• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.119-138
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• 2016

Since the Industrial Revolution, which made the mass production and mass distribution of standardized goods possible, machine-made (manufactured) products have accounted for the majority of the market. However, in recent years, the phenomenon of purchasing even more expensive handmade products has become a noticeable trend as consumers have started to acknowledge the value of handmade products, such as the craftsman's commitment, belief in their quality and scarcity, and the sense of self-esteem from having them,. Consumer interest in these handmade products has shown explosive growth and has been coupled with the recent development of three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies. Etsy.com is the world's largest online handmade platform. It is no different from any other online platform; it provides an online market where buyers and sellers virtually meet to share information and transact business. However, Etsy.com is different in that shops within this platform only deal with handmade products in a variety of categories, ranging from jewelry to toys. Since its establishment in 2005, despite being limited to handmade products, Etsy.com has enjoyed rapid growth in membership, transaction volume, and revenue. Most recently in April 2015, it raised funds through an initial public offering (IPO) of more than 1.8 billion USD, which demonstrates the huge potential of online handmade platforms. After the success of Etsy.com, various types of online handmade platforms such as Handmade at Amazon, ArtFire, DaWanda, and Craft is ART have emerged and are now competing with each other, at the same time, which has increased the size of the market. According to Deloitte's 2015 holiday survey on which types of gifts the respondents plan to buy during the holiday season, about 16% of U.S. consumers chose "homemade or craft items (e.g., Etsy purchase)," which was the same rate as those for the computer game and shoes categories. This indicates that consumer interests in online handmade platforms will continue to rise in the future. However, this high interest in the market for handmade products and their platforms has not yet led to academic research. Most extant studies have only focused on machine-made products and intelligent services for them. This indicates a lack of studies on handmade products and their intelligent services on virtual platforms. Therefore, this study used signaling theory and prior research on the effects of sellers' characteristics on their performance (e.g., total sales and price premiums) in the buyer-seller relationship to identify the key influencing e-Image factors (e.g., reputation, size, information sharing, and length of relationship). Then, their impacts on the performance of shops within the online handmade platform were empirically examined; the dataset was collected from Etsy.com through the application of web harvesting technology. The results from the structural equation modeling revealed that the reputation, size, and information sharing have significant effects on the total sales, while the reputation and length of relationship influence price premiums. This study extended the online platform research into online handmade platform research by identifying key influencing e-Image factors on within-platform shop's total sales and price premiums based on signaling theory and then performed a statistical investigation. These findings are expected to be a stepping stone for future studies on intelligent online handmade services as well as handmade products themselves. Furthermore, the findings of the study provide online handmade platform operators with practical guidelines on how to implement intelligent online handmade services. They should also help shop managers build their marketing strategies in a more specific and effective manner by suggesting key influencing e-Image factors. The results of this study should contribute to the vitalization of intelligent online handmade services by providing clues on how to maximize within-platform shops' total sales and price premiums.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.59-68
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• 2015

It's important to analyse effects of word of mouth for making its impact higher in performance of motions pictures. And it's required to combine variety sales activities like free gift, promotion goods and price discount with word of mouth for the box office of film. The purpose of this study is to compare between groups classified by demographic characteristic into effects from word of mouth and methods of sales promotion in intention of watching film. On the other hand existing studies on sales activity and word of mouth were one-sided in theoretical background, a meaning of this study is theorizing a social phenomenon about sales promotion of movie giving actual examples that currently are effected by production company, Movie theaters, distribution company and affiliated company. For this purpose, it conducted a survey targeting 500 students in B university in Seoul city and 379 answers got received, and it proceeded this study with 369 answers except 10 inaccurate ones. Creating questionnaires with Likert 5 point scale, it decided that case of substantial inclination was 5 points and inverse one is 1 point. Doing analysis T and ANOVA according to male and female, kinds of major study and number of average monthly watching movie, it analysed the test results after comparison analysis between classified group. The results are summarized as follows: First, offering premiums is more effective by masculine than feminine, but situation of free gift is an opposite result. Second, there are no differences of effects word of mouth and methods of sales promotion by majority departments. Third, there are much differences between groups classified by average number of watching film in a month into effects from word of mouth and methods of sales promotion. Group of watching film more 3 times in a month is more effective than the other groups in intension of watching film by word of mouth. Fourth, word of mouth is great factor to increase intention of watching film and second one is discount on the price.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.43-53
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• 2013

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) support policies for facilitating traditional markets, especially with respect to customer acquisition and maintenance, and to investigate the factors affecting CRM. Research design, data, and methodology - We analyzed the CRM efficiency of traditional markets in 16 cities and provinces in Korea on the basis of DEA analysis and Malmquist productivity analysis. The DEA model calculates a ratio of the weighted mean of various inputs to the weighted mean of various outputs and measures the efficiency of a specific decision making unit (DMU), which is compared to the reference group that has a similar input-output structure. The input variables are coupon, event, parcel service, premiums, while is the number of customers per day. Further, through regression analysis, we analyzed CRM-related factors affecting traditional markets' customer appeal and revenue growth. Results - We obtained the results of the efficiency of traditional markets in 16 provinces. The traditional markets in Seoul, Busan, and Jeju were found to be efficient in a model CCR that used the number of customers per day as an output variable, while Chungbuk, Jeonbuk Province, and According to the results of the DEA analysis and Malmquist productivity analysis, large cities such as Seoul, Busan, and Jeju showed efficiency in CRM-related investment businesses in traditional markets for attracting customers. The Malmquist analysis results confirmed that the productivity of traditional markets increased from 2008 to 2010. The results of the regression analysis revealed that the "customer acquisition/maintenance factor" and the "offering of customer convenience facility factor" were significant to the daily average number of customers, which is a dependent variable. The results of the test with the mediating variable, "number of customers," and the final dependent variable, "sales revenue," were rejected. However, the variable "customer acquisition /maintenance" was found to affect sales revenue positively. Conclusions - It is necessary to enhance the business not only for promotional activities to attract customers, but also to strengthen customer relationships among CRM businesses, such as through the management of key customers. The regression analysis results showed that CRM businesses have yet to produce an increase in sales revenues in traditional markets. Therefore, to help customers who visit traditional markets to keep buying products, it is necessary to prepare various investment methods and provide support to improve "customer loyalty." This study has a limitation in terms of CRM-related statistics. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to conduct a survey of customers who use traditional markets to analyze the markets by type and size as well as the CRM-related factors. Based on the analysis, we will try to perform a variety of statistical analyses, including structural equations.