• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.29-62
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• 2012

As distribution environment is changing rapidly and competition is more intensive in the channel of distribution, the importance of retailer image and retailer equity is increasing as a different competitive advantages. Also, consumers are not functionally oriented and that their behavior is significantly affected by the symbols such as retailer image which identify retailer in the market place. That is, consumers do not choose products or retailers for their material utilities but consume the symbolic meaning of those products or retailers as expressed in their self images. The concept of self-image congruence has been utilized by marketers and researchers as an aid in better understanding how consumers identify themselves with the brands they buy and the retailer they patronize. Although self-image congruity theory has been tested across many product categories, the theory has not been tested extensively in the retailing. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of self image congruence between retailer image and self image of consumer on retailer equity such as retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty. The purpose of this study is to find out whether retailer-self image congruence can be a new antecedent of retailer equity. In addition, this study tries to examine how four-dimensional retailer equity constructs (retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty) affect customers' repatronage intention. For this study, data were gathered by survey and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study was 254. The reliability of the all seven dimensions was estimated with Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability values and average variance extracted values. We determined whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity and discriminant validity by Exploratory factor analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted values exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the AMOS 18.0. As expected, the image congruence hypotheses were supported. The greater the degree of congruence between retailer image and self-image, the more favorable were consumers' retailer evaluations. The all two retailer-self image congruence (actual self-image congruence and ideal self-image congruence) affected customer based retailer equity. This result means that retailer-self image congruence is important cue for customers to estimate retailer equity. In other words, consumers are often more likely to prefer products and retail stores that have images similar to their own self-image. Especially, it appeared that effect for the ideal self-image congruence was consistently larger than the actual self-image congruence on the retailer equity. The results mean that consumers prefer or search for stores that have images compatible with consumer's perception of ideal-self. In addition, this study revealed that customers' estimations toward customer based retailer equity affected the repatronage intention. The results showed that all four dimensions (retailer awareness, retailer association, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty) had positive effect on the repatronage intention. That is, management and investment to improve image congruence between retailer and consumers' self make customers' positive evaluation of retailer equity, and then the positive customer based retailer equity can enhance the repatonage intention. And to conclude, retailer's image management is an important part of successful retailer performance management, and the retailer-self image congruence is an important antecedent of retailer equity. Therefore, it is more important to develop and improve retailer's image similar to consumers' image. Given the pressure to provide increased image congruence, it is not surprising that retailers have made significant investments in enhancing the fit between retailer image and self image of consumer. The enhancing such self-image congruence may allow marketers to target customers who may be influenced by image appeals in advertising.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.14-23
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to contribute in building credibility of the methodology of the appearance of the traditional colors and the interpretation of the meaning of those appearances by analyzing the spatial construction and configuration and the traditional colors that appear in spatial elements about the scenery component that appear in Seyeonjeong. We conducted a literature research about the traditional colors, the background of the creation of Seyeonjeong, and etc. For the contents for the empirical analysis, we took the scenery and space elements in the poems, such as Eobusasisa and O-u-ga, and the contents of poems related to ojeongsaek (five Korean traditional colors) based on the Yin-Yang and the Five Elements ideology Particularly, after dividing the spatial elements appearing in Seyoenjeong into visual, synesthetic, symbolic/cognitive spatial element, we further distinguished the visual space into positions and directions of the of the spaces and the scenery of the season; the synesthetic space into seasons, time and five senses; and the symbolic/cognitive space into chiljeong (or the seven passions) and sadan (or the four clues). Then we carried out the study by analyzing the correlation between the intention of the garden creation and the meaning of the spaces, through the analysis of ojeongsaek system for each spatial element. Firstly, spatial structure and format that appear in Seyeonjeong can be divided into two directional axes of southeast and northwest according to the flat form of the Seyeongjeong's rectangular palace, with Seyeongjoeng as the center. Secondly, in spatial component element, the frequencies of appearance of the traditional colors of Seyoenjeong are 33.2% for white, 20.8% for blue, 20.8% for black, 18.7% for red and 6.3% for yellow. Thirdly, based on the analysis of the traditional colors the most frequent appearance of 'white' left a room for interpretation like the creation of Seyeonjeong was to enjoy secular living without lingering political feelings so that the high mountains remain clear and clean. Also, the predominant frequency of appearance of blue, similar frequency of appearance of black and red, and the least frequent appearance of yellow is in agreement with or can be at least interpreted related to Yun Seon-do's intention for creating Seyeonjeong not for political rank or power but as a place to enjoy nature, through which he can build on his knowledge, and to lead rest of his life as a noble being through plays, like dancing and writing poems. Fourthly, these interpretations of the analysis of the frequency of appearance of the traditional colors of Seyeongjong shows the reliability, validity, and consistency of the methodology of the analysis of the frequency of appearance of the traditional colors and the interpretation of the meanings in the context that the color white appears most frequently in Soswewon as well and that the background life of the Soswewon's creator Yangsanbo can be interpreted in a similarly way. Above all, this study is significant from the fact that we proposed a theory about the method of analysis and interpretation of the traditional colors in a traditional landscape space. Moreover, there is a great significance of discovering that traditional colors appear in traditional spaces and this can be used as a methodological framework to interpret things like, intention for creation of (buildings/architectures).

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.245-259
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• 2020

The development of technology and the advent of a non-face-to-face society are expected to have a direct impact on job problems. In line with this phenomenon, the government and education and training institutions are coping with job problems through the start-up support policy while at the same time inducing the creation of innovative companies. In particular, youth start-up support can be expected not only to compensate for market failures, but also to promote high-growth start-ups. Based on this background of research, this study examined the competency of young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, their entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and their impact on success and satisfaction of start-ups. Based on the theoretical research, the research theory and research model were derived by setting entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediating variable after reviewing the relation between the main elements of start-up competency of young start-up entrepreneurs and start-up performance. The Youth Entrepreneurship Competency was divided into four categories: Entrepreneurial Competencies, Technical Competencies, Management Competencies, and Creative Competencies, and the hypothesis was that each had a significant impact on the start-up performance through the mediating effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. A survey was conducted on young entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s in Korea for empirical research, and the analysis results were as follows. First of all, the competency of young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses affects the success of start-ups and the satisfaction of start-ups. There are differences in the competencies, and both technical and management competencies can be seen through the entrepreneurial self-efficacy to enhance the success of start-ups and the satisfaction of start-ups. Entrepreneurial competency was fully mediated to start-up success and partially mediated to start-up satisfaction. In the case of creative competency, there were only direct effects on successful start-ups, and the satisfaction of start-ups showed partial mediating effects. Thus, seven of the eight detailed hypotheses were supported and one was rejected. Based on the above findings, the implications were presented.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.63-73
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• 2014

This study was intended to analyze the correlation between the builder's intentions and the colors that are revealed through the analysis of the manifestation of symbolic colors as the signs and symbols that are shown in the traditional space of Soshaewon as one of the representative retreating villa gardens of Chosun Dynasty and the interpretation of the meanings. The research on the traditional colors and the intended background of Soshaewon and so on was conducted by examining the relative literature and the contents as the objects for the empirical analysis were the scenic beauties and spatial elemnts that are shown in the plan of Soshewon and the poems about Soshewon 48 scenes as well as the contents of the poems related to Five Primary Colors that are used based on "the Ideology of Five Elements of the Positive and Negative". Espectially, this study was conducted by dividing the spatial elements shown in Soswaewon broadly into the visual, synesthetic and symbolic & cognitive spaces in order to classify the locations and directions of the spaces and natural objects as the visual space, the seasons, the points of times and the five sensory organs as the synesthetic space and the "Four Moral Begginings" & the "Seven Emotions" of New Confucianism as the symbolic and cognitive space and by analyzing if there are any correlation between the decided intentions and the spatial meanings that are revealed by analyzing the system of five primary colors which are used in each spatial element.7) As a result from the analysis of the colors that are used based on the three spatial components of Soshaewon, it was found that one of Five Primary Colors were used 74 times in total. First, in the visual spatial component, one of the colors was used 18 times in total including 2 times of blue, 1 time of red, 6 times of yellow, 4 times of white and 5 times of black. The fact that yellow symbolizing the source of everything and white symoblizing cleanness and pureness are used relatively more often than blue and red symbolizing nature and life respectively can be interpreted that the builder, Mr. San-bo Yang's intention to build Soshaewon is related to the meaning symbolizing the pure will of the builder who wanted to seclude himself from society rather than to give priority to enjoying nature. Second, in the synesthetic spatial component which are selected from the 48 scenes of Soshaewon, one of Five Primary Colors was used 38 times in total including 11 times of blue, 8 times of red, 4 times of yellow, 5 times of white and 10 times of black. Since blue and red symbolizing nature and life respectively are used more often than yellow and black symbolizing the source of the world and pureness & knowledge respectively, it was interpreted that the builder means to be faithful to the unique basic functions of the retreating villa with which the builder wanted to enjoy his passion for enjoying nature and exploring knowledge even though the builder built the villa garden for the purpose of keeping himself pure while being unstained by the world. Finally, it was analyzed that one of Five Primary Colors was used 18 times in total including 4 times of blue, 5 times of red and 9 times of white in the symbolic and cognitive spatial components of the 48 scenes. Since it was found that white symbolizing the builder's political pureness is used at the same frequency as blue and red symbolizing nature and life respectively are used as a result from the analysis, it was interpreted that the intention of creating Soshaewon was emotionally revealed at the same percentage in the aspects of his political pureness and enjoyment of nature through his poems. Especially, as a result from such 3 kinds of analyses regarding to the frequency of using Five Primary Colors, it was found that the number of times using Five Primary Colors in the synesthetic spatial component was 38 as the highest percentage, around 51% followed by each 18 times as the24.5% respectively in the visual and cognitive & symbolic spatial spaces. Based on such results, it can be interpreted that the builder, Mr. San-bo Yang's intention of creating Soshaewon sympolizes that his intention for enjoying the basic nature and the vitality of nature within the retreating villa garden is hidden at the same proportion as his intention for keeping himself pure from the unrightful world. It was intended to reveal the traditional colors which are hidden in a traditional retreating villa by analyzing the correlation between the symbolic meanings and the spatial components of Soshaewon based on the Five Primary Colors which are originated from the "Ideology of the Five Natural Elements of the Positive and Negative", but it is thought that it is possible to explore whether such a theory can be generally applied to other kinds of retreating villa gardens or not through a study on other retreating villa gardens as other examples in which the builder's apparent pure intentions, such as enjoyment of nature and persuit of study, etc., unlike Soshaewon are hidden.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.177-207
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• 2012

Today's consumers perceive consumption as a representation of themselves. It is not simply an act that fulfills a consumer's physical and practical needs. Even in terms of life quality, consumers increasingly want to achieve an emotional and sensible experience through consumption. Consumers now make decisions based on their need to express their position in relation to other people, pursue emotional satisfaction, and try to improve the quality of life. Culture-art products that meet such internal and external demands of consumers have made significant improvements in both quantity and quality, because of the social interest and policy support. The recognition of personal and social values of culture and arts has brought about interest in and need for culture-art products. Businesses have agilely embraced such change and actively implemented various marketing strategies utilizing culture and arts. For example, businesses began to sponsor artists who produce culture-art products while building facilities for cultural and art performances or exhibitions. Businesses have also provided performances and exhibitions free-of-charge or at affordable prices. As a result, the supply in the market has started to exceed its demand as is often the case in many of other markets. However, such imbalance has occurred not because of over-supply but because of a lack of demand. Given these circumstances, the government and culture and art related organizations, which had mainly concentrated on the supply side, started to recognize the importance of creating personal and social values in culture and arts. As a result, the government and various organizations are now creating various strategies that include policy measures to achieve their new found goal. Unfortunately however, such efforts are not meeting the expectations. Focusing on above-mentioned circumstances and problems, this study aims to find measures to create demand for culture-art products in the internal conditions of those who consume culture-art products. In other words, given that the demand for culture-art products has not increased despite all external conditions to encourage consumption, this study aims to find the reasons in consumers' value judgment on culture-art products. Though there were recent studies on culture-art products that applied consumer behavior on marketing theories, most of them focused on peripheral aspects such as people's motivation for or satisfaction from watching culture-art events. Hence, there is a need to understand what kind of value consumers perceive from culture-art products and how such value cognition leads to consumption in a comprehensive manner. This study acts as follow-up to a separate study entitled "Qualitative Study about Value Cognition and Benefits of Consumer on Culture-Art Products". The current study aims to extend practical implications that enhance the effectiveness of marketing strategies among the producing and policy agencies in the industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate dimensions of value cognition, benefits and attributes of culture-art products, and identify the effects of consumer value cognition on benefits and attributes. The questionnaire was developed based on the conceptual structure of qualitative research and previous researches. It was composed of value cognition, benefits, attributes of culture-art products and demographic variables. This survey was conducted on-line and off-line among a total of 662 persons ranging from their teens to their 50's who were living in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, various metropolitan cities, and small and medium-sized cities. The data collected was analyzed by factor analysis and path analysis using SPSS WIN 18.0 and AMOS 16.0. This empirical study found that the dimensions of value cognition of culture-art products were categorized into personal goods, aesthetic goods and public property. This shows that the consumers perceive culture-art products as products that are worthy enough to pay the costs not just for personal benefits but also for their social values. Also the formation of value cognition for culture-art products requires special conditions unlike that for physical consumer goods and services, which simply require marketing stimuli. The dimensions of benefits pursued by consuming culture-art products were found to be composed of four types - pursuit of aesthetic benefits, pursuit of actual benefits, pursuit of emotional benefits, and pursuit of conspicuous character. This result implies that people consume culture-art products not just to pursue pleasure from emotional and intelligent satisfaction as well as social relations, but also to seek the needs and benefits embodied at a social level. The dimensions of attributes of culture-art products had seven different factors, - environmental, price, evaluation, people, artwork, composition, and personal relations - which is plentiful. This is because the attributes of culture-art products are very complicated compared to other consumer goods or services. Since culture-art products include not just cultural or artistic works but also all physical, human, environmental, and systemic elements of the products in a comprehensive manner, consumers perceive everything they experience in the process of consuming culture-art products as part of the products. The dimensions of value cognition was found to affect attributes of the products, mostly using pursued benefits as a mediating factors. This result is consistent with the result of qualitative research, and proves that applying the means-end chain theory in the reverse direction is reasonable. The result can be interpreted that consumers' value cognitions for culture-art products turns into actual benefits leading to consumers' decisions. Furthermore, this result reveals that when consumers choose culture-art products, they take into account the attributes of culture-art products depending on the benefits they pursue. These results confirm that despite their conceptual and abstract attributes, culture-art products have values that contribute to actual benefits for individual consumers and society. Hence, value cognition generates benefits to be pursued and this in turn affects the consumers' choices of attributes on products. Based on the conceptual structure of consumers' value cognitions on culture-art products and its dimensions, it is possible to find detailed methods to provide opportunities for education and training to form and reinforce positive value cognition on culture-art products. And through those methods, it will be possible to develop attributes of culture-art products according to the dimensions of pursued benefits, and allow conceptual products become the subject to valuable consumption in real life. These results provide theoretical understanding of consumer behavior in culture marketing and useful information to culture-art producers, companies that use culture and art, and government agencies that use culture-art as a mean to improve the public perception of quality of life. As a follow up on this study, there should be experimental studies that can develop criteria visualizing the demands of consumers who purchase culture-art products and identify their detailed attributes. Studies that compare characteristics of different areas within the culture-art product category and in-depth studies on a specific area or genre will also be needed. In order to develop marketing strategies for culture-art products, studies on the formation and reinforcement of positive value cognition on culture-art products and education for the development of consumer demand as well as on the development and differentiation of attributes of culture-art products depending on types of consumer groups should also follow.