighbors, or colleagues, and they obtain information from an experienced person or a professional. In using sources of information search, they made the best use of their experiences, which is the sources of internal information, and for the second, they used advertising and the explanation of a salesman. In using the contents of information search, they made the best use of information about the merits and demerits in each attribute. In using the method of information search, the mixed search 1 method was used the most, and the attribute search method was used. 2) The casual relationship between the general satisfaction for the products and the relative variable was investigated. An age, the time pressure, the information of the products had a direct and indirect influence on the general for the products. The perceived risk, the number of inquiring activity, a shop and the buying method had a direct influence on the general for the products. An indirect influence was showed in the general satisfaction for the products through the medium of inquiring activity, a shop, and buying method.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 2011

This study investigates the factors influencing consumer's channel selection for luxury fashion items, specifically the effect of (i) perceived luxury benefits, (ii) perceived online shopping risks, (iii) demographics, and (iv) purchasing behavior. A survey questionnaire was developed and implemented to measure the perceived luxury benefits, perceived online shopping risks, purchasing behaviors, and consumer demographics. A total of 396 responses were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, cross-tab, and multinomial logit analysis with SPSS18.0. The results are as follows. First, those who shop in offline shopping channels tend to be heavy buyers that look for product quality and conspicuousness. They perceive low risks from online shopping and purchase few bag items offline. Second, those who shop online tend to be men and perceive the high benefits of economic value. Third, those who shop in multi channels tend to be men, search for information via the Internet, and purchase few accessory items. Implications for multichannel strategies are suggested.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.446-456
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• 2011

The purpose of the study is to understand the characteristics of consumers and to provide useful information for the wine vendors to make future sales strategy and a marketing plan according to the origin of the imported wine thorough the factors influencing consumer preferences and purchase intentions. The questionnaires were distributed to consumers who had purchased wine and 224 was collected then analysed. As a result, the origin of the wine had a significant effects on quality and risk perception when consumers evaluate products. Also, the origin of the wine had a significant on consumer's purchase intention.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.9
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• pp.131-141
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• 2021

With the rapid development of the Internet, online shopping has grown so fast that almost any good or service can be sold online today. The popularity and rapid growth of e-commerce signal a huge market opportunity for e-retailers. From the organizational perspective, it is necessary to evaluate and explore what drives customers to buy their products or to use their services. This study, therefore, aims to explain the online purchase intention and its determinants of Vietnamese customers for cosmetics and personal care products. Quantitative data was collected from an online survey conducted among university students, then was put into SPSS and AMOS for further analysis. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha test, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), regression analysis, and SEM were used to examine data from 434 valid answers. The research findings reveal that four factors positively affect purchase intention: Shopping enjoyment has the most significant impact, followed by trust, benefit, and website quality. On the other hand, perceived risk negatively influences purchase intention. While the cosmetics and personal care industry is thriving with a huge number of producers and consumers throughout the world, this study contributes to the existing literature in terms of capturing customers' needs and developing effective strategies to attract more online users.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.59-81
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• 2019

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the resistance factors interfering the acceptance factors of the mobile easy remittance service focusing on the switching cost and the innovation resistance model. Design/methodology/approach This study focuses on revealing the resistance factors of the mobile easy remittance service acceptance. The resistance factor is designed consisting both consumer characteristics and service characteristics in the Innovation Resistance Model. Furthermore, the effect of resistance factors on the innovation resistance and acceptance intentions were detected by moderating the switching cost. Findings According to the empirical analysis result, this study investigated the effect of resistance factors on innovation resistance and acceptance intention for the mobile easy remittance service. The results of this study as follows; (1) The consumer's inherent innovativeness did not significantly affect the innovation resistance and acceptance intention. (2) The attitude toward existing services and complexity significantly affected innovation resistance in direct manner, thus affecting the acceptance intention in indirect manner. (3) The perceived usefulness significantly affected both the innovation resistance and the acceptance intention in direct manner. (4) The perceived risk only effected the acceptance intention. (5) The switching cost had a moderating effect on the innovation resistance and acceptance intention.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.61-70
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• 2021

Purpose: This paper reviews the attitudes of consumers related to the consumption crisis response strategy (i.e., defensive vs. receptive) that companies implement during crises. Research design, data, and methodology: We discuss the interaction between the crisis response strategy and the consumption crisis type (i.e., corporate ability vs. corporate social responsibility). We used SAS ver. 9.4 software to analyze the results. We applied a 2 × 2 intergroup experimental design to our sample of subjects, who were undergraduate and graduate students at a university in Seoul, South Korea. The three experimental variables considered were the entity's risk response strategy, the crisis type, and public relations strategy. The experiments were conducted by presenting a hypothetical scenario to eight groups. Prior to this experiment, five preliminary surveys were conducted to determine the three variables just mentioned. Preliminary surveys were conducted on the basis of these criteria. For eight selected product lines, 320 undergraduates were required to enter the product lines that are frequently used in the assessment center up to the fourth priority. Results: Analysis of variance revealed that experiments related to crisis response strategy, type of enterprise crisis, and type of public relations message were successful. Conclusions: Our results verify the impact of different types of social initiatives on distribution marketplaces.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.13-27
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• 1995

This paper considers the design of life test sampling plans based on Type II censored accelerated life tests. The lifetime distribution of products is assumed to be exponential. An estimator of acceleration factor between use condition stress and an accelerated level of stress higher than use condition stress is assumed to be known. The critical value for lot acceptance and the number of failure before censoring which satisfy the producer's and consumer's risk requirements are determined. The properties of the proposed life test sampling plans are investigated.