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Enhancement Pattern of the Normal Facial Nerve on Three - Dimensional (3D) - Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) Sequence at 3.0 T MR Units (3.0T 자기공명영상기기에서 시행한 3D-FLAIR 영상에서의 정상 안면신경의 조영증강 양상)

  • Hyun, Dong-Ho;Lim, Hyun-Kyung;Park, Jee-Won;Kim, Jong-Lim;Lee, Ha-Young;Park, Soon-Chan;Ahn, Joong-Ho;Baek, Jung-Hwan;Choi, Choong-Gon;Lee, Jeong-Hyun
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.25-30
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    • 2012
  • Purpose : To compare the enhancement pattern of normal facial nerves on 3D-FLAIR and 3D-T1-FFE-F) sequences at 3.0 T MR units. Materials and Methods: We assessed 20 consecutive subjects without a history of facial nerve abnormalities who underwent temporal bone MRI with contrast enhancement between January 2008 and March 2009. Two neuroradiologists independently reviewed pre-/post-enhanced 3D-T1-FFE-FS and 3D-FLAIR images respectively with 2-week interval to assess the enhancement of normal facial nerves divided into five anatomical segments. The degree of enhancement in each segment was graded as none, mild or strong, and the results of 3D-FLAIR and 3D-T1-FFE-FS image sets were compared. Results: On 3D-FLAIR images, one of the two reviewers observed mild enhancement of the genu segment in two (10%) subjects. On 3D-T1-FFE-FS images, at least one segment of the facial nerve was enhanced in 13 (65%) subjects. At least one reviewer found that 17 of the 100 segments showed enhancement on 3D-T1-FFE-FS images, with the mastoid segment being the most commonly enhanced. Interobserver agreement on 3D-T1-FFE-FS images was good for enhancement of the normal facial nerve (${\kappa}$= 0.589). Conclusion: In contrast to 3D-T1-FFE-FS, normal facial nerve segments rarely showed enhancement on 3D-FLAIR images.

A Study of the Implemented Korean Traditional Garden Design Elements on Tashkent Seoul Park (타슈켄트 서울공원 설계과정에서 구현된 한국정원 설계요소 고찰)

  • Shin, Hyun-Don
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.43 no.5
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    • pp.40-54
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    • 2015
  • Tashkent Seoul Park was completed in June, 2014, following the signing of a sisterhood relationship between Seoul City and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan in July, 2010. An open competition for the design of the park was held and, based on the design, the park was completed in June and open to the public in September, 2014. Tashkent Seoul Park is more than a public park in Tashkent. The focus was on making it a starting point for offering a new model for traditional parks of Korea built abroad. Korean gardens and parks built in overseas cities are not only a landscape space but also serve as an ambassador that promotes the culture of Korea to foreigners who are unfamiliar with Korean culture. Therefore, Tashkent Seoul Park was designed to reflect the beauty and uniqueness of Korean traditional landscaping to promote the image of Korea and Seoul. As such, the design and plan was focused on the best measures to make known Korean culture through a design that sets itself apart from the landscape of Uzbekistan. To date, Korean parks or Seoul parks that have been built overseas have focused on the re-enactment of gardens and parks during the Josun Dynasty era. But with the Tashkent Park, the process of the 170,000 people from Goryeo was also reflected onto the design so that the culture and sensibilities of old Goryeo could be felt as well. Korean traditional garden design elements for the representation of the Korean identity are taken from the pilot study. This design element includes not only that of Goryeo, but also the Josun Dynasty era to allow local people to experience a general Korean traditional garden. The traditional beauty and lyricism of Korea was presented to Central Asia through the park in Tashkent so that the citizens could feel the simple yet down-to-earth beauty of Korean aesthetics. As such, the spatial experience of story-telling in Seoul Park evolves from two points of view. First, it is a spatial experience from the perspective of the Goryeo period and of foreigners. It is a continuum of a landscape experience where one can trace the sentiments of Korea and a hometown in Korea by passing through lyrical and multi-faceted spatial structures. Second, it is an experience that evolves from the viewpoint of an outsider, including the Tashkent citizens. It allows visitors to read the various methods and attitudes in an unfamiliar landscape and terrain. Through a story-telling that is reminiscent of the Silk Road through which trade with East Asia took place, visitors can interact with Korean culture in the Korean Garden and throughout the process they can feel the very Korean sentiments. This park presents the latest example of a 'Korean Garden' formed overseas and thus presents a clue to understanding the representation pattern of the Korean aspects of Korean Gardens through a study on the design strategies.

Effectiveness of the Respiratory Gating System for Stereotectic Radiosurgery of Lung Cancer (폐암 환자의 정위적 방사선 수술 시 Respiratory Gating System의 유용성에 대한 연구)

  • Song Heung-Kwon;Kwon Kyung-Tae;Park Cheol-Su;Yang Oh-Nam;Kim Min-Su;Kim Jeong-Man
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.125-131
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    • 2005
  • Purpose : For stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of a tumor in the region whose movement due to respiration is significant, like Lung lower lobe, the gated therapy, which delivers radiation dose to the selected respiratory phases when tumor motion is small, was performed using the Respiratory gating system and its clinical effectiveness was evaluated. Materials and Methods : For two SRS patients with a tumor in Lung lower lobe, a marker block (infrared reflector) was attached on the abdomen. While patient' respiratory cycle was monitored with Real-time Position Management (RPM, Varian, USA), 4D CT was performed (10 phases per a cycle). Phases in which tumor motion did not change rapidly were decided as treatment phases. The treatment volume was contoured on the CT images for selected treatment phases using maximum intensity projection (MIP) method. In order to verify setup reproducibility and positional variation, 4D CT was repeated. Results : Gross tumor volume (GTV) showed maximum movement in superior-inferior direction. For patient #1, motion of GTV was reduced to 2.6 mm in treatment phases ($30{\sim}60%$), while that was 9.4 mm in full phases ($0{\sim}90%$) and for patient #2, it was reduced to 2.3 mm in treatment phases ($30{\sim}70%$), while it was 11.7 mm in full phases ($0{\sim}90%$). When comparing two sets of CT images, setup errors in all the directions were within 3 mm. Conclusion : Since tumor motion was reduced less than 5 mm, the Respiratory gating system for SRS of Lung lower lobe is useful.

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PTV Margins for Prostate Treatments with an Endorectal Balloon (전립선 암의 방사선치료 시 직장 내 풍선삽입에 따른 계획표적부피마진)

  • Kim, Hee-Jung;Chung, Jin-Beom;Ha, Sung-Whan;Kim, Jae-Sun;Ye, Sung-Joon
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.28 no.3
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    • pp.166-176
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    • 2010
  • Purpose: To determine the appropriate prostate planning target volume (PTV) margins for 3-dimensitional (3D) conformal radiotherapy (CRT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) patients treated with an endorectal balloon (ERB) under our institutional treatment condition. Materials and Methods: Patients were treated in the supine position. An ERB was inserted into the rectum with 70 cc air prior to planning a CT scan and then each treatment fraction. Electronic portal images (EPIs) and digital reconstructed radiographs (DRR) of planning CT images were used to evaluate inter-fractional patient's setup and ERB errors. To register both image sets, we developed an in-house program written in visual $C^{++}$. A new method to determine prostate PTV margins with an ERB was developed by using the common method. Results: The mean value of patient setup errors was within 1 mm in all directions. The ERB inter-fractional errors in the superior-inferior (SI) and anterior-posterior (AP) directions were larger than in the left-right (LR) direction. The calculated 1D symmetric PTV margins were 3.0 mm, 8.2 mm, and 8.5 mm for 3D CRT and 4.1 mm, 7.9 mm, and 10.3 mm for IMRT in LR, SI, and AP, respectively according to the new method including ERB random errors. Conclusion: The ERB random error contributes to the deformation of the prostate, which affects the original treatment planning. Thus, a new PTV margin method includes dose blurring effects of ERB. The correction of ERB systematic error is a prerequisite since the new method only accounts for ERB random error.

Stereotactic Target Point Verification in Actual Treatment Position of Radiosurgery (방사선수술시 두개내 표적의 정위적좌표의 치료위치에서의 확인)

  • Yun, Hyong-Geun;Lee, Hyun-Koo
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.13 no.4
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    • pp.403-409
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    • 1995
  • Purpose : Authors tried to enhance the safety and accuracy of radiosurgery by verifying stereotacitc target point in actual treatment position prior to irradiation. Materials and Methods : Before the actual treatment, several sections of anthropomorphic head phantom were used to create a condition of unknown coordinates of the target point. A film was sandwitched between the phantom sections and punctured by sharp needle tip. The tip of the needle represented the target point. The head phantom was fixed to the stereotactic ring and CT scan was done with CT localizer attached to the ring. After the CT scanning, the stereotactic coordinates of the target point were determined. The head phantom was secured to accelerator's treatment couch and the movement of laser isocenter to the stereotactic coordinates determined by CT scanning was performed using target positioner. Accelerator's anteroposterior and lateral portal films were taken using angiographic localizers. The stereotactic coordinates determined by analysis of portal films were compared with the stereotactic coordinates previously determined by CT scanning. Following the correction of discrepancy the head phantom was irradiated using a stereotactic technique of several arcs. After the irradiation, the film which was sandwitched between the phantom sections was developed and the degree of coincidence between the center of the radiation distribution with the target point represented by the hole in the film was measured. In the treatment of the actual patients, the way of determining the stereotactic coordinates with CT localizers and angiograuhic localizers was the same as the phantom study. After the correction of the discrepancy between two sets of coordinates, we proceeded to the irradiation of the actual patient. Results : In the phantom study, the agreement between the center of the radiation distribution and the localized target point was very good. By measuring optical density profiles of the sandwitched film along axes that intersected the target point, authors could confirm the discrepancy was 0.3 mm. In the treatment of an actual patient, the discrepancy between the stereotactic coordinates with CT localizers and angiographic localizers was 0.6 mm. Conclusion : By verifying stereotactic target point in actual treatment position prior to irradiation, the accuracy and safety of streotactic radiosurgery procedure were established.

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Impact of the Planning CT Scan Time on the Reflection of the Lung Tumor Motion (전산화단층촬영 주사시간(Scan Time)이 폐종양운동의 재현성에 미치는 영향 분석)

  • Kim Su Ssan;Ha Sung Whan;Choi Eun Kyung;Yi Byong Yong
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.55-63
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    • 2004
  • Purpose : To evaluate the reflection of tumor motion according to the planning CT scan time. Material and Methods : A model of N-shape, which moved aiong the longitudinal axis during the ventilation caused by a mechanical ventilator, was produced. The model was scanned by planning CT, while setting the relative CT scan time (T: CT scan time/ventilatory period) to 0.33, 0.50, 0.67, 0.75, 1.00, 1.337, and 1.537. In addition, three patients with non-small cell lung cancer who received stereotactic radiosurgery In the Department of Radiation Oncology, Asan Medical Center from 03/19/2002 to 05/21/2002 were scanned. Slow (10 Premier, Picker, scan time 2.0 seconds per slice) and fast CT scans (Lightspeed, GE Medical Systems, with a scan time of 0.8 second per slice) were peformed for each patient. The magnitude of reflected movement of the N-shaped model was evaluated by measuring the transverse length, which reflected the movement of the declined bar of the model at each slice. For patients' scans, all CT data sets were registered using a stereotactic body frame scale with the gross tumor volumes delineated in one CT image set. The volume and three-dimensional diameter of the gross tumor volume were measured and analyzed between the slow and fast CT scans. Results : The reflection degree of longitudinal movement of the model increased in proportion to the relative CT scan times below 1.00 7, but remained constant above 1.00 T Assuming the mean value of scanned transverse lengths with CT scan time 1.00 T to be $100\%$, CT scans with scan times of 0.33, 0.50, 0.57, and 0.75 T missed the tumor motion by 30, 27, 20, and $7.0\%$ respectively, Slow (scan time 2.0 sec) and Fast (scan time 0.8 sec) CT scans of three patients with longitudinal movement of 3, 5, and 10 mm measured by fluoroscopy revealed the increases in the diameter along the longitudinal axis Increased by 6.3, 17, and $23\%$ in the slow CT scans. Conculsion : As the relative CT scan time increased, the reflection of the respiratory tumor movement on planning CT also Increased, but remained constant with relative CT scan times above 1.00 T When setting the planning CT scan time above one respiration period (>1.00 T), only the set-up margin is needed to delineate the planning target volume. Therefore, therapeutic ratio can be increased by reducing the radiation dose delivered to normal lung tissue.

Automatic Fracture Detection in CT Scan Images of Rocks Using Modified Faster R-CNN Deep-Learning Algorithm with Rotated Bounding Box (회전 경계박스 기능의 변형 FASTER R-CNN 딥러닝 알고리즘을 이용한 암석 CT 영상 내 자동 균열 탐지)

  • Pham, Chuyen;Zhuang, Li;Yeom, Sun;Shin, Hyu-Soung
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.31 no.5
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    • pp.374-384
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    • 2021
  • In this study, we propose a new approach for automatic fracture detection in CT scan images of rock specimens. This approach is built on top of two-stage object detection deep learning algorithm called Faster R-CNN with a major modification of using rotated bounding box. The use of rotated bounding box plays a key role in the future work to overcome several inherent difficulties of fracture segmentation relating to the heterogeneity of uninterested background (i.e., minerals) and the variation in size and shape of fracture. Comparing to the commonly used bounding box (i.e., axis-align bounding box), rotated bounding box shows a greater adaptability to fit with the elongated shape of fracture, such that minimizing the ratio of background within the bounding box. Besides, an additional benefit of rotated bounding box is that it can provide relative information on the orientation and length of fracture without the further segmentation and measurement step. To validate the applicability of the proposed approach, we train and test our approach with a number of CT image sets of fractured granite specimens with highly heterogeneous background and other rocks such as sandstone and shale. The result demonstrates that our approach can lead to the encouraging results on fracture detection with the mean average precision (mAP) up to 0.89 and also outperform the conventional approach in terms of background-to-object ratio within the bounding box.

The Actual State and the Utilization for Dental Radiography in Korea (국내 치과방사선의 현황 및 이용 실태)

  • Shin, Gwi-Soon;Kim, You-Hyun;Lee, Bo-Ram;Kim, Se-Young;Lee, Gui-Won;Park, Chang-Seo;Park, Hyok;Chang, Kye-Yong
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.109-120
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    • 2010
  • The purpose of this study was first to analyze the utilization of dental examination through questionnaire to develop a diagnostic reference level of patient doses for dental radiography in korea. 77 dental institutions were classified into three groups: A group for the dental hospitals of the college of dentistry (11 institutions), B group for dental hospitals (30 institutions) and C group for dental clinics (36 institutions). The results were as follows : The mean numbers of unit chairs and medical staffs were 140.2, 15.3 and 5.8 sets, 112.6, 7.3 and 1.7 dentists, 3.1, 0.5 and no one radiologic technologists, and 19.7, 12.5 and 3.3 dental hygienists in A, B and C groups, respectively. The mean numbers of dental X-ray equipments were 14.64, 3.21 and 2.19 in A, B and C groups, respectively. Intraoral dental X-ray unit was used the most, the following equipments were panoramic, cephalometric, and cone-beam CT units. The most used X-ray imaging system was also digital system (above 50%) in all three groups. Insight dental film (Kodak, USA) having high sensitivity was routinely used for periapical radiography. The automatic processor was not used in many dental institutions, but the film-holding device was used in many dental institutions. The utilization rates of PACS in A, B and C groups were 90.9%, 83.3% and 16.7% respectively, and the PACS software program was used the most PiView STAR (Infinitt, Korea). The annual mean number of radiographic cases in one dental institution in 2008 for A group was 6.8 times and 21.2 times more than those for B and C groups, and periapical and panoramic radiographs were taken mostly. Tube voltage (kVp) and tube current (mA) for periapical radiography were similar in all three groups, but exposure time in C group was 12.0 times and 3.5 times longer than those in B and C groups. The amount of radiation exposure in C group, in which dental hygienists take dental radiographs, was more than those in other groups. The exposure parameters for panoramic radiography were similar in all three groups. In conclusion, the exposure parameters in dental radiography should be determined with reference level, not past experiences. Use of automatic processor and film-holding devices reduces the radiation exposure in film system. The quality assurance of dental equipments are necessary for the reduction of the patient dose and the improvement of X-ray image quality.

A Study on the Market Structure Analysis for Durable Goods Using Consideration Set:An Exploratory Approach for Automotive Market (고려상표군을 이용한 내구재 시장구조 분석에 관한 연구: 자동차 시장에 대한 탐색적 분석방법)

  • Lee, Seokoo
    • Asia Marketing Journal
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.157-176
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    • 2012
  • Brand switching data frequently used in market structure analysis is adequate to analyze non- durable goods, because it can capture competition between specific two brands. But brand switching data sometimes can not be used to analyze goods like automobiles having long term duration because one of main assumptions that consumer preference toward brand attributes is not changed against time can be violated. Therefore a new type of data which can precisely capture competition among durable goods is needed. Another problem of using brand switching data collected from actual purchase behavior is short of explanation why consumers consider different set of brands. Considering above problems, main purpose of this study is to analyze market structure for durable goods with consideration set. The author uses exploratory approach and latent class clustering to identify market structure based on heterogeneous consideration set among consumers. Then the relationship between some factors and consideration set formation is analyzed. Some benefits and two demographic variables - age and income - are selected as factors based on consumer behavior theory. The author analyzed USA automotive market with top 11 brands using exploratory approach and latent class clustering. 2,500 respondents are randomly selected from the total sample and used for analysis. Six models concerning market structure are established to test. Model 1 means non-structured market and model 6 means market structure composed of six sub-markets. It is exploratory approach because any hypothetical market structure is not defined. The result showed that model 1 is insufficient to fit data. It implies that USA automotive market is a structured market. Model 3 with three market structures is significant and identified as the optimal market structure in USA automotive market. Three sub markets are named as USA brands, Asian Brands, and European Brands. And it implies that country of origin effect may exist in USA automotive market. Comparison between modal classification by derived market structures and probabilistic classification by research model was conducted to test how model 3 can correctly classify respondents. The model classify 97% of respondents exactly. The result of this study is different from those of previous research. Previous research used confirmatory approach. Car type and price were chosen as criteria for market structuring and car type-price structure was revealed as the optimal structure for USA automotive market. But this research used exploratory approach without hypothetical market structures. It is not concluded yet which approach is superior. For confirmatory approach, hypothetical market structures should be established exhaustively, because the optimal market structure is selected among hypothetical structures. On the other hand, exploratory approach has a potential problem that validity for derived optimal market structure is somewhat difficult to verify. There also exist market boundary difference between this research and previous research. While previous research analyzed seven car brands, this research analyzed eleven car brands. Both researches seemed to represent entire car market, because cumulative market shares for analyzed brands exceeds 50%. But market boundary difference might affect the different results. Though both researches showed different results, it is obvious that country of origin effect among brands should be considered as important criteria to analyze USA automotive market structure. This research tried to explain heterogeneity of consideration sets among consumers using benefits and two demographic factors, sex and income. Benefit works as a key variable for consumer decision process, and also works as an important criterion in market segmentation. Three factors - trust/safety, image/fun to drive, and economy - are identified among nine benefit related measure. Then the relationship between market structures and independent variables is analyzed using multinomial regression. Independent variables are three benefit factors and two demographic factors. The result showed that all independent variables can be used to explain why there exist different market structures in USA automotive market. For example, a male consumer who perceives all benefits important and has lower income tends to consider domestic brands more than European brands. And the result also showed benefits, sex, and income have an effect to consideration set formation. Though it is generally perceived that a consumer who has higher income is likely to purchase a high priced car, it is notable that American consumers perceived benefits of domestic brands much positive regardless of income. Male consumers especially showed higher loyalty for domestic brands. Managerial implications of this research are as follow. Though implication may be confined to the USA automotive market, the effect of sex on automotive buying behavior should be analyzed. The automotive market is traditionally conceived as male consumers oriented market. But the proportion of female consumers has grown over the years in the automotive market. It is natural outcome that Volvo and Hyundai motors recently developed new cars which are targeted for women market. Secondly, the model used in this research can be applied easier than that of previous researches. Exploratory approach has many advantages except difficulty to apply for practice, because it tends to accompany with complicated model and to require various types of data. The data needed for the model in this research are a few items such as purchased brands, consideration set, some benefits, and some demographic factors and easy to collect from consumers.

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Study on the Relationships Among Perceived Shopping Values, Brand Equity, and Store Loyalty of Korean and Chinese Consumers: A Case of Large Discount Store (한국과 중국 소비자의 쇼핑 경험가치 지각과 브랜드자산 및 점포충성도의 관계에 관한 비교 연구: 대형 할인점을 중심으로)

  • Hwang, Soonho;Oh, Jongchul;Yoon, Sungjoon
    • Asia Marketing Journal
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.209-237
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    • 2012
  • 1. Research Purpose Consumers rely on various clues to evaluate their decision to patronize a retail store, and store brand is one of them (Dodds 1991; Grewal et al. 1998). As consumers find ever increasing variety of contact points connecting them to specific store, the value of experiential shopping as a means of increasing store's brand equity warrants greater attention from scholars of retail management. Retail shopping values are credited for creating not only cognitive experiences like brand knowledge but also emotional experiences such as shopping pleasure and pride (Schmitt 1999). This may be because today's consumers place emphasis on emotional values associated with shopping pleasure, lifestyle brought to life, brand relationship, and store atmosphere more than utilitarian values such as product quality and price. Many previous literature found this to be true (Ahn and Lee 2011; Mathwick et al. 2001). This brings forth important research issues and questions regarding the roles of shopping experiential values and brand equity with regard to consumer's retail patronage choice. However, despite this importance, research on this area remains quite inadequate (Hwang 2010). For this reason, this study aims to verify the relationships among experiential shopping values, retail store brand equity and tries to link that with customer loyalty by surveying large-scale discount store shoppers in Korea and China. 2. Research Contents In order to carry out the research objective, this study conducted comprehensive literature survey on previous literature by discussing major findings and implications with regard to shopping values and retail brand equity and store loyalty. For data collection, researcher employed survey-based research method where data were collected in two major cities of Korea (Seoul) and China (Bejing) and sampling frame was based on patrons of large discount stores in both countries. Specific research questions raised in this study are as follows; RQ1: How do Korean and Chinese consumers differently perceive of shopping values regarding shopping at large-sclae discount stores? RQ2: Are there differences in consumers' emotional consumption propensities? RQ3: Do Korean and Chinese consumers display different perceptions of brand equity towards large-scale discount stores? RQ4: Are there differences in relationships between shopping values and brand equity for Korean and Chinese consumers? For statistical analysis, SPSS17.0, AMOS17.0 and SmartPLS were employed. 3. Research Results The data collected through face-to-face survey conducted in Seoul and Bejing revealed appropriate data validity and reliability as a result of exploratory/confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests, andh SEM model yielding satisfactory model fitness. The result of the study may be summarized by three main points. First, as a result of testing differences in consumption dispositions, Chinese consumers showed higher scores in aesthetic and symbolic dispositions, whereas Korean consumers scored higher in hedonic disposition. Second, testing on perceptions toward brand equity of large discount stores showed that Korean consumers exhibited more positive perceptions of brand awareness and brand image than Chinese counterparts. Third, the result of exploratory factor analysis on the experiential shopping values revealed different factors for each country. On Korean side, consumer interest value, aesthetic value, and hedonic value were prominent, whereas on Chinese side, hedonic value, aesthetic value, consumer interest value, and service excellence value were found salient. 4. Research Implications While many previous studies on inter-country differences in retailing area mainly focused on cultural dispositions or orientations to explain the differences, this study sets itself apart by specifically targeting individual consumer's shopping values from an experiential viewpoint. The study result provides important theoretical as well as practical implications for large-scale discount store, especially the impotance of fully exploring the linkage between shopping values and brand equity, which has significant influence on loyalty. Therefore, the specific implications deriving from the result shed some important insights upon the consumption values based on shopping experiences and brand equity. The differences found in store shoppers between the two countries may also provide useful insights for Korean and Chinese retailers who plan to expand their operations globally. Related strategic implications derived from this study is the importance of localizing retail strategy which is based on the differences found in experiential shopping values between the two country groups. Especially the finding that Chinese consumers value consumer interest and service excellence, whereas Koreans place importance on hedonic or aesthetic values indicates the need to differentiate the consumer's psychographical profiles when it comes to expanding retail operations globally. Particularly important will be to pursue price-orienated strategy in China in consideration of the high emphasis on consumer interests and service excellence, but to emphasize the symbolic aspects of brand equity in Korea by maximizing the brand equity associated with aesthetic values and hedonic orientations. 5. Recommendations This study focused on generic retail branded discount stores in both countries, thus making it difficult to tease out store-specific strategies based on specific retail brands. Future studies may benefit fro employing actual brand names in survey questionnaire to verify relationship between shopping values and brand-based store strategy. As with other studies of this nature, this study needs to strengthen the result's generalizability by selecting respondents from a wider spectrum of respondents.

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