• International Commerce and Information Review
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.357-380
• /
• 2014

Buyers' Trust in suppliers is critical in all commerce, but particularly in the relationship between foreign provider and local consumer due to the liability of foreignness. This study examines (1)how local consumers trust in the product of MNCs is affected by their perceptions of the product attributes, (2)does the product trust affects customers loyalty, and (3)whether Global Corporate Citizenship moderates the relationship between the product attributes and trust. Based on previous researches, hypotheses are formulated and the statistical method used to test them was a moderated regression analysis using SPSS 20. 330 respondents from the university student group in Korea were used for this analysis. The results of this study are follows: Service communication and product perceptions such as quality, technological newness, design, and brand value have a significant effect on the product trust. The Effectiveness of product-related service communication had greater than that of the physical characteristics of product. But, price fairness is not significantly. The trust then has a positive relation to customers loyalty. When global corporate citizenship as the moderating role is introduced into the model, the interaction terms with 'price fairness' are verified to be significant. Therefore, global corporate citizenship moderates the relationship between price fairness and product trust. The results of the empirical study provide important implications for Korean firms operating in foreign markets. But, the findings are limited to the University students and to manufacturing sectors. Thus, the generalization of the results of this research remains limited.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.246-253
• /
• 2013

The present study was carried out to evaluate the impacts of the qualities of dental medical services on service value, consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty for 221 patients who visited 17 dental hospitals or clinics located in Busan and Ulsan using questionnaires and obtained the following conclusion. By gender, males had higher perceptions of para-language than females did in the qualities of the dental medical services, and by the level of education, college students and university graduates had higher perceptions of body language and physical appearance. Scores of service value, consumer satisfaction and customer loyalty were higher in males, college students and university graduates, and married patients, but those were not statistically significant. It turned out that the qualities of the dental medical services were correlated with service value, consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty. As the perception of para-linguistic and verbal communication in the qualities of the medical services increased, service value increased; as the perception of verbal communication and physical appearance increased, consumer satisfaction increased; and as the perception of verbal communication, physical appearance and body language increased, consumer loyalty increased. To sum up the above findings, the qualities of dental medical services influence service value, consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty, so in the future, it will be necessary to study quality dental medical services with which patients are satisfied.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.177-187
• /
• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated the different perceptions of customers toward traditional and non-traditional fast-food restaurants regarding restaurant healthfulness, corporate reputation, and the impact of corporate reputation on loyalty intentions through corporate social responsibility (CSR) motive. Methods: An online survey was conducted on U.S. residents who were aware of fast food restaurants' CSR activities. Participants selected one fast food restaurant participating in CSR activities, coded as either traditional (n = 117) or non-traditional (n = 48), and answered questions about the selected restaurant's healthfulness, reputation, CSR motives, and loyalty intentions. The participants' perceptions of healthfulness and corporate reputation of the two types of fast-food restaurants were compared. A mediation path of corporate reputation - CSR motive - loyalty intention was analyzed. Results: Non-traditional fast-food restaurants (5.02 ± 1.26) were perceived to be more healthful than traditional ones (3.93 ± 1.72). The participants perceived that compared to traditional fast-food restaurants, non-traditional ones had a better overall corporate reputation (P = 0.037), were more concerned about their customers (P = 0.029), better workplaces (P = 0.007), more environmentally and socially responsible (P < 0.001), and offered higher quality products and services (P = 0.042). Significant positive correlations were shown between restaurant healthfulness and corporate reputation (P < 0.001 for all reputation items). The suggested mediation path was supported with 95% CIs excluding zero, implying that when fast-food restaurants had a better reputation overall, were customer oriented, good employers, strong companies with a good product and service quality, social and environmental responsibility, the participants were more likely to perceive their CSR activities to be sincere and were hence loyal to that restaurant. Conclusions: Overall, participants were more favorable towards non-traditional fast-food restaurants which had a healthier image and better reputation than traditional ones. Therefore, fast food restaurants need to consider offering healthy food and enhance their image, which would maximize the return on their investment in CSR.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.199-213
• /
• 2014

Japanese restaurant owners seek to secure their competitive advantage by implementing a unique competition strategy that may overcome hostile environment. Brand power, aggressive expansion and the partnership strategy with other businesses may be suggested. The present study is to find out the competitive advantages of Japanese restaurants, to compare the importance and satisfaction by different customer factors of choices and then, to identify what kinds of factors affect customer satisfaction. Total 205 copies of questionnaire, out of 230 distributed, were used for analyses. Cronbarch's alpha coefficient of all 20 items was 0.911. In terms of importance, Cronbarch's alpha coefficients were 0.887(food), 0.796(menu), 0.851(employee), 0.815(service), and 0.730(physical environment). For satisfaction, the coefficients were 0.876(food), 0.860(menu), 0.880(employee), 0.851(service), 0.730(physical environment). In addition, the exploratory factor analysis showed an acceptable factor loading, supporting 20 items' validity. The result showed that customers' perceptions of the importance of Japanese restaurant service quality was higher than their level of satisfaction in general. In particular, IPA analysis revealed that food and service factors were well operated as located in the first quadrant. However, service factor located in the second quadrant was perceived to be important yet perceived as being satisfied poorly. So this study suggests that Japanese restaurant owners should concentrate on the attributes included in this quadrant to improve the quality of foodservice. Lastly, menu and physical environment factors were located in the third quadrant showing low level of importance and satisfaction. On the basic of the IPA analysis, Japanese restaurant owners should identify their strengths and weaknesses and draw up a plan to improve service quality and to maximize their profits.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.137-157
• /
• 2014

This study analyzed the general user behaviors and the perceptions on service quality, satisfaction, loyalty of the users of the special winter vacation programs at the public libraries in Daegu Metropolitan City. Among the 444 collected questionnaires from the participants in the programs at 8 public libraries in the City, a total of 300 were analyzed for the study. As results, many participants have visited the libraries with their family members, and have applied the programs through the helps from their parents. They rated higher the service quality, the satisfaction, and the loyalty than other child users of the children's services as well as the adult participants of the cultural programs and of the public libraries. In the analysis of the structural equation model (SEM) on the service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty, all of the service quality factors of special winter vacation programs, namely program contents and instructors, staff supports and services, and facilities and equipments, have significant effects on the user satisfaction. Staff supports and services factor of the service quality has significant direct effects on loyalty along with the overall satisfaction, but program contents and instructors factor and facilities and equipments factor have no significant direct effects on loyalty.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.93-100
• /
• 2015

Purpose - The objective of this research is to investigate whether national culture influences consumers' service evaluations. The services industry is receiving increasing attention from academia and practitioners as its position grows in global markets. Standardization or localization is a traditional managerial decision in global business. As the boundaries of services expand across national borders, firms are required to decide whether to standardize services or adjust to local needs. Though it is imperative to reflect global perspectives in marketing theories, these perspectives are mostly based on Western conceptualization of the world. Through a comparison of consumer groups from two culturally remote countries, service quality evaluation mechanisms are examined based on similar stimuli. The study tries to expand service marketing perspectives across national borders. Research design, data, and methodology - Eastern and Western countries are known to be culturally distinct. One Eastern and one Western country were chosen: an Anglo-Saxon country (the U.S., England, and Australia) and South Korea. In Hofstede's cultural dimensions, the differences between the two are pronounced. The Anglo-Saxon based countries share many similarities. Samples of the same sites are targeted. Questionnaires using a service quality scale (SERVQUAL) and a customer satisfaction scale were distributed. Utilizing Hofstede's typology of culture, the service evaluation mechanisms of the respondents from the two groups are evaluated. Three hypotheses are proposed from the review of the literature. These are service evaluation habits, importance of service quality dimensions for the individualistic/collectivistic countries, and strong/weak uncertainty avoidance cultures. Consumers from the individualistic countries are considered to care about themselves and demand a higher level of responsiveness and assurance. On the other hand, consumers from high uncertainty avoidance cultures are assumed to rely more on tangible questions of service quality, as these are the only predictable service quality indicators. A t-test and regression analysis are applied to validate the constructs. Results - The respondents from the Anglo-Saxon countries are more generous on service evaluations than Koreans. Researchers have indicated that Americans tend to give higher service evolution scores than European, Mexican, and Korean counterparts. The tendency is the same here. The sample from Anglo-Saxon countries demonstrated higher service evaluation scores on every dimension of SERVQUAL. For the second hypothesis, the respondents from the collectivistic culture rely less on core service dimensions (assurance and responsiveness) due to their tendency to place more value on group harmony than individual interest. However, the third hypothesis was not validated. Conclusions - The study attempted to expand the scope of service marketing to reflect cross-national perspectives. Service quality is known to have a strong influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty behavior. However, this research demonstrated that individuals from different cultural territories respond heterogeneously to the same stimuli. Scholars argue that national cultures are main factors in such deviated behavior. Scholars and global managers should be aware of differences in consumer value judgment mechanisms such as satisfaction, expectations, and perceptions.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.11 no.7
• /
• pp.113-123
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively demonstrate that rational and emotional factors in urban tourist facilities affect visitor satisfaction, positive word of mouth and subsequent revisits. Therefore, the researcher used structural modeling methodology to test the paths and relationships between the rational and emotional perception, satisfaction, word of mouth, and exogenous variables (aesthetics, economic utility, accessibility, emotional attachment, etc.) of urban tourism facilities perceived by users. As a result of the study, users of urban tourism facilities are affected by customer satisfaction such as ease, usability, and pleasure based on intangible assets such as kindness, aesthetics, symbolism, attachment, and rational factors, which are emotional impressions of urban tourism facilities, and utility, and customer satisfaction. These were found to have a positive and lasting effect on users' perceptions of the facility. Therefore, if the rational and emotional values of urban tourism facilities are considered and integrated in marketing, efficiency can be maximized in terms of satisfaction, word of mouth, and future revisits. The researcher considered that this study could contribute to the revitalization of the tourism industry and the city as a whole through the improvement and utilization of various tourism facilities possessed by the city.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.3-14
• /
• 2019

The café has become an important representative "third place" where people study and rest. Hence, it is worthwhile for researchers to understand the needs of individual users as well as the requirements of people who visit such venues in groups. The identification of strategies that can help achieve larger, wider, higher, or deeper interior spaces in small and compact locations can generate benefits for both users and designers. In this study, where 56 interior design students participated, we used an eye-tracker and images of cafes to explore the relationships between spatial depth and the intention to visit a cafe space. The researchers digitally developed fifteen different conditions of space and measured the eye movements of the participants using an eye-tracker when they examined images that appeared to convey the most depth. Participants were also asked to imagine the proposed space images as cafes and to select one of the 15 images as the location that they would be most likely to visit individually and one that they would frequent in the company of other people. The research results revealed that certain ways of using interior design elements altered the participants' perceptions of spatial depth without any change being effected to the actual volume or the size of the space. The participants tended to perceive a space with a small decorative artwork on a dark toned wall with unconnected furniture as deeper than a space with no or large artwork on a light toned wall with contiguous furniture. Spatial depth was a more important consideration for an individual visit than for a group visit. The results of this exploratory study will help scholarly understanding of the role played by spatial depth in customer intentions to visit a cafe.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.554-561
• /
• 2011

The nutritional value of kimchi is gaining global focus along with new possibilities and uses for the various salts used in making kimchi. The purpose of the study is to conduct research on the uses of various salts and investigate the consumer recognition of salt use in kimchi preparation. The findings are from 824 consumers over 19 years old from 15 locations who participated in this questionnaire via one-to-one interviews from September 23rd to October 14th, 2009. The results of the questionnaire show that when customers cooked, 71.9% used solar salt, 62.2% used flower salt (refined salt), 27.4% used Hanju salt (purified salt), 59.0% used processed salt (roasted salt), 47.4% used bamboo salt, 69.4% used Mat salt (table salt), and 18.2% used low sodium salt. The most preferred origin of salts was domestic. Most customers salted Chinese cabbage while preparing kimchi. Consumers showed low perceptions of different salts used in kimchi production, and did not exactly recognize the characteristics of various salts. The preferences for domestic and solar salts were very high, while the preference for sea salts was low. In conclusion, various types of salts could improve the quality of kimchi. This study hopes to help consumers produce better kimchi to match different needs. Therefore, attention should be paid to promoting the characteristics of various salts influencing the quality of kimchi.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.394-401
• /
• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of health lifestyle on high protein snack selection attributes and purchase behaviors among individuals aged 20-30 with high protein snack intake. In addition, the relationship between perception, attitude, satisfaction and recommendation of high protein snacks was invested. Finally, this study aims to provide basic information for marketing high-protein snacks and customized high protein snacks. Analysis of the selection attributes most important for healthy lifestyle, revealed significant differences among all groups excluding the external seeking group (p<0.001). The free living group regarded trust as one of the most important attributes of high protein snack selection, and both the tempered control group and the low-interest group found sensation and price factor to be important. Therefore, when developing high-protein snacks, it is important to determine which attributes of the snack will be highlighted by segmenting the consumer into health lifestyles. Focusing on what ingredients are used to develop high-protein snacks and nutritional ingredients is also important when targeting a free lifestyle group as the main customer. In addition, developing snacks that do not offer depending on the protein content is important when targeting a temperate management group or a low-interest group.