• The Transactions of the Korea Information Processing Society
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.23-38
• /
• 1997

Based on previous research for end-users information needs, this research is to investigate DB costing method for decision-making on pricing of DB service by critical factors. The first phase of the research classifies the elements of DB product cost accounting by activities of the circulation system of information in DB service. The second phase is to develop model based on results of DB product costing in the first phase of research. The third phase of research is to present the process of DB product cost accounting by applying the model to an on-line service company. Finally, the research develops the pricing decision model to determine the priority of each factor by survey from major on-line service companies in America and Japan. It is essential to research further regarding the DB product costing and pricing methods in order to determine a proper DB service charge. The right Pricing decision in the DB service charge will contribute to the growth of the DB industry.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.40 no.10
• /
• pp.113-121
• /
• 2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the depth of fashion product line on sales. The depth of the fashion product line was defined as the variety of style, color, and size in the outwear line for this study. Data were collected from the 98 brands in 4 department stores located in Seoul and Pusan. The result showed the significant impact of the variety of the outwear style on sales. Even after controlling the effect of advertising and the level of price in each brand, significant effect of the variety of outwear style were noticed on sales.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2020

Aftermarket refers to a market in which a company sells complementary goods, replacements of parts, and upgrade or maintenance services to consumers after selling them main durable goods. Intuitively, consumers who purchase main durable goods become major potential customers in subsequent aftermarket. Thus the existence of the aftermarket has a significant impact on pricing of the main durable goods as well as the aftermarket products. In this study, we analyze the effect of aftermarket on the pricing strategy for a company selling both main durable goods and aftermarket products. To do this we first divided the market into markets where the aftermarket products are indispensable and optional. Based on the proposed market types, the profit maximizing solutions are derived using two-period model, and the impacts of consumers' undervaluation of aftermarket product prices on pricing strategy are analyzed. The results can be summarized as follows : (1) Regardless of the market type, the total profits were found to be inversely proportional to the consumer's awareness accuracy of product prices in the aftermarket. This is in line with marketing efforts that sales companies have made intuitively to make consumers underestimate the cost of the aftermarket. (2) If aftermarket product is indispensable, only revenue from the aftermarket is sought. On the other hand, if aftermarket product is optional, revenue from the main durable good as well as the aftermarket product will be sought simultaneously. (3) Moreover, when aftermarket product is optional, the lower the awareness accuracy of consumers, the higher the price and profit of the main durable goods, while the lower the price and profit of the aftermarket products. This is contrary to the intuition that the lower the consumer's valuation of the costs of aftermarket, the more advantageous it would be to rely on aftermarket products rather than on main durable goods.

• Journal of Distribution Research
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.99-124
• /
• 2006

The purposes of the study are two-folds. First, it analyzes how factors other than price(e.g. delivery service, saving point policies, free gifts) impact total price for various products and different types of stores. Second, it analyzes how to increase market efficiencies through price level, price differences, and the frequency of price changes for different shops, various products and different types of transactions. By analyzing the price level within different types of stores, there found that prices at on-line store were lower than off-line shops. It also found price differences between pure on-line, hybrid, and off-line store. Comparing prices by product size, there found that pure on-line shops have a lower price compared to others. The results showed that on-line store had lower price variation compared to off-line shops. When comparing pure on-line store to hybrid store, hybrid store had lower price variation. In terms of the frequency of price changes, hybrid stores had higher price fluctuations. In terms of total price differences for delivery distances, pure on-line store had great price fluctuation, excluding cosmetic goods. In conclusion, if we consider price level and price fluctuations, on-line store had more efficiencies and was superior in terms of price effectiveness. Hybrid shops, on the other hand, had greater advantages for seasonal goods and dominant products. Therefore, market entry strategies should differ based on order quantity, type of store(pure on-line, hybrid, off-line), product characteristics(seasonality, product life), etc.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.27-48
• /
• 2012

Temperature and weather are all around us, quite literally. Furthermore, temperature and weather not only permeate our atmosphere, constantly affecting our visceral states of warmth and coldness, but they metaphorically permeate our language. People, products, and ideas can all be "hot" or "cold." Given this ubiquity, it is perhaps surprising that relatively little research has systematically examined the influence of temperature on choice and judgment. Temperature-related words such as "hot" and "cold" are often used to describe impulsive and calculated behaviors, respectively. These metaphoric connotations of thermal concepts raise the question as to whether temperature, psychological states and decision making are related to each other, and if so, how. The current research examines these questions and finds support for a relationship. Across one field study and one laboratory experiment, I demonstrate that both hot ambient room temperature (Spa) and hot temperature primes (words) trigger decision outcomes in line with the metaphoric association between hot temperature and impulsivity. In the field study, participants were recruited in hot (40-50 degrees Celsius) and cold (10 degrees Celsius) rooms at a spa. Participants were simply asked to indicate their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for three product categories (travel package, birthday dinner, and cell phone). The results showed that participants in the hot room in comparison to those in the cold room were willing to pay more for the same products. Next, I tested if our results would go beyond ambient temperature and would hold if I were to prime temperature concepts by using a different priming method (i.e., subliminal vs. supraliminal). In line with the previous findings in the spa, participants in the hot priming condition were more likely to choose the wrong answer for the bat and baseball question than those in the cold priming condition. In addition, product type (e.g., pleasure vs. necessity) can moderate the effect of hot temperature on impulsivity. Mood and arousal did not mediate participants' responses. My findings seem to suggest that the effects of temperature on decision outcomes can be attributed to metaphoric associations rather than incidental mood or arousal. The current research applies a novel perspective in understanding the relationship between temperature and judgment and decision making. Also, the results have practical implications for packaging, advertising, merchandising, and pricing of goods and services, as well as for public policy and awareness. One of the most natural implications of my findings would be that retailers would be better off carrying more impulse purchase items on hot days. Furthermore, point-of-purchase promotions encouraging impulse purchase is more likely to be effective in retail environments with higher temperature than with lower temperature. In addition, advertisements and product packages evoking hot temperature associations (e.g., beach, sunshine, summer) might lead consumers to pay higher price for the advertised product than those with cold temperature associations.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
• /
• s.6
• /
• pp.152-171
• /
• 2002

This study analyses the avatar service, which is recognized as an alternative strategy of animation industry. The research questions of this study are following: (1) How have the avatar services been developed and what are the present dominant types? (2) Which structural characteristics of e-business environment are needed for the success of avatar services? (3) What is the economic characteristics of avatar business model? To solve these research questions, the basic conditions and the structural characteristics of avatar services have been investigated. In the first place, two forms of avatar service are classified. One is the internet service site whole primary service is to provide chatting service based on avatar service. The other is the portal site in which many kinds of products and services are presented as bundles to meet the needs of internet users. So avatar service is one of bundles which those portal sites are providing with. In this study, the big five internet service sites are selected based on the profits they earned through the sales of avatar service. The result of analysis is that the pricing strategy of those big five sites is very different from those of traditional off-line markets. The pricing mechanism are based on the value which internet users endow with the avatar items, not based on the costs of making the products. Avatar is the representative informative goods. The informative goods have the original cost structures, constant fixed costs and zero marginal costs, so the providers of avatar services make much of the subjective values of consumers. The sayclub, which is the most successful avatar service site and earn the average sales of 3 billing won a month, takes the aggressive strategy of pricing avatar items at highest price in the industry. The avatar service providers which make lots of profits are planning of making differentiate the services, introducing well-known brand items and star-named items. Nevertheless, the fact that the members of the sayclub are not decreasing means that the network effect of the site is so strongly manifest. Moreover, the costs the members have paid for the avatar items are so big not as to switch from one site to the other site, it can be very costly. These switching costs are endemic in high-technology industries and digital contents industries. It can be so large that switching suppliers is virtually unthinkable, a situation known as 'lock-in'. When switching costs are substantial, competition can be intense to attract new customers, since, one they are locked in, they can be a substantial source of profit. The consumers of avatar items have switching costs if they subscribe for the new avatar service site. The switching costs can be subscription costs as well as the costs of giving up the items they already paid for. One common example of switching costs involves specialized supplies, as with inkjet printer cartridges. In this example, the switching cost is the purchase of a new printer. The market is competitive ex ante, but since cartridges are incompatible, it is monopolized dx post. So the providers of printer/cartridges set pricing printer so cheap and cartridges expensive. On the contrary, since the avatar service can be successful with the strong network effect, the providers of avatar services have to compete aggressively for new customers. So they allow the subscription at a low price(almost marginal cost) in the early market. The network effect can be maximized when the members are sufficiently growing. The providers which have the monopoly power with sufficient subscribers. begin to raise the prices over the lifetime of the product and make profits.

• KIISE Transactions on Computing Practices
• /
• v.20 no.12
• /
• pp.664-669
• /
• 2014

As the prevalence of cloud computing increases, various cloud service types have emerged, such as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. The growth and diversification of these cloud services has also resulted in the development of technology for cloud service brokers (CSBs), which serve as intermediate cloud services that can assist cloud tenants (users) in deploying services that fit their requirements. In order to broker cloud services, CSBs require the specification of structural models in order to facilitate the analysis and search for cloud services. In this study, we propose a variability-based service analysis model (SAM) that can be used to describe various cloud services. This model is based on the concept of variability in the software product line and represents the commonality and variability of cloud services by binding variants to each variation point that exists in the specification, quality, and pricing of the services. We also propose a virtual cloud bank architecture as a CSB that serves as an intermediate to provides tenants with appropriate cloud services based on the SAM.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.149-163
• /
• 2010

Previous studies have shown that retail price promotion change consumers' purchase behavior and that retailers use price promotion more frequently. Keeping constant the benefits received by consumers, there are several ways for retailers to communicate a price promotion. For example, retailers can present a price reduction in absolute terms ($, ${\euro}$), percentage terms (%), or some combinations of these two methods (Della Bitta et al. 1981). Communicating a price promotion in different ways is similar to the framing of purchase decisions (Monroe 1990). Framing effects refers to the finding that subjects respond differently to different descriptions of the same decision question (Frisch 1993). Thus, the presentation of the promotion has an impact on consumer deal evaluation and hence retail sales. In fact, much research in marketing attests to the effects of price presentation on deal perception (Lichtenstein and Bearden 1989; Urbany et al. 1988; Yadav and Monroe 1993). In this sense, a number of marketing researches have argued that deal perceptions are also determined by the degree to which consumers are able to calculate the discounts and final purchase prices accurately (Estelami 2003a; Morwitz et al. 1998), which suggests that marketers may be able to enhance responses to discounts by improving calculation accuracy. Consequently, since calculation inaccuracies in the aggregate lead to the underestimation of discounts (Kim and Kramer 2006), consumers are more likely to appreciate a discounted offer following deeper processing of price information that enables them to evaluate a price discount more accurately. The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of different presentations of discount prices on consumer price perceptions. To be more precise, the purpose of this study is to investigate how different implementations of the same price promotion (semantic and visual salience) affect consumers' perceptions of the promotion and their purchase decisions. Specifically, the analysis will focus on the effect of price presentation on evaluation, purchase intentions and perception of savings. In order to verify the hypotheses proposed in the research, this paper will present an experimental analysis dealing with several discount presentations. In this sense, a2 (Numerical salience presentation: absolute and relative) x2 (Worded salience presentation: novel and traditional) x2 (Visual salience: red and blue) design was employed to investigate the effects of discount presentation on three dependent variables: evaluation, purchase intentions and perception of savings. Respondents were exposed to a hypothetical advertisement that they had to evaluate and were informed of the offer conditions. Once the sample finished evaluating the advertisement, they answered a questionnaire related to price salience and dependent dimensions. Then, manipulation checks were conducted to ensure that respondents remembered their treatment conditions. Next, a $2{\times}2{\times}2$ MANOVA and follow-up univariate tests were conducted to verify the research hypotheses suggested and to examine the effects of the individual factors (price salience) on evaluation, purchase intentions and perceived savings. The results of this research show that semantic and visual salience presentations have significant main effects and interactions on evaluation, purchase intentions and perception of savings. Significant numerical salience interactions affected evaluation and purchase intentions. Additionally, a significant worded salience main effect on perception of savings and interactions on evaluation and purchase intentions were found. Finally, visual salience interactions have significant effects on evaluation. The main findings of this research suggest practical implications that firms should consider when planning promotion-based discounts to attract consumer attention. Consequently, because price presentation has important effects on consumer perception, retailers should consider which effect is wanted in order to design an effective discount presentaion. Specifically, retailers should present discounts with a traditional style that facilitates final price calculation. It is thus important to investigate ways in which marketers can enhance the accuracy of consumers' mental arithmetic to improve responses to price discounts. This preliminary study on the effect of price presentation on consumer perception and purchase intentions opens the line of research for further research. The results obtained in this research may have been determined by a number of limiting conceptual and methodological factors. In this sense, the research deals with a variety of discount presentations as well as with their effects; however, the analysis could include additional salience dimensions and effects on consumers. Furthermore, a similar study could be carried out including a larger, more inclusive and heterogeneous sample of consumers. In addition, the experiment did not require sample individuals to actually buy the product, so it is advisable to compare the effects obtained in the research with real consumer behavior and perception.

• Journal of Distribution Research
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.111-137
• /
• 2010

The basic purpose of this study is to investigate perceived quality and service personal value affecting the result of long-term relationship between service buyers and suppliers. This research presented a constructive model(perceived quality affecting the service personal value and the moderate effect of NFC) in the on off line and then propose the research model base on prior researches and studies about relationships among components of service. Data were gathered from respondents who visit at the education service market. For this study, Data were analyzed by AMOS 7.0. We integrate the literature on services marketing with researches on personal values and perceived quality. The SERPVAL scale presented here allows for the creation of a common ground for assessing service personal values, giving a clear understanding of the key value dimensions behind service choice and usage. It will lead to a focus of future research in services marketing, extending knowledge in the field and stimulating further empirical research on service personal values. At the managerial level, as a tool the SERPVAL scale should allow practitioners to evaluate and improve the value of a service, and consequently, to define strategies and actions to address services for customers based on their fundamental personal values. Through qualitative and empirical research, we find that the service quality construct conforms to the structure of a second-order factor model that ties service quality perceptions to distinct and actionable dimensions: outcome, interaction, and environmental quality. In turn, each has two subdimensions that define the basis of service quality perceptions. The authors further suggest that for each of these subdimensions to contribute to improved service quality perceptions, the quality received by consumers must be perceived to be reliable, responsive, and empathetic. Although the service personal value may be found in researches that explore individual values and their consequences for consumer behavior, there is no established operationalization of a SERPVAL scale. The inexistence of an established scale, duly adapted in order to understand and analyze personal values behind services usage, exposes the need of a measurement scale with such a purpose. This need has to be rooted, however, in a conceptualization of the construct being scaled. Service personal values can be defined as a customer's overall assessment of the use of a service based on the perception of what is achieved in terms of his own personal values. As consumer behaviors serve to show an individual's values, the use of a service can also be a way to fulfill and demonstrate consumers'personal values. In this sense, a service can provide more to the customer than its concrete and abstract attributes at both the attribute and the quality levels, and more than its functional consequences at the value level. Both values and services literatures agree, that personal value is the highest-level concept, followed by instrumental values, attitudes and finally by product attributes. Purchasing behaviors are agreed to be the end result of these concepts' interaction, with personal values taking a major role in the final decision process. From both consumers' and practitioners' perspectives, values are extremely relevant, as they are desirable goals that serve as guiding principles in people's lives. While building on previous research, we propose to assess service personal values through three broad groups of individual dimensions; at the self-oriented level, we use (1) service value to peaceful life (SVPL) and, at the social-oriented level, we use (2) service value to social recognition (SVSR), and (3) service value to social integration (SVSI). Service value to peaceful life is our first dimension. This dimension emerged as a combination of values coming from the RVS scale, a scale built specifically to assess general individual values. If a service promotes a pleasurable life, brings or improves tranquility, safety and harmony, then its user recognizes the value of this service. Generally, this service can improve the user's pleasure of life, since it protects or defends the consumer from threats to life or pressures on it. While building upon both the LOV scale, a scale built specifically to assess consumer values, and the RVS scale for individual values, we develop the other two dimensions: SVSR and SVSI. The roles of social recognition and social integration to improve service personal value have been seriously neglected. Social recognition derives its outcome utility from its predictive utility. When applying this underlying belief to our second dimension, SVSR, we assume that people use a service while taking into consideration the content of what is delivered. Individuals consider whether the service aids in gaining respect from others, social recognition and status, as well as whether it allows achieving a more fulfilled and stimulating life, which might then be revealed to others. People also tend to engage in behavior that receives social recognition and to avoid behavior that leads to social disapproval, and this contributes to an individual's social integration. This leads us to the third dimension, SVSI, which is based on the fact that if the consumer perceives that a service strengthens friendships, provides the possibility of becoming more integrated in the group, or promotes better relationships at the social, professional or family levels, then the service will contribute to social integration, and naturally the individual will recognize personal value in the service. Most of the research in business values deals with individual values. However, to our knowledge, no study has dealt with assessing overall personal values as well as their dimensions in a service context. Our final results show that the scales adapted from the Schwartz list were excluded. A possible explanation is that although Schwartz builds on Rokeach work in order to explore individual values, its dimensions might be especially focused on analyzing societal values. As we are looking for individual dimensions, this might explain why the values inspired by the Schwartz list were excluded from the model. The hierarchical structure of the final scale presented in this paper also presents theoretical implications. Although we cannot claim to definitively capture the dimensions of service personal values, we believe that we come close to capturing these overall evaluations because the second-order factor extracts the underlying commonality among dimensions. In addition to obtaining respondents' evaluations of the dimensions, the second-order factor model captures the common variance among these dimensions, reflecting the respondents' overall assessment of service personal values. Towards this fact, we expect that the service personal values conceptualization and measurement scale presented here contributes to both business values literature and the service marketing field, allowing for the delineation of strategies for adding value to services. This new scale also presents managerial implications. The SERPVAL dimensions give some guidance on how to better pursue a highly service-oriented business strategy. Indeed, the SERPVAL scale can be used for benchmarking purposes, as this scale can be used to identify whether or not a firms' marketing strategies are consistent with consumers' expectations. Managerial assessment of the personal values of a service might be extremely important because it allows managers to better understand what customers want or value. Thus, this scale allows us to identify what services are really valuable to the final consumer; providing knowledge for making choices regarding which services to include. Traditional approaches have focused their attention on service attributes (as quality) and service consequences(as service value), but personal values may be an important set of variables to be considered in understanding what attracts consumers to a certain service. By using the SERPVAL scale to assess the personal values associated with a services usage, managers may better understand the reasons behind services' usage, so that they may handle them more efficiently. While testing nomological validity, our empirical findings demonstrate that the three SERPVAL dimensions are positively and significantly associated with satisfaction. Additionally, while service value to social integration is related only with loyalty, service value to peaceful life is associated with both loyalty and repurchase intent. It is also interesting and surprising that service value to social recognition appears not to be significantly linked with loyalty and repurchase intent. A possible explanation is that no mobile service provider has yet emerged in the market as a luxury provider. All of the Portuguese providers are still trying to capture market share by means of low-end pricing. This research has implications for consumers as well. As more companies seek to build relationships with their customers, consumers are easily able to examine whether these relationships provide real value or not to their own lives. The selection of a strategy for a particular service depends on its customers' personal values. Being highly customer-oriented means having a strong commitment to customers, trying to create customer value and understanding customer needs. Enhancing service distinctiveness in order to provide a peaceful life, increase social recognition and gain a better social integration are all possible strategies that companies may pursue, but the one to pursue depends on the outstanding personal values held by the service customers. Data were gathered from 284 respondents in the korean discount store and online shopping mall market. This research proposed 3 hypotheses on 6 latent variables and tested through structural equation modeling. 6 alternative measurements were compared through statistical significance test of the 6 paths of research model and the overall fitting level of structural equation model. and the result was successful. and Perceived quality more positively influences service personal value when NFC is high than when no NFC is low in the off-line market. The results of the study indicate that service quality is properly modeled as an antecedent of service personal value. We consider the research and managerial implications of the study and its limitations. In sum, by knowing the dimensions a consumer takes into account when choosing a service, a better understanding of purchasing behaviors may be realized, guiding managers toward customers expectations. By defining strategies and actions that address potential problems with the service personal values, managers might ultimately influence their firm's performance. we expect to contribute to both business values and service marketing literatures through the development of the service personal value. At a time when marketing researchers are challenged to provide research with practical implications, it is also believed that this framework may be used by managers to pursue service-oriented business strategies while taking into consideration what customers value.