• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.15-30
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• 2021

This study was conducted to investigate the utilization and satisfaction of meal-kits according to food-related lifestyle among total 357 adults who had experience in using meal-kits. This study can provide basic data for effective menu composition and directions toward improvement. The participants of the study were classified into 5 groups 'health-type group', 'economic-type group', 'safety-type group', 'tasty-type group' and 'convenience-type group'. The 'tastye-type group' were found to spend more on purchasing meal-kits than other groups with the higher proportion(36.66%) of spending '30,000-50,000'won(p<0.05), which is the highest price category. The important factors that contributed to purchasing a meal-kits were 'taste'(50.98%), and 'economic-type group' showed the highest tendency of considering taste (58.46%). About half(49.02%) of the respondents preferred 'Korean-food' for meal-kits as for the type of food. All groups highly preferred 'meat'(42.58%) as the main ingredient, particularly the 'tasty-type group'(53.33%)(p<0.001). The 'tasty-type group' showed the highest satisfaction on 'convenience of cooking'(4.05), and 'convenience-type group' showed the lowest satisfaction on the 'origin of ingredient'(2.98) among groups (p<0.01). The overall response indicated that most respondents are willing to use meal-kits in the future (97.20%); and 93.28% of respondents would recommend the purchase of meal-kits to others, where 'convenience of cooking/purchase' was the factor contributing most for recommending(67.23%). Taken together, 'taste' was the most important factor for all groups. And 'Convenience of cooking' was the factor contributing to satisfaction most while 'origin of ingredient' contributing the least. It is recommended for the growth of meal-kits industry, to improve the quality of the meal-kits products and develop various menus.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.68-79
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• 2009

The interplay between hedonic and utilitarian attributes has assumed special significance in recent years; it has been proposed that consumption offerings should be viewed as experiences that stimulate both cognitions and feelings rather than as mere products or services. This research builds on previous work on hedonic versus utilitarian benefits, regulatory focus theory, customer satisfaction to address two question: (1) Is the shopping goal at the point of purchase different from the shopping value? and (2) Is the customer loyalty after the use different from the shopping value and shopping goal? We surveyed 345 peoples those who have bought the electronic-goods within 6 months. This research dealt with the shopping value which is consisted of 2 types, hedonic and utilitarian. Those who pursue the hedonic shopping value may prefer the pleasure of purchasing experience to the product itself. They tend to prefer atmosphere, arousal of the shopping experience. Consistent with previous research, we use the term "hedonic" to refer to their aesthetic, experiential and enjoyment-related value. On the contrary, Those who pursue the utilitarian shopping value may prefer the reasonable buying. It may be more functional. Consistent with previous research, we use the term "utilitarian" to refer to the functional, instrumental, and practical value of consumption offerings. Holbrook(1999) notes that consumer value is an experience that results from the consumption of such benefits. In the context of cell phones for example, the phone's battery life and sound volume are utilitarian benefits, whereas aesthetic appeal from its shape and color are hedonic benefits. Likewise, in the case of a car, fuel economics and safety are utilitarian benefits whereas the sunroof and the luxurious interior are hedonic benefits. The shopping goals are consisted of the promotion focus goal and the prevention focus goal, based on the self-regulatory focus theory. The promotion focus is characterized into focusing ideal self because they are oriented to wishes and vision. The promotion focused individuals are tend to be more risk taking. They are more sensitive to hope and achievement. On the contrary, the prevention focused individuals are characterized into focusing the responsibilities because they are oriented to safety. The prevention focused individuals are tend to be more risk avoiding. We wanted to test the relation among the shopping value, shopping goal and customer loyalty. Customers show the positive or negative feelings comparing with the expectation level which customers have at the point of the purchase. If the result were bigger than the expectation, customers may feel positive feeling such as delight or satisfaction and they would want to share their feelings with other people. And they want to buy those products again in the future time. There is converging evidence that the types of goals consumers expect to be fulfilled by the utilitarian dimension of a product are different from those they seek from the hedonic dimension (Chernev 2004). Specifically, whereas consumers expect the fulfillment of product prevention goals on the utilitarian dimension, they expect the fulfillment of promotion goals on the hedonic dimension (Chernev 2004; Chitturi, Raghunathan, and Majahan 2007; Higgins 1997, 2001) According to the regulatory focus theory, prevention goals are those that ought to be met. Fulfillment of prevention goals in the context of product consumption eliminates or significantly reduces the probability of a painful experience, thus making consumers experience emotions that result from fulfillment of prevention goals such as confidence and securities. On the contrary, fulfillment of promotion goals are those that a person aspires to meet, such as "looking cool" or "being sophisticated." Fulfillment of promotion goals in the context of product consumption significantly increases the probability of a pleasurable experience, thus enabling consumers to experience emotions that result from the fulfillment of promotion goals. The proposed conceptual framework captures that the relationships among hedonic versus utilitarian shopping values and promotion versus prevention shopping goals respectively. An analysis of the consequence of the fulfillment and frustration of utilitarian and hedonic value is theoretically worthwhile. It is also substantively relevant because it helps predict post-consumption behavior such as the promotion versus prevention shopping goals orientation. Because our primary goal is to understand how the post consumption feelings influence the variable customer loyalty: word of mouth (Jacoby and Chestnut 1978). This research result is that the utilitarian shopping value gives the positive influence to both of the promotion and prevention goal. However the influence to the prevention goal is stronger. On the contrary, hedonic shopping value gives influence to the promotion focus goal only. Additionally, both of the promotion and prevention goal show the positive relation with customer loyalty. However, the positive relation with promotion goal and customer loyalty is much stronger. The promotion focus goal gives the influence to the customer loyalty. On the contrary, the prevention focus goal relates at the low level of relation with customer loyalty than that of the promotion goal. It could be explained that it is apt to get framed the compliment of people into 'gain-non gain' situation. As the result, for those who have the promotion focus are motivated to deliver their own feeling to other people eagerly. Conversely the prevention focused individual are more sensitive to the 'loss-non loss' situation. The research result is consistent with pre-existent researches. There is a conceptual parallel between necessities-needs-utilitarian benefits and luxuries-wants-hedonic benefits (Chernev 2004; Chitturi, Raghunathan and Majaha 2007; Higginns 1997; Kivetz and Simonson 2002b). In addition, Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the precedence principle contends luxuries-wants-hedonic benefits higher than necessities-needs-utilitarian benefits. Chitturi, Raghunathan and Majaha (2007) show that consumers are focused more on the utilitarian benefits than on the hedonic benefits of a product until their minimum expectation of fulfilling prevention goals are met. Furthermore, a utilitarian benefit is a promise of a certain level of functionality by the manufacturer or the retailer. When the promise is not fulfilled, customers blame the retailer and/or the manufacturer. When negative feelings are attributable to an entity, customers feel angry. However in the case of hedonic benefit, the customer, not the manufacturer, determines at the time of purchase whether the product is stylish and attractive. Under such circumstances, customers are more likely to blame themselves than the manufacturer if their friends do not find the product stylish and attractive. Therefore, not meeting minimum utilitarian expectations of functionality generates a much more intense negative feelings, such as anger than a less intense feeling such as disappointment or dissatisfactions. The additional multi group analysis of this research shows the same result. Those who are unsatisfactory customers who have the prevention focused goal shows higher relation with WOM, comparing with satisfactory customers. The research findings in this article could have significant implication for the personal selling fields to increase the effectiveness and the efficiency of the sales such that they can develop the sales presentation strategy for the customers. For those who are the hedonic customers may be apt to show more interest to the promotion goal. Therefore it may work to strengthen the design, style or new technology of the products to the hedonic customers. On the contrary for the utilitarian customers, it may work to strengthen the price competitiveness. On the basis of the result from our studies, we demonstrated a correspondence among hedonic versus utilitarian and promotion versus prevention goal, WOM. Similarly, we also found evidence of the moderator effects of satisfaction after use, between the prevention goal and WOM. Even though the prevention goal has the low level of relation to WOM, those who are not satisfied show higher relation to WOM. The relation between the prevention goal and WOM is significantly different according to the satisfaction versus unsatisfaction. In addition, improving the promotion emotions of cheerfulness and excitement and the prevention emotion of confidence and security will further improve customer loyalty. A related potential further research could be to examine whether hedonic versus utilitarian, promotion versus prevention goals improve customer loyalty for services as well. Under the budget and time constraints, designers and managers are often compelling to choose among various attributes. If there is no budget or time constraints, perhaps the best solution is to maximize both hedonic and utilitarian dimension of benefits. However, they have to make trad-off process between various attributes. For the designers and managers have to keep in mind that without hedonic benefit satisfaction of the product it may hard to lead the customers to the customer loyalty.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.25-57
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• 2012

This study identified motives for writing apparel product reviews in online stores, and determined what motives increase the behavior of writing reviews. It also classified store customers based on the type of writing motives, and clarified the characteristics of internet purchase behavior and of a demographic profile. Data were collected from 252 females aged 20s' and 30s' who have experience of reading and writing reviews on online shopping. The five types of writing motives were altruistic information sharing, remedying of a grievance and vengeance, economic incentives, helping new product development, and the expression of satisfaction feelings. Among five motives, altruistic information sharing, economic incentives, and helping new product development stimulate writing reviews. Store customers who write reviews were classified into three groups based on their writing motive types: Other consumer advocates(29.8%), self-interested shoppers(40.5%) and shoppers with moderate motives(29.8%). There were significant differences among three groups in writing behavior (the frequency of writing reviews, writing intent of reviews, duration of writing reviews, and frequency of online shopping) and age. Based on results, managerial implications were suggested. Long Abstract : The purpose of present study is to identify the types of writing motives on online shopping, and to clarify the motives affecting the behavior of writing reviews. This study also classifies online shoppers based on the motive types, and identifies the characteristics of the classified groups in terms of writing behavior, frequency of online shopping, and demographics. Use and Gratification Theory was adopted in this study. Qualitative research (focus group interview) and quantitative research were used. Korean women(20 to 39 years old) who reported experience with purchasing clothing online, and reading and writing reviews were selected as samples(n=252). Most of the respondents were relatively young (20-34yrs., 86.1%,), single (61.1%), employed(61.1%) and residents living in big cities(50.9%). About 69.8% of respondents read and 40.5% write apparel reviews frequently or very frequently. 24.6% of the respondents indicated an "average" in their writing frequency. Based on the qualitative result of focus group interviews and previous studies on motives for online community activities, measurement items of motives for writing after-purchase reviews were developed. All items were used a five-point Likert scale with endpoints 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). The degree of writing behavior was measured by items concerning experience of writing reviews, frequency of writing reviews, amount of writing reviews, and intention of writing reviews. A five-point scale(strongly disagree-strongly agree) was employed. SPSS 18.0 was used for exploratory factor analysis, K-means cluster analysis, one-way ANOVA(Scheffe test) and ${\chi}^2$-test. Confirmatory factor analysis and path model analysis were conducted by AMOS 18.0. By conducting principal components factor analysis (varimax rotation, extracting factors with eigenvalues above 1.0) on the measurement items, five factors were identified: Altruistic information sharing, remedying of a grievance and vengeance, economic incentives, helping new product development, and expression of satisfaction feelings(see Table 1). The measurement model including these final items was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis. The measurement model had good fit indices(GFI=.918, AGFI=.884, RMR=.070, RMSEA=.054, TLI=.941) except for the probability value associated with the ${\chi}^2$ test(${\chi}^2$=189.078, df=109, p=.00). Convergent validities of all variables were confirmed using composite reliability. All SMC values were found to be lower than AVEs confirming discriminant validity. The path model's goodness-of-fit was greater than the recommended limits based on several indices(GFI=.905, AGFI=.872, RMR=.070, RMSEA=.052, TLI=.935; ${\chi}^2$=260.433, df=155, p=.00). Table 2 shows that motives of altruistic information sharing, economic incentives and helping new product development significantly increased the degree of writing product reviews of online shopping. In particular, the effect of altruistic information sharing and pursuit of economic incentives on the behavior of writing reviews were larger than the effect of helping new product development. As shown in table 3, online store shoppers were classified into three groups: Other consumer advocates (29.8%), self-interested shoppers (40.5%), and moderate shoppers (29.8%). There were significant differences among the three groups in the degree of writing reviews (experience of writing reviews, frequency of writing reviews, amount of writing reviews, intention of writing reviews, and duration of writing reviews, frequency of online shopping) and age. For five aspects of writing behavior, the group of other consumer advocates who is mainly comprised of 20s had higher scores than the other two groups. There were not any significant differences between self-interested group and moderate group regarding writing behavior and demographics.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect relation of the external variables of the RFID for eco-agricultural products, that of the external variables on TAM approachableness and usefulness, that of TAM approachableness on usefulness, that of TAM as approachableness and usefulness on trust and behavior intention, and the effect of trust on the behavior intention. The subjects of the actual analysis are the ordinary consumers aged 20 and over living in Seoul and Gyeong-gi Province and have the experience of purchasing eco-agricultural products. Total 300 copies of questionnaire were distributed for 14 days from September 24, 2012 until October 7, 2012, and total 278(92.7%) copies of survey materials were used for the final statistical analysis data except some found too strong unequal distribution of the response value or the value unknown at present. In the analysis results of this study, by examining the effects of the external variables of the RFID for eco-agricultural products on TAM's accessibility and usefulness and verifying the causal relationship between TAM's accessibility and consumers' trust and behavioral intent, this study has a sufficient value as an initial study on the RFID for eco-agricultural products. Thus, the results of this in-depth study show that producers and distributors maintaining and providing with safer eco-agricultural products food directly influence service companies' visible achievements.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2013

Purpose - Numerous studies have tried to assess the role of a warranty as an explanatory instrument for product quality. While one study argued that manufacturers signal their superior quality to consumers by extending the duration of a warranty, quality is not necessarily related to warranty and a warranty for a short duration is a sign of high product quality. However, there are limitations to measuring product quality in terms of a single variable such as a warranty. Some other studies have evaluated the influence of brand power or value and price on the supposed quality of a product while the influence of warranty was found to be insignificant. Research design, data, methodology - The study analyzes the influence of brand power and the country of origin effect on consumers' perception of product quality in line with warranty and establishes a priority strategy. Especially, consumer experience has a significant influence on state of the art technology products like applied home electronics as these goods are generally quite expensive and consumers expend significant energy in purchasing them, so the associated warranty and brand can have a critical role in the decision making process. The price of the product was excluded in this discussion as it continually varies with the market share of the product. Results - The results of the analysis are as follows: First, each of the factors such as the standard of the warranty, brand power, and country of origin effect influences the degree of satisfaction of an individual. Second, the factors brand power and quality of the warranty interact both complementarily and synergistically at a time, depending on the brand power. As brand power is more significant, the degree of satisfaction is greater in case of products with low quality warranty compared to those with high quality warranty. Third, the brand power and country of origin effect present a complementary interaction. Fourth, the country of origin effect and quality of a warranty interact synergistically. Conclusions - Thus, the higher the quality of warranty, greater is the increment in the degree of satisfaction. The comprehensive study on the effect of the country of origin on the purchase decision process and the degree of satisfaction compared to the other elements shows that in case of Japanese and Korean markets the brand power of a company is desirable in sustaining the quality of warranty to the industrial average. Also, there is no significant improvement in the perceived quality of the product when the quality of the warranty is lowered. Therefore, the warranty effect diminishes when the value of the brand is known, while it perishes when both the brand power and the country of origin effect are strong enough.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.59-75
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• 2003

This study was conducted to investigate the degree of utilization of outsourcing in large hospitals in Korea. We also investigated the outcome and the level of satisfaction for adopting outsourcing in these hospitals. Types of work areas that were currently operated by outsourcing and were planned to adopt outsourcing in the future were identified. A total of 83 hospitals were eligible for this study, which had more than 500 beds, and were identified from the 2003 National Hospital List published by the Korean Hospital Association. A self-administered Questionnaire survey was conducted between April 25th and May 20th in 2003 with a personnel being charged of arrangement of outsourcing in each hospital. Among the 58 hospitals responding the survey(response rate=69.9%), 49 hospitals(84.5%) utilized outsourcing in at least one work field in their organizations. The largest proportion of the hospitals(85.7%) using outsourcing responded that the biggest outcome after introducing outsourcing were cost reduction(49.0%), followed by improved efficiency in operating the organization or human resources(34.7%) and the improved quality of the work(6.1%). The degree of satisfaction for outsourcing among the hospital managers(3.43) was significantly higher than that among the employees(3.l4) on a S-point Likert-type scale(p<0.05). Among the 7 work areas, the hospitals used outsourcing most frequently in facility management(housekeeping, building maintenance, hospital security and parking management), followed by non-medical profit business(funeral, convenient store, and cafeteria), logistics(provision of patient meal, in-house delivery, and purchasing), and information and computing system(hospital information system, maintenance of personal computers and printers). The work areas that the hospitals planned to adopt or expand the outsourcing in the future most frequently were facility management, non-medical profit business, logistics, and information and computing systems. In conclusion, outsourcing was highly diffused in large Korean hospitals, particularly in the work field of facility management and non-medical profit business. The satisfaction for outsourcing was not high yet in Korean hospitals.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.15-40
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• 2008

With the explosive growth of the Internet, Internet shopping malls have become recognized as one of the major purchasing channels for consumers, as well as one of the competitive distribution channels for companies that allow them to contact with customers without intermediaries. It has motivated information systems(IS) researchers to examine the factors influencing consumer behavior and the purchase decision process in the context of Internet shopping malls. Despite the extensive research that has been conducted on the purchase decision process of consumers in online shopping malls, the results have demonstrated a need for further understanding of consumer behavior due to the unique features of virtual space and the characteristics of online consumers. Previous studies from marketing and consumer behavior domains have suggested that the concept of involvement plays an important role in explaining consumers' purchase behavior. Despite the critical role of involvement and the explosive growth of e-commerce, little research has examined the role of involvement in the Internet shopping mall context. With this motivation, this study has two research objectives. First, it introduces and tests an theoretical model capable of better explaining consumers' intention to purchase in the Internet shopping mall context. The proposed model extends and integrates existing models on purchase intention by incorporating purchase experience, innovativeness, and perceived self-control as the consumer factors, along with perceived risk, information provision, and perceived price as the Internet shopping mall factors. Second, this study examines how involvement differences may affect consumers' intention to purchase. For this purpose, two factors from involvement theory, involvement type and involvement level, are introduced into the research model as moderating variables. In order to test the proposed model, the overall approach employed was a field study using the structural equation model. We developed our data collection instrument by adopting existing validated questions wherever possible. All question items were measured with a seven-point, Likert-type scale, with anchors ranging from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree.' Two IS researchers reviewed the instrument and checked its face validity. We collected empirical data for this study over a period of two weeks from subjects who had purchase experiences through Internet shopping malls. A total of 473 complete and valid responses were obtained. We carried out data analysis using a two-step methodology with AMOS 4.0. The first step in the data analysis was to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs. In the second step, we examined the structural model based on the cleansed measurement model. The empirical results partly support the proposed model and identify the moderating effect of involvement differences. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed, along with its limitations.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.62-82
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to assess the cause and level of conflict arising within and between departments among administration office workers who work in a recently established tertiary hospitals of a major cooperation or related non-profit cooperation: The study also aimed to find methods for resolution of such conflicts by comparing with other existing university hospitals. The subject population included 299 business administration office workers randomly selected from two cooperate related tertiary hospitals of less than 3 years in its existence and two university hospitals over 700 beds in Seoul and Kyong In area. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire. To define related factors for the level of conflict among departments in each hospitals multivariate regression analysis was conducted. Independent factors were characteristics of subjects, conflicting factors within and between the departments. The results are as follows: 1. Those in the 30-39 rears of age group demonstrated significantly higher level of conflict between departments. Those working in the new hospitals, who were older and had long-term tenure, and those with short-term job experience at current working hospital had higher level of conflict between the departments with statistical significance. 2. Concerning the involvement of conflicting factors and the level of conflict in the administration there was statistically significant positive correlation between reliability and job-related intra- and interdepartmental level of conflict in existing hospitals. There was a significant positive correlation between intradepartmental conflicting factors of mutual dependence, difference in goal/orientation and intra- and interdepartmental level of conflict. 3. In multivariate regression analysis, women more than men, and those who had worked for many years in hospitals had statistically significant influence on factors involved in interdepartmental level of conflict, explaining 51.0% of the model. 4. In existing hospitals, gender was a significant factor with women showing a higher level of interdepartmental conflict compared to men. Among the interdepartmental factors, mutual dependence had statistically significant influence and showed a positive relationship with interdepartmental level of conflict. In the new hospitals, job position was a significant factor which showed that those in high position such as section chief or above, compared to those in managerial or general position had higher level of conflict. Among the interdepartmental characteristics, factors of mutual dependence and goal/orientation had statistically significant influence and showed a positive relationship with interdepartmental level of conflict. In the new hospital setting efforts to reduce conflict in areas among workers with high position, old age, and long tenure and those in Purchasing, Material and Computer Department should be made and prudent management and planning for improved manpower and increased budget or efficient allocation and clear definition of job description are necessary to adequately assess and make improved efforts for rapid stabilization of the premature hospital system from its inception, In the existing hospitals a lack of conflict within and between departments may give rise to stagnation or inefficiency of the organization. Future study are needed with respect to the relationship between interdepartmental level of conflict and the effectiveness of the hospital organization for improved resolution of conflict in the organization and hospital management.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.115-126
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to offer primary information for development of Makgeolli adapted to the tastes of Chinese and marketing strategies for promoting consumption of Makgeolli in the Chinese market. This study was intended to investigate the Makgeolli drinking behavior through a survey and the sensory properties and preference of fresh and sterilized Makgeolli through sensory evaluation focusing on the Chinese students in Korea, becoming potential consumers of Makgeolli. The survey was conducted from October 9th to October 30th, 2013, and then 117 copies were adopted for the analyses. The results are as follows. 71.8% of the subjects liked Makgeolli, 56.4% drank 5-6 times a week, and 25.7% drank more than 2 bottles at a time. 61.5% of the subjects had purchasing experience. The routes of collecting information about Makgeolli were acquaintances(66.7%) and media sources(28.2%). In the sensory evaluation, sterilized Makgeolli(BS) that has a fresh odor, sweet and sour taste, cooling sensation, and good aftertaste got the best score in the overall acceptability, and fresh Makgeolli(KD) that has a strong nuruk odor, turbidity, bitter taste, and heavy mouthfeel got the lowest score in the overall acceptability. These results show that sweet, fresh, and refreshing Makgeolli suits Chinese's taste and word of mouth marketing through the expansion of tasting events would promote Makgeolli consumption in the Chinese market.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.287-297
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• 2019

Responding to the rapid delivery demands and variety of small-volume products through human resource-dependent logistics operations in online markets is difficult. Logistics robots in fulfillment centers are expected to increase due to difficulties in hiring workers and rising labor costs. Amazon operates more than 100,000 robots in its Fulfillment centers. Alibaba, DHL, and UPS are also introducing robot technology to improve the logistics efficiency. Logistics robots are being used actively in the fierce online market competition of the global distribution industry. On the other hand, Korea is relatively sluggish. To revitalize the introduction of logistics robots in Korea, it is necessary to examine the factors that influence acceptance. The description of acceptability was based on an expanded technology acceptance model that has been verified through various studies. Studies have shown that both the ease and usefulness of purchasing have significant effects, and that ease has the greatest effect. The more experience involved, the more innovative, the more positive. The usefulness was shown to be positive as the perceived risks are low, price efficiency is good, and social impact is greater. This study provides theoretical and practical implications for logistics robot development and marketing.