• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.247-269
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• 2007

In recent years, one of the major reasons for the fierce competition amongst firms is that they strive to increase their own market shares and customer acquisition rate in the same market with similar and apparently undifferentiated products in terms of quality and perceived benefit. Because of this change in recent marketing environment, the differentiated after-sales service and diversified promotion strategies have become more important to gain competitive advantage. Price promotion is the favorite strategy that most retailers use to achieve short-term sales increase, induce consumer's brand switch, in troduce new product into market, and so forth. However, if marketers apply or copy an identical price promotion strategy without considering the characteristic differences in product and consumer preference, it will cause serious problems because discounted price itself could make people skeptical about product quality, and the changes of perceived value might appear differently depending on other factors such as consumer involvement or brand attitude. Previous studies showed that price promotion would certainly increase sales, and the discounted price compared to regular price would enhance the consumer's perceived values. On the other hand, discounted price itself could make people depreciate or skeptical about product quality, and reduce the consumers' positivity bias because consumers might be unsure whether the current price promotion is the retailer's best price offer. Moreover, we cannot say that discounted price absolutely enhances the consumer's perceived values regardless of product category and purchase situations. That is, the factors that affect consumers' value perceptions and buying behavior are so diverse in reality that the results of studies on the same dependent variable come out differently depending on what variable was used or how experiment conditions were designed. Majority of previous researches on the effect of price-comparison advertising have used consumers' buying behavior as dependent variable. In order to figure out consumers' buying behavior theoretically, analysis of value perceptions which influence buying intentions is needed. In addition, they did not combined the independent variables such as brand loyalty and price discount rate together. For this reason, this paper tried to examine the moderating effect of brand loyalty on relationship between the different levels of discounting rate and buyers' value perception. And we provided with theoretical and managerial implications that marketers need to consider such variables as product attributes, brand loyalty, and consumer involvement at the same time, and then establish a differentiated pricing strategy case by case in order to enhance consumer's perceived values properl. Three research concepts were used in our study and each concept based on past researches was defined. The perceived acquisition value in this study was defined as the perceived net gains associated with the products or services acquired. That is, the perceived acquisition value of the product will be positively influenced by the benefits buyers believe they are getting by acquiring and using the product, and negatively influenced by the money given up to acquire the product. And the perceived transaction value was defined as the perception of psychological satisfaction or pleasure obtained from taking advantage of the financial terms of the price deal. Lastly, the brand loyalty was defined as favorable attitude towards a purchased product. Thus, a consumer loyal to a brand has an emotional attachment to the brand or firm. Repeat purchasers continue to buy the same brand even though they do not have an emotional attachment to it. We assumed that if the degree of brand loyalty is high, the perceived acquisition value and the perceived transaction value will increase when higher discount rate is provided. But we found that there are no significant differences in values between two different discount rates as a result of empirical analysis. It means that price reduction did not affect consumer's brand choice significantly because the perceived sacrifice decreased only a little, and customers are satisfied with product's benefits when brand loyalty is high. From the result, we confirmed that consumers with high degree of brand loyalty to a specific product are less sensitive to price change. Thus, using price promotion strategy to merely expect sale increase is not recommendable. Instead of discounting price, marketers need to strengthen consumers' brand loyalty and maintain the skimming strategy. On the contrary, when the degree of brand loyalty is low, the perceived acquisition value and the perceived transaction value decreased significantly when higher discount rate is provided. Generally brands that are considered inferior might be able to draw attention away from the quality of the product by making consumers focus more on the sacrifice component of price. But considering the fact that consumers with low degree of brand loyalty are known to be unsatisfied with product's benefits and have relatively negative brand attitude, bigger price reduction offered in experiment condition of this paper made consumers depreciate product's quality and benefit more and more, and consumer's psychological perceived sacrifice increased while perceived values decreased accordingly. We infer that, in the case of inferior brand, a drastic price-cut or frequent price promotion may increase consumers' uncertainty about overall components of product. Therefore, it appears that reinforcing the augmented product such as after-sale service, delivery and giving credit which is one of the levels consisting of product would be more effective in reality. This will be better rather than competing with product that holds high brand loyalty by reducing sale price. Although this study tried to examine the moderating effect of brand loyalty on relationship between the different levels of discounting rate and buyers' value perception, there are several limitations. This study was conducted in controlled conditions where the high involvement product and two different levels of discount rate were applied. Given the presence of low involvement product, when both pieces of information are available, it is likely that the results we have reported here may have been different. Thus, this research results explain only the specific situation. Second, the sample selected in this study was university students in their twenties, so we cannot say that the results are firmly effective to all generations. Future research that manipulates the level of discount along with the consumer involvement might lead to a more robust understanding of the effects various discount rate. And, we used a cellular phone as a product stimulus, so it would be very interesting to analyze the result when the product stimulus is an intangible product such as service. It could be also valuable to analyze whether the change of perceived value affects consumers' final buying behavior positively or negatively.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.139-166
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• 2010

The supply chain management (SCM) systems have emerged as strong managerial tools for manufacturing firms in enhancing competitive strength. Despite of large investments in the SCM systems, many companies are not fully realizing the promised benefits from the systems. A review of literature on adoption, implementation and success factor of IOS (inter-organization systems), EDI (electronic data interchange) systems, shows that this issue has been examined from multiple theoretic perspectives. And many researchers have attempted to identify the factors which influence the success of system implementation. However, the existing studies have two drawbacks in revealing the determinants of systems implementation success. First, previous researches raise questions as to the appropriateness of research subjects selected. Most SCM systems are operating in the form of private industrial networks, where the participants of the systems consist of two distinct groups: focus companies and vendors. The focus companies are the primary actors in developing and operating the systems, while vendors are passive participants which are connected to the system in order to supply raw materials and parts to the focus companies. Under the circumstance, there are three ways in selecting the research subjects; focus companies only, vendors only, or two parties grouped together. It is hard to find researches that use the focus companies exclusively as the subjects probably due to the insufficient sample size for statistic analysis. Most researches have been conducted using the data collected from both groups. We argue that the SCM success factors cannot be correctly indentified in this case. The focus companies and the vendors are in different positions in many areas regarding the system implementation: firm size, managerial resources, bargaining power, organizational maturity, and etc. There are no obvious reasons to believe that the success factors of the two groups are identical. Grouping the two groups also raises questions on measuring the system success. The benefits from utilizing the systems may not be commonly distributed to the two groups. One group's benefits might be realized at the expenses of the other group considering the situation where vendors participating in SCM systems are under continuous pressures from the focus companies with respect to prices, quality, and delivery time. Therefore, by combining the system outcomes of both groups we cannot measure the system benefits obtained by each group correctly. Second, the measures of system success adopted in the previous researches have shortcoming in measuring the SCM success. User satisfaction, system utilization, and user attitudes toward the systems are most commonly used success measures in the existing studies. These measures have been developed as proxy variables in the studies of decision support systems (DSS) where the contribution of the systems to the organization performance is very difficult to measure. Unlike the DSS, the SCM systems have more specific goals, such as cost saving, inventory reduction, quality improvement, rapid time, and higher customer service. We maintain that more specific measures can be developed instead of proxy variables in order to measure the system benefits correctly. The purpose of this study is to find the determinants of SCM systems success in the perspective of vendor companies. In developing the research model, we have focused on selecting the success factors appropriate for the vendors through reviewing past researches and on developing more accurate success measures. The variables can be classified into following: technological, organizational, and environmental factors on the basis of TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework. The model consists of three independent variables (competition intensity, top management support, and information system maturity), one mediating variable (collaboration), one moderating variable (government support), and a dependent variable (system success). The systems success measures have been developed to reflect the operational benefits of the SCM systems; improvement in planning and analysis capabilities, faster throughput, cost reduction, task integration, and improved product and customer service. The model has been validated using the survey data collected from 122 vendors participating in the SCM systems in Korea. To test for mediation, one should estimate the hierarchical regression analysis on the collaboration. And moderating effect analysis should estimate the moderated multiple regression, examines the effect of the government support. The result shows that information system maturity and top management support are the most important determinants of SCM system success. Supply chain technologies that standardize data formats and enhance information sharing may be adopted by supply chain leader organization because of the influence of focal company in the private industrial networks in order to streamline transactions and improve inter-organization communication. Specially, the need to develop and sustain an information system maturity will provide the focus and purpose to successfully overcome information system obstacles and resistance to innovation diffusion within the supply chain network organization. The support of top management will help focus efforts toward the realization of inter-organizational benefits and lend credibility to functional managers responsible for its implementation. The active involvement, vision, and direction of high level executives provide the impetus needed to sustain the implementation of SCM. The quality of collaboration relationships also is positively related to outcome variable. Collaboration variable is found to have a mediation effect between on influencing factors and implementation success. Higher levels of inter-organizational collaboration behaviors such as shared planning and flexibility in coordinating activities were found to be strongly linked to the vendors trust in the supply chain network. Government support moderates the effect of the IS maturity, competitive intensity, top management support on collaboration and implementation success of SCM. In general, the vendor companies face substantially greater risks in SCM implementation than the larger companies do because of severe constraints on financial and human resources and limited education on SCM systems. Besides resources, Vendors generally lack computer experience and do not have sufficient internal SCM expertise. For these reasons, government supports may establish requirements for firms doing business with the government or provide incentives to adopt, implementation SCM or practices. Government support provides significant improvements in implementation success of SCM when IS maturity, competitive intensity, top management support and collaboration are low. The environmental characteristic of competition intensity has no direct effect on vendor perspective of SCM system success. But, vendors facing above average competition intensity will have a greater need for changing technology. This suggests that companies trying to implement SCM systems should set up compatible supply chain networks and a high-quality collaboration relationship for implementation and performance.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.111-131
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• 2007

As a brand becomes a core asset in creating a corporation's value, brand marketing has become one of core strategies that corporations pursue. Recently, for customer relationship management, possession and consumption of goods were centered on brand for the management. Thus, management related to this matter was developed. The main reason of the increased interest on the relationship between the brand and the consumer is due to acquisition of individual consumers and development of relationship with those consumers. Along with the development of relationship, a corporation is able to establish long-term relationships. This has become a competitive advantage for the corporation. All of these processes became the strategic assets of corporations. The importance and the increase of interest of a brand have also become a big issue academically. Brand equity, brand extension, brand identity, brand relationship, and brand community are the results derived from the interest of a brand. More specifically, in marketing, the study of brands has been led to the study of factors related to building of powerful brands and the process of building the brand. Recently, studies concentrated primarily on the consumer-brand relationship. The reason is that brand loyalty can not explain the dynamic quality aspects of loyalty, the consumer-brand relationship building process, and especially interactions between the brands and the consumers. In the studies of consumer-brand relationship, a brand is not just limited to possession or consumption objectives, but rather conceptualized as partners. Most of the studies from the past concentrated on the results of qualitative analysis of consumer-brand relationship to show the depth and width of the performance of consumer-brand relationship. Studies in Korea have been the same. Recently, studies of consumer-brand relationship started to concentrate on quantitative analysis rather than qualitative analysis or even go further with quantitative analysis to show effecting factors of consumer-brand relationship. Studies of new quantitative approaches show the possibilities of using the results as a new concept of viewing consumer-brand relationship and possibilities of applying these new concepts on marketing. Studies of consumer-brand relationship with quantitative approach already exist, but none of them include sub-dimensions of consumer-brand relationship, which presents theoretical proofs for measurement. In other words, most studies add up or average out the sub-dimensions of consumer-brand relationship. However, to do these kind of studies, precondition of sub-dimensions being in identical constructs is necessary. Therefore, most of the studies from the past do not meet conditions of sub-dimensions being as one dimension construct. From this, we question the validity of past studies and their limits. The main purpose of this paper is to overcome the limits shown from the past studies by practical use of previous studies on sub-dimensions in a one-dimensional construct (Naver & Slater, 1990; Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Chang & Chen, 1998). In this study, two arbitrary groups were classified to evaluate reliability of the measurements and reliability analyses were pursued on each group. For convergent validity, correlations, Cronbach's, one-factor solution exploratory analysis were used. For discriminant validity correlation of consumer-brand relationship was compared with that of an involvement, which is a similar concept with consumer-based relationship. It also indicated dependent correlations by Cohen and Cohen (1975, p.35) and results showed that it was different constructs from 6 sub-dimensions of consumer-brand relationship. Through the results of studies mentioned above, we were able to finalize that sub-dimensions of consumer-brand relationship can viewed from one-dimensional constructs. This means that the one-dimensional construct of consumer-brand relationship can be viewed with reliability and validity. The result of this research is theoretically meaningful in that it assumes consumer-brand relationship in a one-dimensional construct and provides the basis of methodologies which are previously preformed. It is thought that this research also provides the possibility of new research on consumer-brand relationship in that it gives root to the fact that it is possible to manipulate one-dimensional constructs consisting of consumer-brand relationship. In the case of previous research on consumer-brand relationship, consumer-brand relationship is classified into several types on the basis of components consisting of consumer-brand relationship and a number of studies have been performed with priority given to the types. However, as we can possibly manipulate a one-dimensional construct through this research, it is expected that various studies which make the level or strength of consumer-brand relationship practical application of construct will be performed, and not research focused on separate types of consumer-brand relationship. Additionally, we have the theoretical basis of probability in which to manipulate the consumer-brand relationship with one-dimensional constructs. It is anticipated that studies using this construct, which is consumer-brand relationship, practical use of dependent variables, parameters, mediators, and so on, will be performed.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.239-260
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• 2019

This paper examines the circulation and dissemination of painting during and after the nineteenth century through a case study on the One Hundred Fans paintings produced as decorative folding screens at the time. One Hundred Fans paintings refer to depictions of layers of fans in various shapes on which pictures of diverse themes are drawn. Fans and paintings on fans were depicted on paintings before the nineteenth century. However, it was in the nineteenth century that they began to be applied as subject matter for decorative paintings. Reflecting the trend of enjoying extravagant hobbies, fans and paintings on fans were mainly produced as folding screens. The folding screen of One Hundred Fans from the collection of the Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt (hereafter Rothenbaum Museum) in Germany was first introduced to Korean in the exhibition The City in Art, Art in the City held at the National Museum of Korea in 2016. Each panel in this six-panel folding screen features more than five different fans painted with diverse topics. This folding screen is of particular significance since the National Museum of Korea holds the original drawings. In the nineteenth century, calligraphy and painting that had formerly been enjoyed by Joseon royal family members and the nobility in private spaces began to spread among common people and was distributed through markets. In accordance with the trend of adorning households, colorful decorative paintings were preferred, leading to the popularization of the production of One Hundred Fans folding screens with pictures in different shapes and themes. A majority of the Korean collection in the Rothenbaum Museum belonged to Heinrich Constantin Eduard Meyer(1841~1926), a German businessman who served as the Joseon consul general in Germany. From the late 1890s until 1905, Meyer traveled back and forth between Joseon and Germany and collected a wide range of Korean artifacts. After returning to Germany, he sequentially donated his collections, including One Hundred Fans, to the Rothenbaum Museum. Folding screens like One Hundred Fans with their fresh and decorative beauty may have attracted the attention of foreigners living in Joseon. The One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum is an intriguing work in that during its treatment, a piece of paper with the inscription of the place name "Donghyeon" was found pasted upside down on the back of the second panel. Donghyeon was situated in between Euljiro 1-ga and Euljiro 2-ga in present-day Seoul. During the Joseon Dynasty, a domestic handicraft industry boomed in the area based on licensed shops and government offices, including the Dohwaseo (Royal Bureau of Painting), Hyeminseo (Royal Bureau of Public Dispensary), and Jangagwon (Royal Bureau of Music). In fact, in the early 1900s, shops selling calligraphy and painting existed in Donghyeon. Thus, it is very likely that the shops where Meyer purchased his collection of calligraphy and painting were located in Donghyeon. The six-panel folding screen One Hundred Fans in the collection of the Rothenbaum Museum is thought to have acquired its present form during a process of restoring Korean artifacts works in the 1980s. The original drawings of One Hundred Fans currently housed in the National Museum of Korea was acquired by the National Folk Museum of Korea between 1945 and 1950. Among the seven drawings of the painting, six indicate the order of their panels in the margins, which relates that the painting was originally an eight-panel folding screen. Each drawing shows more than five different fans. The details of these fans, including small decorations and patterns on the ribs, are realistically depicted. The names of the colors to be applied, including 'red ocher', 'red', 'ink', and 'blue', are written on most of the fans, while some are left empty or 'oil' is indicated on them. Ten fans have sketches of flowers, plants, and insects or historical figures. A comparison between these drawings and the folding screen of One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum has revealed that their size and proportion are identical. This shows that the Rothenbaum Museum painting follows the directions set forth in the original drawings. The fans on the folding screen of One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum are painted with images on diverse themes, including landscapes, narrative figures, birds and flowers, birds and animals, plants and insects, and fish and crabs. In particular, flowers and butterflies and fish and crabs were popular themes favored by nineteenth century Joseon painters. It is noteworthy that the folding screen One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum includes several scenes recalling the typical painting style of Kim Hong-do, unlike other folding screens of One Hundred Fans or Various Paintings and Calligraphy. As a case in point, the theme of "Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden" is depicted in the Rothenbaum folding screen even though it is not commonly included in folding screens of One Hundred Fans or One Hundred Paintings due to spatial limitations. The scene of "Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden" in the Rothenbaum folding screen bears a resemblance to Kim Hong-do's folding screen of Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden at the National Museum of Korea in terms of its composition and style. Moreover, a few scenes on the Rothenbaum folding screen are similar to examples in the Painting Album of Byeongjin Year produced by Kim Hong-do in 1796. The painter who drew the fan paintings on the Rothenbaum folding screen is presumed to have been influenced by Kim Hong-do since the fan paintings of a landscape similar to Sainsam Rock, an Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden, and a Pair of Pheasants are all reminiscent of Kim's style. These paintings in the style of Kim Hong-do are reproduced on the fans left empty in the original drawings. The figure who produced both the original drawings and fan paintings appears to have been a professional painter influenced by Kim Hong-do. He might have appreciated Kim's Painting Album of Byeongjin Year or created duplicates of Painting Album of Byeongjin Year for circulation in the art market. We have so far identified about ten folding screens remaining with the One Hundred Fans. The composition of these folding screens are similar each other except for a slight difference in the number and proportion of the fans or reversed left and right sides of the fans. Such uniform composition can be also found in the paintings of scholar's accoutrements in the nineteenth century. This suggests that the increasing demand for calligraphy and painting in the nineteenth century led to the application of manuals for the mass production of decorative paintings. As the demand for colorful decorative folding screens with intricate designs increased from the nineteenth century, original drawings began to be used as models for producing various paintings. These were fully utilized when making large-scale folding screens with images such as Guo Ziyi's Enjoyment-of-Life Banquet, Banquet of the Queen Mother of the West, One Hundred Children, and the Sun, Cranes and Heavenly Peaches, all of which entailed complicated patterns. In fact, several designs repeatedly emerge in the extant folding screens, suggesting the use of original drawings as models. A tendency toward using original drawings as models for producing folding screens in large quantities in accordance with market demand is reflected in the production of the folding screens of One Hundred Fans filled with fans in different shapes and fan paintings on diverse themes. In the case of the folding screens of One Hundred Paintings, bordering frames are drawn first and then various paintings are executed inside the frames. In folding screens of One Hundred Fans, however, fans in diverse forms were drawn first. Accordingly, it must have been difficult to produce them in bulk. Existing examples are relatively fewer than other folding screens. As discussed above, the folding screen of One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum and its original drawings at the National Museum of Korea aptly demonstrate the late Joseon painting trend of embracing and employing new painting styles. Further in-depth research into the Rothenbaum painting is required in that it is a rare example exhibiting the influence of Kim Hong-do compared to other paintings on the theme of One Hundred Fans whose composition and painting style are more similar to those found in the work of Bak Gi-jun.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.5-19
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• 1998

Introduction: Direct histologic and bacteriologic examination of a representative specimen of lung tissue is the only certain method of providing an accurate diagnosis in various pulmonary diseases including diffuse pulmonary diseases. The purpose of national survey was to define the indication, incidence, effectiveness, safety and complication of open and thoracoscopic lung biopsy in korea. Methods: A multicenter registry of 37 university or general hospitals equipped more than 400 patient's bed were retrospectively collected and analyzed for 3 years from the January 1994 to December 1996 using the same registry protocol. Results: 1) There were 511 cases from the 37 hospitals during 3 years. The mean age was 50.2 years(${\pm}15.1$ years) and men was more prevalent than women(54.9% vs 45.9%). 2) The open lung biopsy was performed in 313 cases(62%) and thoracoscopic lung biopsy was performed in 192 cases(38%). The incidence of lung biopsy was more higher in diffuse lung disease(305 cases, 59.7%) than in localized lung disease(206 cases, 40.3%) 3) The duration after abnormalities was found in chest X-ray until lung biopsy was 82.4 days(open lung biopsy: 72.8 days, thoracoscopic lung biopsy: 99.4 days). The bronchoscopy was performed in 272 cases(53.2%), bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in 123 cases(24.1%) and percutaneous lung biopsy was performed in 72 cases(14.1%) before open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy. 4) There were 230 cases(45.0%) of interstitial lung disease, 133 cases(26.0%) of thoracic malignancies, 118 cases(23.1%) of infectious lung disease including tuberculosis and 30 cases (5.9 %) of other lung diseases including congenital anomalies. No significant differences were noted in diagnostic rate and disease characteristics between open lung biopsy and thoracoscopic lung biopsy. 5) The final diagnosis through an open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy was as same as the presumptive diagnosis before the biopsy in 302 cases(59.2%). The identical diagnostic rate was 66.5% in interstitial lung diseases, 58.7% in thoracic malignancies, 32.7% in lung infections, 55.1 % in pulmonary tuberculosis, 62.5% in other lung diseases including congenital anomalies. 6) One days after lung biopsy, $PaCO_2$ was increased from the prebiopsy level of $38.9{\pm}5.8mmHg$ to the $40.2{\pm}7.1mmHg$(P<0.05) and $PaO_2/FiO_2$ was decreased from the prebiopsy level of $380.3{\pm}109.3mmHg$ to the $339.2{\pm}138.2mmHg$(P=0.01). 7) There was a 10.1 % of complication after lung biopsy. The complication rate in open lung biopsy was much higher than in thoracoscopic lung biopsy(12.4% vs 5.8%, P<0.05). The incidence of complication was pneumothorax(23 cases, 4.6%), hemothorax(7 cases, 1.4%), death(6 cases, 1.2%) and others(15 cases, 2.9%). 8) The 5 cases of death due to lung biopsy were associated with open lung biopsy and one fatal case did not describe the method of lung biopsy. The underlying disease was 3 cases of thoracic malignancies(2 cases of bronchoalveolar cell cancer and one malignant mesothelioma), 2 cases of metastatic lung cancer, and one interstitial lung disease. The duration between open lung biopsy and death was $15.5{\pm}9.9$ days. 9) Despite the lung biopsy, 19 cases (3.7%) could not diagnosed. These findings were caused by biopsy was taken other than target lesion(5 cases), too small size to interpretate(3 cases), pathologic inability(11 cases). 10) The contribution of open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy to the final diagnosis was defininitely helpful(334 cases, 66.5%), moderately helpful(140 cases, 27.9%), not helpful or impossible to judge(28 cases, 5.6%). Overall, open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy were helpful to diagnose the lung lesion in 94.4 % of total cases. Conclusions: The open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy were relatively safe and reliable diagnostic method of lung lesion which could not diagnosed by other diagnostic approaches such as bronchoscopy. We recommend the thoracoscopic lung biopsy when the patients were in critical condition because the thoracoscopic biopsy was more safe and have equal diagnostic results compared with the open lung biopsy.