• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.101-124
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• 2009

According to Wikipedia, virtual reality (VR) is defined as a technology that allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment. Due to a rapid growth in information technology (IT), the cost of virtual reality has been decreasing while the utility of virtual reality advertisements has dramatically increased. Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated the effects of virtual reality advertisement on consumer behaviors. Therefore, the objective of this study is to empirically examine the effects of virtual reality advertisement. Compared to traditional online advertisements, virtual reality advertisement enables consumers to experience products realistically over the Internet by providing high media richness, interactivity, and telepresence (Suh and Lee, 2005). Advertisements with high media richness facilitate consumers' understanding of advertised products by providing them with a large amount and a high variety of information on the products. Interactivity also provides consumers with a high level of control over the computer-simulated environment in terms of their abilities to adjust the information according to their individual interests and concerns and to be active rather than passive in their engagement with the information (Pimentel and Teixera, 1994). Through high media richness and interactivity, virtual reality advertisements can generate compelling feelings of "telepresence" (Suh and Lee, 2005). Telepresence is a sense of being there in an environment by means of a communication medium (Steuer, 1992). Virtual reality advertisements enable consumers to create a perceptual illusion of being present and highly engaged in a simulated environment, while they are in reality physically present in another place (Biocca, 1997). Based on the characteristics of virtual reality advertisements, a research model has been proposed to explain consumer responses to the virtual reality advertisements. The proposed model includes two dimensions of consumer responses. One dimension is consumers' rational response, which is based on the Information Processing Theory. Based on the Information Processing Theory, product knowledge and perceived risk are selected as antecedents of intention to purchase. The other dimension is emotional response of consumers, which is based on the Attitude-Structure Theory. Based on the Attitude-Structure Theory, arousal, flow, and positive affect are selected as antecedents of intention to purchase. Because it has been criticized to have investigated only one of the two dimensions of consumer response in prior studies, our research model has been built so as to incorporate both dimensions. Based on the Attitude-Structure Theory, we hypothesized the path of consumers' emotional responses to a virtual reality advertisement: (H1) Arousal by the virtual reality advertisement increases flow; (H2) Flow increases positive affect; and (H3) Positive affect increases intension to purchase. In addition, we hypothesized the path of consumers' rational responses to the virtual reality advertisement based on the Information Processing Theory: (H4) Increased product knowledge through the virtual reality advertisement decreases perceived risk; and (H5) Perceived risk decreases intension to purchase. Based on literature of flow, we additionally hypothesized the relationship between flow and product knowledge: (H6) Flow increases product knowledge. To test the hypotheses, we conducted a free simulation experiment [Fromkin and Streufert, 1976] with 300 people. Subjects were asked to use the virtual reality advertisement of a cellular phone on the Internet and then answer questions about the variables. To check whether subjects fully experienced the virtual reality advertisement, they were asked to answer a quiz about the virtual reality advertisement itself. Responses of 26 subjects were dropped because of their incomplete answers. Responses of 274 subjects were used to test the hypotheses. It was found that all of six hypotheses are accepted. In addition, we found that consumers' emotional response has stronger impact on their intention to purchase than their rational response does. This study sheds much light into practical implications for both IS researchers and managers. First of all, while most of previous research has analyzed only one of the customers' rational and emotional responses, we theoretically incorporated and empirically examined both of the two sides. Second, we empirically showed that mediators such as arousal, flow, positive affect, product knowledge, and perceived risk play an important role between virtual reality advertisement and customer's intention to purchase. In addition, the findings of this study can provide a basis of practical strategies for managers. It was found that consumers' emotional response is stronger than their rational response. This result indicates that advertisements using virtual reality should focus on the emotional side, and that virtual reality can be served as an appropriate advertisement tool for fancy products that require their online advertisements to give an impetus to customers' emotion. Finally, even if this study examined the effects of virtual reality advertisement of cellular phone, its findings could be applied to other products that are suited for virtual experience. However, this research has some limitations. We were unable to control different kinds of consumers and different attributes of products on consumers' intention to purchase. It is, therefore, deemed important for future research to control the consumer and product types for more reliable results. In addition to the consumer and product attributes, other variables could affect consumers' intention to purchase. Thus, the future research needs to find ways t control other variables.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.51-77
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• 2009

Using a modified Posner's cue-target paradigm, we investigated whether negative cues attract more attention than neutral cues in anxious people. Previous studies used commonly an unbalanced proportion of valid and invalid trials(75% vs. 25% respectively). But in the present study, an equivalent proportion of valid and invalids trials was used for measuring detection speed of cues without participant's expectancy caused by the unbalanced proportion. Emotional words(Experiment 1) and facial expressions(Experiment 2) were used as cues for target locations. The result of Experiment 1 and 2 showed that threatening cues facilitated target detection in valid trials and interfered with it in invalid trials in anxious participants and a, reverse response patterns were found in non-anxious participants. This indicates that threatening cues attract more attention to the cued location in anxious people and in contrast, non-anxious people avoid threatening stimuli. In Experiment 3, we investigated the difference of validity effect across anxiety levels. The results showed that anxious participants gave less attention to cued location when the cues were non-informative whereas non-anxious participants gave more attention to cued locations in the same condition. We discussed two kinds of cognitive bias caused by anxiety levels: attentional bias and proportion related bias.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8135-8142
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iranian women and usually features delayed presentation and late diagnosis. Interpretation of symptoms, as the most important step, has a significant impact on patient delay in seeking treatment. There is a dearth of studies on symptom appraisal and the process leading to seeking help in breast cancer patients. This study explored the perceptions and experiences of Iranian women with self-detected possible breast cancer symptoms. Materials and Methods: A qualitative method was conducted involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with 27 Iranian women with self-discovered breast cancer symptoms. Participants were purposefully selected from women who attended Cancer Institute of Tehran University of Medical Sciences during June 2012 to August 2013. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed and analyzed using conventional content analysis with MAXQDA soft ware version 10. The trustworthiness of the study was verified by prolonged engagement, member validation of codes, and thick description. Results: The main concepts emerging from data analysis were categorized in four categories: symptom recognition, labeling of symptoms, interactive understanding, and confronting the fear of cancer. Symptom recognition through breast self-examination, symptom monitoring and employing prior knowledge distinguished normal from abnormal symptoms and accompanied with perception of being at risk of breast cancer led to symptom labeling. Social interaction by selective disclosure and receiving reassurance from a consultant led to confirmation or redefinition of the situation. Perceived seriousness of the situation and social meanings of breast cancer as a stigmatized and incurable illness associated with loss of femininity were reasons for patient worries and fear. Conclusions: This study emphasized that entangled cognitive, emotional and socio-cultural responses affecting understanding of symptom seriousness require further investigation. It is suggested that programs aimed at shortening patient delay in breast cancer should be focused on improving women's knowledge and self-awareness of breast cancer, in addition to correcting their social beliefs.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.197-207
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• 2022

Given the prevalence of violence in Ukrainian families, measures to prevent parental abusive treatment against children are urgent. It is important to study today's youth awareness about violence within families in order to enhance a culture of engagement with spouses and children in future. The aim of the study is to examine students' reflective experiences and their attitudes towards forms, frequency, causes and effects of parental abusive treatment. During the research the following methods were used step-by-step: theoretical analyses of scientific resources, anonymous questionnaire, quantitative and correlation analyses. According to result of survey 98 students who were interviewed, none of them fell victim of sexual abuse in their families. However, more than a half (51%) of the students surveyed experienced some forms of parental physical punishment. All the interviewed students encountered psychological cases of parental violence. The mostprevalent forms of parental abuse among the interviewees are criticism, negative comparison, emotional detachment, arrogance, intimidation, blackmail and humiliation. The most prevalent consequences of parental abuse among students are anxiety, low self-esteem, insecurity, impatience, suspiciousness, constraint in communication. Students agree that budget limitations, forced labor, criticism, spanking, emotional detachment, ignoring type of communication, reproach, blackmail are acceptable methods of punishment to use when raising their own children. These results clearly demonstrate the problem of the impact of parental abuse on children and its consequences in the future. A virtual dimension of the actualized problem is considered, namely: - virtualization of aggression and cruelty in the postmodern world. - the level of determining the factor of cruelty from the space of virtual culture. - the mirror image of everyday cruelty in the virtual environment; - the phenomenon of video games as a source and context of representation of the factor of cruelty in behavioral realities; - cybercrime as a virtualized result of cruelty in family and everyday realities. - futurological perspectives of virtualization of cruelty in communicative culture in general and in family relations in particular. The postmodern world is fundamentally different from the traditions and culture of the past, primarily due to the development of computer technologies and the virtualization of life in general. So, for example, virtual communities have become, in a certain way, another world, a second reality of life in general. And certain behavioral factors, in particular cruelty in the private environment, became a projection of such a phenomenon as cybercrime. Video games are a unique modern phenomenon, which multipolarly absorb all facets of human potential, communicative tendencies, behavioral and characterological factors, from the warmth of interpersonal relationships to the extreme degree of cruelty.

• Issues in Feminism
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.49-83
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• 2011

This article explores the characteristics of care and care labor which is core keyword of the welfare state and the way of institutionalization of care labor, focusing specially on differences among women. Caring is defined by the expression of morality and labor accompanied by concrete action. But, care labor in the welfare state is defined by "activities involved in caring for the ill, elderly, handicapped and dependent", and I think, that definition is more useful than the narrow one for policy institutionalization. But the latter definition intentionally separates the domestic work from care work. Care labor is considered to be different from the market labor in terms of motivations, but there are some limits in standardization and commercialization of the traits of emotional and moral engagement. Thus, requiring of emotional motivation as one of the job descriptions is not realistic. Welfare state is institutionalizing women's unpaid care work in family through de-familization, and its policy tools are cash benefits and services for care-related, which influence to the female wage worker and fulltime housewife, care receiver and care giver, and polarization of women's class in a very different way. Cash benefits enhances the division of gender labor, polarizes the care laborer and weakens of expansion the care as decent job. The movement of feminist welfare state have a vision of universal service expansion and need the policy list for de-gendering of care labor.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.370-379
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• 2000

Autonomic responses were analyzed in 323 college students exposed to visual stimulation with Korean Affective Picture System (KAPS). Cardiac, vascular and electrodermal variables were recorded during 30 sec of viewing affective pictures. The same slides intended to elicit basic emotions (fear, anger, surprise, disgust, sadness, happiness) were presented to subjects in 2 trials with different experimental context. The first time slides were shown without any instructions (passive viewing), while during the second with instruction to exert efforts to magnify experienced emotion induced by pictures (active viewing). The aim of the study was to differentiate autonomic manifestations of emotions elicited by KAPS stimulation and to identify the role of instructed emotional engagement on physiological response profiles. The obtained results demonstrated reproducibility of responses in both trials with different contexts. Pairwise comparison of physiological responses in emotion conditions revealed the most pronounced differentiation for "ear-anger" and "fear-sadness" pairs (in electrodermal and HR variability parameters). "Fear-surprise" pair was also well differentiable. The typical response profile for all emotions included HR acceleration (except happiness and surprise), an increase of electrodermal activity, and a decrease of pulse volume. Higher cardiovascular and electrodermal reactivity to fear observed in this study, e.g., as compared to data with IAPS as stimuli, can be explained by cultural relevance and higher effectiveness of KAPS as stimuli, can be explained by cultural relevance and higher effectiveness of KAPS in producing certain emotions such as fear in Koreans.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.37
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• pp.145-170
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• 2008

This qualitative study explores social workers' phenomenological experiences with battered women, including their struggles and needs for building and maintaining an empathic identification with their battered women clients. Twelve interviews were conducted with social workers who have provided services in the domestic violence field over the last two years. They identified their clients prejudices and unfamiliarity with counseling and social work profession in Korea as related to battered women clients' initial resistance to social workers' empathic engagement. The nature of victimization between intimate partners (i.e., emotional bounds, continuing risks of victimization) requires workers' enormous energy to maintain their need for an empathic identification with their clients. Social workers emphasized the importance of clinical supervision and supportive networks that enable them to maintain their professional energy and commitment as an empathic helper.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.193-202
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• 2021

This study aims to identify what kind of epistemological resources were activated in unproductive and productive practice by students participating in scientific argumentation, and to explore which contexts result in changes in argumentative practice. We collected transcriptions of participants' argumentative lessons and interview, participants' work sheets, and researchers' field notes. The analysis revealed that the focus group activated different kinds of epistemological resources depending on their practice; propagated, belief, and accumulation in unproductive practice and constructed, understanding, accumulation, formation and rebuttal in productive practice. We found two contextual cues that led to these changes; unfamiliar form of argumentative task was provided and emotional, epistemic, and conceptual support of the epistemic authority. This work can be provided as additional case studies to analyze changes in practice according to learner context-dependent epistemology, and we expect to contribute to discussions of productive epistemology and stabilization for students' authentic science engagement.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.53-74
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• 2024

The proliferation of health misinformation gained momentum amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). People stuck in their homes, without work pressure, regardless of health concerns towards personal, family, or peer groups, consistently demanded information. People became engaged with misinformation while attempting to find health information content. This study used the content analysis method and analyzed 1,154 misinformation stories from four prominent signatories of the International Fact-Checking Network during the pandemic. The study finds the five main categories of misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These are 1) the severity of the virus, 2) cure, prevention, and treatment, 3) myths and rumors about vaccines, 4) health authorities' guidelines, and 5) personal and social impacts. Various sub-categories supported the content characteristics of these categories. The study also analyzed the emotional valence of health misinformation. It was found that misinformation containing negative sentiments got higher engagement during the pandemic. Positive and neutral sentiment misinformation has less reach. Surprise, fear, and anger/aggressive emotions highly affected people during the pandemic; in general, people and social media users warning people to safeguard themselves from COVID-19 and creating a confusing state were found as the primary motivation behind the propagation of misinformation. The present study offers valuable perspectives on the mechanisms underlying the spread of health-related misinformation amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. It highlights the significance of discerning the accuracy of information and the feelings it conveys in minimizing the adverse effects on the well-being of public health.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

As population ageing and shrinking accompanied by dramatically expanded individual life expectancy and declining fertility rate is a global phenomenon, ageing becomes its broader perspective of ageing well embedded into sustained health and well-being, and also the fourth industrial revolution speeds up a more robust and inclusive view of smart ageing. While the latest paradigm of SA has gained considerable attention in the midst of sharply surging demand for health and social services and rapidly declining labor force, the definition has been widely and constantly discussed. This research is to constitute a conceptual framework of smart ageing (SA) from systematic literature review and the use of a series of secondary data and Geographical Information Systems(GIS), and to explore its components. The findings indicate that SA is considered to be an innovative approach to ensuring quality of life and protecting dignity, and identifies its constituents. Indeed, the construct of SA elaborates the multidimensional nature of independent living, encompassing three spheres - Aging in Place (AP), Well Aging (WA), and Active Ageing (AA). AP aims at maintaining independence and autonomy, entails safety, comfort, familiarity and emotional attachment, and it values social supports and services. WA assures physical, psycho-social and economic domains of well-being, and it concerns subjective happiness. AA focuses on both social engagement and economic participation. Moreover, the three constructs of SA are underpinned by specific elements (right to housing, income adequacy, health security, social care, and civic engagement) which are interrelated and interconnected.