• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 2014

Purpose - The Korean government has revised the distribution industry development law to regulate large-scale retailer operations to protecting medium- and small-scale retailers and traditional markets. According to the revised law, large-scale retailers must follow regulations on operating hours and compulsory store closures two days per month. Based on the revised distribution industry development law, most local governments regulate operation hours and they have adopted compulsory closure programs for large-scale retail stores. However, it is argued that fresh food producers suffer from a decrease in sales based on the compulsory closure of stores operated by large-scale retailers. Large-scale retailers reduce their fresh food orders from agricultural and fishery producers because of the compulsory store closures. Fresh food producers also suffer from a decrease in prices because reduced orders lead to a decrease in auction prices based on the availability of excess goods in wholesale markets. This paper investigates the effects of operation regulations for large-scale retailers on agricultural producers by surveying agricultural and fishery producer organizations. Research design, data, methodology - A survey was conducted on 117 producer organizations of fruits and vegetables, cereals, fisheries, and livestock products from September 10 to October 4, 2012. Survey items are annual sales, shares of sales accounted for by large-scale retailers, reduction of orders and prices from large-scale retailers, methods to deal with the sales reduction, unfair trade practices of large-scale retailers, opinion of the large-scale retailer regulations, and so on. The average sales of the sampled producer organizations are 13.7 billion won and the average share of sales accounted for by large-scale retailers is 35.4%. Results - Survey results show that the sample producer organizations' sales decreased 10.1% because of the compulsory closures of stores operated by large-scale retailers. It is estimated that the total sales of producer organizations decreased 371.2 billion won because of the regulations on the operation of large-scale retailers. In addition to the direct effect of a sales decrease due to order reduction, agricultural and fishery producer organizations suffered from the secondary effect of price reduction in wholesale markets. When orders from large-scale retailers decreased, most agricultural and fishery producer organizations shipped redundant products to wholesale markets, decreasing auction prices. It was estimated that the price received decreased 21.9% when sold in other marketing channels. As producer organization sales decreased, it was reported that the labor force employed by producer organizations also decreased by 15.1%. Therefore, we can conclude that the regulations for large-scale retailer operations resulted in negative impacts on agricultural producers. Conclusions - Although the sales reduction due to the regulations for large-scale retailer operations are not great, the cumulative effects due to the continued compulsory closure of stores operated by large-scale retailers could be great. This paper suggests governmental programs that could help agricultural producer organizations to find new and effective marketing channels such as direct marketing, farmers' markets, exports, Internet shopping, and so on.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.203-213
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• 2015

Recently, online grocery shopping has been increasing with the development of internet, mobile, and IT technology due to the proportion of consumers changes like increasing single households and double-income couples. Therefore, online sales from distributors with offline stores have also increased, and the offline retailers are facing their limits in dealing with store-based online channel they have carried out. Domestic offline retailers benchmarked overseas advanced retailers to solve this problem by reviewing about developing the online-only distribution center. However, much investment is needed in order to operate the distribution center with the new concept from abroad. In this study, we have reviewed the current online grocery market trend and the theory related to developing distribution system of the online mall. For offline retailers, we have reviewed the case which developed the distribution center applied to the nation's first online-only distribution center. The purpose of this study is reducing trial and error for local retailers in developing online-only distribution centers and suggesting ways to improve investment effect.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.37-46
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• 2011

Since the Korean retail industry was made accessible to the big conglomerates and foreign retail companies, local traditional markets have faced serious problems. To sustain the local traditional markets' survival, the Korean government established various remedial policies for addressing, and many scholars published articles to suggest how to find solutions to, the problem. Unfortunately, the results have not been satisfactory. The purpose of this study is to find another way to help the Korean traditional retail market, from the view point of the Green Growth Policy, an initiative designed to address environmentally balanced economic growth in Korea. In order to survive and to maintain sustainable growth, it is incumbent upon retailers in the traditional market to understand the concept of the Green Growth Policy. A survey was conducted as a means of testing the degree of awareness of the Green Growth Policy, as well as determining the relationship between the degree of awareness and the degree of organizational commitment by the retailers in the local traditional markets. Interestingly, we were able to detect some of the features (e.g., they were distinguished by the elderly and the young, as well as low level of education and high level of education) in the traditional market retailers' demographic characteristics. We utilized the analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical method to simultaneously compare the differences in retailers' demographic characteristics; the results were as follows: Overall, the results showed that the awareness of the Green Growth Policy, the degree of trust in the government's policy, levels of self-efficacy, and levels of organizational commitment were higher with the older traditional market retailers than the younger traditional market retailers. Specifically, the degree of trust in government policies (F=9.964,p < .05), levels of self-efficacy (F=5.532,p < .05), and levels of organizational commitment (F=5.697,p < .05) were statistically significant. Moreover, in the portion of the study that addressed the difference between education levels, all the variables were averaged in the higher education category of the traditional market retailers. Specifically, awareness levels of the Green Growth Policy (F=8.564,p < .005) and levels of self-efficacy (F=6.754,p < .005) were statistically significant. These results revealed that the traditional market retailers' demographic characteristics should be considered important factors in order to realize their policy. The results of the study showed the following: 1) The degree of awareness of the government's Green Growth Policy was statistically significant as it related to traditional market retailers' organizational commitment. 2) The degree of trust of the government's policy was significantly moderated between the awareness of the government's Green Growth Policy and the traditional market retailers' organizational commitment. This result demonstrates that the traditional market retailers' awareness of the government's Green Growth Policy will show more organizational commitment with higher levels of trust of the government's policy. 3) It also revealed that traditional market retailers' self-efficacy was fully mediated between the awareness of the Green Growth Policy of the government and traditional market retailers' organizational commitment. The results suggest that the government should show an interest in showing traditional market retailers how to enhance their traditional markets. Implications and future research directions are also discussed.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.221-232
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• 2019

The purpose of this paper is empirically to identify the factors influencing local food purchase intention. And this study compares to the difference between local food consumer and hypermarket consumer's attitudes toward local food, food lifestyle, and subjective norm. Data were collected from 319 local food consumer and 179 hypermarket consumer to measure the following; attitude toward local food; subjective norm; perceived behavioral control; food lifestyles; demographic information. Results showed that local food consumers are significant differences on attitudes towards health, environment, and local economy. Results also found that subjective norm and perceived behavioral control are significant differences between local food consumer and hypermarket consumers. It means that consumers who express a strong intention to purchase local food seems to link to the food lifestyles. The study suggests that producers and retailers need to develp campaigns explaining how consuming local food supports local businesses and farmers, which will reinforce personal values associated with local consumption.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.55-66
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• 2020

Purpose: For bakery retailers that want to enter the Chinese market, this study seeks to draw implications through the analysis of Paris Baguette, Paul Bakery and local competitors. In particular, the study analyzes entry strategies, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the companies. Research design, data and methodology: This study analyzed the Chinese bakery industry and overviewed the policy of bakery industry. The research method utilized Chinese Statistical Yearbook of Food Industry and literature related to Chinese bakery industry. Additionally, this study used case analysis methods for foreign and local bakery enterprises in the bakery industry. Results: During the rapid growth of bakery industry, Paris Baguette made a successful settlement by utilizing localization strategy; while on the contrary, Paul Bakery took a standardization strategy and failed in the Chinese market. Conclusions: Paris Baguette succeeded in launching localized products after thoroughly analyzing products that suit local tastes in China. However, Paul Bakery has been knocked out of the Chinese market for failing to capture the taste of the Chinese people by launching standardized products that reproduce French culture and taste. As such, the Chinese market is huge and differences exist in different provinces, so standardization and localization strategies should be appropriately utilized.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the success factor of local food markets compared to other types of markets such as large discount stores. Methods: SWOT analysis was conducted. In addition to the analysis, we also have interviewed the local farmers and retailers to elaborate the analysis results. Results: The study shows the success factors to the local markets are minimizing the stages of distribution channels, shortening the travel distance from producers to consumers, providing fresh foods, maintaining small amount of production system, and supporting customers. Conclusion: Customer satisfaction is one of the key factors for the successful growth of local food markets. It is strongly recommend to find strategic ways of meeting customer needs since the local food markets are facing tough competition form the large retail stores armed with huge amount of capitals and infrastructures.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2010

Corporate social responsibility has become a very important issue for researchers (Greenfield, 2004; Maignan & Ralston, 2002; McWilliams et al., 2006; Pearce & Doh 2005), and many consider it necessary for businesses to define their role in society and apply social and ethical standards to their businesses (Lichtenstein et al., 2004). As a result, a significant number of retailers have adopted CSR as a strategic tool to promote their businesses. To this end, this study sought to discover U.S. consumers' attitudes and behavior in ethical purchasing and consumption based on their subjective perception and evaluation of a retailer. The objectives of this study include: 1) determine the participants awareness of retailers corporate social responsibility; 2) assess how participants evaluate retailers corporate social responsibility; 3) examine whether participants evaluation process of retailers CSR influence their attitude toward the retailer; and 4) assess if participants attitude toward the retailers CSR influence their purchase behavior. This study does not focus on actual retailers' CSR performance because a consumer's decision making process is based on an individual assessment not an actual fact. This study examines US college students' awareness and evaluations of retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR). Fifty six college students at a major Southeastern university participated in the study. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 26 years old. Content analysis was conducted with open coding and focused coding. Over 100 single-spaced pages of written responses were collected and analyzed. Two steps of coding (i.e., open coding and focused coding) were conducted (Esterberg, 2002). Coding results and analytic memos were used to understand participants' awareness of CSR and their ethical purchasing behavior supported through the selection and inclusion of direct quotes that were extracted from the written responses. Names used here are pseudonyms to protect confidentiality of participants. Participants were asked to write about retailers, their aware-ness of CSR issues, and to evaluate a retailer's CSR performance. A majority (n = 28) of respondents indicated their awareness of CSR but have not felt the need to act on this issue. Few (n=8) indicated that they are aware of this issue but not greatly concerned. Findings suggest that when college students evaluate retailers' CSR performance, they use three dimensions of CSR: employee support, community support, and environmental support. Employee treatment and support were found as an important criterion in evaluation of retailers' CSR. Respondents indicated that their good experience with a retailer as an employee made them have a positive perception and attitude toward the retailer. Regarding employee support four themes emerged: employee rewards and incentives based on performance, working environment, employee education and training program, and employee and family discounts. Well organized rewards and incentives were mentioned as an important attribute. The factors related to the working environment included: how well retailers follow the rules related to working hours, lunch time and breaks was also one of the most mentioned attributes. Regarding community support, three themes emerged: contributing a percentage of sales to the local community, financial contribution to charity organizations, and events for community support. Regarding environments, two themes emerged: recycling and selling organic or green products. It was mentioned in the responses that retailers are trying to do what they can to be environmentally friendly. One respondent mentioned that the company is creating stores that have an environmentally friendly design. Information about what the company does to help the environment can easily be found on the company’s website as well. Respondents have also noticed that the stores are starting to offer products that are organic and environmentally friendly. A retailer was also mentioned by a respondent in this category in reference to how the company uses eco-friendly cups and how they are helping to rebuild homes in New Orleans. The respondents noticed that a retailer offers reusable bags for their consumers to purchase. One respondent stated that a retailer uses its products to help the environment, through offering organic cotton. After thorough analysis of responses, we found that a participant's evaluation of a retailers' CSR influenced their attitudes towards retailers. However, there was a significant gap between attitudes and purchasing behavior. Although the participants had positive attitudes toward retailers CSR, the lack of funds and time influenced their purchase behavior. Overall, half (n=28) of the respondents mentioned that CSR performance affects their purchasing decisions making when shopping. Findings from this study provide support for retailers to consider their corporate social responsibility when developing their image with the consumer. This study implied that consumers evaluate retailers based on employee, community and environmental support. The evaluation, attitude and purchase behavior of consumers seem to be intertwined. That is, evaluation is based on the knowledge the consumer has of the retailers CSR. That knowledge may influence their attitude toward the retailer and thus influence their purchase behavior. Participants also indicated that having CSR makes them think highly of the retailer, but it does not influence their purchase behavior. Price and convenience seem to surpass the importance of CSR among the participants. Implications, recommendations for future research, and limitations of the study are also discussed.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.206-216
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• 2022

This study sought to examine the sustainability criteria found in the global sourcing practices of global fashion retailers. Sustainable supply chain management, with a particular focus on the sustainability criteria of global sourcing, was analyzed. This qualitative study was based on a focus group interview and corporate social responsibility (CSR) annual reports. Eight master categories, 18 middle categories, and 37 bottom categories were extracted. The key categories and their middle categories were as follows: (1) Social compliance (working conditions, employment, safety); (2) Environment concerns (environmental pollution management, eco-friendly production, supply chain environment); (3) Energy efficiency (energy saving program, store environment); (4) Consumer protection (restricted substances management, consumer product safety improvement); (5) Management system (code of conduct, triangle audit system); (6) Community social activities (local community service, voluntary activities, charitable activities); (7) External stakeholder engagement (media & non-governmental organization management, maintenance of relationship with local authority); (8) Brand protection (respect for companies' intellectual property). The findings of this study offer academically significant insights into the sustainability criteria that can be encountered by companies under diverse global sourcing scenarios, revealing that global sourcing by fashion retailers is not merely a means of reducing costs, but a way of generating new jobs and making a social contribution to developing countries. The study's findings also have practical significance, offering guidelines for general CSR activities in the global sourcing process.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.595-608
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• 2008

Although Korean apparel companies have transformed dramatically from contractors to sourcing companies thanks to the rapid growth of local market, relatively little work has been done identifying the determinants and the patterns of global sourcing activities of Korean companies. The purpose of this study was to outline a conceptual model that may be used to organize and guide global sourcing activities of Korean apparel manufacturers and retailers. The conceptual model identified four important factors, cost factor, strategic non-cost factor, firm's internal factor, and global factor, which affect global sourcing strategies and help predict how companies conduct various sourcing activities. The model also identified two sourcing patterns, outsourcing and intra-firm sourcing. In developing the model, literature review on how manufacturers and retailers in diverse areas including global apparel sourcing was conducted. Managerial implications and directions far future study were offered as well.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.123-140
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• 2011

This study analyzed large distributors' trade features with local suppliers and their direct purchase features through the survey and the interview targeting some MDs(Merchandisers) in large retailers responsible for buying fresh foods (agricultural, fishery, livestock and proceeded products). As the result of conducting the survey targeting the large purchase MDs, it was found that when they select local suppliers, they importantly consider the factors of stable products supply, the quality management, the aggressive management attitude, the affordable (cheap) price, and the suggestion of differentiated goods in order. Concerning their direct purchases in local places, their preference toward the direct-purchase traders were higher than that toward vendors and whole markets as their existing major traders. Among the traders for direct purchase, they preferred farm corporations (including agricultural corporations) the most, and followed the National Agricultural Cooperative, and the unit agricultural cooperative in order. Regarding to the trades with suppliers, when they set the trade price, the merchandisers (MDs) of large distributors preferred long-term trades over 2 years, and utilized the factors of market rate(50.9%), production cost(31.2%) and sale price in the same industry(18.0%). For the local distribution organizations to aggressively counteract the changes of distribution environment in the consumption places, it needs some strategies to organize the agricultural production, to expand the production size and to specialize the distribution channels. And the supply system's continuality and stability are required, so it needs to establish the counteract system enabling to supply all year round through the link of production organizations. Additionally, as an effort to intensify the market negotiation ability, it should collect various market information from the consumption places.