• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.259-265
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• 2018

Since Korean housewives are responsible for the dietary practices of family at home, it is important to know what information will make them to buy safe food. This study was designed to determine the role of perceived threats, behavioral assessments, and self-efficacy factors known to promote healthy behavior in health belief models (HBM) based on food safety awareness and behavior of housewives. This study involved 191 housewives, based on key variables such as perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and purchase behavior. The results showed that higher levels of education and urbanization increased the threat perception and the likelihood of buying safe food. The correlation analysis showed that increased awareness and knowledge of safe foods and interest in health contributed to higher relative benefit or self-efficiency of food, and thus, ensured food safety. The conceptual model of food safety behavior based on the HBM was verified via structural equation analysis. The findings suggest that a suitable model showcasing knowledge levels and relative benefits resulted in a greater impact on purchasing behavior than perceived threats. This study suggests that it is more effective for housewives to provide more preventive information than risk information to purchase safe food.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1927-1938
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• 2008

Companies can build a close relationship by providing benefits that consumers want. As long relationships between consumer and company are stressed these days, it is very important for the growth and development of companies to assess what benefits consumers perceive and how they reflect them to their buying behaviors. Thus, this study aims to examine the relational benefits that consumers perceive in internet clothing purchase and how these perceived relational benefits affects relational commitment and customer loyalty. This study surveyed 343 male and female in their 20s and 30s for empirical analysis who have ever purchased clothing through internet shopping malls. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, ANOVA analysis, Duncan test, and ${\chi}^2$-test are carried out using SPSS for Windows 12.0 for statistical analysis. The results are as follows. First, the dimensions of relational benefits perceived by consumers in internet clothing purchase are found 6 including customization, economic, psychological, social, shopping convenience, and informational. Second, consumers' perception of relational benefits significantly affect on relational commitment and loyalty, thus consumers with greater recognition of relational benefits have higher relational commitment and loyalty. Third, based on the dimensions of consumer's perceived relational benefit, consumers are categorized into 6 types: group perceiving social benefit, group perceiving economic/shopping convenience benefit, group perceiving shopping convenience benefit, group perceiving customization benefit, group perceiving informational benefit, and group perceiving psychological benefit. The group perceiving customization benefits have higher relational commitment and loyalty than the others. It is expected that this study will help internet companies establish customer relationship management strategies, which are needed to promote relationships with customers and to enhance customers' loyalty to internet shopping malls.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2011

Although the South Korean organic food market is in the infancy compared to other industrialized countries, Korean consumers'interest in organic food and retail stores devoting space to organic products have been rapidly increasing. Despite the fact of organic food popularity, the term "organic" is interpreted differently by individuals. As opposed to the US, Japan and the EU where have operated an integrated organic food labelling system, Korea has adopted complex organic labelling systems regulated by several different government bodies. As a result, complicated food labelling standards make consumers confused when purchasing organic foods. Furthermore, in terms of country of origin (COO), it is argued by a lot of researchers that COO effects vary from product to product and from country to country; moreover, other informational cues such as brand and price can influence COO effects. In modern society, COO labelling has been complicated, due to the sourcing, manufacturing and market locations of merchandise spread over the world. Accordingly, the evaluation of COO effects has become complex. In order to examine these issues, a quantitative research was selected to classify the commonfeatures of organic food consumers and construct statistics such as the extent to which people are aware of organic food and COO labellingvia a questionnaire which took place in two cities in Korea with a cluster sample of 161 organic food purchasers. As for the data analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), T-tests, bivariate crosstatulations with Cramer's V were conducted,depending on the characteristics of variables and the assumptions the research data need to fit. It has been concluded that in general, Korean organic consumers comprehend the term "organic"in a closer way to the general concept rather than technical term, thus people do not appreciate environmentally labels which include organic food labels, although marital status influence the degree of label awareness, regardless of gender, age, education level and so on. Regarding COO effects on organic food, home organic products were Korean consumers'first choice over those from industrialized countries and developing nations. Specifically, in processed organic product category, domestically cultivated and processed organic products were absolutely preferred to leading national brands produced with imported ingredients and international brands. However, due to a lack of checks of ingredients' COO, consumers tend to purchase a leading national organic food brand, believing that it is a pure organic food sourced domestically. As a consequence, this research has suggested some important managerial implications and future research directions. In order to prevent consumer confusion when buying organic foods, it should be noted that consumers do not comprehend the organic food certifications, due to complicated labelling systems for organic produce and processed organic foods. Therefore, government bodies related to organic food distribution have to know consumers' perception of organic food labels and the significance of customer-oriented labels and reestablish labelling standards. Similarly, public advertising should be followed to raise public awareness of the labelling to enable customers to have the correct information. In addition, not only international marketers but also domestic marketers need to understand COO images and also the influence COO of ingredients has on the image of an organic product.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.117-128
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• 2008

The purpose of the research is to furnish basic data for efficient and effective marketing by examining the correlation how a certain element effects on customer's selection behavior, when they choose private label branded clothes at the store of giant discount store like E-.mart, Home-plus, Lotte-mart and 2001 outlet. We come to the following conclusions through such procedures; What we found on this study is that main factors of decision related purchasing garment of private brand in giant discount store is based on the sales price, quality of products and needs of customer's using. Further to this, in terms of choice activity in private brand clothes, we realized the price value is depend on the resonable price with the items because nowadays most customers can be compare to other discount store around their shopping place including trend of garment and quality of products. The order of the general inclination in selection behavior of private branded garment in giant discount store is as follows; Sales price > style & trend > quality of product and substantial convenience > display and prompt buying. Judging from the conclusion of the research we noted that customer's satisfaction comes from their target price to supply substantial needs and in terms of styling of clothes should be considered current trendy compared to national brand as well.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.41-59
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• 2021

This study reviews theoretical considerations and past studies about real estate prices, macroeconomic variables, and real estate policies. Monthly data from January 2003 to June 2021 are used, and a VEC model, the most widely used multivariate time series analysis method, is employed for analysis. Through the model, the effects of macroeconomic variables and real estate regulatory policies on real estate prices in Seoul are analyzed. Findings are summarized as follows. First, macroeconomic variables such as money supply and interest rates do not have a significant impact on Seoul's apartment prices. Due to the high demand for housing and insufficient supply, there is a demand for buying a home regardless of macroeconomic booms or recessions. Second, tax and financial regulatory policies have an initial impact on the rise in apartment prices in Seoul, and their influence diminishes over time. Third, anti-speculation zones are expected to decrease apartment prices through the suppression of demand. However, these zones cause a rise in apartment prices. This could be understood as a lock-in effect due to the strengthening of capital gains tax. Fourth, the price ceiling did not decrease apartment prices. These findings propose that, in Seoul, where demand is high and supply is insufficient, the supply of high-quality and sufficient housing should be prioritized over various regulations such as tax regulations, financial regulations, anti-speculation zones, and price caps. Moreover, the findings provide an implication that city-specific real estate policies should be implemented for Seoul rather than regulation-oriented approaches in public policy.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2010

Today, the fashion market challenged by a maturing retail market needs a new paradigm in the "evolution of brand" to improve their comparative advantages. An important issue in fashion marketing is lifestyle brand extension with a specific aim to meet consumers' specific needs for their changing lifestyle. For fashion brand extensions into lifestyle product categories, Gen Y and Baby Boomer are emerging as "prospects"-Baby Boomers who are renovating their lifestyle, and generation Y experiencing changes in their life stage-with demands for buying new products. Therefore, it is imperative that apparel companies pay special attention to the consumer cohort for brand extension to create and manage their brand equity in a new product category. The purposes of this study are to (a) evaluate brand equity between parent and extension brands; (b) identify consumers' perceived marketing elements for brand extension; and (c) estimate a structural equation model for examining causative relationship between marketing elements and brand equity for brand extensions in lifestyle product category including home fashion items for the selected two groups (e.g., Gen Y, and Baby boomer). For theoretical frameworks, this study focused on the traditional marketing 4P's mix to identify what marketing element is more importantly related to brand extension equity for this study. It is assumed that comparable marketing capability can be critical to establish "brand extension equity", leads to successfully entering the new categories. Drawing from the relevant literature, this study developed research hypotheses incorporating brand equity factors and marketing elements by focusing on the selected consumers (e.g., Gen Y, Baby Boomer). In the context of brand extension in the lifestyle products, constructs of brand equity consist of brand awareness/association, brand perceptions (e.g., perceived quality, emotional value) and brand resonance adapted from CBBE factors (Keller, 2001). It is postulated that the marketing elements create brand extension equity in terms of brand awareness/association, brand perceptions by the brand extension into lifestyle products, which in turn influence brand resonance. For data collection, the sample was comprised of Korean female consumers in Gen Y and Baby Boomer consumer categories who have a high demand for lifestyle products due to changing their lifecycles. A total of 651 usable questionnaires were obtained from female consumers of Gen Y (n=326) and Baby Boomer (n=325) in South Korea. Structural and measurement models using a correlation matrix was estimated using LISREL 8.8. Findings indicated that perceived marketing elements for brand extension consisted of three factors: price/store image, product, and advertising. In the model of Gen Y consumers, price/store image had a positive effect on brand equity factors (e.g., brand awareness/association, perceived quality), while product had positive effect on emotional value in the brand extensions; and the brand awareness/association was likely to increase the perceived quality and emotional value, leading to brand resonance for brand extensions in the lifestyle products. In the model of Baby Boomer consumers, price/store image had a positive effect on perceived quality, which created brand resonance of brand extension; and product had a positive effect on perceived quality and emotional value, which leads to brand resonance for brand extension in the lifestyle products. However, advertising was negatively related to brand equity for both groups. This study provides an insight for fashion marketers in developing a successful brand extension strategy, leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. This study complements and extends prior works in the brand extension through critical factors of marketing efforts that affect brand extension success. Findings support a synergy effect on leveraging of fashion brand extensions (Aaker and Keller, 1990; Tauber, 1988; Shine et al., 2007; Pitta and Katsanis, 1995) in conjunction with marketing actions for entering into the new product category. Thus, it is recommended that marketers targeting both Gen Y and Baby Boomer can reduce marketing cost for entering the new product category (e.g., home furnishings) by standardized marketing efforts; fashion marketers can (a) offer extension lines with premium ranges of price; (b) place an emphasis on upscale features of store image positioning by a retail channel (e.g., specialty department store) in Korea, and (c) combine apparel with lifestyle product assortments including innovative style and designer’s limited editions. With respect to brand equity, a key to successful brand extension is consumers’ brand awareness or association that ensures brand identity with new product category. It is imperative for marketers to have knowledge of what contributes to more concrete associations in a market entry into new product categories. For fashion brands, a second key of brand extension can be a "luxury" lifestyle approach into new product categories, in that higher price or store image had impact on perceived quality that established brand resonance. More importantly, this study increases the theoretical understanding of brand extension and suggests directions for marketers as they establish marketing program at Gen Y and Baby Boomers.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.29-52
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• 2012

Consumers differ in the way they make a purchase. An audio mania would willingly make a bold, yet serious, decision to buy a top-of-the-line home theater system, while he is not interested in replacing his two-decade-old shabby car. On the contrary, an automobile enthusiast wouldn't mind spending forty thousand dollars to buy a new Jaguar convertible, yet cares little about his junky component system. It is product involvement that helps us explain such differences among individuals in the purchase style. Product involvement refers to the extent to which a product is perceived to be important to a consumer (Zaichkowsky, 2001). Product involvement is an important factor that strongly influences consumer's purchase decision-making process, and thus has been of prime interest to consumer behavior researchers. Furthermore, researchers found that involvement is closely related to perceived risk (Dholakia, 2001). While abundant research exists addressing how product involvement relates to overall perceived risk, little attention has been paid to the relationship between involvement and different types of perceived risk in an electronic commerce setting. Given that perceived risk can be a substantial barrier to the online purchase (Jarvenpaa, 2000), research addressing such an issue will offer useful implications on what specific types of perceived risk an online firm should focus on mitigating if it is to increase sales to a fullest potential. Meanwhile, past research has focused on such consumer responses as information search and dissemination as a consequence of involvement, neglecting other behavioral responses like online merchant selection. For one example, will a consumer seriously considering the purchase of a pricey Guzzi bag perceive a great degree of risk associated with online buying and therefore choose to buy it from a digital storefront rather than from an online marketplace to mitigate risk? Will a consumer require greater trust on the part of the online merchant when the perceived risk of online buying is rather high? We intend to find answers to these research questions through an empirical study. This paper explores the impact of enduring product involvement and perceived risks on required trust level, and further on online merchant choice. For the purpose of the research, five types or components of perceived risk are taken into consideration, including financial, performance, delivery, psychological, and social risks. A research model has been built around the constructs under consideration, and 12 hypotheses have been developed based on the research model to examine the relationships between enduring involvement and five components of perceived risk, between five components of perceived risk and required trust level, between enduring involvement and required trust level, and finally between required trust level and preference toward an e-tailer. To attain our research objectives, we conducted an empirical analysis consisting of two phases of data collection: a pilot test and main survey. The pilot test was conducted using 25 college students to ensure that the questionnaire items are clear and straightforward. Then the main survey was conducted using 295 college students at a major university for nine days between December 13, 2010 and December 21, 2010. The measures employed to test the model included eight constructs: (1) enduring involvement, (2) financial risk, (3) performance risk, (4) delivery risk, (5) psychological risk, (6) social risk, (7) required trust level, (8) preference toward an e-tailer. The statistical package, SPSS 17.0, was used to test the internal consistency among the items within the individual measures. Based on the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficients of the individual measure, the reliability of all the variables is supported. Meanwhile, the Amos 18.0 package was employed to perform a confirmatory factor analysis designed to assess the unidimensionality of the measures. The goodness of fit for the measurement model was satisfied. Unidimensionality was tested using convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The statistical evidences proved that the three types of validity were all satisfied. Now the structured equation modeling technique was used to analyze the individual paths along the relationships among the research constructs. The results indicated that enduring involvement has significant positive relationships with all the five components of perceived risk, while only performance risk is significantly related to trust level required by consumers for purchase. It can be inferred from the findings that product performance problems are mostly likely to occur when a merchant behaves in an opportunistic manner. Positive relationships were also found between involvement and required trust level and between required trust level and online merchant choice. Enduring involvement is concerned with the pleasure a consumer derives from a product class and/or with the desire for knowledge for the product class, and thus is likely to motivate the consumer to look for ways of mitigating perceived risk by requiring a higher level of trust on the part of the online merchant. Likewise, a consumer requiring a high level of trust on the merchant will choose a digital storefront rather than an e-marketplace, since a digital storefront is believed to be trustworthier than an e-marketplace, as it fulfills orders by itself rather than acting as an intermediary. The findings of the present research provide both academic and practical implications. The first academic implication is that enduring product involvement is a strong motivator of consumer responses, especially the selection of a merchant, in the context of electronic shopping. Secondly, academicians are advised to pay attention to the finding that an individual component or type of perceived risk can be used as an important research construct, since it would allow one to pinpoint the specific types of risk that are influenced by antecedents or that influence consequents. Meanwhile, our research provides implications useful for online merchants (both online storefronts and e-marketplaces). Merchants may develop strategies to attract consumers by managing perceived performance risk involved in purchase decisions, since it was found to have significant positive relationship with the level of trust required by a consumer on the part of the merchant. One way to manage performance risk would be to thoroughly examine the product before shipping to ensure that it has no deficiencies or flaws. Secondly, digital storefronts are advised to focus on symbolic goods (e.g., cars, cell phones, fashion outfits, and handbags) in which consumers are relatively more involved than others, whereas e- marketplaces should put their emphasis on non-symbolic goods (e.g., drinks, books, MP3 players, and bike accessories).

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-25
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• 2008

Ⅰ. Introduction Retailers in the 21st century are being told that future retailers are those who can execute seamless multi-channel access. The reason is that retailers should be where shoppers want them, when they want them anytime, anywhere and in multiple formats. Multi-channel access is considered one of the top 10 trends of all business in the next decade (Patricia T. Warrington, et al., 2007) And most firms use both direct and indirect channels in their markets. Given this trend, we need to evaluate a channel equity more systematically than before as this issue is expected to get more attention to consumers as well as to brand managers. Consumers are becoming very much confused concerning the choice of place where they shop for durable goods as there are at least 6-7 retail options. On the other hand, manufacturers have to deal with category killers, their dealers network, Internet shopping malls, and other avenue of distribution channels and they hope their retail channel behave like extensions of their own companies. They would like their products to be foremost in the retailer's mind-the first to be proposed and effectively communicated to potential customers. To enable this hope to come reality, they should know each channel's advantages and disadvantages from consumer perspectives. In addition, customer satisfaction is the key determinant of retail customer loyalty. However, there are only a few researches regarding the effects of shopping satisfaction and perceptions on consumers' channel choices and channels. The purpose of this study was to assess Korean consumers' channel choice and satisfaction towards channels they prefer to use in the case of electronic goods shopping. Korean electronic goods retail market is one of good example of multi-channel shopping environments. As the Korea retail market has been undergoing significant structural changes since it had opened to global retailers in 1996, new formats such as hypermarkets, Internet shopping malls and category killers have arrived for the last decade. Korean electronic goods shoppers have seven major channels : (1)category killers (2) hypermarket (3) manufacturer dealer shop (4) Internet shopping malls (5) department store (6) TV home-shopping (7) speciality shopping arcade. Korean retail sector has been modernized with amazing speed for the last decade. Overall summary of major retail channels is as follows: Hypermarket has been number 1 retailer type in sales volume from 2003 ; non-store retailing has been number 2 from 2007 ; department store is now number 3 ; small scale category killers are growing rapidly in the area of electronics and office products in particular. We try to evaluate each channel's equity using a consumer survey. The survey was done by telephone interview with 1000 housewife who lives nationwide. Sampling was done according to 2005 national census and average interview time was 10 to 15 minutes. Ⅱ. Research Summary We have found that seven major retail channels compete with each other within Korean consumers' minds in terms of price and service. Each channel seem to have its unique selling points. Department stores were perceived as the best electronic goods shopping destinations due to after service. Internet shopping malls were perceived as the convenient channel owing to price checking. Category killers and hypermarkets were more attractive in both price merits and location conveniences. On the other hand, manufacturers dealer networks were pulling customers mainly by location and after service. Category killers and hypermarkets were most beloved retail channel for Korean consumers. However category killers compete mainly with department stores and shopping arcades while hypermarkets tend to compete with Internet and TV home shopping channels. Regarding channel satisfaction, the top 3 channels were service-driven retailers: department stores (4.27); dealer shop (4.21); and Internet shopping malls (4.21). Speciality shopping arcade(3.98) were the least satisfied channels among Korean consumers. Ⅲ. Implications We try to identify the whole picture of multi-channel retail shopping environments and its implications in the context of Korean electronic goods. From manufacturers' perspectives, multi-channel may cause channel conflicts. Furthermore, inter-channel competition draws much more attention as hypermarkets and category killers have grown rapidly in recent years. At the same time, from consumers' perspectives, 'buy where' is becoming an important buying decision as it would decide the level of shopping satisfaction. We need to develop the concept of 'channel equity' to manage multi-channel distribution effectively. Firms should measure and monitor their prime channel equity in regular basis to maximize their channel potentials. Prototype channel equity positioning map has been developed as follows. We expect more studies to develop the concept of 'channel equity' in the future.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.61-73
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• 1996

This study conducted to determine the attitude on environment pollution by Pohang city citizens. 1,059 Pohang city citizens in the age group 20 and over were chosen and surveyed by officials's interview at Up, Myun and Dong during the period 6 September to 20 September 1995. The issue problems to be solved in Pohang city were traffic control 47.3%, environment pollution 22.7%, cultural institutions 11.6%, water service 9.9%, education system 5.1% and community security 2.1%. The 55.1% of subjects responded that responsibility for environment pollution is every citizens duty. The trash from houses were 'garbage'(48.1%), 'waste of life'(21.8%), 'reuse trash'(15.6%) and 'one use thing'(14.5%) in order. The 66.9% of subjects responded that the trash's standard envelopes can be easily tear and its texture is not good. The respondents sometimes or often had experienced foreign bodies, sediment in the water service supply. The 45.9% of the respondents use natural water as drinking water, and the water service supply(26.7%), underground water(17.0%) and buying water(9.3%) were followed. Pertaining to the air pollution(by percent) was pollution of the steel industry complex 78.0%, combustive gas 16.6% and construction dust 1.7%. The respondents at southern district complained of respiratory tract by air pollution and the respondents at northern district complained of the visual disturbance and the offensive odor(P<0.05). Water pollution problem is factory's wastewater 56.2%, home wastewater 36.4% and livestock's wastewater 5.6% in order. The respondents at southern district complained of the noise pollution by airplanes and factories at the afternoon and the respondents at northern district complained of the noise pollution by vehicles(P<0.05).

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.351-363
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• 2007

Previously, we analyzed for nutrition knowledge and the use of nutrition knowledge in the everyday lives of students in order to develop nutrition education programs that focus on desirable behavior change. From this, we found that female students desired to participate in nutrition education more than male students, and regarding their concerns for nutrition education, 73.2% of the females and 50.0% of the males displayed interest in 'obesity and the regulation of body weight'. Therefore, this study showed female students give more attention to the obesity and the regulation of body weight than male students(p=.000<.001). In addition, female students had higher interests($8.63{\pm}1.67$) than male students ($7.45{\pm}2.03$) in nutrition knowledge(p=.000<.001). By investigating the use of nutrition knowledge in everyday life, our research indicated that the actual use of nutrition knowledge was less. To encourage students to persue dietary lives addressing the concerns confirmed above, the following needed to occur. 1) Provide them nutrition information for the main processed foodstuffs encountered when dining out(breads, cakes, cookies, and carbonated beverage). 2) Teach them to read food nutrition labels. 3) Help them find a lifestyle connection through lasting self-management methods and the generation of social support. Accordingly, this required developing effective and practical nutrition education programs that considered regional characteristics and gender differences. The most important factors considered during nutrition education program development were the need for motivation and ongoing education by stage of change, rather than temporal education through specific problem analysis, in order that those being educated may bring about a change of behavior by themselves. Therefore, from this study, we have suggested the use of multilateral operating strategies for successful nutrition education. In addition the phase model of behavior change should be applied. Our programs were aimed at self owned nutritional management so that students could master their own methods for acquiring skills and enjoying dietary life. The research may be summed up as follows. First, the purpose of education at the recognition stage of change was to attempt motivation for nutrition improvement, by analyzing the problems such as food buying habit and the main purchasing viewpoints when dining out. Second, the purpose of education at the action stage of change was to help students acquire of concrete methods for behavior modification by linking the program to their home as well as to teachers with various activities that suited the situation at school. This was done by analyzing the processes and decisions pertaining to dining out the main processed foodstuffs and principal components, etc. through data and experimental practice. Third, the purpose of education for changing of habits and values, or the maintenance stage, was to investigate the various reasons that undesirable behaviors were induced, and then determine a lasting self-management method as well as how to generate social support. If the nutrition education program developed in this study is utilized on site, someone in the primary role as the nutrition educator and trained specifically in nutrition, can help induce the health promotion in the community as well as lasting dietary management, by executing a link with families in parallel with educating teaching staff and students' parents. In addition, this program can playa role in the government policies related to the health promotion for our youth who are the foundation of our nation and who can enhance our national competitive power.