• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.604-615
• /
• 2012

Despite the increasing recognition of the value of emotions and younger consumers in luxury market segments, little research has focused on the role consumer characteristics and emotions play in younger consumers' commitment to luxury brands. Drawing on the identity-motivation model and the idea of self-construal, this study identifies the contributing factors of younger consumers' commitment to luxury fashion brands. Specifically, this study examines the role of consumer characteristics (i.e., self-construal), the self-expressiveness of brands, and emotional factors (i.e., brand love and brand attachment) in developing consumer-brand relationships. The proposed model was tested with college students in the U.S., which supplied a representative group of younger consumers of luxury fashion brands. The data were collected using web-based surveys and analyzed using structural equation modeling method. The results showed that consumers who were characterized with interdependent self-construal had positive perceptions of self-expressive luxury fashion brands. Furthermore, the perception of self-expressive brands promotes the consumers' brand love of and brand attachmentto luxury fashion brands. Also, while both improved brand commitment, brand attachment had a greater impact on brand commitment than brand love. This study contributes to the literature by identifying driving forces of younger consumers' brand commitment. It also provides managerial implications for luxury fashion brands.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.440-451
• /
• 2013

Because of the e-shopping market consumers now have diverse options to choose when placing their orders, and find it easy to obtain the required information through the Internet. Especially, for consumers, product reviews posted on an e-tailer's website have become more important criteria than such information available elsewhere. Hence, this study investigated the influence of the direction and evaluative contents of online reviews on consumer attitudes toward clothing products. Four types of online reviews based on direction (positive/negative) and evaluative content in review information (objective/subjective) were used in the experimental design. Further, stimulus reviews were developed. Credibility, usefulness of reviews, product preference, and purchase intention were the measured dependent variables in each of the four situations of online review presentations. The results indicated that, overall, positive and objective online reviews resulted in a higher level of consumer attitude. The content in these reviews had a relatively stronger influence than the direction on attitudes toward online reviews. Overall, objective reviews generated a higher level of credibility and usefulness of information than subjective reviews. Regarding subjective reviews, negative information was more related to credibility, whereas positive information was more related to usefulness. Further, positive information had a higher influence than negative information on consumer attitudes.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.409-419
• /
• 2020

Building on Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model(TRAM), the study aimed to examine how technology readiness affects consumers' perceptions of ease of use, usefulness, and risk, which in turn predict their intention to use retail service robots. Specifically, the study proposed that technology readiness motivators (optimism and innovativeness) would influence perceived ease of use and usefulness, while technology readiness inhibitors (discomfort and insecurity) would affect perceived risk. The study further examined if the perception factors (ease of use, usefulness, and risk) contribute to intention to use retail service robots. A survey method was used with data collected from Korean consumers. The final sample size was 418. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings of the study revealed that technology readiness motivators positively affected perceived ease of use and usefulness while innovativeness had no impact on usefulness. All the inhibitors increased perceived risk. Lastly, as hypothesized, perceptions of ease of use, usefulness, and risk predicted intention to use retail service robots. This study extended the retail technology literature by applying and validating TRAM to the context of consumer acceptance of retail service robots. The study further helped marketers and retailers by highlighting the importance of technology readiness in improving consumer perceptions and responses towards retail service robots.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.23-33
• /
• 1997

The aim of this study has been two fold - to analyze the degree of utilization of Korean menu items in family restaurants; and to evaluate consumer satisfaction with the quality of family restaurant food and food-related service. A self-completed questionnaire survey of 280 consumers having meals in 6 family restaurants in Korea was undertaken and detailed information was collected from each. Consumer satisfaction with the quality of food and food-related service in family restaurants was evaluated by consumer questionnaires. It was measured by assessing 24 variables. Statistical data analysis was using SAS package program for descriptive analysis, t-test and analysis of variance. Importance mean score of customers was 4.07 out of 5, with performance mean score of 3.19. The gap between importance and performance scores was 0.87. The Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) technique was used for obtaining information of the degree of utilization of Korean menu items in family restaurants. By the results of the IPA technique, menu items with fair to poor performance and high importance to the customer were cooked meals, noodles, steamed and grilled dishes, Korean salads, kimchi, beverages, single-dish course, suggesting that customer seemed to be dissatisfied with the degree of utilization of Korean menu items in family restaurants.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.12 no.6 s.53
• /
• pp.1031-1044
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study were to investigate the relationships between consumer's value and sportswear's benefit sought/attribute evaluation, and to examine how sportswear's benefit sought were influenced by consumers' value and demographic variables. Subjects were 468 males and females in their teens to 30's in Seoul. Consumer's value was classified into four dimensions by using factors analysis: materialism, achievement orientation, traditionalism, and other consciousness. The value of materialism and achievement orientation had positive relations with brand orientation, fashion, appearance attraction, enterprise image, and brand advertisement of sportswear in both male and female. Achievement orientation had, in case of the male, positive relations with economics, practicality, fabrics, and quality of sportswear. In case of the female, traditionalism had positive relations with economics and practicality, and other consciousness value had positive relations with brand advertisement. Materialism was the most important in predicting brand orientation, followed by social class in both male and female. Age was the most important in predicting practicality, followed by achievement orientation in case of the male. Materialism(-) was, in case of the female, the most important in predicting practicality, followed by traditionalism, achievement orientation, and age.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.12 no.6 s.53
• /
• pp.984-998
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study was to analyze contents of clothing product evaluation statements in the internet shopping mall and to discover consumers' recognition and evaluation of it. The data were collected from 151 consumers' statements in the four internet apparel shopping malls and a questionnaire was developed to measure consumers' recognition of clothing product evaluation statements. The questionnaire was administrated 272 consumers over 18 years old. The results of this study were as follows; First, The contents of clothing product evaluation statements in the internet shopping blog, were divided into three categories which were product, service and consumer buying decision process. Product category include evaluation of clothing product, description of difference between real product and product on the screen, and advice of uses. Service category include quickness and kindness in delivery, store preference for good service. For consumer buying decision process, motivation of purchasing, perceived risk, expression of satisfaction from good buying and canvassing for purchasing were included. Second, consumer recognized that clothing product evaluation statements has function of furnishing information, confirmation of purchasing decision, risk reduction of internet shopping, and interesting entertainment. Consumers also were dependent on product evaluation statements for making purchasing decision. And it was trusted by consumers. This recognition & evaluation were correlated with consumer's clothing product knowledge, involvement, risk perception of internet shopping, experiences of internet shopping. Managerial implications are provided for internet shopping mall.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.13 no.6 s.59
• /
• pp.934-945
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the content and presentation style of consumer information of Korean young casual apparel brand. To collect the data for this study, the representative 25 casual brand web sites were selected, based on major search engines. In addition, to investigate exact product information, four product categories, knit shirts and casual pants for men and women, were selected and the number of products was limited as maximum 15 products per each category. A coding instrument was developed to capture the consumer information, based on the instrument by Park and Stoel(2002). The Pretest was conducted to gauge inter-coder reliability and the results showed that inter-coder reliability was highly acceptable. The results of this study were as follows. Most casual brand web sites for this study were presented well in brand and customer service information. Especially, many web sites provided various engaging information such as various events(best dresser contest, date with a star, special gift) and useful multimedia file(MP3 music file, screen saver, movie, calender). However, product information was very lack in most web sites. Especially, sizing and fitting information and textile and fabric hand information were rarely provided. Therefore, this result showed that the web sites should provide more specific product information and develop devices to get tactile sensory and experiential information for enhancement of future e-commerce of apparel products.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.476-487
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of decision-making confidence of clothing. As determinants, this study examined consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, vanity, and clothing knowledge. Data were collected through surveying university students in Seoul metropolitan area using convenience sampling method. Out of 324 distributed, 300 useful questionnaires were returned. The results showed that identical conformity among consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence factors significantly influences, both directly and indirectly, decision making confidence through vanity. Although normative conformity does not influence decision-making confidence directly, it does significantly influence decision-making confidence indirectly through influencing vanity and clothing knowledge. The results suggest clothing is a manifestation tool for managing public self, which finally leads to increased clothing knowledge and decision-making confidence of clothing. These findings may be used by marketers in developing strategies for product development and promotion.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.148-158
• /
• 2020

With the limited product information available in the m-shopping context, product-naming strategies affect consumer choices by expressing the key product features or the brand's images. Given the increasing dominance of the mobile commerce in consumption across various product categories, few studies have examined the role of product naming in consumer choices in the m-shopping. In filling the research gap, this study empirically analyzes the influence of the perceived diagnosticity of product names in m-shopping on consumer attitude towards the product. Moreover, the study tests the moderating influences of the individual characteristics of consumers (i.e., age, gender, and m-shopping experience) in the dynamics of the perceived diagnosticity impacting the product evaluations. The results of the study using an online survey reveal that the perceived diagnosticity of the product names significantly increases consumer attitude towards the product. Additionally, the moderating effects of gender, age, and m-shopping experience are all found significant: (1) The positive influence of the perceived diagnosticity of the product names is greater for males than for females. (2) The older the respondent, the more statistically significant the positive influence on diagnosticity. (3) The more respondents having m-shopping experience, the more positive the impact of the diagnosticity. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.75-85
• /
• 2011

This study aims to understand the experiences as consumers of Thai students studying in Korea. "Study Korea Project" which is a drive to globalize local universities by attracting more oversea students as a pull factor, and economic growth, values on education and Hallyu as push factors contribute to the increase the number of Thai students in Korea. In order to understand the experiences of Thai students as consumers studying in Korea, individual interviews were conducted. A total of 5 participants were asked about meaning of consumption in everyday life in Korea or any changes in consumption behavior compared to living in Thai. Three themes were identified through wholistic and selective approaches. First, all participants in the study said that they were surprised because of high living expense in Korea. Consequently, survival itself is too much for them and they have become more conscious of prices of goods. Secondly, since most participants in this study can control their own budget, they feel some degree of freedom and power of control of their own lives. This experience may help them to accomplish their developmental tasks during the transition to adulthood. Thirdly, they are easily imbued with Korean consumer culture. It causes various conflicts between buying and not-buying or friends gathering and saving money. Sometimes it makes them in stuck excessive consumption and financial problems. For a deeper understanding of oversea students' lives in Korea as consumers, further studies should take into consideration of not only their culture of origins, but also misconceptions that have accumulated around these students.