• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.7-17
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• 2022

The article discusses the problems caused by inflation in the developing Asia-Pacific region during the time of the worldwide pandemic and suggests innovative solutions to the problem. The reality is that some of the commodity groups from the consumer basket (e.g., non-seasonal fruits, electronics, furniture, hotel, and restaurant services, etc.) fail to reflect the needs of the low-income earners, which make the majority in developing countries. At the same time, the inflation targeting regime has become outdated and not reliable, because of uncontrolled exogenic factors (imported inflation, fluctuation in oil prices, supply chain disruption, Russia-Ukraine war, etc.) prevailing on endogenic factors and thus making it impossible to control the price stability, especially in developing countries. Since, the old-fashioned inflation index and inflation targeting mechanisms regrettably fail to fully reflect both the society and governmental/central banks' expectations, based on which we first should have better care and second create better policies; we propose to use a combination of already well-known indexes and policies, with the new statistical indicators, which reflects price fluctuations on the medication, utilities, and nutrition.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.27-50
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• 2017

This study is to present practical plan to stimulate Parallel Import Policies, Which is one of the government policies to drop import prices of imported goods. Although, preliminary studies focused on legal aspects related to Intellectual Property Right, from the perspective of trade, we conducted a study on economic aspects through parallel import, consumer welfare, etc. For this study, the parallel import system of the United States and Japan was compared with Korea and the domestic parallel import market status was analyzed by comparing market price. According to the study, the current parallel import system lacked the limits of government regulation and distribution market structure. It proposed practical plans such as political suggestions and changes in distribution structure. This study is meaningful in analyzing the problem of parallel imports that currently occur in the Korea market based on data concerning parallel imports in practical terms

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.139-157
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to derive implications for Korean home economics curriculum to emphasize consumer competency of adolescents by analyzing the content components of consumer competency presented in 'consumer life' area of middle school home economics curriculum of 3 states in the U.S. The analysis results and implications are summarized as follows: First, the U.S. home economics curriculum is composed of various contents, including credit management, savings/investment/ insurance, taxes, and financial situation, and financial decision-making, to improve adolescent's understanding of finance. In the next revision of Korean curriculum, for financial stability in prolonged life after retirement, it is would be necessary to include contents on basic financial knowledge and technology for financial information utilization so that students can establish financial plans for different life stages in consideration of various variables such as changes in economic environment, etc. Second, the U.S. home economics curriculum was developed to help students make better purchase decisions by applying economic concepts such as prices and interest rates, economic trends and the impact of demand and supply, purchase methods and contract conditions, etc. However, Korean home economics curriculum only focus on purchase plan and purchase decision-making process. It would be necessary to foster consumer transaction competency by introducing economic concepts suitable middle school level. Third, to emphasize "consumer civic competency", Ohio was focusing on "claim of consumer rights" and Wisconsin was focusing on the "acceptance of consumer responsibility." In order to enhance adolescent's consumer civic competency, it would be necessary for Korean curriculum to balance the claim of right and the acceptance of consumer responsibility in the following term, and to emphasize the contents on consumer policies, laws and consumer advocacy to create a consumer environment where consumer sovereignty is realized.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2012

Objective: The aim of this paper is to introduce a method that can measure and analyze the judgment gaps between service providers and customers. Background: It is important to understand the good service that service providers and customers are thinking. If there is judgment gap between service providers and customers, it would cause an unsatisfactory service. The judgment gap should be thoroughly investigated for a good service design. Method: Lens model is a human decision making model that was proposed by Brunswick(1952). This study indicates whether the Lens model can be applied to analyze judgment gaps between service providers and customers. As a case study, a library lending service was selected. 5 librarians and 15 customers participated in the experiment that investigates their judgments on a good service. The obtained data were analyzed by a modified lens model. Results: Cue weighting policies of consumers and service providers were similar, except that consumers gave higher weight on tangibility than service providers. Service providers and consumers had a good knowledge on the service quality, but they could not well apply the knowledge to judge it. Conclusion: The lens model may be used to analyze judgment gaps between service providers and consumers in the other service areas. The decision cues that were used in this study can be changed, depending on the characteristics of the target service. Application: The method that is proposed in this study may help to investigate and analyze both consumers' and service providers' judgments on a variety of services.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.259-274
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• 2017

This study estimates the random utility function of fluid milk using 1,165 survey responses in Laos. It finds that both products' attributes and individual characteristics affect consumers' preference for the milk and the hypothetical brand of Laos-Korea has a potential compared to four real dairy products. Results also show that calories have a positive relationship with consumer's preference while the price and fat content have a negative one. The decision for choosing each brand is significantly affected by individual characteristics such as gender, age, whether or not respondents live with their children, the level of education, income, the frequency of purchasing milk per week, and the region where they live. The preference for five brands appears in the order of Foremost, Nabong, Thai-Danish, Meiji, and Lao-Korea, and probabilities of purchasing each brand at the mean level are 30.9%, 17.48%, 21.48%, 15.0% and 10.39%, respectively. Nabong that was Lao national milk brand still has a significant market power even though it was closed in 2008. The policies to promote milk industry by implementing its national milk brand again would be more effective if it focuses on the young generation, female consumers, families with children, quality of dairy products, and Vientiane capital areas.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.35-52
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that are associated with a child's development within a multi-cultural family, taking into account the factors that influence the child's language ability and their play interactions with their mothers. First, there was no significant difference in the children's language ability based on the child's gender, or based on the language in which the mother communicated with her children. However there were significant differences depending on the children's age, the mother's native country, and the period of time the mother had lived in Korea. Second, there was no significant difference in the child-mother play interaction based on the children's age, gender, the mother's native country, the period of time the mother has lived in Korea, or the language in which the mother communicated with her children. However, the boys showed a more hostile attitude toward their mothers, in comparison to the girls. In conclusion, it can be said that there is an urgent need for comprehensive social support services and policies for the overall development of multi-cultural children, especially through programs for children and mothers.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2008

This study investigated consumers' energy saving behavior and perceptions concerning the effectiveness of their energy saving behavior. A nation wide survey was conducted involving 2000 households in urban areas and the data from 1767 households were used for the analysis. excluding cases with incomplete responses. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and regression analysis were applied. The results were as follows. First, electricity saving behavior was classified into three categories: Thrift (reducing energy consumption), Purchase (buying energy saving appliances), and Control (checking the energy consumption). Second, consumers rated Thrift as the best way to save energy. Third, education, age, and household income were significantly related to energy saving behavior and perceptions on the effectiveness of energy saving behavior. Consumers using above average levels of electricity tended not to practice energy saving behavior and not to positively evaluate effectiveness of the energy saving behavior. Lastly, the implications for public policies to promote energy saving behavior are suggested.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.859-871
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• 2014

This study investigated the effects that corporate social responsibility (CSR) had on the credibility and image of a food corporation by analyzing the purchasing intention and food purchases of consumers. This analysis was undertaken in an attempt to establish a marketing strategy that meets consumer demands, and the results showed that all CSR activities undertaken by the food corporation had a positive effect on the reliability and image of the corporation and on consumers' purchase intention. The results indicate that the ethical aspect of the CSR activities had the greatest effect while their charitable aspect had the least effect on the reliability and purchase intention of the customers regarding the food corporation. Thus, it appears that establishing of suitable ethical doctrines and guidelines for corporate management by food corporation is effective in emphasizing the ethical aspects of their policies through transparent management by means of fair trade.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.10
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• pp.187-196
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• 2021

Vietnam has become one of the largest markets in Southeast Asia, with huge demand for many kinds of consumer goods, including dairy products. Although the domestic industry of producing and distributing milk has flourished dramatically in recent years, Vietnam still heavily hinges on dairy imports. The total value of milk products in 2020 exceeded 1 billion USD, leading to Vietnam being one of the 20 biggest importers of dairy milk globally. To explore this potential industry, we applied a multivariate linear regression model to investigate the milk consumption behaviors of Vietnamese adults. 2000 participants took part in our survey in which the products evaluated were Dielac Alpha - the most famous national powdered milk introduced in 2007 by Vinamilk. This product was designed for all ages, from children aged 0-6 to pregnant women or adults. The results indicate that the decision to purchase milk could be attributed to a host of factors. While price represents the most strongly influential factor, there might be variations according to consumer characteristics, namely age, marriage status, gender, and particular shopping behavior. From these findings, we propose some managerial implications for regulatory bodies and relevant enterprises to prepare appropriate policies and strategies for their business development.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.10
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• pp.197-205
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• 2021

This study aims to investigate factors influencing customer behavior towards nylon bags and single-use plastics. These factors are environmental protection awareness, health protection awareness, sense of responsibility, expectations, and green marketing. A quantitative method with the use of surveys is deployed to collect data of young people under 30, generating 1650 valid responses. The collected data is then analyzed with SPSS 22, using Cronbach's Alpha and Exploratory Factor Analysis to test the reliability of the model before validating the hypotheses by regression analysis. The study found that the majority of respondents are inclined to use plastic bags, despite their environmental awareness. The results also demonstrate that health consciousness, environmental concerns, self-driven responsibility for the sustainability of young people have a significant impact on their behaviors in using nylon bags and plastic products, whereas expectation and green marketing are confirmed not to be the factors. The study suggests that if green marketing is to gain higher influence, an increase in research and development to support other environmentally friendly packaging would be the right path. Finally, this research proposes some feasible recommendations for the government, which include imposing bolder and more targeted environmental policies on consumers and introducing educational campaigns to raise awareness about minimizing plastic consumption.