• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.159-176
• /
• 2006

Collaborative filtering is one of the popular techniques for personalized recommendation in e-commerce. In collaborative filtering, user profiles are usually managed per product category in order to reduce data sparsity. Product diversification of Internet storefronts and multiple product category sales of e-commerce portals require cross-product category usage of user profiles in order to overcome the cold start problem of collaborative filtering. In this paper, we study the feasibility of cross-product category usage of user profiles, and suggest a method to improve recommendation performance of cross-product category user profiling. First, we investigate whether user profiles on a product category can be used to recommend products in other product categories. Furthermore, a way of utilizing user profiles selectively is suggested to increase recommendation performance of cross-product category user profiling. The feasibility of cross-product category user profiling and the usefulness of the proposed method are tested with real click stream data of an Internet storefront which sells multiple product categories including books, music CDs, and DVDs. The experiment results show that user profiles on a product category can be used to recommend products in other product categories. Also, the selective usage of user profiles based on correlations between subcategories of two product categories provides better performance than the whole usage of user profiles.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.568-577
• /
• 2018

This study investigated the typicality of the leading brand in a specific product category through comparison of personality evaluation. Measuring scales for brand personality was also used to measure the product category's personality which consumers expected generally. By pre-test, an instant coffee category was selected for product category. In the instant coffee category, three brands-'kanu', 'looka', and 'supremo'-were analyzed for this study. As a result, it was found that the leading brand, kanu had the typicality for the instant coffee category. Kanu had the same dimensions of brand personality, which were sincerity, competence, success, and sophistication, as the instant coffee product category had. Comparatively, looka had just three personalities -competence, sincerity, and sophistication-which were similar to personalities in the product category. And, supremo had only two personalities-sophistication and competence-which were similar to personalities in the instant coffee category.

• Knowledge Management Research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.79-103
• /
• 2014

This research investigates whether product types moderate the relationship between e-tailer characteristics and shopping attitudes in the context of online category killer stores. To identify the antecedents of consumer attitudes for category killer stores, the product types are characterized by the two dimensions of hedonic and utilitarian. A total of 268 responses were collected from consumers who experienced online category killer stores. The results show that the quality of information contained in a website, customer review, relational benefits, and the expertise of the e-tailer are important determinants for shopping attitudes of consumers. Regarding the moderating effects of product types, hedonic value significantly moderates the relationships between shopping attitudes and relational benefits/e-tailer expertise. However, utilitarian value does not significantly moderate the relationships between shopping attitudes and any of the e-tailer characteristics. Theoretical contributions of this study are the findings of moderating effects of hedonic value on the relationships between e-tailer characteristics and shopping attitudes. In addition, this study practically implies how companies can utilize these characteristics strategically for marketing and the selection of products.

• Bulletin of the Korean Mathematical Society
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.671-682
• /
• 1999

Using a base-point free version of the infinite symmetric product we define a fibrewise infinite symmetric product for any fibration $E\;\longrightarrow\;B$. The construction works for any commutative ring R with unit and is denoted by $R_f(E)\;l\ongrightarrow\;B$. For any pointed space B let $G_I(B)\;\longrightarrow\;B$ be the i-th Ganea fibration. Defining $M_R-cat(B):= inf{i\midR_f(G_i(B))\longrihghtarrow\;B$ admits a section} we obtain an approximation to the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of B which satisfies .g.a product formula. In particular, if B is a 1-connected rational space of finite rational type, then $M_Q$-cat(B) coincides with the well-known (purely algebraically defined) M-category of B which in fact is equal to cat (B) by a result of K.Hess. All the constructions more generally apply to the Ganea category of maps.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.18 no.8
• /
• pp.113-125
• /
• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of interaction between product category (fresh vs. indulgent product) and shopping options (shipping charge and delivery time) on customer satisfaction and purchase intent in an e-commerce context. When ordering groceries online, consumers begin to allocate a larger share of their grocery budget toward product categories that generally contain healthier items at the expense of product categories that generally contain more indulgent products. Moreover, customers are extremely sensitive to shipping options such as shipping charges and delivery time. Therefore, this research investigates the issue at a more segmented level to focus on the impact that one dimension of logistics service quality - product category, shipping charge, and delivery time have on customer satisfaction and purchase intent. Research design, data, and methodology: To test the theoretically derived priori hypotheses concerning product category, shipping charges, delivery time, satisfaction, and purchase intent, this research presented a scenario-based experiment. Eight treatment groups were assigned by the method of product category (fresh produce vs. indulgent product), shipping charge (free vs. paid), and delivery time (one-day vs. two to three days). A total of 240 subjects were divided into groups and exposed to one of the eight scenarios. Participant's purchase intention was the dependent variable, and ANOVA and L-matrix were used to analyze for main and interactive effects between factors. Conclusions: Results indicated that in tests 1 and 2, free shipping and fast delivery time increased consumer satisfaction as well as purchase intent, and fast delivery moderated the impact of free shipping on consumer satisfaction and purchase intent. Test 3 showed that the effect of free shipping on consumer satisfaction and purchase intent moderated by fast delivery for indulgent products. In contrast, fast delivery for fresh products moderated the effect of paid shipping on consumer satisfaction and purchase intent. Consistent with this proposed mechanism, the relative importance of fresh produce versus indulgent products highlights the effect of shipping options on consumer satisfaction and purchase intent when ordering the target product in an e-commerce context. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.205-213
• /
• 2012

This study investigated the life cycle of menus and made suggestions on the appropriate time for when new menus should be developed. For this purpose, a total of 636 customers who visited 'T' Restaurant more than 25 times in the past three years were used for analysis. After estimating product life cycles based on sales and selling period, an empirical study was conducted. In terms of product life cycle, a growth stage was observed in the category of pasta and pizza in both stores A and B, whereas sales in the rice category stayed constant. Regarding trend in seasonal sales, a big difference was detected between the two stores. While store A was already in the decline stage of the life cycle in all menu categories, store B remained in the growth stage. In terms of menu life cycle, the product life cycle of long-lived products was observed in the pasta category in both stores A and B. While the pizza category was in the growth stage, the product life cycle of long-lived products was observed in the rice category. It is expected that the results of this study could be useful in development of new menus and product life cycle management to fulfill diverse customer needs in the dining-out business.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.61 no.10
• /
• pp.89-103
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of dominant brand, the quality variation among brands in the extension product category and the self-construals on consumer's attitude about extension products. The experimental design consist of three-way complex factors and 226 subjects participated for the study. The results showed that when there was fashion brand extension, whether or not there was an existing dominant brand in the extension product category, the quality variation among brands in the extension product category and the types of self-construals had a significant interaction effect on their favorableness and intention to purchase the extension products. Regardless of an existing dominant brand however, the group who had an interdependent self-construal showed higher favorableness and intention to purchase the extension products when the quality variation among brands in the extension product category was lower than when it was high, whereas the group who had an independent self-construal showed no significant difference of the favorableness and intention to purchase the extension products.

• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.107-120
• /
• 2011

The increased availability of store brand suppliers now provides retailers with opportunities to create their own lines of vertically differentiated multiple store brands within a product category. As the number of store brands increase, the retailer's shelf space becomes more crowded, which may force the retailer to consider dropping some national brands from its assortment. Despite these trends, the problem of product line design in a vertically differentiated product category has been analyzed mainly from a manufacturer's perspective in the marketing literature and it is not known to what extent the findings of the existing product line design literature provide applicable strategic guidelines for the new problem faced by retailers. In this study, we address this deficiency in the literature and conduct an in-depth study of the retailer's strategic design of a line of store brands and its assortment decision within the context of retail category management. We analyze the retailer's decision about not only how to design a line of store brands but also which national brand to drop from its assortment. The results of our analysis are as follows. First, if the retailer has to drop one of national brands from its assortment, it is the best for the retailer to drop the low-quality national brand rather than the high-quality national brand. Second, the retailer has to position the high-quality store brand relatively close to the high-quality national brand, remained on its shelf, in terms of quality so as to maximize the size of retail margin from the national brand. On the other hand, the retailer should set the quality of the low-quality store brand at a lower level than that of the low-quality national brand to increase the total category demand by attracting more price sensitive consumers. By doing so, the retailer can also minimize cannibalization between two store brands. Lastly, our analysis shows that the introduction of a line of store brands improves consumer welfare by increasing real values of all products on the shelf.

• Journal of Distribution Research
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.23-48
• /
• 2007

Category management has been implemented to enhance competitiveness in the food distribution industry since 2000 in Korea. This study helps to understand why suppliers achieve better or worse performance than competitors in a category. The major objective of this article is to explore which category tactics are effective to have influence on category performance when suppliers as a category captain implement category management with variety enhancer categories like shampoo, toothpaste, and detergent. The Nielsen data were analyzed using regression and Chow test. The empirical results that were varied upon the store type and market position found out which specific actions on product assortments, pricing, shelving, and product replenishment can increase category sales. Specifically, in the case of market leader in large supermarket, the significant indicators of category sales with respect to category tactics are the out-of-stock rate, the variance across brand shares, the forward inventory, and the days supply of a product. However, in the case of follower in large supermarket, the significant indicators of category sales are the variance across brand shares, the forward inventory, and the days supply of a product. On the other hand, in the case of small supermarket, the significant factors on category sales for both market leader and follower are the retail distribution rate, the variance across brand shares, the forward inventory, and the days supply of a product category. In sum, regardless of the store type and market position, dominant brands in a category, the forward inventory, and short days supply of a product improved performance in all categories. Critical difference is that the out-of-stock rate acted as a key ingredient for the market leader between large and small supermarket and the retail distribution rate for the follower between large and small supermarket. This article presents some theoretical and managerial implications of the empirical results and finalizes the paper by addressing limitations and future research directions.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.12 no.12
• /
• pp.733-741
• /
• 2012

In recent, many consumers visit the online shopping malls or price comparison sites to collect the information on the product category that they are interested in. However, the volumes of the data provided by such web sites are often too enormous, and significant number of consumers have trouble in making purchase decision based on the plethora of products and sellers. In this context, modern online shopping agents need to process the retrieved information in more intelligent way before providing them to the users. This paper proposes a novel approach for identifying the main price ranges hidden in a single product category. To this end, the price of an item in the category is represented as a row vector and k-means clustering analysis is applied to the price vectors to produce the clusters that consists of the product items with similar price vectors. Then, the main price ranges of the product category can be identified from the result of clustering analysis. In general, the price is one of the most important factors in the consumers' purchase decision, and the identified main price ranges will be helpful for the online shoppers to find appropriate items effectively.