• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.3-16
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• 2017

With the development and proliferation of three-dimensional(3D) printers, consumers in modern society can now print products of what they want three-dimensionally at home. However, consumers themselves would have to produce digital design maps that are compatible with 3D printers and to set up the optimum printing quality and temperature, as well as to pay for maintenance and repair of 3D printers and to respond to any possible lawsuits related to intellectual property right about designs in order to make possible consumer-tailored manufacturing through 3D printing. However, in reality, since it is very difficult for consumers to respond to these issues, it is necessary to develop services that perform 3D printing on behalf of consumers in the desired direction. Motivated by this objective, this study investigated user experiences on Shapeways(www.shapeways.com), which is a global online 3D printing product and sales companies, from many viewpoints in order to obtain insight into 3D printing services and modes which were preferred by consumers. The study result showed that quantitative evaluations on usability, search process, price adequacy, re-visit intention, diversity of design, and satisfaction of design was scored low overall. Furthermore, this study acquired insight about consumer-tailored 3D printing services through constructive suggestions on multi-language support, openness of manufacturing process, simultaneous operation of online and offline sites, design-oriented consumer-tailored manufacturing service, services that ensure delivery safety and product durability, and surface finishing services. This study is expected to provide a wide range of opinions not only on 3D printing service platform development but also on related industry and research.

• Journal of the HCI Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2016

Three Dimensional Printing (herein, 3D printing) not only gives novelty and interests to modern people but is also a spotlighted technology that could herald a new industrial revolution. The introduction of various 3D printing service platforms has enabled individuals to easily possess products designed through 3D printing. However, there are still many issues to consider until the era of new manufacturing, when 3D printing becomes available to the general public so that anyone can make and design products with 3D printing. For instance, there needs to be sufficient consideration and research on whether the current 3D printing services can prove their higher capability to produce products conventionally done by machines and hands through 3D printing, and on the meaning of selling a wide range of product families like those of most 3D printing service platforms to the consumers. This study, which was initiated in this context, aimed to gain insight on the directions that 3D printing services need to advance going forward by letting consumers have first-hand experience on 3D printing online service platforms with a wide range of product families and those with relatively limited services, and then asking them to answer multiple-choice and short-answer survey questions on the websites they wish to purchase from, diversity of designs, design satisfaction, perceived technical skills, perceived purchase satisfaction, perceived after-sales service(A/S). As a result, we were able to witness that consumers generally had a strong preference for services with a wide range of product families (e.g. Shapeways) compared to services with a narrow range (e.g. Digital Forming). We also verified that design diversity and the possibility of realizing the designs were the crucial aspects that need to be considered with 3D printing services. Moreover, we also carried out discussions on carrying out design consulting by securing a pool of designers from diverse fields, on providing web-based designing software that can be utilized even by beginners, and on operating shops both online and offline in order to provide more competitive 3D printing services.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.119-138
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• 2016

Since the Industrial Revolution, which made the mass production and mass distribution of standardized goods possible, machine-made (manufactured) products have accounted for the majority of the market. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of purchasing even more expensive handmade products has become a noticeable trend as consumers have started to acknowledge the value of handmade products, such as the craftsman's commitment, belief in their quality and scarcity, and the sense of self-esteem from having them,. Consumer interest in these handmade products has shown explosive growth and has been coupled with the recent development of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies. Etsy.com is the world's largest online handmade platform. It is no different from any other online platform; it provides an online market where buyers and sellers virtually meet to share information and transact business. However, Etsy.com is different in that shops within this platform only deal with handmade products in a variety of categories, ranging from jewelry to toys. Since its establishment in 2005, despite being limited to handmade products, Etsy.com has enjoyed rapid growth in membership, transaction volume, and revenue. Most recently in April 2015, it raised funds through an initial public offering (IPO) of more than 1.8 billion USD, which demonstrates the huge potential of online handmade platforms. After the success of Etsy.com, various types of online handmade platforms such as Handmade at Amazon, ArtFire, DaWanda, and Craft is ART have emerged and are now competing with each other, at the same time, which has increased the size of the market. According to Deloitte's 2015 holiday survey on which types of gifts the respondents plan to buy during the holiday season, about 16% of U.S. consumers chose "homemade or craft items (e.g., Etsy purchase)," which was the same rate as those for the computer game and shoes categories. This indicates that consumer interests in online handmade platforms will continue to rise in the future. However, this high interest in the market for handmade products and their platforms has not yet led to academic research. Most extant studies have only focused on machine-made products and intelligent services for them. This indicates a lack of studies on handmade products and their intelligent services on virtual platforms. Therefore, this study used signaling theory and prior research on the effects of sellers' characteristics on their performance (e.g., total sales and price premiums) in the buyer-seller relationship to identify the key influencing e-Image factors (e.g., reputation, size, information sharing, and length of relationship). Then, their impacts on the performance of shops within the online handmade platform were empirically examined; the dataset was collected from Etsy.com through the application of web harvesting technology. The results from the structural equation modeling revealed that the reputation, size, and information sharing have significant effects on the total sales, while the reputation and length of relationship influence price premiums. This study extended the online platform research into online handmade platform research by identifying key influencing e-Image factors on within-platform shop's total sales and price premiums based on signaling theory and then performed a statistical investigation. These findings are expected to be a stepping stone for future studies on intelligent online handmade services as well as handmade products themselves. Furthermore, the findings of the study provide online handmade platform operators with practical guidelines on how to implement intelligent online handmade services. They should also help shop managers build their marketing strategies in a more specific and effective manner by suggesting key influencing e-Image factors. The results of this study should contribute to the vitalization of intelligent online handmade services by providing clues on how to maximize within-platform shops' total sales and price premiums.