• Title/Summary/Keyword: Companies in China

Search Result 700, Processing Time 0.033 seconds

Characterization of intrinsic molecular structure spectral profiles of feedstocks and co-products from canola bio-oil processing: impacted by source origin

  • Alessandra M.R.C.B., de Oliveira;Peiqiang, Yu
    • Animal Bioscience
    • /
    • v.36 no.2
    • /
    • pp.256-263
    • /
    • 2023
  • Objective: Feed molecular structures can affect its availability to gastrointestinal enzymes which impact its digestibility and absorption. The molecular spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared vibrational spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) is an advanced technique that measures the absorbance of chemical functional groups on the infrared region so that we can identify and quantify molecules and functional groups in a feed. The program aimed to reveal the association of intrinsic molecular structure with nutrient supply to animals from canola feedstocks and co-products from bio-oil processing. The objective of this study was to characterize special intrinsic carbohydrate and protein-related molecular structure spectral profiles of feedstock and co-products (meal and pellets) from bio-oil processing from two source origins: Canada (CA) and China (CH). Methods: The samples of feedstock and co-products were obtained from five different companies in each country arranged by the Canola Council of Canada (CCC). The molecular structure spectral features were analyzed using advanced vibrational molecular spectroscopy-ATR-FTIR. The spectral features that accessed included: i) protein-related spectral features (Amide I, Amide II, α-helix, β-sheet, and their spectral intensity ratios), ii) carbohydrate-related spectral features (TC1, TC2, TC3, TC4, CEC, STC1, STC2, STC3, STC4, TC, and their spectral intensity ratios). Results: The results showed that significant differences were observed on all vibrationally spectral features related to total carbohydrates, structural carbohydrates, and cellulosic compounds (p<0.05), except spectral features of TC2 and STC1 (p>0.05) of co-products, where CH meals presented higher peaks of these structures than CA. Similarly, it was for the carbohydrate-related molecular structure of canola seeds where the difference between CA and CH occurred except for STC3 height, CEC and STC areas (p>0.05). The protein-related molecular structures were similar for the canola seeds from both countries. However, CH meals presented higher peaks of amide I, α-helix, and β-sheet heights, α-helix:β-sheet ratio, total amide and amide I areas (p<0.05). Conclusion: The principal component analysis was able to explain over 90% of the variabilities in the carbohydrate and protein structures although it was not able to separate the samples from the two countries, indicating feedstock and coproducts interrelationship between CH and CA.

New Classification of Plasmodiophora brassicae Races Using Differential Genotypes of Chinese Cabbage

  • Kim, Hun;Choi, Gyung Ja
    • 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
    • /
    • 2015.05a
    • /
    • pp.28-28
    • /
    • 2015
  • Clubroot disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae induces severe losses of cruciferous vegetables worldwide. To control clubroot of Chinese cabbage, many CR (clubroot resistance) F1 hybrid cultivars have been bred and released in Korea, China and Japan. In this study, we determined the race of P. brassicae 12 field isolates, which collected from 10 regions in Korea, using Williams' differential varieties including two cabbage ('Jersey Queen', 'Badger Shipper') and two rutabaga ('Laurentian', 'Whilhelmsburger'). By Williams' differential varieties, 12 clubroot pathogens were assigned into one (GN2), two (HS and YC), two (HN1 and HN2), three (DJ, KS and SS) and four (GS, GN1, JS and PC) isolates for races 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9, respectively. In addition, the degree of resistance of 45 CR cultivars that were from Korea, China and Japan was tested with the 12 isolates. The 45 CR cultivars of Chinese cabbage were differentiated into three genotypes according to their resistance responses. Even though the 12 P. brassicae isolates were same race by Williams' differential varieties, three CR genotypes showed different resistance response to the isolates. These results indicate that races of P. brassicae by Williams' differentials were not related with resistance of CR cultivars, and three CR genotypes represented qualitative resistance to the P. brassicae isolates. CR genotype I including 'CR-Cheongrok' showed resistance to GN1, GN2, JS, GS, HS, DJ and KS isolates and susceptibility to YC, PC, HN1, HN2 and SS isolates. And CR genotype II such as 'Hangkunjongbyungdaebaekchae' was resistant to GN1, GN2, JS, GS, HS, YC, PC and HN1 and susceptible to DJ, KS, SS and HN2. CR genotype III including 'Chunhajangkun' and 'Akimeki' represented resistance to 10 isolates except for SS and HN2 isolates. Based on these results, we selected 'CR-Cheongrok', 'Hangkunjongbyungdaebaekchae', and 'Chunhajangkun' as a representative cultivar of three CR genotypes and 'Norangkimjang' as a susceptible cultivar. Furthermore, we investigated the resistance of 15 lines of Chinese cabbage, which were provided by seed companies, to 11 isolates except for HN1 of P. brassicae. The results showed that three lines were susceptible to all the tested isolates, whereas five, four, and three lines represented the similar responses corresponding to the CR genotypes I, II, and III, respectively; there is no line of Chinese cabbage showing different resistance patterns compared to three CR genotypes. In particular, line 'SS001' showing resistance responses of CR genotype II was a parent of 'Saerona' that have been commercialized as a CR $F_1$ cultivar of Chinese cabbage. Together, we divided 12 isolates of P. brassicae into 4 races, designated by wild type, mutant type 1, mutant type 2, and mutant type 3. Wild type including GN1, GN2, JS, GS, and HS isolates of P. brassicae was not able to infect all the cultivars of three CR genotypes, whereas, mutant type 3 such as SS and HN2 isolates developed severe clubroot disease on all the CR genotype cultivars. To mutant type 1 including DJ and KS isolates, CR genotypes I, II and III were resistant, susceptible and resistant, respectively. In contrast, to mutant type 2 including YC, PS, and HN1 isolates, CR genotypes I, II and III showed susceptibility, resistance and resistance, respectively. Taken together, our results provide the extended knowledge of classification of P. brassicae races, which is useful information for the breeding of resistant crops, with a suggestion that 'Norangkimjang', 'CR-Cheongrok', 'Saerona' and 'Chunhajangkun' cultivars of Chinese cabbage could be used as new race differentials of P. brassicae for clubroot disease assay.

  • PDF

A Intelligent Diagnostic Model that base on Case-Based Reasoning according to Korea - International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS에 따른 사례기반추론에 기반한 지능형 기업 진단 모형)

  • Lee, Hyoung-Yong
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.20 no.4
    • /
    • pp.141-154
    • /
    • 2014
  • The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is the one of important issues in the recent accounting research because the change from local GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to IFRS has a substantial effect on accounting information. Over 100 countries including Australia, China, Canada and the European Union member countries adopt IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) for financial reporting purposes, and several more including the United States and Japan are considering the adoption of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). In Korea, 61 firms voluntarily adopted Korean International Financial Reporting Standard (K-IFRS) in 2009 and 2010 and all listed firms mandatorily adopted K-IFRS (Korea-International Financial Reporting Standards) in 2011. The adoption of IFRS is expected to increase financial statement comparability, improve corporate transparency, increase the quality of financial reporting, and hence, provide benefits to investors This study investigates whether recognized accounts receivable discounting (AR discounting) under Korean International Financial Reporting Standard (K-IFRS) is more value relevant than disclosed AR discounting under Korean Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (K-GAAP). Because more rigorous standards are applied to the derecognition of AR discounting under K-IFRS(Korea-International Financial Reporting Standards), most AR discounting is recognized as a short term debt instead of being disclosed as a contingent liability unless all risks and rewards are transferred. In this research, I try to figure out industrial responses to the changes in accounting rules for the treatment of accounts receivable toward more strict standards in the recognition of sales which occurs with the adoption of Korea International Financial Reporting Standard. This study examines whether accounting information is more value-relevant, especially information on accounts receivable discounting (hereinafter, AR discounting) is value-relevant under K-IFRS (Korea-International Financial Reporting Standards). First, note that AR discounting involves the transfer of financial assets. Under Korean Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (K-GAAP), when firms discount AR to banks before the AR maturity, firms conventionally remove AR from the balance-sheet and report losses from AR discounting and disclose and explain the transactions in the footnotes. Under K-IFRS (Korea-International Financial Reporting Standards), however, most firms keep AR and add a short-term debt as same as discounted AR. This process increases the firms' leverage ratio and raises the concern to the firms about investors' reactions to worsening capital structures. Investors may experience the change in perceived risk of the firm. In the study sample, the average of AR discounting is 75.3 billion won (maximum 3.6 trillion won and minimum 18 million won), which is, on average 7.0% of assets (maximum 38.6% and minimum 0.002%), 26.2% of firms' accounts receivable (maximum 92.5% and minimum 0.003%) and 13.5% of total liabilities (maximum 69.5% and minimum 0.004%). After the adoption of K-IFRS (Korea-International Financial Reporting Standards), total liabilities increase by 13%p on average (maximum 103%p and minimum 0.004%p) attributable to AR discounting. The leverage ratio (total liabilities/total assets) increases by an average 2.4%p (maximum 16%p and minimum 0.001%p) and debt-to-equity ratio increases by average 14.6%p (maximum 134%p and minimum 0.006%) attributable to the recognition of AR discounting as a short-term debt. The structure of debts and equities of the companies engaging in factoring transactions are likely to be affected in the changes of accounting rule. I suggest that the changes in accounting provisions subsequent to Korea International Financial Reporting Standard adoption caused significant influence on the structure of firm's asset and liabilities. Due to this changes, the treatment of account receivable discounting have become critical. This paper proposes an intelligent diagnostic system for estimating negative impact on stock value with self-organizing maps and case based reasoning. To validate the usefulness of this proposed model, real data was analyzed. In order to get the significance of this proposed model, several models were compared to the research model. I found out that this proposed model provides satisfactory results with compared models.

A Study on Minimum Cabin Crew Requirements for Korean Low Cost Air Carriers

  • Yoo, Kyung-In;Kim, Mun-Kyung
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
    • /
    • v.33 no.2
    • /
    • pp.291-314
    • /
    • 2018
  • In recent 3 years, Korea's low-cost airlines have expanded their areas of passenger transportation not only to domestic market but also to Japan, China, Southeast Asia and US territory as a total of 6 companies (8 airlines including small air operation business carriers). Currently, three more airlines have filed for air transportation business certification as future low-cost carriers, and this expansion is expected to continue. To cope with the aggressive airline operations of domestic and foreign low-cost carriers and to enhance their competitiveness, each low-cost airline is taking a number of strategies for promoting cabin service. Therefore, the workload of the cabin crew is increased in proportion to the expansion, and the fatigue directly connected with the safety task performance is increased. It is stipulated in the Enforcement Regulations of the Korea Aviation Safety Act that at minimum, one cabin crew is required per 50 passenger seating capacity, and all low cost carriers are boarding only the minimum cabin crew. Sometimes it is impossible for them to sit in a floor level emergency exit for evacuation, which is the main task of the cabin crew, and this can cause confusion among evacuating passengers in the event of an emergency. In addition, if one of the minimum cabin crew becomes incapacitated due to an injury or the like, it will become a serious impediment in performing emergency evacuation duties. Even in the normal situation, since it will be violating the Act prescription on the minimum cabin crew complement, passengers will have to move to another available airline flights, encountering extreme inconvenience. Annex 6 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation specifies international standards for the determination of the minimum number of cabin crew shall be based only on the number of passenger seats or passengers on board for safe and expeditious emergency evacuation. Thereby in order to enhance the safety of the passengers and the crew on board, it is necessary to consider the cabin crew's fatigue that may occur in the various job characteristics (service, safety, security, first aid)and floor level emergency exit seating in calculating the minimum number of cabin crew. And it is also deemed necessary for the government's regulatory body to enhance the cabin safety for passengers and crew when determining the number of minimum cabin crew by reflecting the cabin crew's workload leading to their fatigue and unavailability to be seated in a floor level emergency exit on low cost carriers.

A Case Study on the Lean Management Activity in Business-Services Industry (사무.서비스 산업의 린 경영 활동에 관한 사례 연구)

  • Lee, Kang-In;Lee, Soon-San
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
    • /
    • v.7 no.1
    • /
    • pp.189-206
    • /
    • 2012
  • It is urgently requested to innovate the management process of business-service areas in all industry such as financial business, services and manufacturing because of recent business trend - de-manufacturing trend and the weight increment of service in all industries. Many enterprises introduce various management - innovation methodologies in order to meet the rapidly changing business environment. Especially in Korea, it is a vogue to introduce the innovation methodology of the advanced company's. According to this style, the six sigma has been introduced over 10 years since late 1990's and it has become a synonym of innovation indeed. But the result of six sigma introduction has not reached to the level of expectation in its beginning. And the "Lean" have been introduced in Korea in the situation of global financial crisis, economic slump and the pursuit of developing country such as China. Many Korea companies pay attention to the "Lean" innovation activity because the TPS(Toyota Production System) is the matrix of Lean and is the motive power of Toyota growth. In this study, it was analyzed for the evolution course, distinctive features and effects of Lean management and was examined for the difference of Lean management between manufacturing industry and business-service areas. From this results, the characteristics of Lean management in business-service was analyzed. After survey of innovation agent in Korea company, the Lean model of business-service Industry was developed and applied. This study will be worthy to show the right direction to the enterprises which are to apply lean methodologies, or the enterprises which examine lean management for competitive advantages or the peoples who research the same topics.

  • PDF

The Trend Analysis of Propulsion System for Railway Vehicle Using Patent Analysis (특허분석을 통한 철도차량용 추진제어장치 기술 분석)

  • Han, Young-Jae;Lee, Su-Gil;Park, Chan-Kyoung;Kim, Young-Guk;Bae, Chang-Han
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
    • /
    • v.19 no.5
    • /
    • pp.131-138
    • /
    • 2018
  • In this study, we investigated the trend of technological development in major countries related to the propulsion equipment of railway vehicles. The propulsion system is the main equipment of electric vehicles. A lot of time and investment are required in order to ensure the development of technology. Therefore, developed countries have maximized their effort to develop technologies with safety, reliability, and convenience of maintenance. They have also done their utmost to prevent technology transfer to other countries after the development of new technologies. For example, Toshiba of Japan developed a new 3,300V/1,500 A class IGBT power device, but was reluctant to export it to foreign countries in order to protect this technology. In this study, we analyzed the patents applied for related to propulsion control systems and presented the direction of development during the technical development of these systems. The patent analysis of the core technologies was conducted using the Thomson Innovation DB. We examined the number of patents applied for by country, year and major applicant. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the proportion of patent applications per country was in the order of China, 48%, Europe 16.6%, and the United States 14.9%. The patent situation of the top 10 principal applicants revealed that (the top three were?) ABB 14%, GE 13%, and CRRC 12%. At the same time, we also conducted a qualitative analysis of the level of technical development by evaluating such factors as the influence index, quotation, market securing power and citation. Based on the result of the patent analysis, we presented the direction of technical development of the propulsion control equipment of railway vehicles. Based on the analysis results, it was found that domestic applicants considerably reduced their efforts to protect their patents from foreign companies. Nowadays, most of the electric motors used in Korea are induction motors. In advanced countries, permanent magnet electric motors are employed in new railway lines. Therefore, intensive investment is needed in new developments.

A Study on the Selection of Service Business for Introduction of R&D Center Accreditation System for Knowledge Based Service Firm (지식기반서비스 산업 기업연구소 인정제도 도입을 위한 업종선정에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Suk-Pil;Noh, Mean-Sun
    • Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
    • /
    • v.14 no.4
    • /
    • pp.1024-1049
    • /
    • 2011
  • Korea has accomplished rapid industrial development based on the manufacturing industry. However, the growth potential has been slowing down lately due to some reasons including low employment creation rates. Also, competitions in the manufacturing industry with China and developing countries in Asia are constantly intensified. Advanced countries maintain economic growth based on the competitiveness secured by changing its industrial structure into service oriented economy. Accordingly Korean government announced various policies to promote service industry and stimulate R&D activity for the advancement of knowledge based service industry. For promoting R&D of private firm, R&D center accreditation system for knowledge based service firm is going to be introduced. However, the accreditation system needs to be revised because it was established based solely on manufacturing business. Under the existing system, subject firms for government support are selected based on R&D activities. However in service area, the difference between R&D activity and business activity is indistinctive due to its nature so that the range of subject firms can be expanded too much. So it is more practical to select major service businesses and operate the system with selected businesses. There also should be proper logic to select major service business from the whole service businesses. We have to consider Koean industrial structure which is heavily dependent on manufacturing business and has weak competitiveness in service business when preparing the logic. In this paper, we study how to set up the range of service business and the requirements for R&D center accreditation. For this, this paper analyzed the ripple effect on the economy of service businesses based on input-output analysis, R&D activity and capability to put the resource for R&D. Based on the analysis result, we suggest methods to screen subject companies for R&D center accreditation among service business and present possible measures on manpower and physical requirement for service industry's R&D center accreditation system.

  • PDF

The Relationship among Country of Origin, Brand Equity and Brand Loyalty: Comparison among USA, China and Korea (원산지효과, 상표자산 및 상표충성 간의 관계에 관한 연구: 미국, 중국, 한국의 비교분석)

  • Ko, Eun-Ju;Kim, Kyung-Hoon;Kim, Sook-Hyun;Li, Guo-Feng;Zou, Peng;Zhang, Hao
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
    • /
    • v.19 no.1
    • /
    • pp.47-58
    • /
    • 2009
  • The marketing environment has become competitive to an extent that requires firms to target their products at markets that span national boundaries. However, competitive clout cannot be achieved in global consumer markets unless firms thoroughly understand and adequately respond to the core values and needs of those consumers. Brand equity is one of the most important assets to a company. Especially in sportswear markets, brand equity is the crucial value added to a product by its brand name. Factors such as country of origin also influence customer's attitude towards brand equity. Therefore, this paper discusses the relationship between country of origin effect and brand equity, and how they influence consumers' loyalty for respective brands. This paper focused on the sports shoes market, because it is an increasing area of opportunity for world manufacturers. The objectives of this study were the following. (1) Test the effect of country of origin on brand equity. (2) Test how brand equity influences consumers' brand loyalty. (3) Find whether there are differences in the effects of country of origin and brand equity among the three countries. (4) Find whether there are differences in the effects of country of origin and brand equity among the different lifestyles. Based on the review of literature results, the hypotheses are concluded as the following: H1-a: Country image has positive influence on country of origin. H1-b: Product perception has positive influence on country of origin. H2-a: Perceived quality has positive effect on brand equity. H2-b: Perceived price has positive effect on brand equity. H3: Country of origin has positive effect on brand equity. H4: Brand equity has a positive impact on brand loyalty. Research model was constructed (see Fig. 1). After data analysis, the following results were concluded: sports shoes purchase behavior showed significant differences among Korean, Chinese, and American consumers for favorite brand, purchased brand, purchased place, information usage, and favorite sports games. The results of this study also extend the research of the relationship among country of origin, brand equity and brand loyalty to the sports shoes market. Brand equity was proven to have a significant relationship with brand loyalty for all countries. The factors which can influence brand equity are different for different countries. The third finding of this paper is that we identified different three lifestyles, adventurer, follower, and laggard, for Korean, Chinese and American consumers. Without the nationality boundary, seeing the emergence of a new group of consumers who have similar preferences and buy similar brands is more important. All of the consumers consider brand equity to keep their brand loyalty. Perceived price is the only factor which can influence brand equity for adventurers; brand is more important for them. The laggards were not influenced by any factor. All of the factors expect perceived price are important for the followers. Marketing managers should consider brand equity when introducing their brand into a new market. Also localization is the basic strategy that all the sports shoes companies should understand. But as a global brand, understanding the same characteristics for each country is more important to build global strategy.

  • PDF

A Comparative Study on the Effect of Enterprise SNS on Job Performance - Focused on the Mediation Effect of Communication Level and Moderating Effect of Nationality - (기업용 SNS 이용이 업무성과에 미치는 영향의 국가 간 비교연구 - 커뮤니케이션 수준의 매개효과와 국적의 조절효과를 중심으로 -)

  • Chen, Jing-Yuan;Kwon, Sun-Dong
    • Management & Information Systems Review
    • /
    • v.38 no.4
    • /
    • pp.137-157
    • /
    • 2019
  • Companies are trying to use enterprise SNS for collaboration and speedy decision-making. This study verified the mediating effect of communication between enterprise SNS and job performance, and proved the moderating effect of nationality between enterprise SNS and communication. This study collected survey data of 81 Korean and 81 Chinese from employees who have used enterprise SNS in Korea and China. As results of data analysis, first, enterprise SNS improved job performance through speedy information sharing and error reduction. Second, communication mediated the effect of enterprise SNS on job performance. Third, enterprise SNS increased the level of organizational communication through decreasing the burden of offline face-to-face communication. Compared with Chinese corporate organizations, Korean corporate organizations have high power distances, centralized control, and high superior authority. Therefore, in the off-line communication situation, the subordinate feels the social pressure to follow the command of the superior. Thus communication is one-way and closed. In this Korean organizational situation, corporate SNS can be used as a means to bypass rigid offline communication. In the online communication environment of non face-to-face corporate SNS, anxiety and stress of face-to-face communication can be reduced, so communication between the upper and lower sides can flow more smoothly. The contribution of this paper is that it proved that enterprise SNS promotes communication and improve job performance by reducing the anxiety or stress of offline communication, while according to prior research successful adoption of many types of information systems requires the fit between an organization and its organizational culture.

Brand Equity and Purchase Intention in Fashion Products: A Cross-Cultural Study in Asia and Europe (상표자산과 구매의도와의 관계에 관한 국제비교연구 - 아시아와 유럽의 의류시장을 중심으로 -)

  • Kim, Kyung-Hoon;Ko, Eun-Ju;Graham, Hooley;Lee, Nick;Lee, Dong-Hae;Jung, Hong-Seob;Jeon, Byung-Joo;Moon, Hak-Il
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
    • /
    • v.18 no.4
    • /
    • pp.245-276
    • /
    • 2008
  • Brand equity is one of the most important concepts in business practice as well as in academic research. Successful brands can allow marketers to gain competitive advantage (Lassar et al.,1995), including the opportunity for successful extensions, resilience against competitors' promotional pressures, and the ability to create barriers to competitive entry (Farquhar, 1989). Branding plays a special role in service firms because strong brands increase trust in intangible products (Berry, 2000), enabling customers to better visualize and understand them. They reduce customers' perceived monetary, social, and safety risks in buying services, which are obstacles to evaluating a service correctly before purchase. Also, a high level of brand equity increases consumer satisfaction, repurchasing intent, and degree of loyalty. Brand equity can be considered as a mixture that includes both financial assets and relationships. Actually, brand equity can be viewed as the value added to the product (Keller, 1993), or the perceived value of the product in consumers' minds. Mahajan et al. (1990) claim that customer-based brand equity can be measured by the level of consumers' perceptions. Several researchers discuss brand equity based on two dimensions: consumer perception and consumer behavior. Aaker (1991) suggests measuring brand equity through price premium, loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations. Viewing brand equity as the consumer's behavior toward a brand, Keller (1993) proposes similar dimensions: brand awareness and brand knowledge. Thus, past studies tend to identify brand equity as a multidimensional construct consisted of brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand knowledge, customer satisfaction, perceived equity, brand associations, and other proprietary assets (Aaker, 1991, 1996; Blackston, 1995; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Na, 1995). Other studies tend to regard brand equity and other brand assets, such as brand knowledge, brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and so on, as independent but related constructs (Keller, 1993; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993). Walters(1978) defined information search as, "A psychological or physical action a consumer takes in order to acquire information about a product or store." But, each consumer has different methods for informationsearch. There are two methods of information search, internal and external search. Internal search is, "Search of information already saved in the memory of the individual consumer"(Engel, Blackwell, 1982) which is, "memory of a previous purchase experience or information from a previous search."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). External search is "A completely voluntary decision made in order to obtain new information"(Engel & Blackwell, 1982) which is, "Actions of a consumer to acquire necessary information by such methods as intentionally exposing oneself to advertisements, taking to friends or family or visiting a store."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). There are many sources for consumers' information search including advertisement sources such as the internet, radio, television, newspapers and magazines, information supplied by businesses such as sales people, packaging and in-store information, consumer sources such as family, friends and colleagues, and mass media sources such as consumer protection agencies, government agencies and mass media sources. Understanding consumers' purchasing behavior is a key factor of a firm to attract and retain customers and improving the firm's prospects for survival and growth, and enhancing shareholder's value. Therefore, marketers should understand consumer as individual and market segment. One theory of consumer behavior supports the belief that individuals are rational. Individuals think and move through stages when making a purchase decision. This means that rational thinkers have led to the identification of a consumer buying decision process. This decision process with its different levels of involvement and influencing factors has been widely accepted and is fundamental to the understanding purchase intention represent to what consumers think they will buy. Brand equity is not only companies but also very important asset more than product itself. This paper studies brand equity model and influencing factors including information process such as information searching and information resources in the fashion market in Asia and Europe. Information searching and information resources are influencing brand knowledge that influences consumers purchase decision. Nine research hypotheses are drawn to test the relationships among antecedents of brand equity and purchase intention and relationships among brand knowledge, brand value, brand attitude, and brand loyalty. H1. Information searching influences brand knowledge positively. H2. Information sources influence brand knowledge positively. H3. Brand knowledge influences brand attitude. H4. Brand knowledge influences brand value. H5. Brand attitude influences brand loyalty. H6. Brand attitude influences brand value. H7. Brand loyalty influences purchase intention. H8. Brand value influence purchase intention. H9. There will be the same research model in Asia and Europe. We performed structural equation model analysis in order to test hypotheses suggested in this study. The model fitting index of the research model in Asia was $X^2$=195.19(p=0.0), NFI=0.90, NNFI=0.87, CFI=0.90, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.083, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. In Europe, it was $X^2$=133.25(p=0.0), NFI=0.81, NNFI=0.85, CFI=0.89, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.073, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. From the test results, hypotheses were accepted. All of these hypotheses except one are supported. In Europe, information search is not an antecedent of brand knowledge. This means that sales of global fashion brands like jeans in Europe are not expanding as rapidly as in Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea. Young consumers in European countries are not more brand and fashion conscious than their counter partners in Asia. The results have theoretical, practical meaning and contributions. In the fashion jeans industry, relatively few studies examining the viability of cross-national brand equity has been studied. This study provides insight on building global brand equity and suggests information process elements like information search and information resources are working differently in Asia and Europe for fashion jean market.

  • PDF