• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.1
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• pp.90-104
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• 2001

This study is aimed to analyze and to evaluate the revegetation and soil conservation technology in desertification-affected sandy land, resulting from the project of "Studies on the desertification combating and sand industry development". Main native plants for combating desertification : The general characteristics of vegetation distribution in desertified regions are partially concentrated vegetation distribution types including the a) desert plants in low zone of desert or sanddune of depressed basin, b) salt-resistant plants around saline lakes, c) grouped vegetation with Poplar and Chinese Tamarix of freshwater-lakes, saline-lakes and river-banks, d) gobi vegetation of gravel desert and e) grassland and oasis-woods around the alluvial fan of rivers, etc. Generally, Tamarix ehinensis Lour., Haloxylon ammodendron Bunge., Calligonum spp., Populus euphratica Oliver., Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Ulmus pumila L., Salix spp., Hedysarum spp., Caragana spp., Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge., Nitraria tangutorum Bobr., Lespedeza bicolor, Alhagi sparsifolia Shap., Capparis spinosa L., Artemisia arenaria DC., etc. are widely distributed in desertified regions. It is necessary for conducting research in the native plants in desertified regions. Analysis of intensive revegetation technology system for combating desertification : In the wind erosion region, the experimental research projects of rational farming systems (regional planning, shelterbelts system, protection system of oasis, establishment of irrigation-channel networks and management technology of enormous farmlands, etc.), rational utilization technology of plant resources (fuelwood, medicinal plants, grazing and grassland management, etc.), utilization technology of water resources (management and planning of watershed, construction of channel and technology of water saving and irrigation, etc.), establishment of sheltetbelts, control of population increase and increased production technology of agricultural forest, fuelwood and feed, etc. are preponderantly being promoted. And in water erosion region, the experimental research projects of development of rational utilization technology of land and vegetation, engineering technology and protection technology of crops, etc. are being promoted in priority. And also, the experimental researches on the methods of utilization of water (irrigation, drainage, washing and rice cultivation, etc.), agricultural methods (reclamation of land, agronomy, fertilization, seeding, crop rotation, mixed-cultivation and soil dressing works, etc.) and biological methods (cultivation of salt-resistant crops and green manure and tree plantation, etc.) for improvement of saline soil and alkaline soil in desertified-lands are actively being promoted. And the international cooperations on the revegetation technology development projects of desertified-lands are sincerely being required.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.50
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• pp.395-424
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current situation and background of the Russian consumer music market, where digital music sources are making great strides in the noted recent years. In addition, music storage technology, media and change are considered together in this report. Moreover, Russia is the 12th largest music market in the world. The Russian music industry is following the recent trend of the global music industry, where the digital music market is growing rapidly on many different levels. The explosive growth of the digital sound sources in Russia's music industry is attributed to the explosive increase in available consumer downloads, streaming sound source service, and the increase in the number of digital sound sources using mobile technologies due to the development of the Internet. In particular, the sales of the available and accessible streaming sound sources are expected to grow explosively by the year 2020, which is expected to account for more than 85% of total digital music sales. In other words, the spread of smartphones and the resulting changes in the lifestyle of the Russians have created these changes for the global consumer of music. In other words, the time has come for anyone to easily access music and listen to music without a separate audio or digital player. And the fact that the Russian government's strong policy on the eradication of illegal copying of music is becoming an effective deterrent, as is also the factor that led to the increase of the share of the digital sound source to increase sales in Russia. Today, the Russian music industry is leading this change through the age and process of simply adapting to the digital age. Music is the most important element of cultural assets, and it is the beneficial content, which drives the overall growth of the digital economy. In addition, if the following five improvements(First, strengthen the consciousness of the Russian people about copyright protection; Second, utilizing the Big Data Internet resources in the digital music industry; Third, to improve the monopoly situation of digital music distributors; Fourth, distribution of fair music revenues; and Fifth, revitalization of a re-investment in the current Russian music industry) are effective and productive, Russia's role and position in the world music market is likely to expand.

• (The) Korean Journal of Advertising
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.59-90
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• 2016

Consumers demand that corporates fulfill their social responsibility by exerting influence over not only economical values but also social values in markets. Given such a social mood, most corporates are actively engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activities, and marketing scholars continue to study the effects of such CSR activities. Numerous such studies examined the relationship between CSR activity and brand equity. Moreover, virtually, a majority of these studies focused on consumer responses to CSR activity from an individual brand perspective. In a situation in which brand management must consider the spillover effects of brands, firms holding various brands should consider these spillover effects when they establish CSR activity strategies. Therefore, we examine the effects of CSR activity using a comprehensive approach that considers the hierarchy of brands. Additionally, we develop a new perspective on fit that has been used as a major influence on the effects of CSR activity. We argue that the mixed results of the impact of fit regarding the effect of CSR activities is attributed to the influence of connections among brands based on the hierarchy of brands. We then examine the effect of two types of CSR activity strategies that reflect the relativity of fit. The results reveal that there was no difference in impact of the two strategies based on unique roles and traits of corporate brand and effects of low fit. Also, we found that the corporate brand focused strategy creates a greater change in consumers' attitudes than does an individual brand focused strategy in the case of a particular brand. This finding is meaningful because it indicates that a hierarchy of brands may relatively reduce the impact of the role of fit, unlike general arguments from previous related research. Second, the spillover effects from the CSR activities of individual sub-brands belonging to the same corporate brand were confirmed. Therefore, we clearly verified the role of the hierarchy of brands. Although both strategies cause changes in consumer attitude toward brands engaged in CSR activity, overall, a corporate brand focused strategy turned out to be more effective than an individual brand focused strategy because of the spillover effects of brands. Third, this study verified the effect of a corporate brand focused strategy through a moderating effect analysis of the degree of association between individual brands and corporate brand. Given these results, we identified a moderating role in the degree of association and the changes in consumer attitudes toward both main brands engaged in CSR activities and other different individual brands, which were caused by the spillover effects of brands. Finally, this study addresses implications and limitations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to propose a sustainable village-unit urban regeneration plan for the Ewha Mural Village, where mural artists recovered concrete fences to be followed by some residents damaging the mural paintings. Through a review of the existing literature and a preliminary survey, we derived the urban regeneration factors (environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability) applicable at the village level. After an empirical survey on the residents, we tried to identify various problems of the Ewha Mural Village. Residents selected the factors of accessibility, parking management, diversity of industries, creation of new jobs, community participation of residents for the mural village's activation, and stable living spaces. In the case of Ewha Mural Village, physical environment factors for the residents at the time of construction were not considered and the village was mainly planned using budget-based murals. Since then, the inequality of economic benefits intensified the conflicts among the residents. In addition, public benefits, such as establishing new industries and employing outsiders, were not provided, and these facts appear to have led to an unsustainable murals village, in which the murals that are the protagonists of the village revitalization are being destroyed. Therefore, the urban regeneration of Ewha Mural Village should be designed considering a region where some residential areas can be transformed into tourist areas. In addition, it is essential to employ a win-win method to improve the living environment, such as road maintenance, not only partial economic benefits, such as increased land-value, and to increase resident's value as a common asset within the village itself.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.264-279
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• 2023

The 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention was in 2022. In order to reflect on the present and future of the meaning of World Heritage, this paper examines the development and changes of the UNESCO World Heritage system. After promulgating the convention in 1972, the UNESCO World Heritage system prioritized the protection of heritage sites in the world that were at risk due to armed conflicts and natural disasters to bequeath heritage to the next generation. In addition, the UNESCO World Heritage's emphasis on Outstanding Universal Value represents the particular culture of human beings formed during a certain period of time, and acts as a significant source of soft power in public diplomacy. The UNESCO World Heritage might be perceived as a shared heritage that has not only become a channel to understand various national values, but also an effective medium to convey one of UNESCO's main principles, that is, peacebuilding. However, the UNESCO World Heritage is now at the center of conflicts of heritage interpretation between many stakeholders related to invisible wars, such as cultural wars, memory wars, and history wars as the social, political, and cultural contexts concerning World Heritage have dramatically shifted with the passing of time. Paying attention to such changing contexts, this paper seeks to understand the main developments in UNESCO World Heritage's discourse concerning changes to the World Heritage Operation Guidelines and heritage experts' meetings by dividing its 50-year history into five phases. Next, this paper analyzes the main shifts in keywords related to UNESCO World Heritage through UNESDOC, which is a platform on which all UNESCO publications are available. Finally, this paper discusses three main changes of UNESCO World Heritage: 1) changes in focus in World Heritage inscriptions, 2) changes in perception of World Heritage protection, and 3) changes of view on the role of the stakeholders in World Heritage. It suggests new emerging issues regarding heritage interpretation and ethics, climate change, and human rights.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.82-100
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• 2024

Due to the intensifying global technological competition, the strategic and economic importance of intellectual property such as patents as intangible assets is increasing. The purpose of this study is to understand the current status of patent innovation in the service industry and to derive the characteristics and implications of patent innovation in the service industry. To this end, this study conducted an investigation and analysis to understand the characteristics of patent innovation in the service industry based on the data from the business activity survey. The proportion of patent companies in the service industry, characteristics of each service industry, proportion of each service industry, and the number of patent rights holdings were analyzed. In addition, the trend of patent changes in the service industry was investigated. The service industry was compared and analyzed with other industries based on the results of the analysis of patent innovation in the service industry. In particular, the service industry was divided into four types in terms of the rate of increase in the proportion of patent companies and the ratio of patent holing companies, and the types were derived. Based on the analysis results, the characteristics of patent innovation in the service industry were presented. As a result of the study, the proportion of patent holding companies in the service industry was lower than that of other industries, and the gap with other industries was widening, showing that the patent innovation of service companies is lower than that of other industries. The average number of patents held by service industry companies was lower than that of other industries, and the increase rate of the number of patent rights held was also lower than that of other industries, widening the gap. Patent innovation in the service industry can be divided into four quadrants in terms of the rate of increase in the proportion of patent holding companies and the proportion of patent holding companies, and it has been studied that the service industry needs policy support suitable for the characteristics of patent innovation in the quadrant to which the individual service industry belongs.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.227-252
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• 2018

The evolution of instant communication has mirrored the development of the Internet and messenger applications are among the most representative manifestations of instant communication technologies. In messenger applications, senders use emoticons to supplement the emotions conveyed in the text of their messages. The fact that communication via messenger applications is not face-to-face makes it difficult for senders to communicate their emotions to message recipients. Emoticons have long been used as symbols that indicate the moods of speakers. However, at present, emoticon-use is evolving into a means of conveying the psychological states of consumers who want to express individual characteristics and personality quirks while communicating their emotions to others. The fact that companies like KakaoTalk, Line, Apple, etc. have begun conducting emoticon business and sales of related content are expected to gradually increase testifies to the significance of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, despite the development of emoticons themselves and the growth of the emoticon market, no suitable emoticon recommendation system has yet been developed. Even KakaoTalk, a messenger application that commands more than 90% of domestic market share in South Korea, just grouped in to popularity, most recent, or brief category. This means consumers face the inconvenience of constantly scrolling around to locate the emoticons they want. The creation of an emoticon recommendation system would improve consumer convenience and satisfaction and increase the sales revenue of companies the sell emoticons. To recommend appropriate emoticons, it is necessary to quantify the emotions that the consumer sees and emotions. Such quantification will enable us to analyze the characteristics and emotions felt by consumers who used similar emoticons, which, in turn, will facilitate our emoticon recommendations for consumers. One way to quantify emoticons use is metadata-ization. Metadata-ization is a means of structuring or organizing unstructured and semi-structured data to extract meaning. By structuring unstructured emoticon data through metadata-ization, we can easily classify emoticons based on the emotions consumers want to express. To determine emoticons' precise emotions, we had to consider sub-detail expressions-not only the seven common emotional adjectives but also the metaphorical expressions that appear only in South Korean proved by previous studies related to emotion focusing on the emoticon's characteristics. We therefore collected the sub-detail expressions of emotion based on the "Shape", "Color" and "Adumbration". Moreover, to design a highly accurate recommendation system, we considered both emotion-technical indexes and emoticon-emotional indexes. We then identified 14 features of emoticon-technical indexes and selected 36 emotional adjectives. The 36 emotional adjectives consisted of contrasting adjectives, which we reduced to 18, and we measured the 18 emotional adjectives using 40 emoticon sets randomly selected from the top-ranked emoticons in the KakaoTalk shop. We surveyed 277 consumers in their mid-twenties who had experience purchasing emoticons; we recruited them online and asked them to evaluate five different emoticon sets. After data acquisition, we conducted a factor analysis of emoticon-emotional factors. We extracted four factors that we named "Comic", Softness", "Modernity" and "Transparency". We analyzed both the relationship between indexes and consumer attitude and the relationship between emoticon-technical indexes and emoticon-emotional factors. Through this process, we confirmed that the emoticon-technical indexes did not directly affect consumer attitudes but had a mediating effect on consumer attitudes through emoticon-emotional factors. The results of the analysis revealed the mechanism consumers use to evaluate emoticons; the results also showed that consumers' emoticon-technical indexes affected emoticon-emotional factors and that the emoticon-emotional factors affected consumer satisfaction. We therefore designed the emoticon recommendation system using only four emoticon-emotional factors; we created a recommendation method to calculate the Euclidean distance from each factors' emotion. In an attempt to increase the accuracy of the emoticon recommendation system, we compared the emotional patterns of selected emoticons with the recommended emoticons. The emotional patterns corresponded in principle. We verified the emoticon recommendation system by testing prediction accuracy; the predictions were 81.02% accurate in the first result, 76.64% accurate in the second, and 81.63% accurate in the third. This study developed a methodology that can be used in various fields academically and practically. We expect that the novel emoticon recommendation system we designed will increase emoticon sales for companies who conduct business in this domain and make consumer experiences more convenient. In addition, this study served as an important first step in the development of an intelligent emoticon recommendation system. The emotional factors proposed in this study could be collected in an emotional library that could serve as an emotion index for evaluation when new emoticons are released. Moreover, by combining the accumulated emotional library with company sales data, sales information, and consumer data, companies could develop hybrid recommendation systems that would bolster convenience for consumers and serve as intellectual assets that companies could strategically deploy.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.107-122
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• 2017

Volatility in the stock market returns is a measure of investment risk. It plays a central role in portfolio optimization, asset pricing and risk management as well as most theoretical financial models. Engle(1982) presented a pioneering paper on the stock market volatility that explains the time-variant characteristics embedded in the stock market return volatility. His model, Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH), was generalized by Bollerslev(1986) as GARCH models. Empirical studies have shown that GARCH models describes well the fat-tailed return distributions and volatility clustering phenomenon appearing in stock prices. The parameters of the GARCH models are generally estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) based on the standard normal density. But, since 1987 Black Monday, the stock market prices have become very complex and shown a lot of noisy terms. Recent studies start to apply artificial intelligent approach in estimating the GARCH parameters as a substitute for the MLE. The paper presents SVR-based GARCH process and compares with MLE-based GARCH process to estimate the parameters of GARCH models which are known to well forecast stock market volatility. Kernel functions used in SVR estimation process are linear, polynomial and radial. We analyzed the suggested models with KOSPI 200 Index. This index is constituted by 200 blue chip stocks listed in the Korea Exchange. We sampled KOSPI 200 daily closing values from 2010 to 2015. Sample observations are 1487 days. We used 1187 days to train the suggested GARCH models and the remaining 300 days were used as testing data. First, symmetric and asymmetric GARCH models are estimated by MLE. We forecasted KOSPI 200 Index return volatility and the statistical metric MSE shows better results for the asymmetric GARCH models such as E-GARCH or GJR-GARCH. This is consistent with the documented non-normal return distribution characteristics with fat-tail and leptokurtosis. Compared with MLE estimation process, SVR-based GARCH models outperform the MLE methodology in KOSPI 200 Index return volatility forecasting. Polynomial kernel function shows exceptionally lower forecasting accuracy. We suggested Intelligent Volatility Trading System (IVTS) that utilizes the forecasted volatility results. IVTS entry rules are as follows. If forecasted tomorrow volatility will increase then buy volatility today. If forecasted tomorrow volatility will decrease then sell volatility today. If forecasted volatility direction does not change we hold the existing buy or sell positions. IVTS is assumed to buy and sell historical volatility values. This is somewhat unreal because we cannot trade historical volatility values themselves. But our simulation results are meaningful since the Korea Exchange introduced volatility futures contract that traders can trade since November 2014. The trading systems with SVR-based GARCH models show higher returns than MLE-based GARCH in the testing period. And trading profitable percentages of MLE-based GARCH IVTS models range from 47.5% to 50.0%, trading profitable percentages of SVR-based GARCH IVTS models range from 51.8% to 59.7%. MLE-based symmetric S-GARCH shows +150.2% return and SVR-based symmetric S-GARCH shows +526.4% return. MLE-based asymmetric E-GARCH shows -72% return and SVR-based asymmetric E-GARCH shows +245.6% return. MLE-based asymmetric GJR-GARCH shows -98.7% return and SVR-based asymmetric GJR-GARCH shows +126.3% return. Linear kernel function shows higher trading returns than radial kernel function. Best performance of SVR-based IVTS is +526.4% and that of MLE-based IVTS is +150.2%. SVR-based GARCH IVTS shows higher trading frequency. This study has some limitations. Our models are solely based on SVR. Other artificial intelligence models are needed to search for better performance. We do not consider costs incurred in the trading process including brokerage commissions and slippage costs. IVTS trading performance is unreal since we use historical volatility values as trading objects. The exact forecasting of stock market volatility is essential in the real trading as well as asset pricing models. Further studies on other machine learning-based GARCH models can give better information for the stock market investors.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 1981

The purpose of the study is to find out the objective method of valuation on the forest stands through the analysis of logging costs that is positively related to timber production. The two forest (Amgog, Whangryoung), located nereby, but forest type, logging and skidding conditions being slightly different, were slected to carry out the study. The objective timber stumpage value were determined by investigating the appropriate timber production costs and profits of logging operations. The main result obtained in this study are as follows: 1. The rate of logging cost in consisting of timber market price is 13.15% in the area of Amgog logging place and 19.48% in Whangryoung. 2. The rate of the other production cost excluding logging cost is 15.36% in the area of Amgog logging place and 28.85% in Whangryoung. 3. The total rate of timber production cost in consisting of the market price is more than 28.51% in the area of Amgog logging place and 48.33% in Whangryoung, 4. Though the productivity of forest land is affected by the selection of tree species, tending, treatments and effective management of forest land, the more important problem is improvement of logging condition. 5. The rate of production cost in timber price is so high that we should endeavore to improve the productivity of labour and its quality, and minimize the difference of piece work per day in accordance to the various site condition. 6. Although the profit of forest industry is related to the period of recapturing investment, it is more closely related to the working condition, risk of investment and continuous change of social investment interest. 7. If the right variables which are related to the timber market, are objectively obtained, the stumpage value of mature forests can be objectively caculated by applying straight line discounting method or compound discounting method in caculating the stump to market price.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.51-89
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• 2007

INTRODUCTION Due to the high broadband internet penetration rate and its group-oriented culture, various types of online communities operate in Korea. This study use 'Uses and Gratification Approach, and argue that members' usage-needs satisfaction with brand community is an important factor for promoting community commitment. Based on previous studies identifying the effect of brand image on consumers' responses to various marketing stimuli, this study hypothesizes that brand image can be a moderate variable affecting the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction with brand community and members' commitment to brand community. This study analyzes the influence of usage-needs satisfaction on brand community commitment and how apparel brand image affects the relationships between usage-needs satisfactions and community commitments. The hypotheses of this study are proposed as follows. H1-3: The usage-needs satisfaction of apparel brand community (interest, transaction, relationship needs) influences emotional (H1), continuous (H2), and normative (H3) commitments to apparel brand communities. H4-6: Apparel brand image has a moderating effect on the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction and emotional (H4), continuous (H5), and normative (H6) commitments to apparel brand communities. METHODS Brand communities founded by non-company affiliates were excluded and emphasis was placed instead on communities created by apparel brand companies. Among casual apparel brands registered in 6 Korean portal sites in August 2003, a total of 9 casual apparel brand online communities were chosen, depending on the level of community activity and apparel brand image. Data from 317 community members were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis, moderated regression analysis, ANOVA, and scheffe test. Among 317 respondents answered an online html-type questionnaire, 80.5% were between 16 to 25 years old. There were a total of 150 respondents from apparel brand communities(n=3) recording higher-than-average brand image scores (Mean > 3.75) and a total of 162 respondents from apparel brand communities(n=6) recording lower-than-average brand image scores(Mean < 3.75). In this study, brand community commitment was measured by a 5-point Likert scale: emotional, continuous and normative commitment. The degree of usage-needs satisfaction (interest, transaction, relationship needs) was measured on a 5-point Likert scale. The level of brand image was measured by a 5-point Likert scale: strength, favorability, and uniqueness of brand associations. RESULTS In the results of exploratory factor analysis, the three usage-needs satisfactions with brand community were classified as interest, transaction, and relationship needs. Brand community commitment was also divided into the multi-dimensional factors: emotional, continuous, and normative commitments. The regression analysis (using a stepwise method) was used to test the influence of 3 independent variables (interest-needs satisfaction, transaction-needs, and relationship-needs satisfactions) on the 3 dependent variables (emotional, continuous and normative commitments). The three types of usage-needs satisfactions are positively associated with the three types of commitments to apparel brand communities. Therefore, hypothesis 1, 2, and 3 were significantly supported. Moderating effects of apparel brand image on the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction and brand community commitments were tested by moderated regression analysis. The statistics result showed that the influence of transaction-needs on emotional commitment was significantly moderated by apparel brand image. In addition, apparel brand image had moderating effects on the relationship between relationship-needs satisfaction and emotional, continuous and normative commitments to apparel brand communities. However, there were not significant moderate effects of apparel brand image on the relationships between interest-needs satisfaction and 3 types of commitments (emotional, continuous and normative commitments) to apparel brand communities. In addition, the influences of transaction-needs satisfaction on 2 types of commitments (continuous and normative commitments) were not significantly moderated by apparel brand image. Therefore, hypothesis 4, 5 and 6 were partially supported. To explain the moderating effects of apparel brand image, four cross-tabulated groups were made by averages of usage-needs satisfaction (interest-needs satisfaction avg. M=3.09, transaction-needs satisfaction avg. M=3.46, relationship-needs satisfaction M=1.62) and the average apparel brand image (M=3.75). The average scores of commitments in each classified group are presented in Tables and Figures. There were significant differences among four groups. As can be seen from the results of scheffe test on the tables, emotional commitment in community group with high brand image was higher than one in community group with low brand image when transaction-needs satisfaction was high. However, when transaction-needs satisfaction was low, there was not any difference between the community group with high brand image and community group with low brand image regarding emotional commitment to apparel brand communities. It means that emotional commitment didn't increase significantly without high satisfaction of transaction-needs, despite the high apparel brand image. In addition, when apparel brand image was low, increase in transaction-needs did not lead to the increase in emotional commitment. Therefore, the significant relationship between transaction-needs satisfaction and emotional commitment was found in only brand communities with high apparel brand image, and the moderating effect of apparel brand image on this relationship between two variables was found in the communities with high satisfaction of transaction-needs only. Statistics results showed that the level of emotional commitment is related to the satisfaction level of transaction-needs, while overall response is related to the level of apparel brand image. We also found that the role of apparel brand image as a moderating factor was limited by the level of transaction-needs satisfaction. In addition, relationship-needs satisfaction brought significant increase in emotional commitment in both community groups (high and low levels of brand image), and the effect of apparel brand image on emotional commitment was significant in both community groups (high and low levels of relationship-needs satisfaction). Especially, the effect of brand image was greater when the level of relationship-needs satisfaction was high. in contrast, increase in emotional commitment responding to increase in relationship-needs satisfaction was greater when apparel brand image is high. The significant influences of relationship-needs satisfaction on community commitments (continuous and normative commitments) were found regardless of apparel brand image(in both community groups with low and high brand image). However, the effects of apparel brand image on continuous and normative commitments were found in only community group with high satisfaction level of relationship-needs. In the case of communities with low satisfaction levels of relationship needs, apparel brand image marginally increases continuous and normative commitments. Therefore, we could not find the moderating effect of apparel brand image on the relationship between relationship-needs satisfaction and continuous and normative commitments in community groups with low satisfaction levels of relationship needs, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS From the results of this study, we draw several conclusions; First, the increases in usage-needs satisfactions through apparel brand communities result in the increases in commitments to apparel brand communities, wheres the degrees of such relationship depends on the level of apparel brand image. That is, apparel brand image is a moderating factor strengthening the relationship between usage-needs satisfaction and commitment to apparel brand communities. In addition, the effect of apparel brand image differs, depending on the level and types of community usage-needs satisfactions. Therefore, marketers of apparel brand companies must determine the appropriate usage-needs, depending on the type of commitment they wish to increase and the level of their apparel brand image, to promote member's commitments to apparel brand communities. Especially, relationship-needs satisfaction was very important factor for increasing emotional, continuous and normative commitments to communities. However the level of relationship-needs satisfaction was lower than interest-needs and transaction-needs. satisfaction. According to previous study on apparel brand communities, relationship-need satisfaction was strongly related to member's intention of participation in their communities. Therefore, marketers need to develope various strategies in order to increase the relationship- needs as well as interest and transaction needs. In addition, despite continuous commitment was higher than emotional and normative commitments, all types of commitments to apparel brand communities had scores lower than 3.0 that was mid point in 5-point scale. A Korean study reported that the level of members' commitment to apparel brand community influenced customers' identification with a brand and brand purchasing behavior. Therefore, marketers should try to increase members' usage-needs satisfaction and apparel brand image as the necessary conditions for bringing about community commitments. Second, marketers should understand that they should keep in mind that increasing the level of community usage needs (transaction and relationship) is most effective in raising commitment when the level of apparel brand image is high, and that increasing usage needs (transaction needs) satisfaction in communities with low brand image might not be as effective as anticipated. Therefore, apparel companies with desirable brand image such as luxury designer goods firms need to create formal online brand communities (as opposed to informal communities with rudimentary online contents) to satisfy transaction and relationship needs systematically. It will create brand equity through consumers' increased emotional, continuous and normative commitments. Even though apparel brand is very famous, emotional commitment to apparel brand communities cannot be easily increased without transaction-needs satisfaction. Therefore famous fashion brand companies should focus on developing various marketing strategies to increase transaction-needs satisfaction.