• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.52-64
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• 2015

This research traced the characteristics of the semantic landscape, construction intent, landscape composition, and geomantic conditions of the area subject to the research based on the research methods of 'field investigation, document studies, and interviews,' centering around the entire area of Gokseong Hamheo-pavilion (Jeonnam Tangible Cultural Assets No. 160). The result of the research, specifically revealing the forms and methods by which the reciprocal view of nature and landscape composition appearing in the landscape of the entire area of Hamheo-pavilion, as part of the analysis and interpretation over the view-based construction characteristics and position of the entire area of Gokseong Hamheo-pavilion, can be summarized as follows. First, Hamheo-pavilion is a pavilion built as a resting area and as a venue for educational activities in 1543 in the nearby areas after Gwang-hyeon Sim founded Gunjichon-jeongsa for educational activities and dwelling purposes at Gunchon at the 30th year of King Jungjong. Gunchon, where Hamheo-pavilion and Gunjichon-jeongsa is located, exhibits the typical form having water in the front, facing Sunja-river(present Seomjin-river), and a mountain in the back side. Dongak-mountain, which is a guardian mountain, is in a snail-type form where cows leisurely ruminate and lie on the riverside, and the Hamheo-pavilion area is said to be an area bordering on one's way of enjoying peace and richness as it is a place with plentiful grass bushes available for cows to ruminate and lie down while sheppards may leisurely play their flutes at the riverside. The back hill of Hamheo-pavilion is a blood vessel that enters the water into the underwater palace of the turtle, and the building sitting on the turtle's back is Hamheo-pavilion, and the Guam-jodae(龜巖釣臺) and lava on the southern side below the cliff can be interpreted to be the underwater fairly land wanted by the turtle.6) Second, Hamheo-pavilion is the scenery viewpoint of Sungang-Cheongpung (3rd Scenery) and Seolsan-Nakjo(雪山落照, 9th Scenery) among the eight sceneries of Gokseong, while also the scenery viewpoint of Hamheo-Sunja(2nd Scenery) and Cheonma-Gwiam(天馬歸岩, 3rd Scenery) among the eight sceneries of Ipmyeon. On the other hand, the pavilion is reproduced through the aesthetics of bends through sensible penetration and transcendental landscape viewed based on the Confucian-topos and ethics as the four bends among the five bends of Sunja-river arranged in the 'Santaegeuk(山太極) and Sutaeguek(水太極, formation of the yin-yang symbol by the mountain and water)' form, which is alike the connection of yin and yang. In particular, when based on the description over Mujinjeong (3rd Bend), Hoyeonjeong(4th Bend), andHapgangjeong(2nd Bend) among the five bends of Sunja-river in the records of Bibyeonsainbangan-jido(duringthe 18th century) and Okgwahyeonji(1788), the scenery of the five bends of Sunja-river allow to glimpse into its reputation as an attraction-type connected scenery in the latter period of the Joseon era, instead of only being perceived of its place identity embracing the fairyland world by crossing in and out of the world of this world and nirvana. Third, Hamheo-pavilion, which exhibits exquisite aesthetics of vacancy, is where the 'forest landscape composed of old big trees such as oak trees, oriental oak trees, and pine trees,' 'rock landscape such as Guam-jodae, lava, and layered rocks' and 'cultural landscape of Gunchon village' is spread close by. In the middle, it has a mountain scenery composed of Sunja-river, Masan-peak, and Gori-peak, and it is a place where the scenery by Gori-peak, Masan-peak, Mudeung-mountain, and Seol-mountain is spread and open in $180^{\circ}$ from the east to west. Mangseo-jae, the sarangchae (men's room)of Gunjichon-jeongsa, means a 'house observing Seoseok-mountain,' which has realized the diverse view-oriented intent, such as by allowing to look up Seol-mountain or Mudeung-mountain, which are back mountains behind the front mountain, through landscape configuration. Fourth, the private home, place for educational activities, pavilion, memorial room, and graveyard of Gunji-village, where the existence and ideal is connected, is a semantic connected scenery relating to the life cycle of the gentry linking 'formation - abundance - transcendence - regression.' In particular, based on the fact that the descriptions over reciprocal views of nature regarding an easy and comfortable life and appreciations for a picturesque scene of the areas nearby Sunja-river composes most of the poetic phrases relating to Hamheo-pavilion, it can be known that Hamheo-pavilion is expressed as the key to the idea of 'understanding how to be satisfied while maintaining one's positon with a comfortable mind' and 'returning to nature,' while also being expressed of its pedantic character as a place for reclusion for training one's mind and training others through metaphysical semantic scenery.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2009

The marketing environment has become competitive to an extent that requires firms to target their products at markets that span national boundaries. However, competitive clout cannot be achieved in global consumer markets unless firms thoroughly understand and adequately respond to the core values and needs of those consumers. Brand equity is one of the most important assets to a company. Especially in sportswear markets, brand equity is the crucial value added to a product by its brand name. Factors such as country of origin also influence customer's attitude towards brand equity. Therefore, this paper discusses the relationship between country of origin effect and brand equity, and how they influence consumers' loyalty for respective brands. This paper focused on the sports shoes market, because it is an increasing area of opportunity for world manufacturers. The objectives of this study were the following. (1) Test the effect of country of origin on brand equity. (2) Test how brand equity influences consumers' brand loyalty. (3) Find whether there are differences in the effects of country of origin and brand equity among the three countries. (4) Find whether there are differences in the effects of country of origin and brand equity among the different lifestyles. Based on the review of literature results, the hypotheses are concluded as the following: H1-a: Country image has positive influence on country of origin. H1-b: Product perception has positive influence on country of origin. H2-a: Perceived quality has positive effect on brand equity. H2-b: Perceived price has positive effect on brand equity. H3: Country of origin has positive effect on brand equity. H4: Brand equity has a positive impact on brand loyalty. Research model was constructed (see Fig. 1). After data analysis, the following results were concluded: sports shoes purchase behavior showed significant differences among Korean, Chinese, and American consumers for favorite brand, purchased brand, purchased place, information usage, and favorite sports games. The results of this study also extend the research of the relationship among country of origin, brand equity and brand loyalty to the sports shoes market. Brand equity was proven to have a significant relationship with brand loyalty for all countries. The factors which can influence brand equity are different for different countries. The third finding of this paper is that we identified different three lifestyles, adventurer, follower, and laggard, for Korean, Chinese and American consumers. Without the nationality boundary, seeing the emergence of a new group of consumers who have similar preferences and buy similar brands is more important. All of the consumers consider brand equity to keep their brand loyalty. Perceived price is the only factor which can influence brand equity for adventurers; brand is more important for them. The laggards were not influenced by any factor. All of the factors expect perceived price are important for the followers. Marketing managers should consider brand equity when introducing their brand into a new market. Also localization is the basic strategy that all the sports shoes companies should understand. But as a global brand, understanding the same characteristics for each country is more important to build global strategy.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.3-19
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• 1991

This paper attempts to identify key determinants of long run movements of real M2 by using the Johansen procedure for estimating and testing cointegration relations. It turns out that the real M2 equation has been stable over the long run despite rapid changes in financial structure since 1975. Moreover, the real M2 equation can be reduced to a velocity equation with the opportunity cost variable, expected inflation less the weighted average rate paid on M2 deposits, being the key determinant. However, it does not work to use a market interest rate such as the yield on corporate bonds in place of expected inflation for calculation of the opportunity cost. In the U.S., a market interest rate can be used, but not in Korea. Presumably, two somewhat different reasonings can be used to explain this result. One is that the yield on corporate bonds may not adequately reflect the inflationary expectations due to regulations on movements in interest rates. The other is that M2 deposits are not readily substitutable with such assets as corporate bonds because of market segmentations, regulations, and so on. From the policymaker's point of view, this implies that the inflation rate is an important indicator of a policy response. On the other hand, policymakers do not regard movements of the yield on corporate bonds as an important policy indicator. Altogether, the role of interest rates has been quite limited in Korea because of incomplete interest rate liberalization, an underdeveloped financial system, implementation procedures of policy measures, and so on. The result that M2 velocity has a positive cointegration relation with expected inflation minus the average rate on M2 implies that frequent adjustments of the regulated rates on M2 will be necessary as market conditions change. As the expected inflation gets higher, M2 velocity will eventually increase, given that the rates on M2 do not change. This will cause higher inflation. If interest rates are liberalized, then increases in market interest rates will result in lagged increases in deposits rates on M2. However, in Korea a substantial portion of deposit rates are regulated and will not change without the authority's initiatives. A tight monetary policy will cause increases in a few market interest rates. But the market mechanism, upward pressure for interest rate adjustments, never reaches regulated deposit rates. Hence the overall effects of tight monetary policy diminish considerably, only causing distortions in the flow of funds. Therefore, frequent adjustments of deposit rates are necessary as market conditions such as inflationary expectations change. Then it becomes important for the policymaker to actively engage in adjusting regulated deposit rates, because the financial sector in Korea is not fully developed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.40-53
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the changes in Scenic Spots by utilizing the "Sinjeungdonggukyeojiseungram(新增東國輿地勝覽)" and "Joseonhwanyeoseungnam(朝鮮?與勝覽)" to interpret "Joseonmyeongseungsiseon(朝鮮名勝詩選, 1915)". By examining the historical context when "Joseonmyeongseungsiseon" was published, it documented the Japanese's memories of 'Sino-Japanese War(淸日戰爭)' in 1894, which implies the 'policy of assimilation' by the Japanese Government-General of Korea after the Japanese annexation of Korea(1910). Detailed information about the author 'Narushima Sagimura(成島鷺村)' can be found in preface. In the "Joseonmyeongseungsiseon", it dedicates most of the part in describing the Scenic Spot especially in 'Anseong Do (15 lines)', where has the memories of war such as the 'First Sino-Japanese War'. The number of Scenic Spots, commonly mentioned in both "Sinjeungdonggukyeoji seungram" and "Joseonhwanyeoseungnam" in Cheonan province are 13 in total. Most of the content contains a similar structure. But 'Honggyeongwon(弘慶院)' and 'Seonghwanyeok(成歡驛)' has both the common Joseon Dynasty landscape point of view, and the additional historical context which are about the 'Jeongyujaeran(丁酉再亂)' or 'First Sino-Japanese War' consequently enlightens the 'placeness' of the Scenic Spots. Among the newly described Scenic Spots, 'Anseongdo(安城渡)' is the part that focuses on the memory of the 'Anseongcheon Battle' that gave Japan its first defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. Especially, by introducing the poetry of 'Sinobu Shunpei' it maximizes the appreciation through emphasizing the direct correlation between placeness and the poem itself. While the Joseon Dynasty poems are 10 pieces in total and their title and the subject matters are all related to historical spots, and the appreciation also maximizes when fully interpreted with understanding the historical context. However, it's contextual meanings are neglected by dividing the actual structures into separate pages. When looking at the location of famous historic sites, they come in many different types, considering the location, meaning, size, and conditions surrounding them. It appears as a service space for travelers, a place for sightseeing, relaxation or return, a temple space for paying respects or memorial services, a fortress facility for defense and protection, or a fishing area for wages, and an old battlefield. Especially, it is noted that the area is diverse as the cultural landscape of Cheonan, given that the battle space between the hermitage and the Donghangnongmin(東學農民) is shared with each other. It is necessary to establish policies for the preservation and restoration of local cultural assets based on these points in the future.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.4-23
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• 2013

Songsalli Ancient Tombs of Gongju consists of seven tombs. King Muryeong's tomb, the seventh tomb, is a brick chamber tomb discovered during the drainage works for the fifth and the sixth tombs in 1971. The excavation at the time focused on topographic surveys of the tomb entrance and the inside of the burial chamber as well as collection of the remains. The burial mount survey confirmed the status of some stone slab remaining and lime-mixed soil layers, but the survey did not examine the exterior structure of the whole tomb as the mounds were removed even more deeply. The excavation revealed damages to the bricks and mural damages due to moisture and fungus in the sixth and the seventh tombs. Between 1996 and 1997, Gongju National University conducted a comprehensive detailed survey of Songsalli Ancient Tombs including a geophysical survey, with an aim to identify the root causes of such degradation. Based on the results, repair took place in 1999 and the fifth, sixth and seventh tombs were placed under permanent conservation to conserve the cultural assets. General public is currently denied access. The purpose of this study was to conduct a three-dimensional resistivity and GPR surveys on the ground surface of the fifth, sixth and seventh tombs of Songsalli Ancient Tombs in order to understand the underground status after repair. The study also aimed to understand the thickness of all the tomb walls and exterior structure based on GPR inside King Muryeong's tomb. The exploration on the ground surface found that the three tombs and soil adjacent to the tombs had resistivity as low as 5 to $90{\Omega}m$, which confirmed that the soil water content was still as high as that prior to the repair work. Additionally, GPR found that the wall construction of the burial chamber of King Muryeong's tomb was approximately 70cm in thickness, while the structure was of 2B with two bricks, about 35cm in length, put together longitudinally(2B brick masonry). The pathway to the burial chamber was of the 2B structure just like that of the burial chamber walls, while its thickness was 80cm with an eyebrow-type arch connected to it. Also, the ceiling exterior appears to have an arch structure, identical to the shape inside.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.27-52
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• 2010

It is not new that today's business organizations are expected to exhibit ethical and moral management and to carry out social responsibility as a good corporate citizen. Since South Korea emerged as a newly industrialized country during the 1980s, Korean corporations have become active in carrying out their social responsibility as a good corporate citizen to society. In spite of the short history of corporate social responsibility, Korean companies have actively participated in corporate philanthropy. Corporations' significant donations to various social causes, no-lay-off policies, corporate volunteerism and green marketing are evidences of their commitment to corporate citizenship. Corporate social responsibility is now an essential management practice whereby corporation can strengthen its sustainable value creation processes by enhancing the trust assets underlying the relationships between the business and the stakeholders. Much of the conceptual work in the area of corporate social responsibility(CSR) has originated from researches conducted in the management field. Carroll(1979) proposed that corporations have four types of social responsibilities: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibility. Most past research has investigated CSR and its impact on consumers' attitudes toward the corporations and corporate performances. Although there exists a large body of literature on how consumers perceive and respond to CSR, the majority of past studies were conducted in the United States. The stability and applicability of past findings need to be tested across different national/cultural settings, especially since corporate social responsibility is a reflection of implicit conformation with the expectations and criticism that society may have toward a corporation(Matten and Moon, 2004). In this study, we explored whether people in Korea perceive CSR of Korean corporations in the same four dimensions as done in the United States and what were the measurement items tapping each of these four dimensions. In order to investigate the dimensions of CSR and the measurement items for CSR perceived by Korean people, nine focus group interviews were conducted with several stakeholder groups(two with undergraduate students, two with graduate students, three with general consumers, and two with NGO groups). Scripts from the interviews revealed that the Korean stakeholders perceived four types of CSR which are the same as those proposed by Carroll(1979). However we found CSR issues unique to Korean corporations. For example for the economic responsibility, Korean people mentioned that the corporation needed to contribute to the economic development of the country by generating corporate profits. For the legal responsibility, Koreans included the "corporation need to follow the consumer protection law." For the ethical responsibility, they considered that the corporation needed to not promote false advertisement. In addition, Koreans thought that an ethical company should do transparent management. For the philanthropic responsibility, people in Korea thought that a corporation needed to return parts of its profits to the society for the betterment of society. The 28 items were developed based on the results of the nine focus group interviews, while considering the scale developed by Maignan and Ferrell(2001). Following the procedure proposed by Churchill(1979), we started by developing an item poll consisting of 28 items and purified the initial pool of items through exploratory, confirmatory factor analyses. 176 samples were sued for this analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the 28 items in order to verify the underlying four factor structure. Study 1 provided new measurement items for tapping the Korean CSR dimensions, which can be useful for the future studies exploring the effects of CSR on Korean consumers' attitudes toward the corporations and corporate performances. And we found the CSR scale(17 items) has good reliability, discriminant validity and nomological validity. Economic Responsibility: "XYZ company continuously improves the quality of our products", "XYZ company has a procedure in place to respond to customer complaint", "XYZ company contributes to the economic development of our country by generating profits", "XYZ company is eager to hire people". Legal Responsibility: "XYZ company's products meet legal standards", "XYZ company seeks to comply with all laws regulating hiring and employee benefits", "XYZ company honors contractual obligations to its suppliers", "XYZ company's managers try to comply with the law related to the business operation". Ethical Responsibility: "XYZ company has a comprehensive code of conduct", "XYZ company does not promote a false or misleading advertisement", "XYZ company seems to conduct a transparent business", "XYZ company does a fair business with its suppliers or sub-contractors". Philanthropic Responsibility: "XYZ company encourages partnerships with local businesses and schools", "XYZ company supports sports and cultural activities", "XYZ company gives adequate contributions to charities considering its business size", "XYZ company encourages employees to support our community". Study 2 was condusted for comprehensive validity. 655 samples were used for this anlysis. Collected samples were tested by factor analysis and Crnbach's Alpha coefficiednts and were found to be satisfactory in terms of validity and reliability. Furthermore, fitness of the measurement model was tested by using conformatory factor analysis. χ²=880.73(df=160), GFI=0.891, AGFI=0.854, NFI=0.908, NNFI=0.913, RMR=0.059, RMESA=0.070. We hope that CSR scale could greatly facilitate research on Corporate social resposibility, it is by no means the final answer.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.172-205
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• 2011

Go bears significant meanings in terms of cultural and entertaining functions in Asia Eastern such as China and Japan. Beyond the mere entertaining level, it produces philosophical and mythic discourse as well. As a part of effort to seek an identity of Korean traditional garden culture, this study traced back to find meanings of rock-go-board and taste for the arts which ancestors pursued in playing Go game, through analysis and interpretation of correlation among origin of place name, nearby scenery, carved letters and vicinal handed-down place name. At the same time, their position, shape and location types were interpreted through comprehensive research and analysis of stone-go-boards including rock-go-board. Particularly, it focused on the rock names related to Sundoism(仙道) Ideal world, fixed due to a connection between traces of Sundoism and places in a folk etymology. Series of this work is to highlight features of the immortal sceneries, one of traditional landscaping ideals, by understanding place identity and scenic features of where the rock-go-boards are carved. These works are expected to become foundation for promotion and preservation of the traditional landscaping remains. The contents of this study could be summarized as follows; First, round stone and square board for round sky and angled land, black and white color for harmony of yin and yang and 361paths for rotating sky are symbols projecting order of universe. Sayings of Gyuljungjirak(橘中之樂), Sangsansaho(商山四皓), Nangagosa(爛柯故事) formed based on the idea of eternity stand for union of sky and sun. It indicates Go game which matches life and nature spatiotemporally and elegant taste for arts pursuing beauty and leisure. Second, the stone-go-boards found through this research, are 18 in total. 3 of those(16.1%), Gangjin Weolnamsaji, Yangsan Sohanjeong and Banryongdae ones were classified into movable Seokguk and 15(83.9%) including Banghakdong were turned out to be non-movable rock-go-boards carved on natural rocks. Third, upon the result of materializing location types of rock-go-boards, 15 are mountain stream type(83.9%) and 3 are rock peak type(16.1%). Among those, the one at Sobaeksam Sinseonbong is located at the highest place(1,389m). Considering the fact that all of 15 rock-go-boards were found at mountainous areas lower than 500m, it is recognizable that where the Go-boards are the parts of the living space, not far from secular world. Fourth, there are 7 Sunjang(巡將) Go with 17 Hwajeoms(花點), which is a traditional Go board type, but their existences, numbers and shapes of Hwajeom appear variously. Based on the fact, it is recognizable that culture of making go-board had been handed down for an extended period of time. Among the studied rock-goboards, the biggest one was Muju Sasunam[$80(82)cm{\times}80(82)cm$] while the smallest one was Yangsan Sohandjeong Seokguk ($40cm{\times}40cm$). The dimension of length and breadth are both $49cm{\times}48cm$ on average, which is realistic size for actual Go play. Fifth, the biggest bed rock, an under-masonry with carved Go-board on it, was one in Muju Sasunam[$8.7m{\times}7.5m(65.25m^2)$], followed by ones in Hoengseong Chuiseok[$7.8m{\times}6.3m(49.14m^2$] and Goisan Sungukam[$6.7m{\times}5.7m(37.14m^2)$]. Meanwhile, the smallest rock-go-board was turned out to be one in Seoul Banghak-dong. There was no consistency in directions of the Go-boards, which gives a hint that geographical features and sceneries of locations were considered first and then these were carved toward an optimal direction corresponding to the conditions. Sixth, rock-go-boards were all located in valleys and peaks of mountains with breathtaking scenery. It seems closely related to ancestors' taste for arts. Particularly, rock-go-boards are apprehended as facilities related to taste for arts for having leisure in many mountains and big streams under the idea of union of sky and human as a primitive communal line. Go became a medium of hermits, which is a traditional image of Go-game, and symbol of amusement and entertainment with the idea that Go is an essence of scholar culture enabling to reach the Tao of turning back to nature. Seventh, the further ancient time going back to, the more dreamlike the Go-boards are. It is an evident for that Sundoism, which used to be unacceptable once, became more visible and realistic. Considering the high relation between rock-go-boards and Sundoism relevant names such as Sundoism peak in Danyang Sobaeksan, 4 hermits rock in Muju and Sundoism hermit rock in Jangsu, Sundoism hermit rocks and rock-go-boards are sceneries and observation spots to express a communication of worship and longing for Sundoism. Eighth, 3 elements-physical environment such as location type of the rock-go-boards, human activities concentrated on 8 sceneries and Dongcheongugok(洞天九曲) setup and relevancy to Confucian scholars, as well as 'Sangsansaho' motif and 'Nangagosa' symbolic meaning were used as interpretation tools in order to judge the place identity. Upon the result, spatial investigation is required with respect to Sunyoodongcheon(仙遊洞天) concept based on enjoyment to unify with the nature rather than Dongcheongugok concept of neo-Confucian, for Dongcheon and Dongmoon(洞門) motives carved around the rock-go-boards. Generally, places where mountain stream type rock-go-boards were formed were hermit spaces of Confucianism or Sundoism. They are considered to have compromised one other with the change of times. Particularly, in the rock-go-board at the mountain peak, sublimity-oriented advent of Sundoism is considered as a significant factor to control place identity. Ninth, including where the rock-go-boards were established, the vicinal areas are well-known as parts of Dongcheongugok and Palkyung(八景) mostly. In addition, many of Sundoism relevant expressions were discovered even in the neighboring carvings written by scholars and nobility, which means sophisticated taste based on longing for Sundoism world played a significant role in making go-board. The rock-go-board is an integration of cultural phenomena naturally managed by seclusion of scholars in the Joseon Dynasty as well as remains and essence of Korean traditional landscaping. Some rock-go-boards out of 17 discovered in South Korea, including ones in Sobaeksan Sinsunbong, Banghak-dong, Chungju Gongili, Muju Sasunam, Yangsan Eogokdong Banryongdae Seokguk, are damaged such as cracks in rocks or fainted lines by hardships of time and hand stains. Worse yet, in case of Eunyang Bangudae Jipcheongjeong board, it is very difficult to identify the shape due to being buried. Rock-go-boards are valuable sculptures in terms of cultural asset and artwork since they reflect ancestors' love for nature and longing for Sundoism world. Therefore, they should be maintained properly with right preservation method. Not only rock-boards itself but also peripheral places are excellent cultural heritages and crucial cultural assets. In addition, vicinal sceneries of where rock-goboards and pavilion spots are the representative remains of embracing prototype of Korean traditional landscaping and major parts of cultural properties.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.65-96
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• 2012

Brand has received much attention from considerable marketing research. When consumers consume product or services, they are exposed to a lot of brand related stimuli. These contain brand personality, brand experience, brand identity, brand communications and so on. A special kind of new crisis occasionally confronting companies' brand management today is the brand related rumor. An important influence on consumers' purchase decision making is the word-of-mouth spread by other consumers and most decisions are influenced by other's recommendations. In light of this influence, firms have reasonable reason to study and understand consumer-to-consumer communication such as brand rumor. The importance of brand rumor to marketers is increasing as the number of internet user and SNS(social network service) site grows. Due to the development of internet technology, people can spread rumors without the limitation of time, space and place. However relatively few studies have been published in marketing journals and little is known about brand rumors in the marketplace. The study of rumor has a long history in all major social science. But very few studies have dealt with the antecedents and consequences of any kind of brand rumor. Rumor has been generally described as a story or statement in general circulation without proper confirmation or certainty as to fact. And it also can be defined as an unconfirmed proposition, passed along from people to people. Rosnow(1991) claimed that rumors were transmitted because people needed to explain ambiguous and uncertain events and talking about them reduced associated anxiety. Especially negative rumors are believed to have the potential to devastate a company's reputation and relations with customers. From the perspective of marketer, negative rumors are considered harmful and extremely difficult to control in general. It is becoming a threat to a company's sustainability and sometimes leads to negative brand image and loss of customers. Thus there is a growing concern that these negative rumors can damage brands' reputations and lead them to financial disaster too. In this study we aimed to distinguish antecedents of brand rumor transmission and investigate the effects of brand rumor characteristics on rumor spread intention. We also found key components in personal acceptance of brand rumor. In contextualist perspective, we tried to unify the traditional psychological and sociological views. In this unified research approach we defined brand rumor's characteristics based on five major variables that had been found to influence the process of rumor spread intention. The five factors of usefulness, source credibility, message credibility, worry, and vividness, encompass multi level elements of brand rumor. We also selected product involvement as a control variable. To perform the empirical research, imaginary Korean 'Kimch' brand and related contamination rumor was created and proposed. Questionnaires were collected from 178 Korean samples. Data were collected from college students who have been experienced the focal product. College students were regarded as good subjects because they have a tendency to express their opinions in detail. PLS(partial least square) method was adopted to analyze the relations between variables in the equation model. The most widely adopted causal modeling method is LISREL. However it is poorly suited to deal with relatively small data samples and can yield not proper solutions in some cases. PLS has been developed to avoid some of these limitations and provide more reliable results. To test the reliability using SPSS 16 s/w, Cronbach alpha was examined and all the values were appropriate showing alpha values between .802 and .953. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted successfully. And structural equation modeling has been used to analyze the research model using smartPLS(ver. 2.0) s/w. Overall, R² of adoption of rumor is .476 and R² of intention of rumor transmission is .218. The overall model showed a satisfactory fit. The empirical results can be summarized as follows. According to the results, the variables of brand rumor characteristic such as source credibility, message credibility, worry, and vividness affect argument strength of rumor. And argument strength of rumor also affects rumor intention. On the other hand, the relationship between perceived usefulness and argument strength of rumor is not significant. The moderating effect of product involvement on the relations between argument strength of rumor and rumor W.O.M intention is not supported neither. Consequently this study suggests some managerial and academic implications. We consider some implications for corporate crisis management planning, PR and brand management. This results show marketers that rumor is a critical factor for managing strong brand assets. Also for researchers, brand rumor should become an important thesis of their interests to understand the relationship between consumer and brand. Recently many brand managers and marketers have focused on the short-term view. They just focused on strengthen the positive brand image. According to this study we suggested that effective brand management requires managing negative brand rumors with a long-term view of marketing decisions.