• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.239-264
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• 2015

This study aims to investigate the effect of message content and source user identity on information diffusion in Twitter networks. For the empirical study, we collected 11,346 tweets pertaining to the three major mobile telecom carriers in Korea for three months, from September to December 2011. These tweets generated 59,111 retweets (RTs) and were retweeted at least once. Our analysis indicates that information diffusion in Twitter in terms of RT volume is affected primarily by the type of message content, such as the inclusion of corporate social responsibility activities. However, the effect of message content on information diffusion is heterogeneous to the identity of the information source. We argue that user identity affects recipients' perception of the credibility of focal information. Our study offers insights into the information diffusion mechanism in online social networks and provides managerial implications on the strategic utilization of online social networks for marketing communications with customers.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.83-100
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• 2005

In this paper, we investigate the concept of cyber identity built in cyberspace and analyze the effects of general perception toward cyber identity on loyalty and purchase intent. Cyber identity is classified into two types: personal and social cyber identity, and has five components. Avatars and online gaming capability make up personal cyber identity while online communities and instant messenger count as social cyber identity. We regard blog personalities as having both personal and social characteristics. In our survey, we conclude that internet users want to purchase cyber items such as avatars, online game items, and wallpaper pictures to enhance their cyber identities. Based on the survey results , we derive five factors comprising personal cyber identity and social cyber identity using factor analysis and analyze overall effects of cyber identity on loyalty and purchase intention using Structural Equation Model.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.29-42
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• 2019

As online services become more and more popular due to the development of IT, non-face-to-face transactions are continuously increasing rather than face-to-face transactions. The personal identity proofing service(PIPS) based on the alternative method of the resident registration number is used for the purpose of confirming the identity of the other party on the Internet. However, in the case of the current PIPS, the personal information of the PIPS user is excessively provided to the online service provider. As a result, privacy problems of online users, shortage of choice of information providing options, and lack of differentiation of authentication methods are becoming problems. Therefore, this paper proposes a method to improve the PIPS based on the current resident registration number alternative method and to provide a method to differentiate the provision of excessive personal information. In the proposed method, we analyze trends and current status of overseas online PIPS in order to provide a method of providing differentiation of personal information and proposes an effective improvement method applicable to domestic.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.63-86
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• 2019

As the use of ICT became a part of daily social life, online community has emerged as a new type of social organization. Online community is a virtual space which enables many people to participate and contribute together to collective knowledge. Anonymity in online communities can encourage active social participation by people with various social constraints, however, anonymity can also lead to serious social pathology. As a result, it is necessary to study on what is fundamentally influencing human behavior and how people's behavior is controlled in anonymous online community. This study focuses on human identity and investigate the factors affecting human behavior control in anonymous online environment by examining various aspects of identity in online discussion community. This study empirically verifies the causal relationship between factors, including social & technical anonymities, various identity dimensions, intrinsic motivation to participate in the community, group norm conformity, and quality of discussion. It also analyzes the difference between groups by the level of anonymity, gender, age, community usage period, and discussion topic. Based on the findings, this research provides theoretical and practical implications for online community management strategies and a better culture on Internet discussion.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.627-637
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• 2015

As game item trading becomes more popular with the rapid growth of online game market, the market for trading game items by cash has increased up to KRW 1.6 trillion. Thanks to this active market, it has been easy to turn these items and game money into real money. As a result, some malicious users have often attempted to steal other players' rare and valuable game items by using their account. Therefore, this study proposes a detection model through analysis on these account thieves' behavior in the Massive Multiuser Online Role Playing Game(MMORPG). In case of online game identity theft, the thieves engage in economic activities only with a goal of stealing game items and game money. In this pattern are found particular sequences such as item production, item sales and acquisition of game money. Based on this pattern, this study proposes a detection model. This detection model-based classification revealed 86 percent of accuracy. In addition, trading patterns when online game identity was stolen were analyzed in this study.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.117-144
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• 2008

Lots of virtual communities and online businesses presently derive their primary sources of revenues through advertising, but nevertheless are plagued with marginal profitability though they might possess a significant user base. In the light of the need for an efficacious business model, there have been recent insights of an online community in particular reaping profits through an innovative and lucrative revenue generation method that earns by selling digital items. There have been some obvious evidences (e.g., Cyworld, SecondLife, Habo Hotel, etc.) that online communities can be profitable through their unique business model of selling digital items. However, there is lack of understanding about the motivation of purchasing digital items. This study tries to identify the main motivators of digital item purchases based on social/individual identity theory and self-presentation theory. "Digital items", otherwise known as "virtual assets", may include online avatars, accessories for the avatars, decorative ornaments like furniture, digital wallpapers, skins, background music and virtual weapons used for Internet games. These digital items are employed by users for representation and articulation in the online space, especially to create and enhance their online profiles in web pages and games. Prices for digital items typically range from a few cents to a few dollars each. Based on the theoretical framework like social identity theory and self-presentation theory, we developed the research model and proposed seven hypotheses. An analysis of 225 members of Cyworld found that digital item purchase intention in virtual world is affected by both members' need for self-presentation and need for affiliation. We also found that the need for self-presentation is significantly increased by innovativeness of members, community group norm, and community involvement. We concluded that the need for self-presentation could be a key variable for profitable business model in online community service industry. However, neither individual self-efficacy nor the need for affiliation significantly influenced the need for self-presentation which triggers purchase intention of digital items. In term of the theoretical and practical contribution, this study can be a pioneering empirical research that investigates the purchase intention of digital items based on social identity theory and self-presentation theory in the online context. Also, the findings of our study are valuable and practical for practitioners in the market who wish to adopt or improve the business model of selling digital items in an online community. From the findings, it can be seen that innovativeness of users, community group norm, and community involvement are three significant factors that influence need for self-presentation of users which ultimately leads to their intentions to buy digital items. These findings put forth that virtual community providers and online businesses selling digital items should prioritize their efforts and focus on these three factors if they want to increase the sales of these digital items and generate greater revenues. This study provides important implications for academic researchers and practitioners to understand why the community members pay money for their digital items in virtual world and how the practitioners can increase the sales of digital items in an online community. A couple of limitations of the study and future research directions are also discussed.

• KIPS Transactions on Computer and Communication Systems
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.315-320
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• 2020

Identity authentication is an important technology that has long been used in society to identify individuals and provide appropriate services. With the development of the Internet infrastructure, many areas have expanded into online areas, and identity authentication technologies have also expanded online. However, there is still a limit to identity authentication technology that relies entirely on trusted third parties like the government. A centralized identity management system makes the identification process between agencies with different identity management systems very complex, resulting in a waste of money and time for users. In particular, the limits of the centralized identity management system were clearly revealed in the face mask shortage in the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. A Decentralized Identity (DID) is a way for users to manage their identity on their own, and recently, a number of DID platform based on blockchain technology have been proposed. In this paper, we analyze the limitations of the existing centralized identity management system and propose a DID system that can be utilized in future national emergency situations such as COVID-19.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.69-98
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• 2009

We investigated what factors motivate gamers to participate in a guild and why they continue to be engaged as members of the guild. We find that, based on the result of focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, social support and self-esteem factors play important roles. Considering both prior research and the focus group interviews we have conducted, we define social support and character control as independent variables. Character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables while guild flow and game loyalty as dependent variables. Accordingly, we develop the research model and hypotheses, and verify them empirically. Based on our experiences of playing the WoW game, we proposed a research model and conducted focus-group interviews (FGIs). FGIs involve formulating a hypothesis and then collecting some relevant data. FGIs were conducted face-to-face with students of C University in Korea. We formulated structured interview schedules, and the questions were based on our research variables and personal experiences. The questions for the interviews encompassed the following areas: (a) the demographic characteristics of the focus group; (b) the number of years for which respondents had played online games; (c) the motive for starting a game; (d) the number of game-characters assumed by each gamer; (e) the type of game played; and (f) other issues such as the reasons for involvement in the play, the willingness to reuse the game in case new versions were released, etc. On average, it took two hours to interview each of three groups. A primary set of FGIs was conducted with three groups on the premise that there would be some differences caused by character race (Horde vs. Alliance) or by playable server (Normal vs. Combat). With respect to the manner of playing, we found that guild members shared information, felt a sense of belonging, and played computer games for quite a long time through the guild; however, they did not undergo these experiences when playing alone. Gamers who belonged to a specific guild helped other players without expecting compensation for that, freely shared information about the game, gave away items for free, and more generous with other members who made mistakes. The guild members were aware of the existence other members and experienced a sense of belonging through interactions with, and evaluations from, other players. It was clear that social support was shown within the guild and that it played an important role as a major research variable. Based on the results of the first FGIs, a second set of in-depth FGIs was carried out with a focus on the psychology of the individual within the guild and the social community of the guild. The second set of FGIs also focused on the guild's offline meetings. Gamers, over all, recognize the necessity of joining a community, not only off-line but also online world of the guild. They admit that the guild is important for them to easily and conveniently enjoy playing online computer games. The active behavior and positive attitudes of existing guild members can motivate new members of the guild to adapt themselves to the guild environment. They then adopt the same behaviors and attitudes of established guild members. In this manner, the new members of the guild strengthen the bonds with other gamers while feeling a sense of belonging, and developing social identity, thereby. It was discovered that the interaction among guild members and the social support encouraged new gamers to quickly develop a sense of social identity and increase their self-esteem. The guild seemed to play the role of socializing gamers. Sometimes, even in the real world, the guild members helped one another; therefore, the features of the guild also spilled over to the offline environment. We intend to use self-esteem, which was found through the second set of FGIs, as an important research variable. To collect data, an online survey was designed with a questionnaire to be completed by WoW gamers, who belong to a guild. The survey was registered on the best three domestic game-sites: 'WoW playforum,' 'WoW gamemeca,' and 'Wow invent.' The selected items to be measured in the questionnaire were decided based on prior research and data from FGIs. To verify the content of the questionnaire, we carried out a pilot test with the same participants to point out ambiguous questions as a way to ensure maximum accuracy of the survey result. A total of 244 responses were analyzed from the 250 completed questionnaires. The SEM analysis was used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. As a result, we found important results as follows: First, according to the statistics, social support had statistically significant impacts on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity shows its clear impact on self-esteem and game loyalty. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on the guild flow. These days, the number of virtual community is rising along with its significance largely because of the nature of the online games. Accordingly, this study is designed to clarify the psychological relationship between gamers within the guild that has been generally established by gamers to play online games together. This study focuses on the relationships in which social support influences guild flow or game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem, which are present within a guild in the MMORPG game environment. The study results are as follows. First, the effects of social support on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proven to be statistically significant. It was found that character control improves character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Among the seven variables, social support, which is derived from FGIs, plays an important role in this study. With the active support of other guild members, gamers can improve their ability to develop good characters and to control them. Second, character identity has a positive effect on self-esteem and game loyalty, while guild identity has a significant effect on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Self-esteem affects guild flow. It was found that the higher the character and guild identities become, the greater the self-esteem is established. Contrary to the findings of prior research, our study results indicate that the relationship between character identity and guild flow is not significant. Rather, it was found that character identity directly affects game players' loyalty. Even though the character identity had no direct effect on increasing guild flow, it has indirectly affected guild flow through self-esteem. The significant relationship between self-esteem and guild flow indicates that gamers achieve flow, i.e., a feeling of pleasure and excitement through social support. Several important implications of this study should be noted. First, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct this study. Through FGIs, it was observed that both social support and self-esteem are important variables. Second, because guilds had been rarely studied, this research is expected to play an important role in the online community. Third, according to the result, six hypotheses (H1, H5, H6, H7, H8, and H11) setup based on FGIs, were statistically significant; thus, we can suggest the corresponding relationships among the variables as a guideline for follow-up research. Our research is significant as it has following implications: first, the social support of the guild members is important when establishing character control, character identity, guildidentity and self-esteem. It is also a major variable that affects guild flow and game loyalty. Second, character control when improved by social support shows notable influence on the development of character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity and guild identity are major factors to help establish gamers' own self-esteem. Fourth, character identity affects guild flow through self-esteem and game loyalty. The gamers usually express themselves through characters; the higher character identity is, the more loyalty a gamer has. Fifth, guild identity, established within the guild, has clear effects on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Sixth, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to conduct this study. Based on the results of focus group interviews and SEM analysis, we find that the social support by guild members and psychological factors are significant in strengthening the flow of guild and loyalty to the game. As such, game developers should provide some extra functions for guild community, through which gamers can play online games in collaboration with one another. Also, we suggest that positive self-esteem which is built up through social support can help gamers achieve higher level of flow and satisfaction, which will consequently contribute to minimizing the possibility for the players to develop negative attitude toward the guild they belong to.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.755-770
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• 2020

As the postsecondary school-age population continues to decline, universities are building identities to differentiate themselves and create a favorable impression among this cohort. We investigated the role of logo-bearing products as a way of promoting university identity, specifically, the effects of ingroup ties, ingroup affect, and centrality on attitude toward university logo products and purchase intention. This study further examined the moderating effects of perceived university prestige on the relationship between logo product attitude and in-store purchase intention, and the moderating effect of online shopping frequency on the relationship between logo product attitude and online purchase intention. We conducted a survey of undergraduate and graduate students at a university in Seoul. Survey responses (N=561) were collected and processed using SPSS 23.0. Multiple regression analysis showed that ingroup ties and affect had significant effects on product attitude. However, centrality had no significant effect on attitude toward the product. Product attitude had a direct significant effect on both in-store and online purchase intention. Perceived university prestige moderated the relationship between product attitude and in-store purchase intention. Moreover, online shopping frequency moderated the relationship between product attitude and online purchase intention. The results of this study are expected to provide fundamental knowledge for developing product strategy of logo products.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.199-223
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• 2016

As social networking services (SNS) become widely used tools for maintaining social relationships, people use SNS to express themselves online. Users are free to form multiple characters in SNS because of online anonymity. This phenomenon causes SNS users to easily demonstrate multiple personas that are different from their identities in the real world. Therefore, this study focuses on online multi-personas that establish multiple fake identities in the SNS environment. The main objective of this study is to investigate factors that affect online multi-personas. Fake online identities can have various negative consequences such as cyber bullying, cyber vandalism, or antisocial behavior. Since the boundary between the online and offline worlds is fading fast, these negative aspects of online behavior may influence offline behaviors as well. This study focuses on teenagers who often create multi-personas online. According to previous studies, personal identities are usually established during a person's youth. Based on data on 664 teenage users, this study identifies four emotional factors, namely, closeness with others, relative deprivation, peer pressure and social norms. According to data analysis results, three factors (except closeness with others) have positive correlations with users' multi-personas. This study contributes to the literature by identifying the factors that cause young people to form online multi-personas, an issue that has not been fully discussed in previous studies. From a practical perspective, this study provides a basis for a safe online environment by explaining the reasons for creating fake SNS identities.