• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.132-176
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• 2019

We use a time-varying parameter vector auto regression (TVP-VAR) model to understand the impact of U.S. monetary policy normalization on Korean financial markets and capital accounts. The U.S. monetary policy is represented by the federal funds rate, term premium and credit spread. During the U.S. monetary contraction period of 2004 to 2006, changes in the federal funds rate presented negative pressure on Korean financial markets. The changes in federal funds rate also led to a simultaneous contraction in inward and outward capital flows. However, the effects of a federal funds rate shock has been reduced since 2015. On the other hand, the effects of U.S. term premiums is getting stronger after the period of quantitative easing (QE). The influence of the U.S. credit spread also significantly increased after the global financial crisis. Simulation results show that a rise in the U.S. credit spread, which can be triggered by a contractionary monetary policy, can pose a larger adverse impact on the Korean economy than a rise in the federal funds rate itself. As for capital flows, a U.S. monetary policy contraction causes an outflow of foreign investment, but the repatriation of overseas investment by Korean residents can offset this outflow.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1-32
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to investigate upon a diversification strategy through market creation of CJ Group, which has contributed in positioning of the firm as one of the leading conglomerates in South Korea. With such objective, the background of CJ Group, followed by its business diversification strategies were explored, with reference to several case studies. The history of CJ Group began with establishment of CheilJedang Industrial Corporation in 1953, as the first domestic sugar producer and exporter of South Korea. The corporation gradually expanded its business ever since at both national and global level, to include the fields of food production, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life chemicals. Later, CheilJedang (CJ) Group was established as an affiliate of CheilJedang Industrial Corporation. With such independence, extension of business has been witnessed across the industries of media, entertainment, finance, information technology and distribution. Thus, the current CJ Group pursues to define itself as a progressive global living culture company with four major business categories from food and food service, biotechnology, entertainment and media, and logistics. Despite its success in today's market, CJ Group underwent hardships in its business diversification in 1990s due to indiscreet management, along with the Asian financial crisis. Here, many firms overcame the financial difficulties by taking advantage of the exchange rate for overseas expansion. Though, CJ Group tried to differentiate itself by focusing on the domestic market by creating something out of nothing. Hence, CJ Group takes a unique position among many cases of business diversification and their categorization. In an effort to identify and classify the types of growth experienced by the top 30 companies in South Korea, the firms were categorized into four groups according to their diversification strategies adapted after the Asian financial crisis. Based on the mode and time of entry, corporations were identified either as the 'Explorer', 'Invader', 'Venture Capitalist', or 'Assimilator'. Here, the majority of the firms showed the qualities of Invader, entering mature markets through large-scaled mergers and acquisitions. However, CJ Group was the only firm that was categorized as an Explorer, for its focus on the newly emerging service sector in culture-contents industry. This diversification strategy through market creation is worth examining, due to its contribution in generating simultaneous growth between the market and the company itself. Diverse brands of CJ Group have been referred to as case studies in this regard, from 'Hatban', 'Cine de Chef', 'VIPS' to 'CJ GLS'. These four businesses, each to represent processed food, film, restaurant service, and logistics industries respectively, show CJ Group's effectiveness in creating a whole new category of goods and services that are innovative. In fact, such businesses not only contributed in advancement of consumers' wellbeing, but toward generating additional value and employment. It is true that the diversification strategy of CJ Group requires long-term capital investment with high risk, compared to the other strategies mentioned in the paper. However, this model does create high employment and additional values that are positive to both the society and the firm itself. Therefore, the paper comes to a conclusion that the diversification strategy through market creation conveys the most positive impact relative to the others.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.75-97
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• 2013

While good return policies are suggested as one of the critical services for e-commerce, ambivalence between the burden of the cost and shoppers' satisfaction may prevent e-tailers from increasing their level of leniency. Based on the S-O-R model, this study has attempted to develop a grounded theory to explain how lenient return policies shape online shoppers' perceptions and responses, with a focus on cultural influences in the relationship. In order to check the cultural effects of the lenient return policy, thirty two female and eleven male undergraduate students in South Korean shoppers, who are accustomed to strict return policies, participated in the semi-structured interview. A series of open-ended questions were designed to explore consumers' reactions toward four different levels of the lenient return policy: from the strict type in South Korea to the lenient type in the U.S. Using qualitative research methods, this research has defined three types of dimensions of lenient return policy: return possible period, complexity of progress, and other restrictions. While previous researchers did not pay much attention, the last dimension, other restrictions, is shown to be the most significant in influencing online shoppers' perceptions, especially in South Korea. Also, the impacts on online shoppers' perceptions from the three types of sub-dimensions of return policy were somewhat different. Whereas a longer return possible period was considered more favorable, a medium level of complexity and restrictions were considered more desirable. In summary, this result showed that shoppers in Eastern cultures, i.e. South Korean online shoppers, seem favorable to a medium level of lenient return policies, while allowing for taking precautions against possible fraudulent behaviors and setting other restrictions. Therefore, most of retailers in South Korea recommended that e-tailers who adopt the most lenient return policies raise the bar to guard ethical shoppers from fraudulent users. Next, lenient return policies can enhance ease of use, usefulness, affect, and trust while relieving perceived risk, which is connected to intention to purchase, satisfaction, and loyalty. Interestingly, lenient return policies are more likely to change the behavioral responses of online shoppers, such as return and purchase, rather than change their attitudes or beliefs such as image, satisfaction, and loyalty. This tendency can be seen more clearly in the direct influences of return policy on responses. The reaction to lenient return policy is mostly the intention to return or to purchase. This suggests that return policy serves the e-tailers as a powerful tool in increasing online shoppers' purchase intention at the moment of purchase. Therefore, e-tailers who plan to expand their market to eastern countries, including South Korea, have to build a shield of restrictions around their lenient return policy, rather than immediately applying their original liberalized return policy. Also, e-tailers in South Korea need to review their strict and undifferentiated return policies to deal with the unsatisfied reactions of online shoppers toward their normal return policies. Although the present study was confined to the return policies currently being practiced by popular e-tailers, it would be worthwhile to develop effective return policies separately for each country, especially South Korea, keeping the culture of the relevant country in mind.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.107-128
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• 2013

When Korea's retail industry was liberalized, new store formats such as large discount stores and Super Supermarket(SSMs) have grown. New types of business have borne significant influence on traditional market. Traditional markets have been in gradual decline since they fail to meet to consumer's purchasing behavior. The South Korean government has been making sustained efforts to revitalize the modernization of traditional markets since 2004. This research is conducted to analyze how changes in the distribution of different types of distributors influence the consumer's purchasing behaviors depending on the changes in the market environment. The purpose of this research is to present a policy to invigorate consumer-oriented traditional markets by analyzing the consumption behavior among major retail channels at a point when competition among retail channels is becoming intensified. In order to examine the effect of the spatial competitive landscape among major retail channels on consumption behavior, an empirical analysis was conducted with 613 consumers in 6 cities nationwide, using the multiple regression model. This research identified three main areas of factors. The analysis result indicates that the physical factor (time required to go to the traditional market), socioeconomic factors (the number of vehicles owned and average monthly income), and competitive factors (intensity of competition in spatial locations and average monthly spending in supermarkets) have significant influence on consumption patterns of consumers. The findings present that the Korean government should go ahead with policies aimed to revitalize traditional markets, keeping in mind the factors that influence the consumption patterns of customers based on these results. We propose that the policy supporting traditional markets need to be a customized-strategy, considering traditional market's characteristic.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.389-390
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• 2022

Recently, Recently, the increase in international trade volume and the explosive increase in cargo volume due to the non-face-to-face society are leading to an increase in risk exposure and safety accidents in the port industry. In addition, as the Serious Disaster Punishment Act came into effect on January 27, 2021, various guidelines and laws to protect safety and life in port terminals are being enacted. However, despite these efforts, medium-to-large safety accidents in the port terminal industry continue to occur. According to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, from 2016 to 2019, the number of casualties in the port handling industry increased by 4.2%. For effective follow-up management of port accidents or the preparation of related safety laws/systems, a risk analysis in consideration of the cause and damage of the accident must be conducted first, so that realistic accident reduction and prevention measures can be established. Therefore, in this study, major risk factors and preventive measures were derived by conducting risk assessment based on 1,039 cases of port terminal accidents collected by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency for 5 years from 2016 to 2022. After that, the priorities for preventive measures were determined through IPA analysis, Borich needs analysis, and The Locus For Focus analysis.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.31-69
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to identify the organizational characteristics that enhance CRM performances of a company. Based on a review of diverse definitions of CRM performance, this study examines the relationships among CRM performance measures and organizational characteristics. A questionnaire survey of 123 CRM managers of Korean companies was conducted to test the proposed research model, and a series of structural equation modeling identified the strong effects of organizational characteristics on CRM performance. It was found that top management commitment to CRM and a firm's strategic readiness lead to high levels of CRM investment, which, in turn, enhance directly task-related performance and indirectly customer-related performance. This study also confirmed that customer orientation is significantly related to task-related CRM performance and that the variables of CRM commitment and organizational culture may enhance customerrelated performance indirectly through their effects on the task-related performance. However, organizational members' resistance to change was found to have no effects on CRM performance. Overall our research broadly supports the role of organizational characteristics revealed in the CRM literature.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1-33
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• 2009

This research investigates the effect of brand-self identification on brand attachment and brand commitment focusing on luxury brand. Another purpose of this study is to examine how the relationships among brand identification, brand attachment and brand committment are moderated by consumers' regulatory focus. Structural Equation Modeling using 214 questionnaires was conducted to test hypothesized model. The results reveal that perceived luxury brand personality including excitement, competence, and sophistication influences brand-self identification positively, which in turn has a signifiant positive effect on the brand attachment. It is also found that consumers' emotional attachment to luxury brands has a positive influence on the luxury brand commitment while the effect of the brand-self identification on the brand commitment is not signifiant. This finding strongly supports that brand attachment and brand commitment are distinct construct, which confirms the results of the previous studies. In addition, the results show that consumers-luxury brands relationships are moderated by consumers' regulatory focus. This finding explains that prevention-focused individuals who have interdependent self-view respond to the loss caused by relationship break more sensitively compared to the promotion-focused consumers. Finally, based on the findings of this study, theoretical contribution and managerial implications are discussed.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.135-161
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• 2011

Social commerce is a more recent phenomenon and growing in number and size with the diffusion of social networking services. But it has not been studied as extensively. The purpose of this study is to investigate consumers' social commerce usage intention empirically. Using the theory of reasoned action suggested by Fishbein and Ajzen(1975), this study tests that perceived value created by social commerce affects social commerce usage intention. In this study, authors e identify to the conception of perceived value as a multidimensional construct, economic, psychology, and time value. This study is to analyze the effects of the value perceived by the consumer on attitude toward social commerce and the effects of the attitude and subjective norm on social commerce usage intention. Additionally, we examine the moderating role of coupon redemption effort in the relationship between attitude toward social commerce and usage intention. In order to evaluative the validity of the model, 258 questionnaires were collected from college students who frequently use SNS and accept new trend and technology using internet survey. All the instrument items used in this study were adapted from previous research and the data were analyzed using SPSS 18 and AMOS 7. This study proposed several hypotheses and conducted an experiment to test these hypotheses. Based on the data analysis results, it was found that economic and psychology value has significant effects on attitude toward the social commerce but time value had not the effect on attitude toward the social commerce. And the present study has also shown that both attitude toward the social commerce and subjective norm significantly influenced usage intention. This finding suggests that the theory of reasoned action effectively explains the social commerce usage intention. The result regarding the moderating effect of the coupon redemption effort has shown that the attitude toward social commerce and usage intention is moderated by consumer perception about coupon redemption.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.59-79
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• 2008

This study explores ways in which Korean companies manage a brand to become a long-run success. In particular, this study focuses on Chamisul, analyzing its marketing strategy, examining its brand life-cycle in terms of introduction, growth, and renewal. Chamisul, first introduced in 1998, has occupied the Korean liquor market as a leading brand for almost a decade. Chamisul's long-run success, in fact, depends upon a number of reasons; first, it has consistently and continuously keeps its own core brand concept and identity. Second, it has built its brand asset by strengthening its emotional ties with customers. The emotional connection that Chamisul has built is based upon the trust between the company who produces the product and the customers who recognize the benefit of drinking Chamisul. Third, the company creates various brand differentiation programs, thereby allowing its customer to get familier with the brand. Finally, the company sets up a clear management standard in Korean liquar market in order to maintain the vitality of the brand, managing Chamisul in accordance with the standard. Seen in this light, Chamisul's success reflects the marketing activities and strategies that play a fundamental role in creating and maintaining a long-run brand. Similarly, its success can be seen to be a model for brand management, telling us how to become a market leader through an effective brand management.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1-23
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• 2011

The previous studies found the importance of market orientation (MO), learning orientation (LO), and marketing capabilities (MC) in driving firm performance (FP), but respectively. This research attempted to integrate the rather separate research streams of MO, LO, and MC in explaining FP. How MO and LO, as two critical constructs of organizations' cultural values, affect FP was examined with the mediating role of MC (composed of marketing planning capability (MPC) and marketing implementation capability (MIC)). Specifically, we derived specific conceptualizations on the effects of LO on FP through MO, MPC, and MIC as well as the effect of MO on FP through MPC. Accordingly, we empirically tested a process of how LO, MO, and MC translate into FP, using survey data of 146 respondents from Korean companies. The results successfully supported our model. It is worth noting not only that LO and MO are found to have synergistic effects on FP through MC but also that LO fosters MO. The relevant implications of our findings are presented with limitations and further research directions.