• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.159-182
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• 2024

Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors influencing social media users' sharing behaviors of COVID-19 health information. Specifically, we seek to examine the impact of three key antecedents-trust in information source, trust in information content, and trust in social media platform-on users' trust in information quality and determine whether their effects vary between South Korea and China. Design/methodology/approach To fulfill our research objectives, we conducted an online survey across two countries, collecting 408 valid responses (South Korea: N = 201; China: N = 207) for our analysis. We employed Partial Least Squared based Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4 and performed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and independent t-tests with SPSS 27. Findings The study revealed that perceived risks significantly inhibit users from sharing health information, highlighting the critical role of trust in countering these effects. We also identified variances in the levels of trust in information content and trust in social media platform between the two countries, which offers fresh perspectives for designing culturally tailored public health communications and interventions.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.195-209
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• 2021

According to the 2019-2020 social media usage survey conducted by the Seoul e-commerce center, 5 out of 10 consumers have experienced shopping through social media. The cost of traditional advertising media has been reduced and advertising spending on social media has risen by 74%, indicating that social media is becoming a more important marketing element. While the number of users of social media has increased and corporate marketing activities have increased accordingly, research has been conducted in various aspects of marketing such as user motivation for social media, satisfaction, and purchase intention. There was no subdivided study on the differences in the social media usage frequency of consumers in actual purchasing behavior. This study attempted to identify differences in consumer characteristics by cluster in the agrifood purchase situation by grouping them by type according to the frequency of use of social media for consumers who purchase agri-food online. Product involvement, product need, and online purchase channel Consumer characteristics such as demographic distribution, perceived risk, and eating and lifestyle in each cluster were checked for the three agrifood purchase situations including choice, and types for each cluster were presented. To this end, questionnaire data on the frequency of social media use and online agrifood purchase behavior were collected from 245 consumers, and the validity of the measurement variables was secured through factor analysis and reliability analysis. As a result of cluster analysis according to the frequency of social media use, it was divided into three clusters. The first cluster was a group that mainly used open social media, and the second cluster was a group that used both open and closed social media and online shopping malls; The third cluster was a group with low online media usage overall, and the characteristics of each cluster appeared. Through regression analysis, the effect on product involvement, product need, and purchase channel selection when purchasing agri-food online through each of the three clusters was confirmed through regression analysis. As a result of the regression analysis, the characteristic of cluster 1 in the situation of purchasing agri-food online is a male in his 30s living in a rural area who has no reluctance to purchase agri-food on social media or online shopping malls. The characteristics of cluster 2 are mainly consumers who are interested in purchasing health food, and the consumer characteristics are represented. In the case of cluster 3, when purchasing products online, they purchase after considering quality and price a lot, and the consumer characteristics are represented as people who are more confident in purchasing offline than online. Through this study, it is judged that by identifying the differences in consumer characteristics that appear in the agri-food purchase situation according to the frequency of social media use, it can be helpful in strategic judgments in marketing practice on social media customer targeting and customer segmentation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.101-112
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• 2017

The purpose of this paper is the comparative analysis of factors affecting the intention to use mobile payment services. This research compares the types of mobile payment services and different age groups. The result reveals that consumers' innovativeness has a positive impact on the intention to use mobile payment services in case of smartphone-only pay and compatibility and image have a positive effect on the intention to use mobile payment services in case of online pay. There is no significant influencing factor in the case of mobile app card. Moreover, the study reveals that consumers' innovativeness, trust in other domains, and compatibility positively affect the intention to use mobile payment services in the 30-49 age group. In the 50-69 age group, image has a positive impact and perceived risk has a negative impact on the intention to use mobile payment services. There is no significant influence factor in the 10-29 age group. This study is a first-time comparative analysis of factors affecting the intention to use mobile payment services focusing on the types of mobile payment services and different age groups.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.12-28
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• 2021

Purposes: The convenience of smartphones have lead to people's overdependence on devices, which may cause obstacles in daily life. It is useful to manage smartphone overdependence by using mobile health applications. We aimed to investigate the acceptance of mobile health applications designed to help in the management of smartphone overdependence. Methodology/Approach: We developed the extended model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2. The modified model had six hypotheses with six variables: result demonstrability, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, perceived risk, and behavioral intention to use. We randomly included 425 smartphone users in an online survey in 2020. A structural equation model was used to estimate the significance of the path coefficients. Findings: Performance expectancy and social influence had a very strong direct positive association with behavioral intention to use. Result demonstrability had a direct positive association with performance expectancy. Perceived risk had a strong direct negative association with performance expectancy. Performance expectancy and social influence were the main factors directly influencing the acceptance of mobile health applications for the management of smartphone overdependence. Practical Implications: We demonstrated smartphone users' acceptance of mobile health applications for smartphone overdependence management. Based on these results, we could develop mobile health applications more effectively.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.78-88
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate health risk awareness pertaining to fine dust exposure and the use of face masks in farmers, as well as their attitude toward education regarding fine dust-related respiratory disease prevention. Methods: In total, 295 farmers were interviewed in a survey using a structured questionnaire to obtain data on general characteristics, farming-related characteristics, health risk awareness pertaining to fine dust exposure, attitude toward education on fine dust-related respiratory disease prevention and the use of face masks. This study was analyzed the correlation between the perceived susceptibility to fine dust exposure and willingness to participate in education on fine dust-related respiratory disease prevention. Results: The mean score for perceived susceptibility to fine dust exposure was 3.8 (out of 5), and the participants were highly willing to receive education on fine dust-related respiratory disease prevention. In Multiple response analysis of reactions to exposure to fine dust generated during work, 221 participants responded that they practiced at least one preventive action; participants gave a positive response to "wearing masks" (56.1%), "personal hygiene, such as hand washing." (52.9%). In terms of education methods, 94 (33.6%) participants preferred to learn online or via text messages. Conclusions: The significant correlation between the perceived susceptibility to fine dust exposure and willingness to participate in education on fine dust-related respiratory disease prevention shows the importance of promoting education on prevention. The results of this study can help understand as reference for education on fine dust-related respiratory disease prevention.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-156
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• 2017

Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the continuous development and innovation in technology-related fields such as information and communications technology (ICT) are likely to swim against the recession. In this paradoxical situation, the necessity of financial innovation through ICT is on the rise. For this reason, the appearance of Fintech is more meaningful as a new converged industry with the potential to lead financial innovation. The term of Fintech is derived from combining 'Finance' and 'Technology.' In South Korea, one of the most popular types of Fintech is mobile payment. KakaoPay, which is the first mobile easy payment service in Korea, is a much more simplified type of mobile payment service than ones used in the past, and is provided by the most popular mobile messenger service in Korea, KakaoTalk. However, KakaoPay has few active users in spite of its many advantages, which include convenience, simplicity, and a powerful platform. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to investigate influencing factors of user resistance on KakaoPay. In order to investigate specific factors, a research model is developed based on the unified understanding of user resistance put forth by Laumer and Eckhardt (2012). After gathering online survey data from KakaoTalk users, an empirical analysis is conducted to verify this research model. The results of this study give insights regarding user resistance factors in the Fintech sector, and by so doing, it is expected that the important factors of user resistance could help the diffusion of new services when new mobile payment services appear in the near future.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2022

This study aimed to examine the influence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on areas of Korean medical students' lives, assess concerns, and investigate the strategies they used to cope with stress due to the pandemic. An online survey with a total of 53 items on the impact of COVID-19, concerns, and coping strategies was sent to medical students, and responses were collected from April 27, 2021 to May 30, 2021. In total, 1,329 students were included in the study. Analysis was performed using the chi-square test, independent-sample t-test, and one-way analysis of variance, and the post-hoc Scheffé test or Games-Howell test was performed for multiple comparisons. The main negative impacts of the pandemic were on hobbies/leisure activities and mental health, and medical students expressed the highest levels of concern regarding restriction of movement, returning to everyday life, and risk of infection for family and friends. Female students more strongly agreed that COVID-19 had increased their depressed mood and anxiety (p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). Furthermore, the negative impacts of the pandemic on different areas of life significantly affected current levels of depressed mood and anxiety. To cope with pandemic-related stress, students used several strategies such as talking with family or friends (91.5%), sleeping (83.1%), exercising (72.8%), using social networking services (60.8%), drinking alcohol (37.8%), and practicing meditation/mindfulness (24.4%); the effectiveness of these strategies ranged from 3.45 to 4.19 on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1-5). The study findings suggest that COVID-19 has influenced the mental health of medical students and raised concerns in many areas of their lives. Students used various strategies to cope with the pandemic-related stress; since the effectiveness of frequently used approaches varied, it is essential to guide medical students to develop effective coping strategies.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.17.1-17.12
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• 2023

Antimicrobial (AM) resistance is a growing threat in human and veterinary medicine, spreading across species and perceived as One-Health issue. Prudent use of AM products is essential in mitigating this risk in both human and veterinary medicine. Farm veterinarians, responsible for prescribing appropriate AM and offering advice to farmers on their proper usage, are regarded as key players in the livestock industry. An online survey of farm veterinarians (n = 1,531) was conducted to assess their educational experience, beliefs, current status of prescription, practical behavior, and self-efficacy regarding the prudent use of antimicrobials (PUA). The data from 170 respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression and mediation analysis. Participants chose AM based on their experiences, academic resources, and peer veterinarians. Approximately 77% did not routinely conduct antibiotic-susceptibility-test. Most participants believed in the importance of PUA and the role of veterinarians to reduce AM resistance, but they reported a lack of awareness among farmers and insufficient national support interfere with their practical behavior with regard to PUA. Half of the participants had PUA-education, and 78.6% reported that education had a positive impact on their behavior with PUA. Self-efficacy partly mediates the relationship between belief and behavior for PUA, which accounted for 23.77% of the total effect that beliefs have on behavior for PUA. The findings of the study show that enhancing veterinarians' abilities to practice and their self-efficacy through education tailored to the current status of farms can contribute to the reduction of AMs in the livestock sector.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2023

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between psychosocial factors and the mask-wearing behavior after deregulation of COVID-19 quarantine guidelines among adults in Korea. Methods : We collected data (345 subjects) from online questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included the Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Korean version of fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-15, Korean versions of the Perceived Stress Scale, and measurement tools adapted from previous studies for COVID-19 risk perception, social stigma, and appearance interest of subjects. We analysed data using SPSS version 23.0 for descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis. Results : People with cohabitant or mask-wearing tendency before COVID-19 pandemic had a higher rate of mask-wearing than those who were not. Subjects reporting higher level of social stigma (OR=1.154, 95% CI 1.049-1.270) and COVID-19 anxiety (OR=1.072, 95% CI 1.007-1.141) were more likely to report maskwearing behavior. Conclusion : From the results, appropriate intervention to those who fear social stigma and are anxious to the infectious diseases will be needed. Additionally, providing policies and guidelines that consider cohabitants and offering continuous education with information of disease to the public are also expected to helpful for recovery of daily life from infectious diseases.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.265-290
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• 2023

Even though crowdfunding has become popular as a novel means of raising capital for early-stage ventures and startups through an Internet-based platform, it is unclear how a funder's characteristics, such as motivation and ability, influence their information processing and pledging decision. This study aims to propose and test a research model for determining the relationships between a funder's personal attributes, information processing style, and funding intention. To test the research model, we collected data from 139 Amazon Mechanical Turk participants through an online questionnaire survey. The findings indicate that a funder's self-efficacy has a positive effect on heuristic processing but has no significant effect on systematic processing. By contrast, a funder's personal relevance positively influences both systematic and heuristic processing. Furthermore, heuristic processing, as well as perceived value and perceived risk, influence pledging intentions positively. Our findings potentially contribute to improving the design of crowdfunding platforms to better support a funder's information needs. Based on our findings, we discuss the implications of our study as well as the directions for future research.