• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.219-243
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• 2004

Generally, electricity market has monopoly market structure because of need of enormous investment for infrastructure. However, the introduction of competition in network industry as electricity is a tendency of the world with decreasing the effects of economy of scale due to the advancement of technology. Now, electricity industry restructuring is in progress but the competition in electricity retail market is not in force yet in Korea. Whether a effective competition exist or not is very important to policy decision maker who drive restructuring, but there are small numbers of quantitative researches on that. In this study, we estimated the effectiveness of competition in the electricity retail market through switching costs. If switching costs are high, consumers actually can be locked in incumbent firm in spite of introduction of competition. Therefore switching is a critical factor to determine effectiveness of competition and to estimate the size of switching costs quantitatively can proffer the information about whether the competition in the electricity retail market is effective or not in the future. We estimated switching costs using consumer' stated-preference data by conjoint analysis. In according to estimation results, the cost of switching process is not so high, but the relative brand loyalty of an incumbent company is significantly high. And the price is considered as the most important factor choosing an electric service commodity. Based on the empirical results, it is possible to analyze the relationship between suppliers' competitiveness resulted from management efficiency and customers' switching possibilities. The paper therefore provides guidance for suppliers in deciding to enter into retail competition and for policy makers in introducing retail competition. And it has a significance of estimating the switching costs directly.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.121-132
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• 2017

In this study, there is a purpose of research to secure competitiveness through the effective utilization of intangible corporate resources of founded enterprises. For this research, we conducted a survey on the way the customers who used the products of the BI center and founders less than 7 years evaluated the founded company. Schmitt's empirical element was examined as a theoretical background, and it was examined whether these empirical factors and attitudes acted as a preprocess in the decision-making process as a repurchase intention. The Result of research is as follows. First, It clearly indicated that customer experience and search experience affected the degree of re-purchase. Second, customer's experience (use experience, search experience, contact experience) were grasped with significant influence on customer's attitude. Third, we discovered that customer's attitude had mediated between customer's experience (use experience, search experience) and re-purchase. This research suggests that if we manage empirical factors well, we can increase the degree of re-purchase and cope appropriately with the limitations of small and medium enterprises.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.151-162
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• 2014

One of the largest changes in retail business in Korea since the distribution market was opened in the mid 1990s is the appearance of foreign discount stores and the rapid growth of department stores. Discount stores and department stores have changed the structure of distribution business which has been primarily made up of traditional markets and supermarkets that have been the main retail markets in Korea. The retail business is changing from just a product purchasing place to a space where various values such as pleasure, happiness, etc. are provided. Therefore the purpose of this research is to grasp the effects that the shopping experience values at department stores have on the department brands, images, and awareness by means of theoretical and empirical research. Especially I classified the shopping experience values, an independent variable, into aesthetics, pleasures, consumers' interests, and services' excellence, and I verified whether they have a meaningful effects on the brand recognition and image, an endogenous variable, and the store royalty, a final various. A total of 235 questionnaires were used for analysis to test the research hypotheses. The positive analysis was done with SPSS 17.0K and AMOS 17.0 covariance structure analysis was performed. As a result, variables of the shopping experience values except consumers' interests seemed to have not only right influences on recognition and image, but also right influences on store royalty. Therefore this research shows that department store customers not only make use of department stores to buy products, but also visit department stores to get the values of pleasure and happiness, and that these aspects have a greater influence on the department store's image, recognition, or royalty in a sense.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.81-95
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• 2019

The concept of customer satisfaction is very important issue in the service firms. All service firms should delight theirs customers? Which service contexts creating customer delight results in better positive performance? This study is to examine the moderating effect of service type on the customer delight-behavioral intention relationship. Data from consumers across two distinct service contexts (retail banks and upscale restaurants) were obtained. Using the multiple moderating regression analysis, the proposed hypotheses in this study were tested. The results reveal that customer delight had a greater positive impact on both revisit and referral intention in the hedonic service than the utilitarian service. This study suggests specific service contexts where customer delight strategies generate better desirable results. The customer delight strategy is able to be applied in both hedonic and utilitarian services, but it is more effective to lead customer loyalty in the hedonic service than utilitarian services. Service firms need a strategic approach to customer satisfaction strategies. This study provide strategic implications for service firms to efficiently manage and allocate resources, and can help them in making decisions about establishing and implementing customer satisfaction strategies.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.352-365
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• 2010

Most of studies concerned with on-line Brand community show that it makes users to increase their brand loyalty and brand attachment. But it wouldn't be explained that on-line brand community could be the field of consumer's public complaining in service failure. So, this study tried to focus the dimensions of negative emotions and customer characteristics that may cause relationship dissolutions in on-line brand community. The findings of the present study following as, high relationship quality of on-line brand community user directly effects negative emotions, especially, disappointment and betrayal. second, disappointment and betrayal influences the desire of revenge. Third, customer's negative reactions (for example, negative replies about the brand or public complaining in community) are mediated by customer's desire of revenge. The analysis was held with brand community customers who has been experienced service recently by using SPSS14K and Smart PLS 2.0. The study verified the structural equation model hypothesizing the between emotional factors and negative reactions. In conclusion, this article provides implications into understanding of customer's negative emotions and user's characteristics that cause negative reactions in on-line brand community. thus, this may allow marketers to have managerial insights on handling of on-line brand community independently operated by consumers.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.11
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• pp.59-78
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• 2003

Thus the purpose of this study is to determine how the brand equity is formed in the psychological process of customers by reviewing previous studies of relations between marketing factors influencing the formation and elements for the formation. Results of the study and their suggestions can be summarized as follows. First, among precedent factors required for the formation of the brand equity, advertisement was found having positive effects on both brand awareness and brand image irrespective of the two groups, or high and low involvement groups. Sales promotion did not have any effects on both brand awareness and brand image in the low involvement group while positively affecting brand awareness in the high involvement group. Distribution intensity was found having effects on both brand awareness and brand image in all of the two groups. Second, relations between brand awareness and brand image showed that the former has effects on the latter in both high and low involvement groups. This suggests that brand awareness plays a role in associating brand image. Third, relations among brand awareness, brand image and brand preference showed that both of the former twos influence the other in the high involvement group and that brand awareness cannot influence brand preference in the low involvement group. Fourth, relations between brand preference and brand loyalty showed that the former has effects on the former in both high and low involvement groups. This suggests that there is little possibility for consumers preferring specific brands to turn to other brands which have advantages such as price discount and gift presentation.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.53-66
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• 2022

Purpose: How to build the attitude on brand is very important, because it affects the positive word of mouth and revisit intention. Brand attachment, brand name, and image congruence play important role on consumer behavior in terms of reinforcing consumers' perception of food service companies and differentiating them from competing brands. Following the planned behavior theory, this paper examines the effect of linking brand attitude to word-of-mouth and revisit intentions in the restaurant sector. Research design, data, and methodology: This paper examines the structural relationship among brand attachment, brand name, image congruence, brand attitude, WOM, and revisit intention. In order to test the purposes of this study, research model and hypotheses were developed. The questionnaire items were modified and used according to the content of this study based on previous studies. All constructs were measured by multiple items tested and developed in the previous research. The study is based on the quantitative method and considered 519 questionnaires fulfilled by customers of restaurants. The data were explored employing the partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Frequency analysis was conducted to identify the general characteristics of the survey subjects. To measure the reliability and validity of the measurement tools, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. Structural model analysis was conducted to verify the research model. Result: The findings demonstrate that brand attachment and brand name had positive effects on attitude while image congruence did not have. Also, attitude had positive effect on WOM and revisit intention. Conclusions: This study expands the literature about WOM and revisit intentions. This study expands prior research in a similar field to which the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is applied, and reveals that brand attachment, brand name, and brand image congruence play an important role in developing brand attitude that affect revisit intention and WOM. And provide guidelines on how to enhance competitiveness in the restaurant sector based on understanding of linking brand attitude to customer loyalty and repeat business. By putting into practice these suggestions in the restaurant industry, brands can easily build up their attitude and boost a positive WOM and the intention to revisit.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.351-361
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• 2019

The objective of this article is to identify an alternative strategy for brand marketing through a case study of the Korean boy band BTS, which has recently seen a huge success in the global music scene. BTS has actively used transmedia storytelling as a tool to survive in the competitive music market. Transmedia storytelling refers to stories that are expanded across different media platforms, engaging audiences to explore from one medium to another to undergo multiple experiences. It gives audiences various ways of enjoying cultural content and participating in cultural content production through numerous media outlets. BTS has established and spread its fictional universe through albums, music videos, short films and webtoons, and has launched diverse projects where fans actively share, create, and play with their content. By inviting fans to actively participate in and interact with the BTS universe spreading through multiple media platforms, BTS can keep its fans engaged and energized. These activities have generated an emotional bond between BTS and their fans, which further leads to a worldwide fandom, based not on a producer-customer relationship but on mutual trust. The BTS case demonstrates the potential of transmedia storytelling as a useful benchmark to provide a positive brand experience for customers, which eventually enhances brand attachment and brand loyalty.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.249-264
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• 2011

Brand is the major enduring asset of a company and more valuable than the totality of specific products and facilities. Thus brands are powerful assets that must be carefully developed and managed. The company should design and implement marketing activities and marketing communication programs to build and grow the brand value. Strarbucks, Samsung Galaxy, and Nike brands get a price premium and generate strong customer loyalty. A power brand has high brand equity, which is the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand. Brand equity is created when brands have strong, favorable and unique brand associations with customers and high level of brand awareness. Therefore marketers in building a strong brand should ensure to develop the right type of customer experiences with products and effective integrated marketing communication(IMC) programs to create the brand equity. Since 2007 Sinhan card acquiring the LG card has developed the new brand identity and carefully managed the advertising campaign and other marketing communication mix tools to create the high brand awareness and differential brand image. In this case study we examine how Sinhan card with the goal of being No.1 brand in the credit card market has developed and implemented the IMC Strategy to build a high level of consumer brand awareness, unique brand image and strong customer relationship.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1-22
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• 2007

Customer satisfaction is important in an increasingly competitive and global marketplace. This implies that customer service is a critical factor for many organizations. In service encounter context, customer satisfaction is affected by employees' attitudes and behaviors. Accordingly, service firms have been focusing on selecting high quality of service employees, which resulted the ability to identify and select quality service- or customer- oriented employees to become critical for an organization's success. It was suggested that customer service orientation links to performance and subsequent organizational revenue. Moreover, it was found that service encounter failures were among the major reasons for customers' service switch. Therefore, the selection of customer service oriented employees is a key factor in establishing customer service - a potential source of sustained competitive advantage. However, the measurement of employee service orientation is more confusing than that of definitive answers. The difficulty of measuring service orientation is attributed to the use of broad versus narrow measures of personality. Advocates for the broad perspective prefer using basic personality constructs, such as the Big Five personality traits. On the contrary, the latter prefer a construct-oriented approach of personality research that provides a better measure of job performance because it requires the specification of the relationship of the personality traits with multiple dimensions of job performance. The customer service orientation was defined as "a set of basic individual predispositions and an inclination to provide service, to be courteous and to be helpful in dealing with customers and associates." Similarly, it is a fact that the Big five personality traits are predictors of customer orientation, and employee's self- and supervisor performance. They propose that basic personality traits may be too far removed from focal service behaviors to be able to predict specific service behaviors (customer orientation) and service worker performance. Also, customer orientation is defined as "an employee's tendency or predisposition to meet customer needs in an on-the-job context." This means that people who have job-relevant personality traits such as concern, empathy, and conscientiousness will be more adept at customer service than people who do not possess these traits. However, little attention has been given to the exploration of the service orientation of customer-contact employees who play a key role in creating satisfactory service encounters in the hospitality industry except for Kim, McCahon, & Miller (2003)'s study, especially in family restaurants context. Thus, the purposes of this study are to examine and validate the customer service orientation of customer-contact employees using the instrument developed by Donavan (1999) in Korean family restaurants, because the scale was developed to measure the personality traits related job behaviors. And this study explores the relationships between customer service orientation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and self service performance using structural equation modeling (SEM). And this study explores the relationships between customer service orientation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and self service performance using structural equation modeling (SEM). For these purposes the author developed several hypotheses as follows: H1: Employee's service orientation is associated with service performance. H2: Employee's service orientation is positively associated with job satisfaction. H3: Employee's service orientation is positively associated with organizational commitment. H4: Service performance is positively associated with job satisfaction. H5: Service performance is positively associated with organizational commitment. H6: Job satisfaction is negatively associated with organizational commitment. The data were collected from 278 employees in 5 deluxe hotels located in Pusan, Korea. The researcher contacted the manager of the restaurants, and managers consented to administer surveys to their employees. The survey was executed during one month period in the October of 2007. The data were analyzed with structural equation modeling with LISREL 8.7 W. The result of the overall model analysis appeared as follows: $X^2$=122.638 (p = 0.00), df=59, GFI=.936, AGFI=.901, NFI=.948, CFI=.971, RMSEA=.0625. Since the result of the overall model analysis demonstrated a good fit, we could further analyze our data. The findings can be summarized as follows: First, the greater the employee service orientation, the greater the service performance. Second, the greater the employee service orientation, the greater the job satisfaction. Third, the greater the employee service orientation, the greater the organizational commitment. Fourth, the greater the service performance, the greater the job satisfaction. Fifth, the greater the service performance, the greater the organizational commitment. Finally, the greater the job satisfaction, the greater the organizational commitment. Seventh, the greater the customer satisfaction, the greater the customer loyalty.