• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.75-97
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• 2013

While good return policies are suggested as one of the critical services for e-commerce, ambivalence between the burden of the cost and shoppers' satisfaction may prevent e-tailers from increasing their level of leniency. Based on the S-O-R model, this study has attempted to develop a grounded theory to explain how lenient return policies shape online shoppers' perceptions and responses, with a focus on cultural influences in the relationship. In order to check the cultural effects of the lenient return policy, thirty two female and eleven male undergraduate students in South Korean shoppers, who are accustomed to strict return policies, participated in the semi-structured interview. A series of open-ended questions were designed to explore consumers' reactions toward four different levels of the lenient return policy: from the strict type in South Korea to the lenient type in the U.S. Using qualitative research methods, this research has defined three types of dimensions of lenient return policy: return possible period, complexity of progress, and other restrictions. While previous researchers did not pay much attention, the last dimension, other restrictions, is shown to be the most significant in influencing online shoppers' perceptions, especially in South Korea. Also, the impacts on online shoppers' perceptions from the three types of sub-dimensions of return policy were somewhat different. Whereas a longer return possible period was considered more favorable, a medium level of complexity and restrictions were considered more desirable. In summary, this result showed that shoppers in Eastern cultures, i.e. South Korean online shoppers, seem favorable to a medium level of lenient return policies, while allowing for taking precautions against possible fraudulent behaviors and setting other restrictions. Therefore, most of retailers in South Korea recommended that e-tailers who adopt the most lenient return policies raise the bar to guard ethical shoppers from fraudulent users. Next, lenient return policies can enhance ease of use, usefulness, affect, and trust while relieving perceived risk, which is connected to intention to purchase, satisfaction, and loyalty. Interestingly, lenient return policies are more likely to change the behavioral responses of online shoppers, such as return and purchase, rather than change their attitudes or beliefs such as image, satisfaction, and loyalty. This tendency can be seen more clearly in the direct influences of return policy on responses. The reaction to lenient return policy is mostly the intention to return or to purchase. This suggests that return policy serves the e-tailers as a powerful tool in increasing online shoppers' purchase intention at the moment of purchase. Therefore, e-tailers who plan to expand their market to eastern countries, including South Korea, have to build a shield of restrictions around their lenient return policy, rather than immediately applying their original liberalized return policy. Also, e-tailers in South Korea need to review their strict and undifferentiated return policies to deal with the unsatisfied reactions of online shoppers toward their normal return policies. Although the present study was confined to the return policies currently being practiced by popular e-tailers, it would be worthwhile to develop effective return policies separately for each country, especially South Korea, keeping the culture of the relevant country in mind.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.171-196
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• 2018

With the development of the web, two-way communication and evaluation became possible and marketing paradigms shifted. In order to meet the needs of consumers, web design trends are continuously responding to consumer feedback. As the web becomes more and more important, both academics and businesses are studying consumer emotions and satisfaction on the web. However, some consumer characteristics are not well considered. Demographic characteristics such as age and sex have been studied extensively, but few studies consider psychological characteristics such as regulatory focus (i.e., emotional regulation). In this study, we analyze the effect of web style on consumer emotion. Many studies analyze the relationship between the web and regulatory focus, but most concentrate on the purpose of web use, particularly motivation and information search, rather than on web style and design. The web communicates with users through visual elements. Because the human brain is influenced by all five senses, both design factors and emotional responses are important in the web environment. Therefore, in this study, we examine the relationship between consumer emotion and satisfaction and web style and design. Previous studies have considered the effects of web layout, structure, and color on emotions. In this study, however, we excluded these web components, in contrast to earlier studies, and analyzed the relationship between consumer satisfaction and emotional indexes of web-style only. To perform this analysis, we collected consumer surveys presenting 40 web style themes to 204 consumers. Each consumer evaluated four themes. The emotional adjectives evaluated by consumers were composed of 18 contrast pairs, and the upper emotional indexes were extracted through factor analysis. The emotional indexes were 'softness,' 'modernity,' 'clearness,' and 'jam.' Hypotheses were established based on the assumption that emotional indexes have different effects on consumer satisfaction. After the analysis, hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 were accepted and hypothesis 4 was rejected. While hypothesis 4 was rejected, its effect on consumer satisfaction was negative, not positive. This means that emotional indexes such as 'softness,' 'modernity,' and 'clearness' have a positive effect on consumer satisfaction. In other words, consumers prefer emotions that are soft, emotional, natural, rounded, dynamic, modern, elaborate, unique, bright, pure, and clear. 'Jam' has a negative effect on consumer satisfaction. It means, consumer prefer the emotion which is empty, plain, and simple. Regulatory focus shows differences in motivation and propensity in various domains. It is important to consider organizational behavior and decision making according to the regulatory focus tendency, and it affects not only political, cultural, ethical judgments and behavior but also broad psychological problems. Regulatory focus also differs from emotional response. Promotion focus responds more strongly to positive emotional responses. On the other hand, prevention focus has a strong response to negative emotions. Web style is a type of service, and consumer satisfaction is affected not only by cognitive evaluation but also by emotion. This emotional response depends on whether the consumer will benefit or harm himself. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm the difference of the consumer's emotional response according to the regulatory focus which is one of the characteristics and viewpoint of the consumers about the web style. After MMR analysis result, hypothesis 5.3 was accepted, and hypothesis 5.4 was rejected. But hypothesis 5.4 supported in the opposite direction to the hypothesis. After validation, we confirmed the mechanism of emotional response according to the tendency of regulatory focus. Using the results, we developed the structure of web-style recommendation system and recommend methods through regulatory focus. We classified the regulatory focus group in to three categories that promotion, grey, prevention. Then, we suggest web-style recommend method along the group. If we further develop this study, we expect that the existing regulatory focus theory can be extended not only to the motivational part but also to the emotional behavioral response according to the regulatory focus tendency. Moreover, we believe that it is possible to recommend web-style according to regulatory focus and emotional desire which consumers most prefer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.30
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• pp.261-274
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• 1996

In the present age dominate by both cer-taingty of 1% and uncertainty of 99% 'Fuzzy thinking' of Bart Kosko that is the way to solve the problems by the scientific way through a worldview of Buddhism or Taoism greatly prevails around the world over 'Lateral greatly prevails around the world over 'Lateral thinking' and the authenticity or the right and-wrong of the uncertainty which is the thinking way to find the answer of the problems of illogical way of Edward de Beno against the western vertical thinking were Concurrently fashion designers over the world also adopt the oriental elements. But there exist differences of thoughts between the orient and the occident. And they have dif-ferent thinking way of aestheticism and references of the value on the beauty. Not only beauty but the view through the mind as intuitional thought in which not only the rec-ognition of sense but also the rationalism and the naturalness play key role. The aesthetic sense in the orient contains both the truth and virtue. 2) The beauty of the mean It's from the thought of neutralization of Confucius. The mean or moderation state which in harmony with ethical virtue and aes-thetic beauty is the ideal and is the ultimate. Therefore the thought of Confucian is the creativity in which the balance and the har-mony is most important. Fashion design is also one of the representation of the mean because the spirit of the designer is harmonized for-mlessly with the object of the model of the fashion design. 2) The beauty of skillfulness It indicates the Taoism of Lao-tzu and Chuangtzu. It takes a super-artistic declar-ation that human can feel and recognize the color of colorlessness the sound of sound-lessness and the taste of tastelessness. The thought of arts affected by Taoism is 'ad-vanced age' called the beauty of skillfulness. The view of arts of lao-tzu takes the beauty of cosmos and the nature as a standard. Es-pecially the beauty of inactivity is recognized by the linkage between the beauty and the ugliness. And these things appear in fashion design as a design element such as humor or exaggeration. 3) The beauty of non-dualism It is thought of Buddhism that all evil passions of worry occur form the opposition in dualism. Finally this thought leads to that everything is consistent and truth is only one from the point of view that virtue and vice has on linkage that is 'no virtues no vices' and 'one with two, two, with one, one is not two' A big tendency like this became the root forma-tion of the thought of the oriental arts. 3. Characteristics of the oriental aesthetic sense on the present fashion design 1) The formation of the fashion design on the oriental elements In the picture-incantation which was a representation of an era when the thought of 'cosmic dual forces' dominated the basic polygons of 'a circle square triangle' means both 'one two three' and 'the negative positive mean' of cosmic elements. From this point of view the was of planner cutting in the Orient is dif-ferent from that of the Occidental which is in three-dimensional. The planner polygon type of the cut-pieces comes to have the meaning of the three-dimension when they consist of a suit that has the combination of each cut-piece. This shows the consistency with the principle of cosmos creation of Taoism that one is two two is three and three is every-thing. 2) The coloring and the symbolic represen-tation of the fashion design on the orien-tal elements The sense on the colors in the Orient from the thought of 'the cosmic dual forces and the five elements' is not the experi-enced from the knowledge but contains the consideration of philosophy Five-primary-color representing compass directions Blue(East) Red(South) Yellow(Center) White (West) and Black (North) is called ' the posi-tive' for this five-primary-color secondary-color which comes from the compound of the primary colors is called 'the negative' The thought of 'the cosmic dual forces and the five elements' is also an theory containing the natural order of the cos-mos and this shows the perceptional differ-ence that they are not conceptual but to be recognized and fell directly. A thought of Buddhism which is 'Colors are colorlessness and Clolorlessness are color's proves that. 3) The pattern and symbolic representation of the fashion design on the oriental elements The pattern as a visual style is a figure of symbolic representation which adopt the mental and physical world of human and are the compo-sition of artistic revelation of the human nature and the religous thought of incantation. Es-pecially the symbolic representation of the oriental thought of Confusion. Buddhism and Taoism There are patterns such as plants aminals the oriental four gods and geometry. From the above it's the time toward the 21'th century when the world is constructing one global area and one historical zone. And the exotic mood of the Orient represented in the fashion which doesn't make the common feeling in general does not cease to develop only to express the visual modeling but also adopts the thought religion and the art which are the root of the Orientail and contains inherent willing of modeling.

• Journal of Ethics
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• no.88
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• pp.103-122
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• 2013

This paper aims to study on conceptual suitability or unfitness of Silhak(實學). It is general that by criticizing Chujahak(朱子學) or beyond the limitation of Seonglihak(性理學), Silhak has developed practical tendency to reforming the society in the middle and end of Chosen Dynasty, related to the context of Korean national reflection in modern times. However, it is unfortunate to be understood. As presented in Chosenwangjosillok(『朝鮮王朝實錄』), there has been a few usages in the term 'Silhak'. In short, it was different from its contemporary meaning. At that time, it was usually used to have the meaning of Gyunghak(經學), compared to Sajanghak(詞章學), or rarely, of 'the true study' or 'the practical study'. Therefore, it is to claim that its conception has been manipulated or exaggerated very seriously. Since 1930s, in particular, its conception has been misused in interpreting works of Jung Yak-Yong by some scholars, such as Jung In-Bo, Moon Il-Pyung and An Jae-Hong, who tried to apply the term to overcome the Japanese colonial era symbolised as modernity based on the future life of Korea. Even though their attempt has led to have crucial discussions on the conceptions of Silhak, it has an unnecessary result that there has been a new and totally different understanding of Silhak in South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, etc., which means that the unsustainable conception of Silhak has been one of major problems in studying of Silhak. To give an practical solution, I would try to make sense of 'time spirit' whose scholars studied Silhak in the middle and end of Chosen Dynasty. A problem, however, is that a scholar group in the name of Bukhakpa(北學派) had certain links and bonds. This is because many scholars studying of Silhak were usually features out of the main stream, which made them it difficult to form any various groups. That is to say, it seems to be natural that they have dreamed of utopian imaginations less than of overlapping points in reality. To sum up, it would be concluded at least that any approach to human lives and thoughts in the given conceptions of Silhak, e.g. ethical thoughts of Silhak, enables us to be indifferentiated to take its true meaning and time spirit of Chosen Dynasty. To be disenchanted of its social roles in Chosen Dynasty, fundamentally, it should be escaped from the wrong net of illusions and sings in understanding Silhak in certain eclectic steps.