Study on 3D Printer Suitable for Character Merchandise Production Training (캐릭터 상품 제작 교육에 적합한 3D프린터 연구)
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- Cartoon and Animation Studies
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- s.41
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- pp.455-486
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- 2015
The 3D printing technology, which started from the patent registration in 1986, was a technology that did not attract attention other than from some companies, due to the lack of awareness at the time. However, today, as expiring patents are appearing after the passage of 20 years, the price of 3D printers have decreased to the level of allowing purchase by individuals and the technology is attracting attention from industries, in addition to the general public, such as by naturally accepting 3D and to share 3D data, based on the generalization of online information exchange and improvement of computer performance. The production capability of 3D printers, which is based on digital data enabling digital transmission and revision and supplementation or production manufacturing not requiring molding, may provide a groundbreaking change to the process of manufacturing, and may attain the same effect in the character merchandise sector. Using a 3D printer is becoming a necessity in various figure merchandise productions which are in the forefront of the kidult culture that is recently gaining attention, and when predicting the demand by the industrial sites related to such character merchandise and when considering the more inexpensive price due to the expiration of patents and sharing of technology, expanding opportunities and sectors of employment and cultivating manpower that are able to engage in further creative work seems as a must, by introducing education courses cultivating manpower that can utilize 3D printers at the education field. However, there are limits in the information that can be obtained when seeking to introduce 3D printers in school education. Because the press or information media only mentions general information, such as the growth of the industrial size or prosperous future value of 3D printers, the research level of the academic world also remains at the level of organizing contents in an introductory level, such as by analyzing data on industrial size, analyzing the applicable scope in the industry, or introducing the printing technology. Such lack of information gives rise to problems at the education site. There would be no choice but to incur temporal and opportunity expenses, since the technology would only be able to be used after going through trials and errors, by first introducing the technology without examining the actual information, such as through comparing the strengths and weaknesses. In particular, if an expensive equipment introduced does not suit the features of school education, the loss costs would be significant. This research targeted general users without a technology-related basis, instead of specialists. By comparing the strengths and weaknesses and analyzing the problems and matters requiring notice upon use, pursuant to the representative technologies, instead of merely introducing the 3D printer technology as had been done previously, this research sought to explain the types of features that a 3D printer should have, in particular, when required in education relating to the development of figure merchandise as an optional cultural contents at cartoon-related departments, and sought to provide information that can be of practical help when seeking to provide education using 3D printers in the future. In the main body, the technologies were explained by making a classification based on a new perspective, such as the buttress method, types of materials, two-dimensional printing method, and three-dimensional printing method. The reason for selecting such different classification method was to easily allow mutual comparison of the practical problems upon use. In conclusion, the most suitable 3D printer was selected as the printer in the FDM method, which is comparatively cheap and requires low repair and maintenance cost and low materials expenses, although rather insufficient in the quality of outputs, and a recommendation was made, in addition, to select an entity that is supportive in providing technical support.
Green or an environmental consciousness has been a major issue for businesses and government offices, as well as consumers, worldwide. In response to this movement, the Korean government announced, in the early 2000s, the era of "Green Growth" as a way to encourage green-related business activities. The Korean fashion industry, in various levels of involvement, presents diverse eco-friendly products as a part of the green movement. These apparel products include organic products and recycled clothing. For these companies to be successful, they need information about who are the consumers who consider green issues (e.g., environmental sustainability) as part of their personal values when making a decision for product purchase, use, and disposal. These consumers can be considered as eco-sumers. Previous studies have examined consumers' purchase intention for or with eco-friendly products. In addition, studies have examined influential factors used to identify the eco-sumers or green consumers. However, limited attention was paid to eco-sumers' disposal or recycling behavior of clothes in comparison with their green product purchases. Clothing disposal behaviors are ways that consumer can get rid of unused clothing and in clue temporarily lending the item or permanently eliminating the item by "handing down" (e.g., giving it to a younger sibling), donating, exchanging, selling, or simply throwing it away. Accordingly, examining purchasing behaviors of eco-friendly fashion items in conjunction with clothing disposal behaviors should improve understanding of a consumer's clothing consumption behavior from the environmental perspective. The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide descriptive information about Korean eco-sumers who have ecologically-favorable lifestyles and behaviors when buying and disposing of clothes. The objectives of this study are to (a) categorize Koreans on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors; (b) investigate the differences in demographics, lifestyles, and clothing consumption values among segments; and (c) compare the purchase intention of eco-friendly fashion items and influential factors among segments. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The questionnaire included 10 items of clothing disposal behavior, 22 items of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) characteristics, and 19 items of consumption values, measured by five-point Likert-type scales. In addition, the purchase intention of two eco-friendly fashion items and 11 attributes of each item were measured by seven-point Likert type scales. Two polyester fleece pullovers, made from fabric created from recycled bottles with the PET identification code, were selected from one Korean brand and one US imported brand among outdoor sportswear brands. A brief description of each product with a color picture was provided in the survey. Demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education level, income, occupation) were also included. The data were collected through a professional web survey agency during May 2009. A total of 600 final usable questionnaires were analyzed. The age of respondents ranged from 20 to 49 years old with a mean age of 34 years. Fifty percent of the respondents were males and about 58% were married, and 62% reported having earned university degrees. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the clothing disposal behavior scale, and three factors were generated (i.e., reselling behavior, donating behavior, non-recycling behavior). To categorize the respondents on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors, k-mean cluster analysis was used, and three segments were obtained. These consumer segments were labeled as 'Resale Group', 'Donation Group', and 'Non-Recycling Group.' The classification results indicated approximately 98 percent of the original cases were correctly classified. With respect to demographic characteristics among the three segments, significant differences were found in gender, marital status, occupation, and age. LOHAS characteristics were reduced into the following five factors: self-satisfaction, family orientation, health concern, environmental concern, and voluntary service. Significant differences were found in the LOHAS factors among the three clusters. Resale Group and Donation Group showed a similar predisposition to LOHAS issues while the Non-Recycling Group presented the lowest mean scores on the LOHAS factors compared to the other segments. The Resale and Donation Groups described themselves as enjoying or being satisfied with their lives and spending spare-time with family. In addition, these two groups cared about health and organic foods, and tried to conserve energy and resources. Principal components factor analysis generated clothing consumption values into the following three factors: personal values, social value, and practical value. The ANOVA test with the factors showed differences primarily between the Resale Group and the other two groups. The Resale Group was more concerned about personal value and social value than the other segments. In contrast, the Non-Recycling Group presented the higher level of social value than did Donation Group. In a comparison of the intention to purchase eco-friendly products, the Resale Group showed the highest mean score on intent to purchase Product A. On the other hand, the Donation Group presented the highest intention to purchase for Product B among segments. In addition, the mean scores indicated that the Korean product (Product B) was more preferable for purchase than the U.S. product (Product A). Stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the influence of product attributes on the purchase intention of eco product. With respect to Product A, design, price and contribution to environmental preservation were significant to predict purchase intention for the Resale Group, while price and compatibility with my image factors were significant for the Donation Group. For the Non-Recycling Group, design, price compatibility with the factors of my image, participation to eco campaign, and contribution to environmental preservation were significant. Price appropriateness was significant for each of the three clusters. With respect to Product B, design, price and compatibility with my image factors were important, but different attributes were associated significantly with purchase intention for each of the three groups. The influence of LOHAS characteristics and clothing consumption values on intention to purchase Products A and B were also examined. The LOHAS factor of health concern and the personal value factor were significant in the relationships with the purchase intention; however, the explanatory powers were low in the three segments. Findings showed that each group as classified by clothing disposal behaviors showed differences in the attributes of a product, personal values, and the LOHAS characteristics that influenced their purchase intention of eco-friendly products. Findings would enable organizations to understand eco-friendly behavior and to design appropriate strategic decisions to appeal eco-sumers.