• Archives of design research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.363-372
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• 2004

Lannon(1994) asserted, 'Today consumer market has reached its maturity, and products gets more and more similar. So brands should be distinguished from competitors by emotional values.' Parody ads, one of advertisements appealing to emotion, would distort some original work well known to the public with its blemish or seriousness on target by imitating or exaggerating it regardless of expression styles, and announce the results to criticize the work itself or social situations or excite laughter. Such parody ads are stimulating consumers' emotion in particular and diverse methods. But This study on parody and especially parody in advertising, deals with the basic concepts of parody in advertising, as well as copyright infringement issues highlighting the different legal interpretations in American and Korean law when dealing with indiscreet cases of parody in advertising. some suggestions are made on desirable and forword-looking solutions. Different to the acceptance of parody in the American culture, Korean law was limiting in allowing parody to be used and applied.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1340-1346
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• 2018

There have been researches on game continuance intention based on consumer behaviour theory of management science. Such macro access of computer game analysis might be insufficient to draw valuable results due to complex subsystem structure of recent computer games. In this paper, we choose 'Blade and Soul' game that was first published in 2012 and has been within top 20 MMORPG in Korea but known as a 'long time users' only game'among game players recently. Three user groups - long loyalty, concentrated, casual - are classified based on their play history and play time per day of Blade and Soul. The first survey with 222 subjects revealed that the real strength of the game was not the combat - Dungeon, Arena, Battleground competition - but very cohesive game community Blade and Soul has. Thus, we conduct another survey on the game community issues among 148 long time users (over 3 years playing history) and analyze their traits and behaviour patterns.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.183-198
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• 2002

The purpose of this research is mainly to make an analysis and comparison of the purchasing behaviors of consumers in Mainland China and Taiwan. We precede this research with a questionnaire survey. In Mainland China, we targeted consumers of 10 department stores of the Parkson Plaza Co., Ltd. that are located in 10 different cities. In Taiwan, we selected 3 department stores of the Far Eastern Department Stores in 3 cities. The results of this analysis indicate the importance of quality attributes to the consumers for both Mainland China and Taiwan, albeit with some differentiations. The consumers in China are more focused on the merchandise for example as well as imitation, quality and price. Contrarily, the consumers in Taiwan are more attentive to service quality and parking Issues. On the level of evaluation of satisfaction, the differences are not so obvious for both sides. For example, the quality attributes of “No imitation products” and “Friendly servers” are ranked as the most satisfactory items for both sides. Generally speaking, the service quality of Taiwan's department stores is very outstanding. There are also some differences in the areas of lesser satisfaction between consumers of China and Taiwan. The consumers in China identified the quality attribute “the designs of merchandising, display and the usage of each floor” as the most dissatisfactory item, while the performance on this quality attribute is well accepted by the consumers of Taiwan's department stores. Another contradiction is that Taiwan's consumers are more concerned about “Parking”; this quality attribute obtained much less attention from the consumers in Mainland China. From the analysis of determinants that will have impacts on the willingness of customers to buy again, we found that the viewpoints of consumers from both sides are quite similar. The two main factors are “quality of merchandise” and “service quality”. However, the consumers in Mainland China care more about “the price of merchandise”; this is less important to the consumers in Taiwan. We may conclude from the importance and satisfaction level of the quality attributes and determinants for return customers that differences are caused mainly by the different management of the department stores and the different living circumstances of people across the straights.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2007

Unprecedented amount of genetic information being generated from the result of Human Genome Project (HGP) and advances in genetic research is already forcing changes in the paradigm of health and disease. The ultimate goal of genetic medicine is to use genetic information and technology to develop new ways of treatment or even prevention of the disease on an individual level for 'personalized medicine'. Genetics is play ing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of common multifactorial diseases in addition to rare single-gene disorders. While wide range of genetic testing have provided benefits to patients and family, uncertainties surrounding test interpretation, the current lack of available medical options for the diseases, and risks for discrimination and social stigmatization may remain to be resolved. However an increasing number of genetic tests are becoming commercially available, including direct to consumer genetic testing, yet public is often unaw are of their clinical and social implications. The personal nature of information generated by a genetic test, its power to affect major life decisions and family members, and its potential misuse raise important ethical considerations. Therefore appropriate genetic counseling is needed for patient to be informed with the benefits, limitations and risks of genetic tests, prior to informed consent for the tests. Physician also should be familiar with the legal and ethical issues involved in genetic testing to tell patients how w ell a particular genetic risk factor relates with likelihood of disease, and be able to provide appropriate genetic counseling. Genetic counseling become a mandatory requirement as global standard for many genetic testing such as prenatal diagnosis, presymtomatic DNA diagnostic tests and cancer susceptibility gene test for familial cancer syndrome. In oder to meet the challenge of genetic medicine of 21 century in korean health care system, professional education program and certification board for medical genetics specialist including non-MD genetic counselors should be addressed by medical society and regulatory policy of national health insurance reimbursement for genetic counseling to be in place to promote the implementation of clinical genetic service including genetic counseling for proper genetic testing.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.43-58
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• 2015

Compulsive hoarding becomes a problem when the spaces hoarded items are stored in become unusable due to clutter, health, or safety issues. Our research purpose was to document relationships between two non-normative consumer behaviors (compulsive hoarding, compulsive buying tendency) and two shopping-related variables: hedonic shopping motives and emotional attachment to possessions with everyday consumers. As hedonic shopping motives have been related to compulsive buying, we predicted these motives (e.g., adventure, gratification, role, value, social, and idea) are related to compulsive buying. We also examined the relationship between compulsive buying and compulsive hoarding tendency and whether emotional attachment to possessions moderated this relationship. Participants were 280 undergraduate and graduate students attending a Midwestern university in the U.S. Regression analysis revealed the enhancing emotion motive (a combined motive of adventure and gratification) positively influenced compulsive buying whereas the value motive negatively influenced compulsive buying. All other hedonic shopping motives were non-significant. Participants who tended to buy compulsively were likely to hoard compulsively. This relationship, however, was moderated by participants' emotional attachment to possessions. Participants with high emotional attachment to possessions showed a higher level of hoarding behavior than those with low emotional attachment to possessions. However, the increase in hoarding tendency among participants with low emotional attachment to possessions was larger between those who were low in compulsive buying and those who were high in compulsive buying than the increase between these two groups among participants with high emotional attachment to possessions.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.249-265
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• 2014

The international mobile roaming service has been provided for more than one decade, but high price of international mobile roaming service, which is represented as 'bill shock' is still of major concern in lots of countries including Korea. With understanding of the given price issues, the international organizations, such as OECD, EU, WTO, ITU have been conducting extensive analyses and studies to find suitable solutions and appropriate measures. In the case of EU regulate the international roaming charges and implement the regulation policy. OECD do not have a compelling regulation on roaming charges, but OECD request to member state to find the reasons of high roaming charges and its solution. WTO Council for Trade in Services is reviewing the international mobile roaming in terms of whether impede international trade in services. The purpose of this study is to review many different approaches in international organizations related to reducing international roaming service charges, to drive some regulatory policy directions for reducing roaming charges.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 2018

Objectives: We analyzed the importance and performance of hospital social responsibility (HSR) according to the characteristics of hospitals, and presented strategies for HSR activities. Methods: An online HSR questionnaire was sent to hospitals nationwide from October 12 to 26, 2018. The 206 responses received were analyzed in accordance with the IPA to assess the performance and importance of HSR. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the employees and hospitals regarding the importance and performance of HSR activities. In the area of "sustained maintenance", items related to consumer issues such as "compliance with personal information processing policy", "patient confidentiality", "fair information provision", and "system for patient safety and infection prevention" were derived. In the area of "'high priority for improvement", there were three common items between hospitals and general hospitals: "regular donations and support from local communities", "active cooperation with related institutions", and "compliance with process-related laws and regulations". In the area of "low priority", four items were derived: "support for employee participation in community activities", "efforts to hire local residents", "education and cultural programs for local communities", and "transparent support for political activities". In the area of "sublation of excessive efforts", two items of "employee welfare efforts" and "efforts to improve labor relations", were commonly found in hospitals and general hospitals. Conclusions: It is necessary to improve the management efficiency of hospitals by the systematic allocation of manpower and resources through the establishment of four regional strategies based on the results of IPA analysis.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.255-263
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• 2021

Smart grid is a fully-automated, bi-directional, power transmission network based on the physical grid system, which combines sensor measurement, computer, information communication, and automatic control technology. Blockchain technology, with its security features, can be integrated with Smart Grids to provide secure and efficient power management and transmission. This paper dicusses the deployment of Blockchain technology in Smart Grid. It presents application areas and protocols in which blockchain can be applied to in securing smart grid. One application of each area is explored in detail, such as efficient peer-to-peer transaction, lower platform costs, faster processes, greater flexibility in power generation to transmission, distribution and power consumption in different energy storage systems, current barriers obstructing the implementation of blockchain applications with some level of maturity in financial services but concepts only in energy and other sectors. Wide range of energy applications suggesting a suitable blockchain architecture in smart grid operations, a sample block structure and the potential blockchain technicalities employed in it. Also, added with efficient data aggregation schemes based on the blockchain technology to overcome the challenges related to privacy and security in the smart grid. Later on, consensus algorithms and protocols are discussed. Monitoring of the usage and statistics of energy distribution systems that can also be used to remotely control energy flow to a particular area. Further, the discussion on the blockchain-based frameworks that helps in the diagnosis and maintenance of smart grid equipment. We have also discussed several commercial implementations of blockchain in the smart grid. Finally, various challenges have been discussed for integrating these technologies. Overall, it can be said at the present point in time that blockchain technology certainly shows a lot of potentials from a customer perspective too and should be further developed by market participants. The approaches seen thus far may have a disruptive effect in the future and might require additional regulatory intervention in an already tightly regulated energy market. If blockchains are to deliver benefits for consumers (whether as consumers or prosumers of energy), a strong focus on consumer issues will be needed.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.799-809
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• 2021

This study aimed to grasp the perceptions and trends in fashion platforms and fashion smart factories using big data analysis. As a research method, big data analysis, fashion platform, and smart factory were identified through literature and prior studies, and text mining analysis and network analysis were performed after collecting text from the web environment between April 2019 and April 2021. After data purification with Textom, the words of fashion platform (1,0591 pieces) and fashion smart factory (9750 pieces) were used for analysis. Key words were derived, the frequency of appearance was calculated, and the results were visualized in word cloud and N-gram. The top 70 words by frequency of appearance were used to generate a matrix, structural equivalence analysis was performed, and the results were displayed using network visualization and dendrograms. The collected data revealed that smart factory had high social issues, but consumer interest and academic research were insufficient, and the amount and frequency of related words on the fashion platform were both high. As a result of structural equalization analysis, it was found that fashion platforms with strong connectivity between clusters are creating new competitiveness with service platforms that add sharing, manufacturing, and curation functions, and fashion smart factories can expect future value to grow together, according to digital technology innovation and platforms. This study can serve as a foundation for future research topics related to fashion platforms and smart factories.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1-14
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• 2022

This study aims to identify topics in newspaper articles related to fine particle matter and to investigate the characteristics and time series trend of each topic. Related national newspaper articles during 1990 and 2021 were collected from Bigkinds. A total of 18 topics have been discovered using LDA, and 11 clusters deduced from clustering. Hot topics include related products/residence, overseas cause(China), power plant as a domestic cause, nationwide emergency reduction measures, international cooperation, political issues, current situation & countermeasure in other countries, and consumption patterns. Cold topics include the concentration standard and indoor air quality improvement. These findings would be useful in inferring the political direction and strategies. In particular, the consumer protection policy should be expanded as the related market is growing. It will also be necessary to pursue policies that will promote public safety and health, and that will enhance public consensus and international cooperation.