• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.215-223
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• 1998

The main purpose of this study was to investigate if and how country-of-origin as product characteristics and attitude toward imported brand and brand familiarity as consumer characteristics have impacts on consumer satisfaction with imported apparel. Disconfirmation paradigm was used as a theoretical framework. 570 consumers who had buying experiences of imported apparel were interviewed in department stores. The results showed that the most influential factor on consumer satisfaction with imported apparel was perceived clothing product performance. Country-of-origin and expectations had little effects. Country-of-origin appeared effective on consumer satisfaction only in the case of European products. Consumers were satisfied less as their expectations level were high, which indicated expectations had contrast effects on clothing satisfaction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.699-709
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to investigate consumer shopping orientation toward foreign brands in the context of clothing involvement, ethnocentrism, country-of-origin effects and demograpic variables. Prior to this paper, shopping orientation was studied in connection with ethnocentrism and country-of-origin effects. The questionnaire was distributed to 300 female consumers over twenty years old living in Pusan area and finally 213 data serfs were used for statistical analysis. By factor analysis, 6 clothing involvement factors were identified; fashion interest, symbolism, pleasure interest, inclination to harmony, aesthetic expression and perceived risk. A result of canonical correlation analysis about shopping orientation factors and clothing involvement factors is as follows. Two shopping orientation factors (follow to foreign brands and country-of-orion consciousness) positively correlate with three clothing involvement factors (fashion interest, symbolism and pleasure interest) , and two shopping orientation factors (preference to domestics and country-of-orion consciousness) positively correlate with author clohting involvement factor (percived risk). Anocova procedure revealed that five shopping orientation factors were related to clothing involvement factors, groups according to ethnocentric disposition, country-of-origin effects and demograpics respectively, even though there are some differences. Based on the conclusions, marketing strategies were developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.477-493
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• 1997

The consumers' purchase experiences of some imported agricultural products (rice, sesame, garlic, onion, jujube, red pepper, oak mushroom, apple, dried persimmon) and their consciousness for the labelling of the country of origin for agricultural products in Youngnam region were examined in this study. The sample consisted of 438 women who lived in Taegu, Pusan and other cities of Kyungpook and Kyungnam, and the self-administered questionnaire for the survey was used. The main reasons to purchase the imported agricultural products were the wide distribution and low price of them. Most of the consumers were concerned about safety of the imported agricultural products but only a few people experienced unsatisfaction of the products. The price, quality, package, container, label, and safety of the examined products were evaluated worse than those of the domestic products. Generally, although they suffered unsatisfaction, the consumers did not complain because they wanted to avoid troublesome work, which means the consumers did not assert their rights. Some people did not know the labelling system for the country of origin and the place to charge the market violating it. Therefore, it will be necessary for the consumers to receive education about the labelling system for the country of origin and the compensation criteria for consumers' grievances and damages. The current labelling method for the country of origin generally met the consumers' preference but the consumers wanted to improve the position and color of the label. Most consumers could not differentiate the imported products from the domestic products. The results obtained from the survey suggest consumer education for the labelling system for the country of origin and the compensation criteria should be activated through various ways such as mass media and consumer organizations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.57 no.6 s.115
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• pp.160-171
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• 2007

This research studied men's cosmetics purchasing behavior based on the level of interest one has in one's appearance, the country of origin, and the sales promotion of the cosmetics. The study was conducted by experimental $2{\times}[2{\times}2]$ design by combining the 3 variables mentioned above. The Independent variables in this research were levels of appearance interest(high vs. low), the country of origin(Korean vs. foreign), and types of sales promotion(discount vs. coupon). The dependent variables were the purchase behaviors including favor to cosmetics and purchase intent. Two hundred male consumers participated for the study. Data analysis conducted were factor analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVA. The results were as follows. 1. Male consumers' cosmetics favorness: 3-way significant interaction, in appearance interest, the country of origin, and types of sales promotion, was found for favor to male cosmetics. When male subjects were provided with price discounts and skin care coupons for the Korean cosmetics, they didn't reveal significant differences in favor, regardless of the level of appearance interest. However, for the imported cosmetics, male subjects with high appearance interest showed more favor to the cosmetics than the ones with low appearance interest. 2. Male consumers' purchase intent: 3-way significant interaction, in appearance interest, the country of origin, and types of sales promotion was found for the purchase intent. When male subjects were provided with price discounts and skin care coupons for the Korean cosmetics, they didn't show significant difference in purchase intent, regardless of their appearance interest. However, for the imported cosmetics, male consumers with high appearance interest reported more purchase intent than the ones with low appearance interest.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.99-124
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• 2017

Korea's country-of-Origin-Labeling(CoOL) system has been implemented since july 1, 1991. There is a variety of regulations and standards about the country-of-Origin-Labeling system in South Korea including the customs duty laws and foreign trade laws. For this reason, parties interested may find it difficult to operate the CoOL system, and furthermore, failing to understand those regulations and standards clearly. Therefore, we conducted a survey among parties interested and consumer to assess their level of understanding of the CoOL systems. The result of our study showed that they do not have a clear understanding of the CoOL systems. Due to a lack of sufficient understanding of the system possibly leading to violations of Country-of- Origin labeling(CoOL) regulations and standards, it is essential to consider an innovative and practical solution to resolving this issue.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.347-353
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• 2014

The purpose of this research was to present the possibility of an alternative production base for clothing business of South Korea through the analysis about textile/clothing industry production activities in the Gaeseong industrial complex. It is necessary for the Gaeseong industrial complex to cope with the issue about FTA and country of origin, manpower supply and demand, paying wages and labor productivity, the exclusive industrial complex of clothing. The Country of Origin on imports and exports tells the country of manufacture or production, where the product comes from. Rules of Origin are the special regulations to determine the country of origin of a product and exist in the forms of international law, legislation, precedent and administrative decisions. But the economy in the North and the Gaeseong industrial complex is a comparative advantage combined with elements of North-South interdependence as a South-North economic cooperation business and can contribute significantly to the stabilization of the North-South relations. Among the models using criteria of the determination of origin, it has directly provided the models of general regulation for offshore products, of limited offshore products. These models are to help Korean exporters in understanding and utilizing the Rules of Origin for their manufacturing. In addition, the development of the Gaeseong industrial complex will contribute to establish peace on the Korean peninsula as well as in Northeast Asia. Also economic cooperation between South and North Koreas is essential for peace and prosperity of the Korean people.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2013

Purpose - Numerous studies have tried to assess the role of a warranty as an explanatory instrument for product quality. While one study argued that manufacturers signal their superior quality to consumers by extending the duration of a warranty, quality is not necessarily related to warranty and a warranty for a short duration is a sign of high product quality. However, there are limitations to measuring product quality in terms of a single variable such as a warranty. Some other studies have evaluated the influence of brand power or value and price on the supposed quality of a product while the influence of warranty was found to be insignificant. Research design, data, methodology - The study analyzes the influence of brand power and the country of origin effect on consumers' perception of product quality in line with warranty and establishes a priority strategy. Especially, consumer experience has a significant influence on state of the art technology products like applied home electronics as these goods are generally quite expensive and consumers expend significant energy in purchasing them, so the associated warranty and brand can have a critical role in the decision making process. The price of the product was excluded in this discussion as it continually varies with the market share of the product. Results - The results of the analysis are as follows: First, each of the factors such as the standard of the warranty, brand power, and country of origin effect influences the degree of satisfaction of an individual. Second, the factors brand power and quality of the warranty interact both complementarily and synergistically at a time, depending on the brand power. As brand power is more significant, the degree of satisfaction is greater in case of products with low quality warranty compared to those with high quality warranty. Third, the brand power and country of origin effect present a complementary interaction. Fourth, the country of origin effect and quality of a warranty interact synergistically. Conclusions - Thus, the higher the quality of warranty, greater is the increment in the degree of satisfaction. The comprehensive study on the effect of the country of origin on the purchase decision process and the degree of satisfaction compared to the other elements shows that in case of Japanese and Korean markets the brand power of a company is desirable in sustaining the quality of warranty to the industrial average. Also, there is no significant improvement in the perceived quality of the product when the quality of the warranty is lowered. Therefore, the warranty effect diminishes when the value of the brand is known, while it perishes when both the brand power and the country of origin effect are strong enough.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.208-221
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of sportswear brands' country-of-origin on purchase intention (PI) in terms of brand personality as perceived by Chinese university students. Chinese students preferred to shop for sportswear at specialty stores, liked Nike and Adidas most, design was the most important factor when selecting, selected their sportswear themselves, and gathered information from TV ads. With regard to perceptions of brands country-of-origin, America was perceived as a developed country, influential to the world, but as having a bad relationship with China. Germany was perceived as a developed country and as having a well-developed civic culture, good people image, high technology, high influence on the world, and a good relationship with China. Italy was perceived as a developed country with the highest civic culture. China was perceived as a developing country, as having a good people image, and low technology and low influence on the world. Japan was perceived as a developed country with high technology. Factors of brand personality were sincerity, competence & sophistication, and excitement. Nike was perceived as having high competence & sophistication and excitement, Adidas as having high competence & sophistication and excitement, Lining as having high sincerity, and Mizuno's brand personality was very low. People image, competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Adidas increased. If people image, competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Kappa increased. If a country was developed and competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Lining increased. If civic culture, people image, technology, competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Mizuno increased.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 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.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.291-306
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• 2020

Purpose - This study attempts to expand the realm of country-of-origin theory to incorporate the relevant cultural-psychological variables (i.e., ethnocentricism and psychological distance). Design/methodology/approach - This sttudy verified the effects of the two antecedent variables on the consumers' purchase intention of Korean prducts. For this purpose, the study implemented survey questionnaire mathod on respondents living in Liaoning Province of China. Findings - The study result confirmed the relationship betweencountry image, product attitude, and purchase intention of Korean products. Also, the study found that ethnocentrism adversely affects Chinese consumers' purchase decision on Korean products. Finally, the study confirmed the that psychological distance moderates the relationship between country image (ad product image) on purchase intention. Research implications or Originality - The study provides useful implications on the studies focusing on the country-of-origin effect in that it confirmed the effets of cultural-pychological variables such as ethnocentrism and psychological distance. The result also offers useful corporate strategies for the companies entering Chinese market particularly in segmenting the market based on such cultural-psychological variables.