• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.41-52
• /
• 2015

Purpose - Given globalization, the new niche market of medical tourism is likely to experience sustainable growth for various reasons, such as aging populations and a shift in the medical consumerism paradigm toward prevention. Importantly, understanding medical customers' behavior is necessary to benefit from a competitive advantage in this industry. The existing research primarily accessed the key factors of medical quality and costs to explain health customers' behavior but is limited in terms of enabling an understanding of the decision process. This limitation exists because, given the intangibility and greater associated risks in the highly professional industry of international medical tourism, most customers lack the knowledge and experience needed to evaluate the central factors-such as the medical competence of health care countries-before purchases. Therefore, they actively search for useful information through various distributions to reduce uncertainty and to make better choices. Interestingly, most of these information channels are associated with word-of-mouth (WOM). However, no evidence is found in the literature to estimate the effect of WOM in the medical tourism field. Thus, this study focuses on WOM to explore its interaction with key medical characteristic factors and the attractiveness of destinations referred to by sources. This study also affects customers' evaluations and, in turn, influences their intention to seek health care services abroad. Research design, data, and methodology - The literature review addressed an interesting research model for estimating the relations among WOM, medical characteristics, attractiveness, and customers' choice intention regarding international health care. In the key economic regions in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Guangdong, 2,500 survey questionnaires were distributed to potential customers of different ages, education, and income levels. A resulting 1,717 (68.68 percent of the original 2,500) usable surveys were obtained for analysis. Moderated regression analysis was used to determine the effects of WOM in the decision process regarding international health care destinations. Results - The results indicate that WOM is a good moderator of the relationships between the factors evaluated by sources and customers. More importantly, the WOM effects reflect the factors of tie strength, credibility, and vividness. The results also reveal that, given the moderating role of WOM, the intention of potential Chinese customers to seek the referred health care country varies according to the medical characteristics of medical competency and reputation as evaluated by customers. In contrast, the travel attractiveness of the attractions, facilities, accessibility, and social environment are critical determinants of destination choice intention. Conclusions - The moderating role of WOM has been confirmed through the international healthcare destination selection process. Medical tourism managers should user WOM as an effective marketing tool for industry development. Specially, marketers should consider the effects of WOM determinants, such as tie strength, credibility, and vividness, to develop an effective strategy. Furthermore, this study estimates the factors that affect customers' selection of medical tourism destinations. Health care managers or policy makers should consider a broad variety of variables that may attract more Chinese customers to international health care.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.119-134
• /
• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand a variety of intervention studies to prevent smoking by adolescents in U.S. and find out implications for Korea. Methods: This study reviewed articles found in the internet and analysed the data of US DHHS and CDC. Results: The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) is a national survey periodically conducted to assess school health policies and programs of U.S. The main components of SHPPS are health education and physical education, health services, mental health and social services, school policies, and school environments. The CDC guidelines for school health programs to prevent tobacco use and addiction are composed of policy, instruction, curriculum, training, family involvement, tobacco-use cessation efforts, and evaluation. School-based interventions to prevent smoking can be classified into the categories of information-giving curricula, social competence curricula, social influence approaches, combined methods draw on social competence and social influence approaches and multi-modal programmes and Youth Empowerment study. The key programs for adolescent smoking prevention are ALERT Project, HSPP, TNT Project, MPP, NC YES. Conclusions: As smoking is often the first step of unhealthy behaviour such as alcohol drinking, illegal drugs, and violence, smoking prevention programmes for adolescents in U.S. have been comprehensive school-based health programs. In smoking prevention programs for adolescents, CDC plays a critical role by supporting survey, research, policy, and funds. The effectiveness of the programs was high when it was based on school and involved parents, community, and mass media. As the effect of each programme is not expected to last for a long time, consistent repetition of these interventions is essential. Current smoking prevention programs for adolescents are exploring the empowerment approach focused on the active involvement of participants rather than traditional approaches using order and discipline.

• Information Systems Review
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.49-73
• /
• 2010

The lack of customer satisfaction and trust remains a key barrier to electronic commerce. From the standpoint of online merchants, it is critical to build consumer trust by lessening sources of apprehensions and uneasiness associated with online transactions. This paper explores the relationships between customer satisfaction and intermediary's trustworthiness factors in B2C e-marketplaces. It also aims at examining the effects of consumer characteristics, including propensity to trust and Internet shopping self-efficacy, upon trust and purchase intentions. To meet the research objectives, an empirical study has been conducted by surveying 223 active e-marketplace buyers in Korea. The findings of the present research indicate that customer satisfaction positively affects all the three attributes of trustworthiness (i.e., competence, benevolence, and integrity), and more specifically it has a quite strong association with benevolence. In addition, propensity to trust has no significant influence on trust or purchasing intentions, and only affects benevolence and integrity with no direct effect on competence. Finally, Internet shopping self-efficacy was found to affect both trust and purchasing intentions, suggesting that e-marketplaces seek an online strategy designed to strengthen loyalty for customers with high self-efficacy, while they use a strategy to improve the usability and usefulness of their website to attract customers with low self-efficacy. The paper concludes with implications and directions for future research.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.1785-1794
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study is to examine differences between nursery teachers and kindergarten teachers in their perception on key elements of effective interactions and enhanced teaching competence. The subject of the study were 143 early childhood teachers in the Y region of Gyeonggi-do. The collected data was processed through frequency and percentage. For difference test, ${\chi}^2$ tests were conducted. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, both nursery teachers and kindergarten teachers perceived that listening and playing were the most important factors in effective interactions between young children and teachers. However, nursery teachers perceived the interaction through skin-ship and complimenting to be more important whereas kindergarten teachers perceived questioning and complimenting as necessary. For the teaching criteria, nursery teachers put more weights on playing while kindergarten teachers focus more on explaining and coorperating. In addition, about evaluation methods, nursery teachers perceived self-evaluation as important, whereas kindergarten teachers perceived observation notes as important. Second, about the elements to strengthen teaching competence, nursery teachers perceived that observation records should be utilized for understanding interest or desire. They also believe that development analysis and teaching methods should be improved through systematical teaching plan and evaluation and that enhancement of teaching material and education are necessary. In contrast, kindergarten teachers perceived that observation records should be utilized for teaching plan and development analysis and teaching methods should be improved through participating in the meetings related to career and education. They believe that providing a prize money through supervising evaluation is necessary.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.63-82
• /
• 2014

This qualitative study investigated how a music therapy program was experienced by juvenile offenders of school violence who were under a conditional suspension of indictment. Six adolescents participated in 12 consecutive weeks of group music therapy sessions, and were interviewed individually based on open-ended questions addressing key constructs of self-determination theory, which are autonomy, competence and relatedness. Using this framework, data was deductively analyzed using a modified grounded theory. The analysis also investigated how such impact of music therapy transferred or expanded to their everyday life. The analysis revealed that the properties of autonomy included making choices of songs and instruments, deciding how to play, and expressing opinions about music. Competence was associated with developing skills on musical instruments, creating own music, concentrating on their own project, and demonstrating their abilities. Relatedness were related to collaborating, exchanging opinions, and playing a part in musical projects. In addition, it was found that they also experienced shifts in consciousness and behavior, expanded self-awareness, and mutual exchange and group support. Lastly, it was revealed that the positive emotional and behavioral changes they experienced in music also appeared in their school life.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.490-494
• /
• 2011

Rice stripe virus (RSV) has been the main viral disease of rice plant in western coastal region of Korea since 2000. The control of the vector insect, small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus), is the most effective management method of the persistently-transmitted viral disease. Thus, ecological study between RSV and the vector insect was needed and investigated in order to make effective control plan, especially about study on the feeding and transmission of the virus by the vector insect. Each larval stage of vector insect differed in vector competence; larvae over 4th stage were shown as higher transmission after feeding on RSV-infected rice plant. These 4th and 5th larvae had higher transmission rates, 69.2% and 67.9% respectively, than 44.8% of the adult stage. The vector competence, however, was changed according to temperature; the highest transmission rate was 93.3% on $30^{\circ}C$ in comparison to 70.6% on $25^{\circ}C$ and 43.8% on $20^{\circ}C$.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.175-189
• /
• 2017

Science and technologies develop rapidly and in conditions where it is difficult to predict both domestically and abroad, the rapidly changing business environment demands innovation. To strengthen the businesses' competitive edge, the key challenge is not to control but rather grant autonomy, allowing it to anticipate the future and actively deal with. This will allow to train and manage talented people with competence and abilities, which all links to the concept of the Super Leadership. Currently, our society is in the change due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution wave and paradigm related with high-tech industry, hence is in desperate need for creativeness and speed management. It is a time where risk and challenges coexist and is not a standardized environment. Businesses must make efforts in managing human resources and allow them to have leaderships compatible with the current era, giving them opportunities to face challenges. The necessity for Super Leadership is emphasized especially in the industry-orientated era, where new revolutionary technologies are emerging and existing technologies are being advanced and maximized, to cultivate the potentials of the members and secure competitive superiority for the best management and creation. Therefore, in this research, the empirical analysis of the relationship between Super Leadership of small and medium enterprises and the business outcome was conducted. Research outcome states that, in order to create a sustainable business outcome, enterprises need to invest more in developing leaderships and in accordance with it, promote talent. In order to survive and sustain growth in the period of endless competition like today, it is concluded that it is imperative to establish a powerful Super Leadership that will endeavor to engage and maximize the competence of members of the organization.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.125-135
• /
• 2020

Dalmun was a top star entertainer who enjoyed the greatest popularity in the Chosun Dynasty in the 18th century by performing dance, singing and telling jokes. This study focuses on the fact that there has been no precedent research of actor studies or artist management perspective because he has been discussed only in the fields of literature and history. Therefore, we selected "Dalmunga" written by Hong Shinyu and "Gwangmunjajeon" created by Park Jiwon, which contained the richest expressions of his art world in the old relevant literature, and then analyzed his artistic capabilities using the content analysis method that combine frequency analysis(FA) and semantic analysis(SA) by applying the Actor Evaluation Model developed in 2015. As a result of FA, Dalmun's artistic competence factors (64%) were far more emphasized than artistic achievement factors (36%). It was considered that the atmosphere of Chosun society was reflected under the influence of Confucianism, which emphasized the fostering personality and virtue. According to the SA, a positive view (53.1%) dominated a negative perspective (24.5%) for each of his artistic capability factors. It shows that in contrast to Dalmun's destitute lower-class artist status, his self-abolition and transcendental life have become an inspiration to others. In conclusion, artistic devotion, perfect artistry, good humanity and spirit, commendable words and demeanors that cause'good influence' derived from Dalmun's unique competence are regarded as a key element of self-management, especially for popular artists suffering from recent misbehavior and deviant issues.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.51-79
• /
• 2010

This study is based on recent advances in celebrity traits and self-determination researches to address how consumers develop the strong attachment to a "star brand," and the effect of consumer's attachment to star brand on evaluation of product brand sponsored by the star. We use the consumers' need satisfaction and star traits as major causal factors that influence consumer's attachment to a star brand. Specifically this article uses autonomy need, relatedness need, competence need as the dimensions of need satisfaction and expertness, trustworthiness, likeability, and similarity as the key star traits. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of these factors on the consumer's attachment to star brand and how consumer's evaluation of product brand sponsored by star is moderated by the fitness level of between the image of star brand and the image of sponsored product brand. To collect the data, survey was taken in a University located in Incheon. Collected data are analysed using SPSS 15.0 and AMOS 7.0. The results show that when the star brand is perceived as more trustworthy and likeable, and satisfies autonomy need and relatedness need, the consumer is more likely to become strongly attached to him or her. The hypothesis that consumer's attachment to star brand will have the positive influence on the evaluation of product brand sponsored by star is supported. And hypothesis that consumer's attitude to a sponsored product brand is moderated by the fitness level of between the image of star brand and the image of sponsored product brand is also supported. The empirical results imply that star brand to which consumers are attached may have the significant positive impact on the consumers' evaluation process of endorsed product brand and purchase behavior, and that marketers should consider need dimensions which target consumers want to satisfy and the fitness level of between the image of star brand being considered as endorser and the image of product brand.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.1-21
• /
• 2022

Entrepreneurship has been emphasized in social and national importance. However, survival rate of domestic startups is relatively low. Therefore, it is urgent to come up with a plan to increase the survival rate by improving the satisfaction level of early start-ups. In this study, we investigated the effect of start-up motivation, start-up competence, and start-up support policies of early start-up companies on start-up satisfaction and the moderating effect of social support. Startup motivation were divided into economic motivation and self-actualization motivation in detail. Start-up competence was divided into experience competency and marketing competency in detail. The start-up support policy was divided into start-up fund support and start-up consulting support. An empirical analysis was conducted by receiving online and offline questionnaires from 250 managers of early start-up companies within 7 years of founding. As a result, economic motivation, self-actualization motivation, experience competency, marketing competency, and start-up fund support had a significant positive (+) effect on start-up satisfaction. However, start-up consulting support did not have a significant effect. In addition, the size of the influence on startup Satisfaction was in the order of self-actualization motivation, experience competency, marketing competency, startup fund support, and economic motivation. The moderating effect of social support was found in economic motivation, self-actualization motivation, and experience competency. However, the moderating effect of marketing competency, start-up fund support, and start-up consulting support was not tested. Through the research results, the academic implications that self-actualization motivation and experience competency are key factors in enhancing start-up satisfaction were suggested. In addition, practical implications were suggested that it is necessary to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education programs and entrepreneurship consulting support systems that can maximize the self-realization and experience capabilities of early entrepreneurs.