• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2011

This study examines the motivation, opportunity, and ability in the use of the internet by comparing young and aging consumers in the essential infrastructure of an information oriented society. Previous studies have conducted surveys about using computers and the internet instead of measuring the digital divide by using multilateral approaches; however, this study examines digital divide in terms of motivation, opportunity, and ability. Results suggested age, gender, and education level influenced motivation, opportunity, and ability in the use of the internet by consumers; in addition, the motivation and ability were different depending on occupation. The results show that the digital divide was mainly influenced by motivation and ability in offering a difference between the two groups of young and aging consumers, This study contributes to illuminate the differences between young and aging consumers to use the internet and to suggest implications in the perspectives of motivation, opportunity, and ability.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.325-341
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• 2010

A study on what kind of problems young consumers experience in buying and using mobile phone services with a comprehensive and consumers oriented perspective is needed. Through this acknowledgement, we investigated (i) the degree of consumer problems that young consumers experience in purchasing and using mobile phone services, and (ii) the related variables that affect experiences of this consumer problem. The parents of the teenagers were also included in the survey because they experience the same problems young consumers' experience in buying and using mobile phone services. Data were gathered through an internet survey (www.embrain.com) and a total of 699 samples from 350 parents and 349 youths using mobile phone services were analysed. The results are as follows. First, the teenagers and parents' experience level of young consumers' problems were generally high experiencing similar kinds of problems. Second, parents experienced more young consumers' problems than the teenagers in buying and using mobile phone services, especially in misuse and abuse of the phones. Third, among the teenagers, the monthly usage fee music or game usage, the number of changes in mobile phone service operators, the number of replacement mobile phones and the gender had a significant effect on consumers' problems of mobile phone services. Among the parents, the monthly usage fee, music or game usage, confirmation of the bill, and the gender of their child were significant consumer problems. Based on results of our survey the direction of consumer policy and education was suggested for teenagers and their parents.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.687-696
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• 2016

As consumers' interest in social responsibility (SR) has greatly increased in the last two decades, a growing body of academic research has examined the influence of consumers' environmental consciousness on their attitudes and purchase intentions toward environment-friendly apparel products. Use of environment-friendly shopping bags (EFSB; recycled and reusable bags) is an example of how apparel retailers engage in SR. However, little research has examined consumers' perceptions and their responses to the use of EFSB. To fill this research gap, this study examined the impact of young consumers' perceptions of EFSB and environmental consciousness on their attitudes and purchase intentions toward apparel retailers using EFSB. An online survey was conducted for data collection. A convenience sample of 212 college students was obtained from a large mid-Southern university in the U.S. A simple linear regression analysis was conducted to test all hypotheses. Results showed that young consumers' perceptions of EFSB positively influenced their environmental consciousness and their attitudes toward apparel retailers that use EFSB, which led to purchase intentions toward the retailers. Findings confirmed that young consumers placed a great degree of importance on EFSB and, therefore, would purchase apparel from retailers that use recycled or reusable shopping bags. These findings imply that providing EFSB is important in enhancing positive attitudes and purchase intentions toward apparel retailers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.324-332
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• 2015

Despite expansion of the mulnaengmyeon market, there have been no studies on consumers' attitudes towards mulnaengmyeon. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usage and consumption patterns for mulnaengmyeon among adults in the Seoul metropolitan area of Korea. A survey including demo- and socio-graphics, general mulnaengmyeon usage, and consumption questions was tested on 210 consumers. The results of the survey showed that the majority of consumers consumed mulnaengmyeon more frequently during summer. Although the instant mulnaengmyeon market has rapidly increased, it was found that mulnaengmyeon is a food that is generally consumed in restaurants. In addition, mulnaengmyeon usage and consumption patterns significantly differed according to consumer age, whereas there was no difference observed according to parent's or grandparent's hometown of origin. Older consumers were observed to consume and purchase mulnaengmyeon as well as instant mulnaengmyeon more often than young consumers. Also, older consumers were shown to consider "health" related factors as more important when selecting mulnaengmyeon, whereas young consumers considered "price" related factors to be more important.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.75-92
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to prove how sociocultural perspective of obesity, differences in consumers' perception of body and attitudes of accepting obesity affected individuals' clothing behaviors through cross-cultural studies. The data collected were composed of 612 Korean and US consumers in the 20's and 30's that had experiences in purchasing plus-size products. The results were as follows. First, BMI index was lower in Korean consumers than the US consumers, but Korean consumers received more stress from being overweight compared to the US consumers, and had a more negative attitude about their body. Second, although Korean consumers had lower BMI index and degrees of obesity than US consumers, they were severely stressed by obesity and were found to have a higher level of dissatisfaction with their bodies. Third, Korean consumers responded more sensitively to obesity and had a tendency to display a more negative attitude regarding obesity, and a more passive dependence on clothing. Forth, differences in the body shape were reflected even in wearing evaluation, and US consumers showed a more positive attitude toward evaluations of size suitability and fitness. Fifth, the plus-size market for Korean consumers was still not active, and most products purchased were generic brands obtained from online shopping malls through the Internet. However, in the case of the US, in which the ratio of obese people is high and the plus-size market is growing, consumers were purchasing plus-size brands through various distribution online and offline channels. Sixth, Korean consumers were less satisfied than US consumers with shops, sizes and fitness; however, they were more satisfied with design factors. Finally, it is expected that this study can offer practical implications for marketers and product developers running plus-size market for young obese consumers in their 20 and 30s.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.517-526
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The increased consumers' interests in health and food safety have increased the demand for organic foods. Many studies have been performed on consumers' purchase intentions for organic foods and their influencing factors, and various studies have shown that the prices of organic foods and the consumers' willingness to pay are important influencing factors. This study examined the payment value of organic foods and agrifood consumer competency index according to the food-related lifestyles in South Korean consumers. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was performed using the 2019 Consumer Behavior Survey for Food. A total of 6,176 participants aged 19 to 74 years (male: 2,783, female: 3,393) were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Three factors were extracted by factor analysis (rational consumption-seeking type, convenience-seeking type, and health, and safety-seeking type) to explain the consumers' food-related lifestyles. The results of cluster analysis suggested that consumers were classified into 3 food-related lifestyles as the 'exploratory consumers' (n = 2,485), 'safety-seeking consumers' (n = 1,544), and 'passive consumers' (n = 2,147). Exploratory consumers showed a significantly higher willingness to pay for imported organic foods (P < 0.05). Safety-seeking consumers had a significantly higher willingness to pay for domestic organic foods (P < 0.05). For the agrifood consumer competency index, exploratory consumers had the highest score, followed in order by safety-seeking consumers and passive consumers. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide basic data in understanding consumption tendency for organic foods and agrifoods based on food-related lifestyles of South Korean consumers.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2017

Purpose - The study verified the effects of consumers' knowledge perception upon word-of-mouth intention and purchase intention of consumers who were exposed to a lot of information, and examined consumer's behavior from multi-dimensional points of view. Research design, data, and methodology - The study conducted the test of difference between consumer's cognition on importance and satisfaction of HMR product by gap of HMR (Home Meal Replacement) product for IPA analysis. The consumer's reliability and words-of-mouth were measured by the questionnaire method with 4 questions according to Likert 7-point scale. Conversion into z-score removed the difference of variables. Results - The causal relation model for importance, satisfaction and gap, not relying upon multi-dimensional scaling and others, could construct causal relation model to give implications. Difference (d) of the products could lessen consumer's reliability to increase consumer's knowledge perception, word-of-mouth intention, knowledge perception, and purchase intention. Therefore, enterprises should make an effort to lessen consumers' complaint for the products and to elevate consumers' reliability. Enterprises also try to give consumers exact information and to promote purchase intention. Conclusions - Difference (d) of consumers' complaint and/or disappointment decreased consumers' reliability to increase knowledge perception. Enterprises should supply consumers with products according to their requirements to minimize the gap and to give them proper information.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.598-609
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• 2014

The increased use of online shopping by older consumers means that online retailers need to consider older consumers when designing websites. We investigated the specific characteristics of commercial websites (i.e., perceptual fluency) through an online experiment. Guided by perceptual fluency and affect optimization literature, hypotheses highlighting older consumers' responses to websites were proposed and tested. Results confirmed that older consumers (in their 50s) are more generous in evaluating online retailers' websites than younger consumers (in their 20s) and that responses to websites are dependent on perceptual fluency. The findings are consistent with previous research and provide additional support for theories that deal with an online apparel shopping context. Practical implications and limitations are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1085-1096
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• 2007

Globalization of market has put considerable research activities in cosmopolitism and nationalism. In addition, consumer's perception of product's country of origin is widely regarded as an important influence on their shopping behavior. The objective of this paper is to investigate the joint effect of cosmopolitanism and nationalism on shopping orientation and awareness of the country of origin of fashion products among Korean young consumers. Data from 471 young Korean consumers were analyzed. According to the cosmopolitanism/nationalism measure, respondents were segmented into three groups: global, local and glocal group. Results indicated that global and glocal consumers value symbolic and non-conforming aspects of fashion product shopping and were more interested in country of origin of products than local consumers. Global consumers showed higher level of foreign product preference than local and glocal consumers. Some managerial implication for marketing practitioners was suggested.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.61-77
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• 2000

World Wide Web(Web) supports bi-directional communication between corporations and consumers. In the year of Electronic Commerce, close relationships with consumers are more emphasized for corporations. Nowadays, corporations compete with corporations which are located in whole world through the media called Internet. In this competitive environment, to attract consumers' attentions, it is required to develope corporations' Web sites in the way to stimulate consumers' purchase intentions. To verify the elements needed to stimulate consumers' purchase intentions factors which influence consumers' purchase intentions were analyzed. Adaptation, shopping convenience and assurance-reliability were found to be positive factors for consumers' purchase intentions. It was also found that consumers' purchase intentions in electronic commerce market are influenced by previous shopping experiences. Consumers who have previous shopping experiences are mainly influenced by good delivery systems and shopping environments while who have no experiences are influenced by consumers' risks such as performance risk and personal and privacy risk when they intend to purchase products or services.