• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1112-1120
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• 2004

The visual environment of the store is a very important factor to attract consumers into the store and make consumers purchase products. Therefore retailers should have concerns about store environments to differentiate their stores from other stores. Thus this study focused on visual environment of the store influencing consumer behavior. The concrete purpose of this study was to identify preferences of store environments and store types by consumer traits. First, the store choice criteria factors were examined and through the cluster analysis, several consumer groups were constructed. And then the visual environment factors of the store that consumers perceived important were identified and the visual environment factors of the store preferred by consumer groups were examined. Finally, store types preferred by consumer groups were examined. The findings of this study can assist store designers and retailers to set up a store environment or visual marketing strategies.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.366-374
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• 2023

Growing environmental awareness around the world has made environmental issues increasingly important in business. While most past research has focused on consumers' sustainable morals and lifestyles as the main motivations for eco-friendly consumption, few studies have examined the effect of traditional marketing programs on sustainable consumption. In this study, the author posited that delicate visual cues in store retail environments, particularly visual cues of the store interiors, affect the ways consumers evaluate the brand. The author specifically tested the effect of visual congruence, or the perceived fit between brands and visual cues in retail atmospheres, on perceived brand image and trust. The results of the online survey of 622 U.S. consumers indicated that visual congruence has a significant positive effect on consumer trust in the brand. The author also hypothesized that environmental concerns would moderate the relationships. consumers' subjective environmental concerns do not moderate the positive effect of visual congruence on trust in the brand.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.81-101
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• 2021

Traditional department stores have been struggling to attract customers for several years. Many retail stores have closed in recent years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The reinvention of in-store shopping value and experience is imperative to attract customers and reinvigorate retail business. The purpose of this study was to discover which in-store components can improve customer experiences and loyalty while also identifying dissatisfaction issues in consumer experiences in department stores. The data was collected from two consumer groups-luxury department store (Selfridges) customers and mid-market department store (Debenhams) customers-to identify the types of value and experiences they seek most often. The findings showed that to enhance their store patronage, Debenhams should reposition their brand image in a way that allows customers to connect with their self-image and lifestyle by improving efficiency and convenience and prioritizing the utilitarian and social value types. By contrast, Selfridges should enhancetheir store atmosphere, visual merchandising and sensory experiences by maximizing slow retailing experiences and emphasizing the aspirational self-concept image for symbolic and hedonic value. This research uncovered the existence of numerous overlappingvalue dimensions, each of which contributed to the enhancement of the others. Several young customers expressed their support for ecologically responsible, cost-effective second-hand luxury products. Instead of focusing merely on conventional value dimensions, department retailers should determine how environmental and ethical objectives can be fulfilled. This study explained how department stores can craft their in-store environments to appeal to their customers' preferred value types to ensure success in a competitive market.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.5-11
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• 2015

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to identify how idiocentric consumers and allocentric consumers respond to retail store environments and how such responses affect their consumer behaviors in a sustainable consumption setting. Method - Data were collected from 422 U.S. adult consumers via a web-based survey. Two store settings were created, perceptually related (eco-friendly clothing displayed with greenery)or perceptually-unrelated (eco-friendly clothing displayed without greenery), and consumers were asked to take the survey based on the given store setting. Results - Allocentric consumers perceived a product and its display environment were related whereas idiocentric consumers perceived the two were unrelated. Also, the former exhibited higher purchase intentions when the product and store environment were related (eco-friendly clothing displayed with greenery), but the latter did when the two were unrelated (eco-friendly clothing displayed without greenery). Conclusions - This research suggests that retailers should consider consumer self-concept at personal-level when implementing marketing strategies. This research also demonstrates that consumers are influenced by store environment in relation to their self-concept and that self-concept can be temporarily modified by various stimuli such as visual displays.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.127-131
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• 2019

Purpose - This study focuses on clues that can clearly amplify the effects of background music. Review which store environments have a direct and positive impact on consumer responses, such as purchases. Research design, data, and methodology - This study focuses on clues that can clearly amplify the effects of background music. The purpose of this study is to examine what kind of store environment, combined with background music, has a direct and positive effect on consumer reactions such as purchase, and suggest future research directions. Results - The manager decides to use background music in the store because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to identify the emotional response of the consumer. In addition, appropriate background music lowers the psychological purchasing barriers of consumers. Previous studies have often not conducted a basic review of whether consumers perceive background music when it is used in retail stores. For example, it is necessary to make sure that the volume of the background music is loud enough and that the noise is properly excluded despite the congestion of the store so that the pure influence of the background music on the consumer can be measured. A way for store managers to clarify and differentiate their identity is to create a unique and satisfying store atmosphere for their customers. In order to help customers focus on their purchases, store managers must use marketing elements to integrate the five senses. And they should plan background music aiming at synergy effect of these five senses. In other words, in order to make the store atmosphere positive, it is not enough to have a suitable visual design interior or background music in the store, and consumers should have the opportunity to smell, taste and touch it directly. Conclusions - In conclusion, we hope that the following issues will be studied by several scholars in the future. It should be clarified that the impact of background music on customers varies depending on the customer's movement in the store, the selection of the background music genre order, and the timing (interval) of background music exposure to the customer.

• Journal of the Korea society of information convergence
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2015

Modern consumers tend to show value-oriented, image-centered, individualized, and emotionalized consumption behavior, not the consumers who are simply provided with products. Department store industry actively corresponds to the changing consumption behaviors of consumers and pays attention to Visual Merchandising(VMD) as a strategy to visually differentiate stores and sales environments. This study shows 6 parts of effective VMD; presentation of product, product display, color composition, planning of lighting, POP and sign display.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.37-45
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• 2012

Purpose - The objective of the paper is to examine display techniques and tools at traditional clothing stores to improve the traditional market. Since most research has been done theoretical and model based approaches, changing business environments requires more holistic and detailed facts to apply or develop a retail business strategy. Research design / data / methodology - The study employs qualitative research such as direct observation as well as direct interview and telephone interview from May 7 to Jun 2, 2012. The paper examines lighting, various display techniques and tools. The analysis of 80 store pictures for them had been done three examiners with agreement. Results - Sample garments are displayed on the walls; the racks of hangers are attached on the upper part of the walls; there is indirect lighting only. Furthermore, the merchandises are displayed, without any consistency, on various sizes and shapes of hangers, only on the owners' arbitrariness. When considering that the Korean traditional fabrics (Juddan) have a little pattern and colors as their important elements for displaying. Conclusions - The findings of this study show that the retailers in the traditional market need to have lessons on colors and to learn how to use the specific lighting and to display merchandise.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.346-356
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• 2008

Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals with long and thin fibers that originate naturally in the environment. Asbestos mainly affects lungs and the membrane that surrounds the lungs. In general, PCM (phase contrast microscopy) and PLM (polarized light microscopy) have been used to analyze asbestos fibers. However, these methods have often problems to over-estimate number concentration when counting real asbestos fibers. Moreover, there are many difficulties when separating and identifying various asbestos and non-asbestos fibers. In order to determine quantitative information on fibrous particles, source profiles for asbestos and non-asbestos fibers must be initially developed on the basis of their chemical compositions and physical parameters. In our study, a SEM/EDX was used to develop source profiles from known asbestos samples as reference samples. We could make the source profile matrix consisting of 6 types of asbestos fibers and 2 types of non-asbestos fibers by analyzing 380 fibers. Based on these profiles, a rule building expert system was developed by using the visual basic application (VBA). Various fibers were successfully classified by 2 simple rules in the EXCEL environment based on several visual steps such as inserting data, viewing results, and saving results. For a case study to test the expert system, samples from a construction materials and from various indoor environments such as a residental area, a preschool classroom, and an underground store were collected and analyzed. As a result of the survey, a total of 76 individual test fiber particles was well classified into 5 different types of particle classes; 9.3% of chrysotile, 15.4% of amosite, 0.8 of crocidolite, 4.2% of tremolite, 5.8% glass fiber, 21.1% of other fibers, and 43.5% of unknown fibers in terms of number concentration. Even though unknown portion was high, it will be decreased markedly when expanding fiber source profiles.