• Title/Summary/Keyword: Importance Perception

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A Study on the Changes in Functions of Ship Officer and Manpower Training by the Introduction of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (자율운항선박 도입에 따른 해기사 직능 변화와 인력양성에 관한연구)

  • Lim, Sung-Ju;Shin, Yong-John
    • Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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    • v.46 no.1
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2022
  • This study aims to investigate changes in the demand for ship officers in response to changes in the shipping industry environment in which Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) emerge according to the application of the fourth industrial revolution technology to ships, and it looks into changes in the skill of ship officer. It also analyzes and proposes a plan for nurturing ship officers accordingly. As a result of the degree of recognition and AHP analysis, this study suggests that a new training system is required because the current training and education system may cover the job competencies of emergency response, caution and danger navigation, general sailing, cargo handling, seaworthiness maintenance, emergency response, and ship maintenance and management, but tasks such as remote control, monitoring diagnosis, device management capability, and big data analysis require competency for unmanned and shore-based control. By evaluating the importance of change factors in the duties of ship officers in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships, this study provides information on ship officer educational institutions' response strategies for nurturing ship officers and prioritization of resource allocation, etc. The importance of these factors was compared and evaluated to suggest changes in the duties of ship officers and methods of nurturing ship officers according to the introduction of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships. It is expected that the findings of this study will be meaningful as it systematically derives the duties and competency factors of ship officers of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships from a practical point of view and analyzed the perception level of each relevant expert to diagnose expert-level responses to the introduction of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships.

Essay on Form and Function Design (디자인의 형태와 기능에 관한 연구)

  • 이재국
    • Archives of design research
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.63-97
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    • 1989
  • There is nothing more important than the form and function in design, because every design product can be done on the basis of them. Form and Function are already existed before the word of design has been appeared and all the natural and man-made things' basic organization is based on their organic relations. The organic relations is the source of vitality which identifies the subsistance of all the objects and the evolution of living creatures has been changed their appearances by the natural law and order. Design is no exception. Design is a man-made organic thing which is developed its own way according to the purposed aim and given situations. If so, what is the ultimate goal of design. It is without saying that the goal is to make every effort to contribute to the -human beings most desirable life by the designer who is devoting himself to their convenience and well-being. Therefore, the designer can be called the man of rich life practitioner. This word implies a lot of meanings since the essence of design is improving the guality of life by the man-made things which are created by the designer. Also, the things are existed through the relations between form and function, and the things can keep their value when they are answered to the right purpose. In design, thus, it is to be a main concern how to create valuable things and to use them in the right way, and the subject of study is focused on the designer's outlook of value and uk relations between form and function. Christopher Alexander mentioned the importance of form as follows. The ultimate object of design is form. Every design problem begins with an effort to achieve fittness between the form and its context. The form is the solution to the problem: the context defmes the problem. In other words, when we speak of design, the real object of discussion is not form alone, but the ensemble comprising the form and its context. Good fit is a desirable property of this ensemble which relates to some particular division of the ensemble into form and context. Max Bill mainatined how important form is in design. Form represents a self-contained concept, and its embodiment in an object results in that object becoming a work of art. Futhermore, this explains why we use form so freguently in a comparative sense for determining whether one thing is less or more beautiful than another, and why the ideal of absolute beauty is always the standard by which we appraise form, and through form, art itself. Hence form has became synonymous with beauty. On the other hand, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy stated the importance of function as follows. Function means the task an object is designed to fulfill the task instrument is shaping the form. Unfortunately, this principle was not appreciated at the same time but through the endeavors of Frank Lloyd Wright and of the Bauhaus group and its many collegues in Europe, the idea of functionalism became the keynote of the twenites. Functionalism soon became a cheap slogan, however, and its original meaning blurred. It is neccessary to reexamine it in the light of present circumstances. Charles William Eliot expressed his idea on the relations between function and beauty. Beauty often results chiefly from fittness: indeed it is easy to manitain that nothing is fair except what is fit its uses or functions. If the function of the product of a machine be useful and valuable, an the machine be eminently fit for its function, it conspicuously has the beauty of fittness. A locomotive or a steamship has the same sort of beauty, derived from the supreme fittness for its function. As functions vary, so will those beauty..vary. However, it is impossible to study form and function in separate beings. Function can't be existed without form, and without function, form is nothing. In other words, form is a function's container, and function is content in form. It can be said that, therefore, the form and function are indispensable and commensal individuals which have coetemal relations. From the different point of view, sometimes, one is more emphasized than the other, but in this case, the logic is only accepted on the assumption of recognizing the importance of the other's entity. The fact can be proved what Frank Hoyd wright said that form and function are one. In spite of that, the form and function should be considered as independent indivisuals, because they are too important to be treated just as the simple single one. Form and function have flexible properties to the context. In other words, the context plays a role as the barometer to define the form and function, also which implies every meaning of surroun'||'&'||'not;dings. Thus, design is formed under the influence of situations. Situations are dynamic, like the design process itself, in which fixed focus can be cripping. Moreover, situations control over making the good design. Judging from the respect, I defined the good design in my thesis An Analytic Research on Desigh Ethic, "good design is to solve the problem by the most proper way in the situations." Situations are changeable, and so is design. There is no progress without change, but change is not neccessarily progress. It is highly desirable that there changes be beneficial to mankind. Our main problem is to be able to discriminate between that which should be discarded and that which should be kept, built upon, and improved. Form and Function are no exception. The practical function gives birth to the inevitable form and the $$\mu$ti-classified function is delivered to the varieties of form. All of these are depended upon changeable situations. That is precisely the situations of "situation de'||'&'||'not;sign", the concept of moving from the design of things to the design of the circumstances in which things are used. From this point of view, the core of form and function is depended upon how the designer can manage it efficiently in given situations. That is to say that the creativity designer plays an important role to fulfill the purpose. Generally speaking, creativity is the organization of a concept in response to a human need-a solution that is both satisfying and innovative. In order to meet human needs, creative design activities require a special intuitive insight which is set into motion by purposeful imagination. Therefore, creativity is the most essential quality of every designer. In addition, designers share with other creative people a compulsive ingenuity and a passion for imaginative solutions which will meet their criteria for excellence. Ultimately, it is said that the form and function is the matter which belongs to the desire of creative designers who constantly try to bring new thing into being to create new things. In accordance with that the main puppose of this thesis is to catch every meaning of the form and function and to close analyze their relations for the promotion of understanding and devising practical application to gradual progression in design. The thesis is composed of four parts: Introduction, Form, Function and Conclusion. Introduction, the purpose and background of the research are presented. In Chapter I, orgin of form, perception of form, and classification of form are studied. In Chapter II, generation of function, development of function, and diversification of function are considered. Conclusion, some concluding words are mentioned.ioned.

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Consumer Awareness and Evaluation of Retailers' Social Responsibility: An Exploratory Approach into Ethical Purchase Behavior from a U.S Perspective (소비자인지도화령수상사회책임(消费者认知度和零售商社会责任): 종미국시각출발적도덕구매행위적탐색성연구(从美国视角出发的道德购买行为的探索性研究))

  • Lee, Min-Young;Jackson, Vanessa P.
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.49-58
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    • 2010
  • Corporate social responsibility has become a very important issue for researchers (Greenfield, 2004; Maignan & Ralston, 2002; McWilliams et al., 2006; Pearce & Doh 2005), and many consider it necessary for businesses to define their role in society and apply social and ethical standards to their businesses (Lichtenstein et al., 2004). As a result, a significant number of retailers have adopted CSR as a strategic tool to promote their businesses. To this end, this study sought to discover U.S. consumers' attitudes and behavior in ethical purchasing and consumption based on their subjective perception and evaluation of a retailer. The objectives of this study include: 1) determine the participants awareness of retailers corporate social responsibility; 2) assess how participants evaluate retailers corporate social responsibility; 3) examine whether participants evaluation process of retailers CSR influence their attitude toward the retailer; and 4) assess if participants attitude toward the retailers CSR influence their purchase behavior. This study does not focus on actual retailers' CSR performance because a consumer's decision making process is based on an individual assessment not an actual fact. This study examines US college students' awareness and evaluations of retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR). Fifty six college students at a major Southeastern university participated in the study. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 26 years old. Content analysis was conducted with open coding and focused coding. Over 100 single-spaced pages of written responses were collected and analyzed. Two steps of coding (i.e., open coding and focused coding) were conducted (Esterberg, 2002). Coding results and analytic memos were used to understand participants' awareness of CSR and their ethical purchasing behavior supported through the selection and inclusion of direct quotes that were extracted from the written responses. Names used here are pseudonyms to protect confidentiality of participants. Participants were asked to write about retailers, their aware-ness of CSR issues, and to evaluate a retailer's CSR performance. A majority (n = 28) of respondents indicated their awareness of CSR but have not felt the need to act on this issue. Few (n=8) indicated that they are aware of this issue but not greatly concerned. Findings suggest that when college students evaluate retailers' CSR performance, they use three dimensions of CSR: employee support, community support, and environmental support. Employee treatment and support were found as an important criterion in evaluation of retailers' CSR. Respondents indicated that their good experience with a retailer as an employee made them have a positive perception and attitude toward the retailer. Regarding employee support four themes emerged: employee rewards and incentives based on performance, working environment, employee education and training program, and employee and family discounts. Well organized rewards and incentives were mentioned as an important attribute. The factors related to the working environment included: how well retailers follow the rules related to working hours, lunch time and breaks was also one of the most mentioned attributes. Regarding community support, three themes emerged: contributing a percentage of sales to the local community, financial contribution to charity organizations, and events for community support. Regarding environments, two themes emerged: recycling and selling organic or green products. It was mentioned in the responses that retailers are trying to do what they can to be environmentally friendly. One respondent mentioned that the company is creating stores that have an environmentally friendly design. Information about what the company does to help the environment can easily be found on the company’s website as well. Respondents have also noticed that the stores are starting to offer products that are organic and environmentally friendly. A retailer was also mentioned by a respondent in this category in reference to how the company uses eco-friendly cups and how they are helping to rebuild homes in New Orleans. The respondents noticed that a retailer offers reusable bags for their consumers to purchase. One respondent stated that a retailer uses its products to help the environment, through offering organic cotton. After thorough analysis of responses, we found that a participant's evaluation of a retailers' CSR influenced their attitudes towards retailers. However, there was a significant gap between attitudes and purchasing behavior. Although the participants had positive attitudes toward retailers CSR, the lack of funds and time influenced their purchase behavior. Overall, half (n=28) of the respondents mentioned that CSR performance affects their purchasing decisions making when shopping. Findings from this study provide support for retailers to consider their corporate social responsibility when developing their image with the consumer. This study implied that consumers evaluate retailers based on employee, community and environmental support. The evaluation, attitude and purchase behavior of consumers seem to be intertwined. That is, evaluation is based on the knowledge the consumer has of the retailers CSR. That knowledge may influence their attitude toward the retailer and thus influence their purchase behavior. Participants also indicated that having CSR makes them think highly of the retailer, but it does not influence their purchase behavior. Price and convenience seem to surpass the importance of CSR among the participants. Implications, recommendations for future research, and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Categorizing Quality Features of Franchisees: In the case of Korean Food Service Industry (프랜차이즈 매장 품질요인의 속성분류: 국내 외식업을 중심으로)

  • Byun, Sook-Eun;Cho, Eun-Seong
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.95-115
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    • 2011
  • Food service is the major part of franchise business in Korea, accounting for 69.9% of the brands in the market. As the food service industry becomes mature, many franchisees have struggled to survive in the market. In general, consumers have higher levels of expectation toward service quality of franchised outlets compared that of (non-franchised) independent ones. They also tend to believe that franchisees deliver standardized service at the uniform food price, regardless of their locations. Such beliefs seem to be important reasons that consumers prefer franchised outlets to independent ones. Nevertheless, few studies examined the impact of qualify features of franchisees on customer satisfaction so far. To this end, this study examined the characteristics of various quality features of franchisees in the food service industry, regarding their relationship with customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The quality perception of heavy-users was also compared with that of light-users in order to find insights for developing differentiated marketing strategy for the two segments. Customer satisfaction has been understood as a one-dimensional construct while there are recent studies that insist two-dimensional nature of the construct. In this regard, Kano et al. (1984) suggested to categorize quality features of a product or service into five types, based on their relation to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction: Must-be quality, Attractive quality, One-dimensional quality, Indifferent quality, and Reverse quality. According to the Kano model, customers are more dissatisfied when Must-be quality(M) are not fulfilled, but their satisfaction does not arise above neutral no matter how fully the quality fulfilled. In comparison, customers are more satisfied with a full provision of Attactive quality(A) but manage to accept its dysfunction. One-dimensional quality(O) results in satisfaction when fulfilled and dissatisfaction when not fulfilled. For Indifferent quality(I), its presence or absence influences neither customer satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. Lastly, Reverse quality(R) refers to the features whose high degree of achievement results in customer dissatisfaction rather than satisfaction. Meanwhile, the basic guidelines of the Kano model have a limitation in that the quality type of each feature is simply determined by calculating the mode statistics. In order to overcome such limitation, the relative importance of each feature on customer satisfaction (Better value; b) and dissatisfaction (Worse value; w) were calculated following the formulas below (Timko, 1993). The Better value indicates how much customer satisfaction is increased by providing the quality feature in question. In contrast, the Worse value indicates how much customer dissatisfaction is decreased by providing the quality feature. Better = (A + O)/(A+O+M+I) Worse = (O+M)/(A+O+M+I)(-1) An on-line survey was performed in order to understand the nature of quality features of franchisees in the food service industry by applying the Kano Model. A total of twenty quality features (refer to the Table 2) were identified as the result of literature review in franchise business and a pre-test with fifty college students in Seoul. The potential respondents of our main survey was limited to the customers who have visited more than two restaurants/stores of the same franchise brand. Survey invitation e-mails were sent out to the panels of a market research company and a total of 257 responses were used for analysis. Following the guidelines of Kano model, each of the twenty quality features was classified into one of the five types based on customers' responses to a set of questions: "(1) how do you feel if the following quality feature is fulfilled in the franchise restaurant that you visit," and "(2) how do you feel if the following quality feature is not fulfilled in the franchise restaurant that you visit." The analyses revealed that customers' dissatisfaction with franchisees is commonly associated with the poor level of cleanliness of the store (w=-0.872), kindness of the staffs(w=-0.890), conveniences such as parking lot and restroom(w=-0.669), and expertise of the staffs(w=-0.492). Such quality features were categorized as Must-be quality in this study. While standardization or uniformity across franchisees has been emphasized in franchise business, this study found that consumers are interested only in uniformity of price across franchisees(w=-0.608), but not interested in standardizations of menu items, interior designs, customer service procedures, and food tastes. Customers appeared to be more satisfied when the franchise brand has promotional events such as giveaways(b=0.767), good accessibility(b=0.699), customer loyalty programs(b=0.659), award winning history(b=0.641), and outlets in the overseas market(b=0.506). The results are summarized in a matrix form in Table 1. Better(b) and Worse(w) index indicate relative importance of each quality feature on customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, respectively. Meanwhile, there were differences in perceiving the quality features between light users and heavy users of any specific franchise brand in the food service industry. Expertise of the staffs was labeled as Must-be quality for heavy users but Indifferent quality for light users. Light users seemed indifferent to overseas expansion of the brand and offering new menu items on a regular basis, while heavy users appeared to perceive them as Attractive quality. Such difference may come from their different levels of involvement when they eat out. The results are shown in Table 2. The findings of this study help practitioners understand the quality features they need to focus on to strengthen the competitive power in the food service market. Above all, removing the factors that cause customer dissatisfaction seems to be the most critical for franchisees. To retain loyal customers of the franchise brand, it is also recommended for franchisor to invest resources in the development of new menu items as well as training programs for the staffs. Lastly, if resources allow, promotional events, loyalty programs, overseas expansion, award-winning history can be considered as tools for attracting more customers to the business.

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A Study on the Improvement of Technology Balance of Payments to Enhance Global Technology Competitiveness in Korea: Based on the Surveys regarding Perception and Current State of Industry (우리나라의 글로벌 기술경쟁력 제고를 위한 기술무역수지 개선방안 연구: 산업계 인식 및 실태조사를 중심으로)

  • Lee, Jongmin;Noh, Meansun
    • Journal of Technology Innovation
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.1-31
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    • 2015
  • Korea has continuously increased investment on R&D to improve global technology competitiveness through technology innovation. Korea's R&D expenditure as a percent of GDP is world's No. 1 as 4.15 and it accomplished 1 trillion won trade volume for 4 consecutive years. However, despite these efforts, technology balance of payment, which is an important factor that can measure nation's technology competitiveness is in a state of chronic deficit and the lowest level among OECD countries. In this paper, we studied methods to improve Korea's technology balance of payment We figured out concept and current state of technology trade and examined the importance of technology trade through making a comparison between commodity trade and technology trade. There have been studies regarding technology trade, but there was no study which tried to figure out cognition on technology trade from the point of view of companies which plays an important role in technology trade. For this, this study distinguished companies with experience in technology trade and which have not and conducted a survey to figure out cognition and current state of companies. The survey result showed noticeable difference on cognition of top decision makers between companies with experience in technology trade and which have not and there are serious shortage in department and staff which is exclusively responsible for technology trade. Also, despite their needs for education regarding technology trade, the ratio of employees who received education is below 10 % of the total respondents. This study suggested improvement methods such as reforming survey methods of technology trade statistics, enhancing social cognition, supporting to vitalize technology export, building infrastructure regarding technology trade, and opening education programs for cultivating experts based on preceding research and industry survey.

A Study on Awareness of the Dental Health Insurance Coverage (치과 건강보험에 관한 인식 조사)

  • Han, Ji-Hyoung;Kim, Yoon-Sin
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.65-71
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this study was to examine people's awareness of health insurance in a bid to help improve the management of dental health insurance coverage. The subjects in this study were 1,036 people who included experts in that field and medical consumers. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. In regard to the demographic characteristics of the expert group including gender and age, the female experts outnumbered the males, as the former accounted for 84.7 percent. And the experts in their 20s made up the largest age group, followed by the 30-39 age group and those in their 40s. As to the demographic characteristics of the medical consumers, the rates of the men and women stood at 49.8 percent and 50.2 percent respectively, which were similar. By age, the largest number of the medical consumers were in their 20s, followed by in their 30s and in their 40s. 2. Concerning opinions on the procurement of finance for health insurance, many respondents in both groups agreed that the health insurance coverage should be enlarged by securing more finance, and that items involved in the coverage should be prioritized again. Regarding a means of securing financial resources, the experts placed the most emphasis on extended budgetary support from the government, followed by establishing a social security system and budget compilation by local governments. The medical consumers attached the most importance to extended budgetary backing from the government, followed by budget compilation by local governments and determining contribution according to income level. 3. As for general view of the dental health insurance, the experts believed that the amounts of copayment and self-payment by the insured were appropriate(2.47), and they found the number of benefitted items to be proper(2.29) as well. The medical consumers thought that the benefit percentage of the dental health insurance in the overall health insurance budget was appropriate(2.26), and they also considered the number of benefitted items adequate(2.16). But this group didn't give a lot of marks to the appropriateness of those things. 4. As to perception about the dental health insurance, both groups took a similar view of it. Specifically, they felt the strong need for a dental health insurance system. In terms of satisfaction level, both groups were dissatisfied with it, and there was a strong tendency for them to be discontented with the health insurance coverage.

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A Study on Subjective Symptoms of a Oral Malodor in Korean Adults (한국 성인의 주관적 구취 자각증상에 대한 연구)

  • Yoon, Mi-Sook;Youn, Hye-Jeong
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.123-129
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual conditions of the subjective oral malodor perception of the survey subjects. Through the subjective questionnaire method over about 3 months from June to August in 2007, the data was collected targeting 275 adults. Statistical methods used were Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and One-way ANOVA. And, the following results were obtained. 1. When having seen the ratio of those who were conscious of oral malodor, the adults, who responded with saying of feeling oral malodor at present and at ordinary times, accounted for 68.4% and 79.3%, respectively. And, the adults, who responded with saying of not feeling, were indicated to be 31.6%(at present) and 20.7%(at ordinary times), respectively. 2. Almost 83.5% of total people answered that they had most severe oral malodor at the time of awakening and 51.9% of subjects answered tongue contributed to the their oral malodor. 3. About the type of oral malodor, although 37.2% of the group thought the type of oral malodor was a food smell and fetid smell was second general burning smell occurred the time of hunger(22.5%). 4. In the answers of hoping for treatment of oral malodor, 66.9% of the people showed positive response to dental treatment for controlling their oral malodor. Especially 7.3% of subjects showed very big desire for treatment. 5. In the level of oral malodor that is felt now according to the time of a meal, the case of within 1 hour after having a meal was responded to be not felt the oral malodor with 44.7%. And, there was response with saying of not feeling oral malodor in 37.6% as for 1-2 hours, 16.3% as for 2-3 hours, 14.8% as for 3-4 hours, and 23.7% as for more than 4 hours. Thus, the level of oral malodor according to the time of a meal showed the statistically significant difference(p<0.01). Through the results of this study, it could be known about whether or not being conscious of oral malodor in general people, the main cause and region for oral malodor, the importance and practicing method of tongue brush through literature. Accordingly, there is necessity of further researching and comparing whether or not being conscious of oral malodor by diversely surveying relevancy with factors of causing oral malodor based on the objective oral malodor measurement value. The future diverse researches are thought to be necessarily performed in order to prevent or reduce oral malodor.

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Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Milk Consumption among WIC Preagnant Women (저소득층 임신부들의 우유 소비 행동을 이해하기 위한예측이론(Theory of Planned Behavior)의 적용)

  • Kyungwon Kim;John R. Ureda
    • Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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    • v.1 no.2
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    • pp.239-249
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    • 1996
  • Despite the importance of prenatal nutrition, many studies find inadequate calcium intake among pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of the Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining the intentions and the actual consumption of milk among pregnant women participating in or eligible for WIC. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect information regarding attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, milk allocation within the family, intentions and consumption of milk. The survey questionnaire was developed using open-ended questions and interviews with 112 pregnant women. One-hundred-eighty women recruited from prenatal clinics completed the survey questionnaire. Multiple regression was used separately to investigate the association of factors to intentions and to the consu-mption of milk, as proposed in the theory. Milk allocation within the family was used as an exploratory variable to explain milk consumption. Study findings revealed that all three factors, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control contributed to the model in explaining intentions (explained variance : 36.2%), with perceived control being most important. For milk consumption, intentions and perceived control were related significantly to actual consumption, while milk allocation within the family was not (explained variance : 44.6%). These findings suggest that perceived control is important in understanding both intentions and milk consumption, providing empirical evidence for the Theory of Planned Behavior. With respect to the role of perceived control, more strong evidence was provided in explaining intentions. Findings suggest that educational interventions to increase milk consumption among pregnant women should incorporate strategies to enhance the perception of control, and to strengthen positive attitudes and to elicit social support from significant other. (Korean J Community Nutrition 1(2) 239-249, 1996)

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Care Labels and Consumer's Care Behavior of Hat Products (모자제품의 레이블과 소비자 관리행동)

  • Kim, Cha-Hyun;Park, Myung-Ja
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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    • v.31 no.12
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    • pp.1784-1792
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    • 2007
  • This study set out to identify the problems with hat labels and to search for improvement measures by examining and analyzing consumers' practice of managing their hats. It also intended to provide accurate and enough information about how to keep and wash hats and thus help consumers use their hats for a long period. In an attempt to investigate how consumers wash and manage their hats, a survey was carried out to 395 individuals in their twenties and over who owned hats living in urban areas including Seoul, and were quota sampled according to age and gender. The survey period is March to April 2007. The collected data were statistically treated with the SPSS 12.0 program in terms of frequency, percentage, mean, standard error, cross tabulation, t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The findings were as followed. First, the respondents were in the average level of perceiving and practicing the washing methods of their hats. The female respondents who had more experiences with laundering than the males knew and practiced the washing methods for hats better than males. Second, compared to other clothing items, hat wearers were more likely to pay careful attention to their hats by putting their hats in a laundry net and applying a laundry detergent for wool fabrics when using a washing machine or washing their hats with their own hands. And third, most of the hat wearers were aware of the importance of hat labels and showed a lower level of trust in them than other clothing items. The suppliers need to offer accurate and practical labels in order to regain the consumers' trust. Many consumers had some difficulties figuring out the size system of hats. In particular, the male consumers had a low level of perception of labels, which implies that there should be specific efforts to educate them about general labels.

Related Factors to Handwashing with Soap in Korean Adults (우리나라 성인의 비누로 손씻기 실천 관련요인)

  • Lee, Youn-Hee;Lee, Moo-Sik;Hong, SuJin;Yang, Nam-Young;Hwang, Hae-Jung;Kim, Byung-Hee;Kim, Hyun-Soo;Kim, Eun-Young;Park, Yun-Jin;Lim, Go-Un;Kim, Young-Tek
    • The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.89-99
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    • 2016
  • Objectives: This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the prevalence and factors relating to handwashing with soap among Korean adults. Methods: Study subjects consist of 755 adults who have been contacted in September 2013 via telephone surveys. The data collected has been analyzed using descriptive statistics, a chi-square test and a logistic regression analysis. A primary purpose is to understand the prevalence of handwashing with soap more than 8 times daily and for 30 seconds per wash among adults. Independent variables include socioeconomic levels, the participants' perception and knowledge of handwashing and their educational experiences relating to handwashing. Results: The overall percentile of people who wash their hands with soap 8 time per day for 30 seconds or more per wash was 16.0%, which is 121 people out of 755 study subjects. In univariate analysis, age, education levels, monthly average income, handwashing habits, perceptions relate to the importance of handwashing, self-assessment of handwashing, environment of public toilet, and the completion of handwashing education shows significant result. Significant differences also appear (p<0.05) in logistic regression analysis on binary variables. There is a strong correlation between daily frequency of handwashing and willingness to wash hands while outside. For example, people who wash their hands very often while outside are 2.24 times (95% C.I. 1.29-3.87) more likely to practice handwashing with soap 8 times per day for 30 seconds or more per wash than those people who only intermittently wash their hands while outside. Furthermore, people with general unwillingness to wash their hands while outside are 4.61 times (95% C.I. 1.22-3.28) less likely to practice handwashing with soap 8 times per day for 30 seconds or more per wash than those with general willingness. Conclusions: This study has been carried out to identify the decision factors in practicing handwashing with soap for Korean adults. In univariate analysis, age, education level, monthly average income, handwashing habits, handwashing self-assessment, public toilet environment, completion of handwashing education and so forth have been identified to be the decision factors. This study result shows that the overall level of cleanliness of public toilet perceives to be poor and it suggests that the environment of public toilet needs to be enhanced. As the handwashing habits and handwashing-self assessment have been identified to be the significant decision factors for handwashing, there search and approach in these factors need to be developed further.