• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
• /
• v.4 no.11
• /
• pp.509-520
• /
• 2015

College Scholastic Ability Test(CSAT) is a primary test to evaluate the study achievement of high-school students and used by most universities for admission decision in South Korea. Because its level of difficulty is a significant issue to both students and universities, the government makes a huge effort to have a consistent difficulty level every year. However, the actual levels of difficulty have significantly fluctuated, which causes many problems with university admission. In this paper, we build two types of data-driven prediction models to predict correct answer rate and to identify significant factors for CSAT English test through accumulated test data of CSAT, unlike traditional methods depending on experts' judgments. Initially, we derive candidate question-specific factors that can influence the correct answer rate, such as the position, EBS-relation, readability, from the annual CSAT practices and CSAT for 10 years. In addition, we drive context-specific factors by employing topic modeling which identify the underlying topics over the text. Then, the correct answer rate is predicted by multiple linear regression and level of difficulty is predicted by classification tree. The experimental results show that 90% of accuracy can be achieved by the level of difficulty (difficult/easy) classification model, whereas the error rate for correct answer rate is below 16%. Points and problem category are found to be critical to predict the correct answer rate. In addition, the correct answer rate is also influenced by some of the topics discovered by topic modeling. Based on our study, it will be possible to predict the range of expected correct answer rate for both question-level and entire test-level, which will help CSAT examiners to control the level of difficulties.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.5-9
• /
• 1976

The categories of national health problems may be mainly divided into health promotion, problems of diseases, and population-economic problems which are indirectly related to health. Of them, the problems of diseases will be exclusively dealt with this speech. Rurality and Disease Problems There are many differences between rural and urban areas. In general, indicators of rurality are small size of towns, dispersion of the population, remoteness from urban centers, inadequacy of public transportation, poor communication, inadequate sanitation, poor housing, poverty, little education lack of health personnels and facilities, and in-accessibility to health services. The influence of such conditions creates, directly or indirectly, many problems of diseases in the rural areas. Those art the occurrence of preventable diseases, deterioration and prolongation of illness due to loss of chance to get early treatment, decreased or prolonged labour force loss, unnecessary death, doubling of medical cost, and economic loss. Some Considerations of Innovative Approach The followings art some considerations of innovative approaches to the problems of diseases in the rural Korea. 1. It would be essential goal of the innovative approaches that the damage and economic loss due to diseases will be maintained to minimum level by minimizing the absolute amount of the diseases, and by moderating the fee for medical cares. The goal of the minimization of the disease amount may be achieved by preventive services and early treatment, and the goal of moderating the medical fee may be achieved by lowering the prime cost and by adjusting the medical fees to reasonable level. 2. Community health service or community medicine will be adopted as a innovative means to disease problems. In this case, a community is defined as an unit area where supply and utilization of primary service activities can be accomplished within a day. The essential nature o the community health service should be such activities as health promotion, preventive measures, medical care, and rehabilitation performing efficiently through the organized efforts of the residents in a community. Each service activity should cover all members of the residents in a community in its plan and performance. The cooperation of the community peoples in one of the essential elements for success of the service program, The motivations of their cooperative mood may be activated through several ways: when the participation of the residents in service program of especially the direct participation of organized cooperation of the area leaders art achieved through a means of health education: when the residents get actual experience of having received the benefit of good quality services; and when the health personnels being armed with an idealism that they art working in the areas to help health problems of the residents, maintain good human relationships with them. For the success of a community health service program, a personnel who is in charge of leadership and has an able, a sincere and a steady characters seems to be required in a community. The government should lead and support the community health service programs of the nation under the basis of results appeared in the demonstrative programs so as to be carried out the programs efficiently. Moss of the health problems may be treated properly in the community levels through suitable community health service programs but there might be some problems which art beyond their abilities to be dealt with. To solve such problems each community health service program should be under the referral systems which are connected with health centers, hospitals, and so forth. 3. An approach should be intensively groped to have a physician in each community. The shortage of physicians in rural areas is world-wide problem and so is the Korean situation. In the past the government has initiated a system of area-limited physician, coercion, and a small scale of scholarship program with unsatisfactory results. But there might be ways of achieving the goal by intervice, broadened, and continuous approaches. There will be several ways of approach to motivate the physicians to be settled in a rural community. They are, for examples, to expos the students to the community health service programs during training, to be run community health service programs by every health or medical schools and other main medical facilities, communication activities and advertisement, desire of community peoples to invite a physician, scholarship program, payment of satisfactory level, fulfilment of military obligation in case of a future draft, economic growth and development of rural communities, sufficiency of health and medical facilities, provision of proper medical care system, coercion, and so forth. And, hopefully, more useful reference data on the motivations may be available when a survey be conducted to the physicians who are presently engaging in the rural community levels. 4. In communities where the availability of a physician is difficult, a trial to use physician extenders, under certain conditions, may be considered. The reason is that it would be beneficial for the health of the residents to give them the remedies of primary medical care through the extenders rather than to leave their medical problems out of management. The followings are the conditions to be considered when the physician extenders are used: their positions will be prescribed as a temporary one instead of permanent one so as to allow easy replacement of the position with a physician applicant; the extender will be under periodic direction and supervision of a physician, and also referral channel will be provided: legal constraints will be placed upon the extenders primary care practice, and the physician extenders will used only under the public medical care system. 5. For the balanced health care delivery, a greater investment to the rural areas is needed to compensate weak points of a rurality. The characteristics of a rurality has been already mentioned. The objective of balanced service for rural communities to level up that of urban areas will be hard to achieve without greater efforts and supports. For example, rural communities need mobile powers more than urban areas, communication network is extremely necessary at health delivery facilities in rural areas as well as the need of urban areas, health and medical facilities in rural areas should be provided more substantially than those of urban areas to minimize, in a sense, the amount of patient consultation and request of laboratory specimens through referral system of which procedures are more troublesome in rural areas, and more intensive control measures against communicable diseases are needed in rural areas where greater numbers of cases are occurred under the poor sanitary conditions.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.46-70
• /
• 1987

The survey with questionnaire were conducted to grasp the actual condition of four cautious drugs-antibiotics, sedative hypnctics, mincr tranquilizer, analeptics-self -medication behavior through drugstore use and to analyze the primary factors connected with it. The following six objectives were established. 1) To catch the reason why the man who medicate himself buy four cautious drugs at a drugstore, and to know the choice motive of each drug purchased. 2) To grasp the distribution of four cautious drug taken by the man who medicate himself and to analyse the reason of taking the drug. 3) To find out whether the buyer has taken the same drug past and to know the duration and the frequency. 4) To grasp the degree of recognition about four cautious drugs and the attitude toward continuous taking them. 5) To analyze the degree of recognition about the influence on human body and the attitude of medication behavior. 6) To know "the experience of side-effects" and to grasp the kind of the side-effects. The data were collected from 15 drugstores with 677 respondents in seoul from August 17 to september 21, 1987. The following results were obtained. 1) The reasons for drugstore use were first, "for easy access and convenience" (53.7%) second, "for the slightness of illness" (19.9%) third "for the cheap price" (13.2%). According to that result, the factor of "the easy access of drugstore" was most influential. In case of the poor, the factor "for the cheap price "was revealed second (37.3%). And "for the slightness of illness" was second reason in the medically insured (22. 9%), "for the cheap price" was second reason in the others (29%). 2) The kind of drugs purchased were antibiotics (62.8%), analeptics(17.2%), minor tranquilizer(13.3%) and sedative hypnotics (6.7%) on the whole. In teenagers, besides antibiotics the percentage of taking analepits came second (42.4%) and it was revealed that the percentage of sedative hypnotics, minor tranquilizer increase with age. But in proportion to the increase of age, the taking of analeptis decreased. 3) The choice motives of each drug purchased were all different. In case of antibiotics "recommendation of pharmacist" was 39.6%, sedative hypnotics "recommendation of pharmacist" and "my own judgement", 28.9%, respectively, minor tranquilizer "my own judgement", 35.2%. and in case of analeptics "my oun judgement" was most common with 53.5%. 4) The reasons for taking drugs were as follows. antibiotics was taken for the inflammation mitigation of a wound and a swelling (38.5%), sedative hypnotics for the removal of insomnia (97.5%), minor tranquilizer because of restlessness and qloominess(39.3%), and analeptics for the shortening of sleeping hours (35.1%). 5) Those experienced in taking four cautious drugs were 78.2% on the average. It was revealed that antibiotics use duration was "from one week to one month" (38.9%), the frequency was "rarely" (62.1%), sedative hypnotics and minor tranquilizer; "More than three years", (35.7%, 30.4%), respectively, "Somtimes", (43.8%, 35%), respectively. analeptics ; "from one year to three years", (27.6%), "Sometimes", (42.7%). 6) In regard to the source of information in taking drugs, 35.3 percent of male were relied on "recommendation of pharmacist", 32.6 percent of female "my own judgement", There was a difference between below the middle school graduates and over the high school graduates Thease were relied on "recommendation of pharmacist" first, those "my own judgement" first. And "my own judgement" was the first source of specialist(40%), labours(41.4%), salesman(43.5%), and jobless men(36.8%), "recommendation of ralatives on friends" was the first source of students (30.4%), "recommendation of pharmacist" was the first soure of teachers, administrative office workers (39%) and housewives (40.7%). 7) The degree of recognition about four cautious drugs was as follows. "know a little" was (43.0%), "don't know" (30.2%), "know" (26.8%), respectively. In regard to the attitude toward continuous taking them, it was revealed that "I will take it according to circumstamces" was first (56.2%), " I will not take it as possible" was first(56.2%), "I dont know well" (12.9%), "I will take it continuously" (8.3%). 8) About the influence on human body, "if proper, it is effect" was common attitude toward antibiotics (43.6%), "Probably bad influence on the health" was first toward the other drugs (46.2%), In terms of the degree of observance to taking-time and dose of drugs, "suitably" was first (37.3%), "relatively correctly" second (27%), "correctly" (17%). 9) The percentage of four cautious drugs side-effects was 27.5 on the average. The kind of side-effects were eruption and urticaria (28.5%), heart acceleration and so forth. (25.4%), headache and Giddiness, dyspepsia (23%), respectively.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.116-186
• /
• 1983

An epidemiological study on Clonorchis sinensis infection along the Nam-river (total length ; 186km) flowing in Gyeongsang-nam-do, southern part of Korea, was carried out. Formalin-ether concentration technique and Stoll's egg counting method were employed to figure out the prevalence of C. sinensis infection. For the detection of cercariae from Parafossarulus sp., the snail host of C. sinensis, each snail was placed in aerated tap water, and examined for expelled cercariae. For observing the metacercariae the fresh water fish favorably eaten in raw conditions wore prepared by means of pressing the muscles between two slide glasses and/or by digesting them with artificial gastric juice. The fresh water fish were fed to the rabbits to get the worms and to identify the morphology of adult C. sinensis. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Overall Prevalence of C. sinensis infection was 38.75 from 5,291 examinees; 44.15 (1,408 out of 3,196) in male and 30.4% (637 out of 2,095) in female. 2. The prevalence rates were 42.0% at the upper stream, 41.2% around the vicinity of Jinyanglake, 34.2% at Jinju city, 34.2% at middle stream and 40.3% at down stream regions, respectively. 3. By age, the highest positive rate (53.4∼54.3%) was observed in 30 to 59 years of age. In this age group, the rate in males was 59.7∼62.2%, and in females 42.2∼44.4%, In the age group of less than 19 years it was 7.5∼20.9%. 4. By social strata, the positive rate was 16.5% in the primary school children, 22.6% in school students, 46.2% in teachers and local officers and 49.6% in the general inhabitants. 5. The quantitative examinations with the stool collected from clonorchiasis cases revealed that the light infection (less than 4,000/EPG) was 53.6%, moderate infection (4,001∼10,000 /EPG) 30.3% and heavy infection (more than 10,001/EPG) 16.1%, respectively. More than half of total cases examined were light infection, and 73.2% of female examinees were lightly infected with this cuke. 6. The average value of EPG was 4,963 (male, 6,057; female, 2,557 and the highest value was obtained from the age group of 30 to 59 years (5,240∼6,454). 7. The prevalence of Metagonimus yokogawai infection in humans was 5.5%, and 89.8% of metagonimiasis cases wore double-infected arith C. sinensis. The highest prevalence rate was observed in Jinju city (11.2%). 8. Total of 5,005 Parafossarulus sp., the snail intermediate host of C. sinensis, were examined for the detection of cercariae. The cercarial expulsion rate was 0.34%, and the snails collected in Jin-yang-lake side and in the down stream expelled mainly the cercariae of C, sinensis. 9. About 788 cercariaejday (range: 127∼1,503) were expelled daily from a snail naturally infected with C. sinensis. The snails which released more than 1,000 cercariae/day were 30.8% out of total collected. A snail uniquely released 5,840 cercariae/day in this study. 10. The other trematode cercariae besides C. sinensis were also detected, and the rates out of total snails were the cercariae of Losogenes liberum 6.71%, Cyathocotyle orientalis 0.26%, Notocotylus attenuatus 2.52% and Mucobucaris 0.54%, 11. Ten out of 18 species of fresh water fish caught along the river harbored the metacercariae of C, sinensis. The highest rate of metacercarial infection in fish was detected in Pseudorasbora larva (85.9%). The fish mainly eaten by the inhabitants along the Nam-river, and the metacercarial infection rates were: Zacco platypus 8.0%, Hemibarbus sp. 18.2∼26.7%, Gnathepcgcn sp. 37.5%, Ischikauia steenackeri 42.9% and Pseudogobio esocinus 16.7%. 12. Out of 36 P. larva, the number of metacercariae were about 109 (ranEe; 18∼446) per fish and 27 per gram of flesh. The fish caught in spring harbored the highest number of metacercariae. As indicated above, the prevalence of C. sinensis infection in the inhabitants residing around the Nam-river was relatively high. The farther toward the upper stream areas, the higher was the positive rate of C. sinensis infection, and most of clonorchiasis cases were lightly infected. The snail hosts of C. sinensis distributed all around the Nam-river. Several species of freshwater fish were infected with the metacercariae of C. sinensis and the infection rates were relatively high. To prevent C. sinensis infection in the endemic areas, the effective health education system is suggested as a control measure, although mass treatment is also expected to be useful, using chemotherapeutic agents such as "praziquantel", a recently developed anthelminthic for C. sinensis inftraction.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.201-220
• /
• 2021

The objective of this study is to increase awareness and interest regarding polar science and thereby aid in establishing the concept and future direction of polar literacy. To analyze the current status, textbooks based on the common school curriculum pertaining to polar topics were reviewed. Six countries that actively conduct polar science, namely Korea, France, Japan, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, were chosen. Subsequently, 402 cases in 110 science and social studies (geography) textbooks of these countries were analyzed through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Based on the obtained results, the importance of polar research in geoscience education and the need for spreading awareness regarding polar research as an indicator of global environmental changes were examined. It was found that the primary polar topics described in the textbooks are polar glaciers, polar volcanism, solid geophysics, polar infrastructure, and preservation of geological resources and heritage. This demonstrates that the polar region is a field of research with important clues to Earth's past, present, and future environments and is also a good teaching subject for geological education. However, an educational approach is needed for systematically laying emphasis on polar research. The implications of this study are manifold, such as the establishment of a cooperative system between polar scientists and educators, extraction of core concepts for polar literacy and content reconstruction, discovery of new polar topics associated with the curriculum, diversification of forms of presentation in textbooks, and development of an affective image that is based on correct cognitive understanding. Furthermore, through the continuance of polar topics in textbooks, students can improve their awareness regarding polar literacy and polar science culture, which in turn will serve as the driving force for sustainable polar research in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.16 no.2 s.75
• /
• pp.339-344
• /
• 2006

The aim of this study was to examine the timing and magnitude of growth spurt in skinfold, body musle and bone related variables aligned on peak height velocity in boys and girls. In the study design, the subjects and the method were used by the cross-sectional investigation. The subjects participated in this study were 7 through 18 years of age belonged to typical primary, junior, senior high school students, and about 250 males and 250 females in each age group. The total subjects were 2,798 males and 2,762 females. All subjects of this study were lived in Pusan metropolitan city, Korea. The growth velocity magnitudes of sum of the four sites sknfold thickness, body musle and bone related variables. Velocity curve chart of physique was the smoothed according to an approximation of splines by the Sigma Plot-2001 graphic program. In this study, age at PHV of girls occurred eariler about 2 years than boys. In sum of four sites skinfold thickness, PV occurred -2 years from PHV in boys, and PV occurred +2 years from PHV in girls, respectively. In humerus breadth, two PV occurred before and after PHV in boys, whereas PV occurred -1 year from PHV in girls, respectively. In femur breadth, PFV and PHV appeared to occure the same time in boys, PV occurred -2 years from PHV in girls, respectively, In arm circumference, PV occurred after PHV in both sexes. In calf circumference, PV occurred +2 years from PHV in boys, PCCV and PHV appeared to occure the same time in girls, respectively. In magnitudes of peak velocity of body height, humerus breadth, femur breadth, arm circumference and calf circumfence, boys obtained higher than girls, on the other hand, girls obtained higher than boys in sum of four sites skinfold variable. we need to longitudinal and scientific investigation by Korean government level in adolescent growth spurt study, because childhood and adolescence achive higher positive physical education effect than the other ages.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.76-85
• /
• 2011

This research explores the Korean perspective on parks and the beginning of urban parks in the port opening period. The purpose of the study is to understand how Koreans viewed and accepted the idea of a park as imported from western culture and with what attitudes. Analyzed sources included: "Susinsa's Record"(修信使記錄) by Susinsa(修信使) who wrote the inspection records of foreign modern cultures for the first time after the port opening, "Seoyukyunmun"(西遊見聞) by Yu Kil-jun(兪吉濬) and "Yun Chi-ho's Diary"(尹致昊日記) by Yun Chi-ho(尹致昊), which are representative works by students sent abroad, as well as some records of Seo Jae-pil(徐載弼) and The Independence Club(獨立協會) such as "The Independent"(獨立新聞), which contains the records of 'IndependencePark'. This research is focused on the literature that reexamins and interprets the related data from primary sources. As a result, it was found that the people who led the modern reformation in the Port Opening period adopted and developed social thinking regarding parks. Indeed, it was possible to witness the gradual sophistication of the concept of a park from the time of Susina's thoughts on parks to that of Yu Kil-jun's support for the need and importance of parks and Yun Chi-ho's cultural and artistic interest in parks. Also, Seo Jae-pil and the Independence Club drove the development of Independence Park, which was designed to incorporate social values and symbols while also serving to meet the needs of recreation, leisure, hygiene, and enlightenment. The Independence Club consistently advocated for the necessity of open spaces and delivered this message to the public via article writing. In short, even prior to the Japanese colonial period, Koreans shared thoughts and exchanged opinions on parks. Parks were to be created not just as a copy or transplant of western parks, but were constructed based on social demands and necessity. As few studies have taken the approach of identifying this origin of Korean parks, thus, this research which traces back the origin of Korean parks, is significant.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.1-25
• /
• 2011

Internet-based commerce has undergone an explosive growth over the past decade as consumers today find it more economical as well as more convenient to shop online. Nevertheless, the shift in the common mode of shopping from offline to online commerce has caused consumers to have worries over such issues as private information leakage, online fraud, discrepancy in product quality and grade, unsuccessful delivery, and so forth, Numerous studies have been undertaken to examine the role of perceived risk as a chief barrier to online purchases and to understand the theoretical relationships among perceived risk, trust and purchase intentions, However, most studies focus on empirically investigating the effects of trust on perceived risk, with little attention devoted to the effects of perceived risk on trust, While the influence trust has on perceived risk is worth studying, the influence in the opposite direction is equally important, enabling insights into the potential of perceived risk as a prohibitor of trust, According to Pavlou (2003), the primary source of the perceived risk is either the technological uncertainty of the Internet environment or the behavioral uncertainty of the transaction partner. Due to such types of uncertainty, an increase in the worries over the perceived risk may negatively affect trust, For example, if a consumer who sends sensitive transaction data over Internet is concerned that his or her private information may leak out because of the lack of security, trust may decrease (Olivero and Lunt, 2004), By the same token, if the consumer feels that the online merchant has the potential to profit by behaving in an opportunistic manner taking advantage of the remote, impersonal nature of online commerce, then it is unlikely that the merchant will be trusted, That is, the more the probable danger is likely to occur, the less trust and the greater need to control the transaction (Olivero and Lunt, 2004), In summary, a review of the related studies indicates that while some researchers looked at the influence of overall perceived risk on trust level, not much attention has been given to the effects of different types of perceived risk, In this context the present research aims at addressing the need to study how trust is affected by different types of perceived risk, We classified perceived risk into six different types based on the literature, and empirically analyzed the impact of each type of perceived risk upon consumer trust in an online merchant and further its impact upon purchase intentions. To meet our research objectives, we developed a conceptual model depicting the nomological structure of the relationships among our research variables, and also formulated a total of seven hypotheses. The model and hypotheses were tested using an empirical analysis based on a questionnaire survey of 206 college students. The reliability was evaluated via Cronbach's alphas, the minimum of which was found to be 0.73, and therefore the questionnaire items are all deemed reliable. In addition, the results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) designed to check the validity of the measurement model indicate that the convergent, discriminate, and nomological validities of the model are all acceptable. The structural equation modeling analysis to test the hypotheses yielded the following results. Of the first six hypotheses (H1-1 through H1-6) designed to examine the relationships between each risk type and trust, three hypotheses including H1-1 (performance risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust), H1-2 (psychological risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust) and H1-5 (online payment risk ${\rightarrow}$ trust) were supported with path coefficients of -0.30, -0.27 and -0.16 respectively. Finally, H2 (trust ${\rightarrow}$ purchase intentions) was supported with relatively high path coefficients of 0.73. Results of the empirical study offer the following findings and implications. First. it was found that it was performance risk, psychological risk and online payment risk that have a statistically significant influence upon consumer trust in an online merchant. It implies that a consumer may find an online merchant untrustworthy if either the product quality or the product grade does not match his or her expectations. For that reason, online merchants including digital storefronts and e-marketplaces are suggested to pursue a strategy focusing on identifying the target customers and offering products that they feel best meet performance and psychological needs of those customers. Thus, they should do their best to make it widely known that their products are of as good quality and grade as those purchased from offline department stores. In addition, it may be inferred that today's online consumers remain concerned about the security of the online commerce environment due to the repeated occurrences of hacking or private information leakage. Online merchants should take steps to remove potential vulnerabilities and provide online notices to emphasize that their website is secure. Second, consumer's overall trust was found to have a statistically significant influence on purchase intentions. This finding, which is consistent with the results of numerous prior studies, suggests that increased sales will become a reality only with enhanced consumer trust.

• Journal of Science Education
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.139-152
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to provide some suggestions for future improvement of scientific inquiry activities in Korean elementary science textbook. The modified framework of Lee(2005) and Millar et al.(1998) was used to compare inquiry activities in the Korean and Singaporean science textbooks. The results of this study are as follows: Korean text books have more activities than Singapore's, but both countries have similar time allotment for science classes. In the area of 'inquiry process skill', Singapore is more balanced in 'Basic inquiry process skills' and 'Integrated inquiry process skills' than Korea. Singapore's integrated inquiry rate is also higher than Korea's. Next the results of comparing leaning objectives to scientific inquiry activities shows that Korean text books tend to focus on 'contents objectives', while Singapore's text books focus on balancing 'contents objectives' and 'process objectives'. Korean science textbooks encourage students to communicate the results of experiments but in most case these communication activities are actually not performed. Lastly Korea and Singapore have low degree of openness in inquiry activities. Remarkably 'Suggest questions' are totally conducted by teachers. This study implies that Korean science textbooks should have lower amounts of inquiry activities to accomodate enough time for communication about results. Next we need to make balance not only 'Basic inquiry process skills' and 'Integrated inquiry process skills' but also 'Content objectives' and 'Process objectives'. Lastly we need to make student to be the leader in science classes through encouraging them to plan procedures for experiments and to discover results by themselves.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.51-61
• /
• 2012

This study seeks to understand how the choice of a coffee shop is related to a customer's loyalty and which characteristics of a shop influence this choice. It considers large-sized coffee shops brands whose market scale has gradually grown. The users' choice of shop is determined by price, employee service, shop location, and shop atmosphere. The study investigated the effects of these four properties on the brand attitudes of coffee shops. The effects were found to vary depending on users' characteristics. The properties with the largest influence were shop atmosphere and shop location Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the properties that could help coffee shops get loyal customers, and the choice properties that could satisfy consumers' desires The study examined consumers' perceptions of shop properties at selection of coffee shop and the difference between perceptual difference and coffee brand in order to investigate customers' desires and needs and to suggest ways that could supply products and service. The research methodology consisted of two parts: normative and empirical research, which includes empirical analysis and statistical analysis. In this study, a statistical analysis of the empirical research was carried out. The study theoretically confirmed the shop choice properties by reviewing previous studies and performed an empirical analysis including cross tabulation based on secondary material. The findings were as follows: First, coffee shop choice properties varied by gender. Price advantage influenced the choice of both men and women; men preferred nearer coffee shops where they could buy coffee easily and more conveniently than women did. The atmosphere of the coffee shop had the greatest influence on both men and women, and shop atmosphere was thought to be the most important for age analysis. In the past, customers selected coffee shops solely to drink coffee. Now, they select the coffee shop according to its interior, menu variety, and atmosphere owing to improved quality and service of coffee shop brands. Second, the prices of the brands did not vary much because the coffee shops were similarly priced. The service was thought to be more important and to elevate service quality so that price and employee service and other properties did not have a great influence on shop choice. However, those working in the farming, forestry, fishery, and livestock industries were more concerned with the price than the shop atmosphere. College and graduate school students were also affected by inexpensive price. Third, shop choice properties varied depending on income. The shop location and shop atmosphere had a greater influence on shop choice. The customers in an income bracket of less than 2 million won selected low-price coffee shops more than those earning 6 million won or more. Therefore, price advantage had no relation with difference in income. The higher income group was not affected by employee service. Fourth, shop choice properties varied depending on place. For instance, customers at Ulsan were the most affected by the price, and the ones at Busan were the least affected. The shop location had the greatest influence among all of the properties. Among the places surveyed, Gwangju had the least influence. The alternate use of space in a coffee shop was thought to be important in all the cities under consideration. The customers at Ulsan were not affected by employee service, and they selected coffee shops according to quality and preference of shop atmosphere. Lastly, the price factor was found to be a little higher than other factors when customers frequently selected brands according to shop properties. Customers at Gwangju reacted to discounts more than those in other cities did, and the former gave less priority to the quality and taste of coffee. Brand preference varied depending on coffee shop location. Customers at Busan selected brands according to the coffee shop location, and those at Ulsan were not influenced by employee kindness and specialty. The implications of this study are that franchise coffee shop businesses should focus on customers rather than aggressive marketing strategies that increase the number of coffee shops. Thus, they should create an environment with a good atmosphere and set up coffee shops in places that customers have good access to. This study has some limitations. First, the respondents were concentrated in metropolitan areas. Secondary data showed that the number of respondents at Seoul was much more than that at Gyeonggi-do. Furthermore, the number of respondents at Gyeonggi-do was much more than those at the six major cities in the nation. Thus, the regional sample was not representative enough of the population. Second, respondents' ratio was used as a measurement scale to test the perception of shop choice properties and brand preference. The difficulties arose when examining the relation between these properties and brand preference, as well as when understanding the difference between groups. Therefore, future research should seek to address some of the shortcomings of this study: If the coffee shops are being expanded to local areas, then a questionnaire survey of consumers at small cities in local areas shall be conducted to collect primary material. In particular, variables of the questionnaire survey shall be measured using Likert scales in order to include perception on shop choice properties, brand preference, and repurchase. Therefore, correlation analysis, multi-regression, and ANOVA shall be used for empirical analysis and to investigate consumers' attitudes and behavior in detail.