• Title/Summary/Keyword: Products Review

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Inaction Inertia Effect - Moderation Effect of Habitual Purchase Behavior and Maximization Behavior - (무행동관성효과 - 습관적 구매성향과 극대화성향의 조절효과를 중심으로 -)

  • Seol, Sang-Cheol;Choi, Woo-Young
    • Management & Information Systems Review
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.195-217
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    • 2018
  • Inaction inertia effect refers to the phenomenon wherein people who missed attractive opportunities in the past do not take any action when they are given the opportunity to receive discounts (sale). The main objective of this study was to find out how such inaction inertia effect influenced the expected regret from the action, expected regret from inaction, and purchase intention depending on the two types of consumption purposes-for pleasure and for practical use. As the personal disposition of each consumer differs from one another, it was expected that habitual purchase behavior and maximization behavior would influence the inaction inertia. An experiment was thus conducted by using a scenario to satisfy the objective of this study. Results showed that in the case of consumers whose consumption purpose was for pleasure, those who habitually purchased the same brand showed a higher level of expected regret from the action and expected regret from inaction. In the case of maximization behavior, no differences were found in the expected regret from the action between practical consumption purpose and pleasurable consumption purpose. On the other hand, differences were found in the level of expected regret from inaction, which is the case wherein consumers who missed their first opportunity to receive discounts (sale) did not make any purchase on their second opportunity for discounts (sale). Thus, inaction inertia was shown in accordance with habitual purchase behavior in the case of consumption purpose for pleasure, but it was not clearly shown in the case of consumption for practical use. This is because there is a relatively low level of justification on consumption, in the case of consumption for practical use. On the other hand, it was found that consumers with maximization behavior felt a stronger sense of regret in the case of their expected regret for inaction in consumption for practical use than in consumption for pleasure. Also, with regard to purchase intention, it turned out that only consumers with pleasurable consumption purpose had purchase intentions. Through these study results, it would be necessary to consider the consumption purpose behind the purchase of products or services, with regard to inaction inertia, depending on personal dispositions. In accordance with these study results, several theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

A Study on the Effect of Chinese Consumers' Attachment toward Korean Hallyu Stars on the Authenticity and Trust of Korean Cosmetic Brands (중국소비자의 한류스타에 대한 애착이 한국 화장품 브랜드 진정성 및 신뢰에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Jeong, Gap-Yeon;Lee, Su-Hee
    • Korea Trade Review
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    • v.41 no.4
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    • pp.185-219
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    • 2016
  • The Chinese cosmetics market is rapidly expanding, but various problems have also emerged, including exaggerated advertisement, lack of accurate information on product usage and the emergence of imitation products. For this reason, cosmetics companies have been making efforts to convince Chinese consumers of their brand authenticity and trust. In particular, Korean cosmetics firms have been using Hallyu stars who are largely popular among Chinese consumers as a means to raise their brand authenticity and trust. The aim of this study was to view Hallyu stars as human brands in the Chinese cosmetics market and verify whether the Chinese consumers' attachment toward Korean celebrities help the consumers perceive the authenticity of the brands advertised by the stars, and whether such brand authenticity affects the Chinese consumers' trust in Korean cosmetics brands. Furthermore, based on the fact that brand authenticity is defined and classified differently according to the type of product, this study observed the authenticity of Korean cosmetics brands from the aspect of product, employee and company based on previous research conducted on cosmetics brand authenticity. To this end, this study surveyed Chinese consumers for a month by using a representative survey website (http://www.sojump.com) that actively shares information related to cosmetics. A total of 394 surveys were used in the empirical analysis. The results of empirical analysis indicated that Chinese consumers' attachment toward Hallyu stars spreads to the Korean cosmetics brands advertised by the celebrities to have a positive effect on the brand authenticity perceived by Chinese consumers, including the authenticity of product, employee and company. Results also showed that the authenticity of Korean cosmetics brands, including product, employee and company, affected Chinese consumers' trust in the brands. The results of this study can provide implications regarding advertising or marketing strategies using Hallyu stars that can be utilized by Korean cosmetics companies to improve brand authenticity and reliability perceived by Chinese consumers in the Chinese cosmetics market, where brand authenticity and reliability are important.

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Improvement of the Efficacy Test Methods for Hand Sanitizers (Gel, Liquid, and Wipes): Emerging Trends from in vivo/ex vivo Test Strategies for Application in the Hand Microbiome (손소독제(겔형, 액제형, 와이프형)의 효능 평가법 개선: 평가 전략 연구 사례 및 손 균총 정보 활용 등 최근 동향)

  • Yun O;Ji Seop Son;Han Sol Park;Young Hoon Lee;Jin Song Shin;Da som Park;Eun NamGung;Tae Jin Cho
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2023
  • Skin sanitizers are effective in killing or removing pathogenic microbial contaminants from the skin of food handlers, and the progressive growth of consumer interest in personal hygiene tends to drive product diversification. This review covers the advances in the application of efficacy tests for hand sanitizers to suggest future perspectives to establish an assessment system that is optimized to each product type (gel, liquid, and wipes). Previous research on the in vivo simulative test of actual consumer use has adopted diverse experimental conditions regardless of the product type. This highlights the importance of establishing optimal test protocols specialized for the compositional characteristics of sanitizers through the comparative analysis of test methods. Although the operational conditions of the mechanical actions associated with wiping can affect the efficacy of the removal and/or the inactivation of target microorganisms from the skin's surface, currently there is a lack of standardized use patterns for the exposure of hand sanitizing wipes to skin. Thus, major determinants affecting the results from each step of the overall assessment procedures [pre-treatment - exposure of sanitizers - microbial recovery] should be identified to modify current protocols and develop novel test methods. The ex vivo test, designed to overcome the limited reproducibility of in vivo human trials, is also expected to replicate the environment for the contact of sanitizers targeting skin microorganisms. Recent progress in the area of skin microbiome research revealed distinct microbial characteristics and distribution patterns after the application of sanitizers on hands to establish the test methods with the perspectives on the antimicrobial effects at the community level. The future perspectives presented in this study on the improvement of efficacy test methods for hand sanitizers can also contribute to public health and food safety through the commercialization of effective sanitizer products.

A Study on the Countermeasures Taken By the Korean Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry Regarding U.S. Import Refusals: Focus on the Analysis of FDA Violation Codes (한국 바이오헬스 산업의 미국 수입거부 대응 방안 연구 : FDA 위반코드 분석을 중심으로)

  • Yu-Han Lee;Hag-Min Kim
    • Korea Trade Review
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    • v.48 no.3
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    • pp.131-150
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    • 2023
  • The purpose of this study was to find a countermeasure to the U.S. import refusals for the Korean healthcare and life sciences industry. To this end, an analysis of trends during the pandemic was conducted using the KITA Border Rejection Database, which includes information on items and types of import refusals. The reason for rejection was also analyzed according to the FDA violation codes. The degree of countermeasure for import refusals was identified by measuring the unit rejection rate (URR). The results of the analysis showed that the major U.S. import refusals for the Korean healthcare and life sciences industry had expanded from contact lenses to COVID-19 diagnostic kits and drugs after the pandemic broke out. The major reasons for import refusals were non-compliance with the Predicate Device and Drugs Act and non-approval by the FDA for products and facilities. On the other hand, the unit rejection rate (URR) of major items in the Korean healthcare and life sciences industry was measured higher than the industry average. The results therefore showed a low level of response to U.S. import refusals. The results of the analysis of reasons for import refusals by item according to FDA violation codes were as follows. First of all, the main violation for contact lenses and COVID-19 diagnostic kits corresponded to misbranding. This was often due to the fact that Korean companies did not provide the relevant notices and information required by the FDA. Many cases also failed to demonstrate a substantial equivalency compared to predicate devices already on the market. On the other hand, applications for new unapproved drugs were not accepted as they had yet to pass relevant regulations that would prove their safety and efficacy. In conclusion, import refusals for the Korean healthcare and life sciences industry were found to be closely related to technical barriers to trade (TBT).

A Study on the analysis method and composition characteristics of organic materials in the pottery excavated at the palace site in Yongjangseong Fortress, Jindo (진도 용장성 왕궁지 출토 도기호 내부 유기물의 분석법과 성분 특성 연구)

  • YUN Eunyoung;YU Jia;KIM Kyuho
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.56 no.3
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    • pp.158-171
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    • 2023
  • Pottery filled with organic materials was excavated from the G-2 building site of Yongjangseong Fortress, Jingo, a relic of the Goryeo Dynasty. In this study, the characteristics of organic material were confirmed by a scientific analysis of organic material in pottery found at the palace in Yongjangseong, Jindo. In addition, it was intended to review the analysis method to identify the natural resin and to secure characteristic components(biomarkers) for each natural resin and use them as basic data in the future. The organic materials in the pottery were analyzed using attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry(GC-MS). The infrared spectral characteristics were estimated to be natural resin, and biomarkers of organic materials were identified as sesquiterpene-based compounds(C15H24, MW 204) and derivatives. The lacquer(T.vemicifluum) is composed mainly of alkenes, alkanes, and catechol. Pine resin(P.densiflora), on the other hand, is primarily composed of diterpenoid(abietic acid, pimaric acid) and Whangchil(yellow lacquer) is identified to have sesquiterpenes(such as selinene, muurolene, calamenene) as its main components. So, the organic material in the pottery can be identified as Whangchil by comparing their compounds with modern resin materials from Dendropanax. morbifera that correspond with the results. Whangchil, which is exuded from the Dendropanax. morbifera, has been used as a natural coating materials since ancient times, and it has been confirmed that the characteristic components are well preserved even 700 years later. It can be assumed that the interior Whangchil was stored not for use as a coating, but rather for ritual purposes when the building was constructed, because the pottery was found near the cornerstone. Furthermore, based on simplified sample preparation using pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry(Py-GC-MS), the thermal decomposition products were found to be similar to the characteristic components, suggesting that this method can be applied to the identification of natural resins used in historic artifacts.

An Empirical Analysis of Accelerator Investment Determinants: A Longitudinal Study on Investment Determinants and Investment Performance (액셀러레이터 투자결정요인 실증 분석: 투자결정요인과 투자성과에 대한 종단 연구)

  • Jin Young Joo;Jeong Min Nam
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.1-20
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    • 2023
  • This study attempted to identify the relationship between the investment determinants of accelerators and investment performance through empirical analysis. Through literature review, four dimensions and 12 measurement items were extracted for investment determinants, which are independent variables, and investment performance was adjusted to the cumulative amount of subsequent investment based on previous studies. Performance data from 594 companies selected by TIPS from 2017 to 2019, which are relatively reliable and easy to secure data, were collected, and the subsequent investment cumulative attraction amount, which is a dependent variable, was hypothesized through multiple regression analysis three years after the investment. As a result of the study, 'industrial experience years' in the characteristics of founders, 'market size', 'market growth', 'competitive strength', and 'number of patents' in the characteristics of products and services had a significant positive (+) effect. The impact of independent variables on dependent variables was most influenced by the competitive strength of market characteristics, followed by the number of years of industrial experience, the number of patents, the size of the market, and market growth. This was different from the results of previous studies conducted mainly on qualitative research methods, and in most previous studies, the characteristics of founders were the most important, but the empirical analysis results were market characteristics. As a sub-factor, the intensity of competition, which was the subordinate to the importance of previous studies, had the greatest influence in empirical analysis. The academic significance of this study is that it presented a specific methodology to collect and build 594 empirical samples in the absence of empirical research on accelerator investment determinants, and created an opportunity to expand the theoretical discussion of investment determinants through causal research. In practice, the information asymmetry and uncertainty of startups that accelerators have can help them make effective investment decisions by establishing a systematic model of experience-dependent investment determinants.

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The Effect of Price Promotional Information about Brand on Consumer's Quality Perception: Conditioning on Pretrial Brand (품패개격촉소신식대소비자질량인지적영향(品牌价格促销信息对消费者质量认知的影响))

  • Lee, Min-Hoon;Lim, Hang-Seop
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.17-27
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    • 2009
  • Price promotion typically reduces the price for a given quantity or increases the quantity available at the same price, thereby enhancing value and creating an economic incentive to purchase. It often is used to encourage product or service trial among nonusers of products or services. Thus, it is important to understand the effects of price promotions on quality perception made by consumer who do not have prior experience with the promoted brand. However, if consumers associate a price promotion itself with inferior brand quality, the promotion may not achieve the sales increase the economic incentives otherwise might have produced. More specifically, low qualitative perception through price promotion will undercut the economic and psychological incentives and reduce the likelihood of purchase. Thus, it is important for marketers to understand how price promotional informations about a brand have impact on consumer's unfavorable quality perception of the brand. Previous literatures on the effects of price promotions on quality perception reveal inconsistent explanations. Some focused on the unfavorable effect of price promotion on consumer's perception. But others showed that price promotions didn't raise unfavorable perception on the brand. Prior researches found these inconsistent results related to the timing of the price promotion's exposure and quality evaluation relative to trial. And, whether the consumer has been experienced with the product promotions in the past or not may moderate the effects. A few studies considered differences among product categories as fundamental factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of price promotional informations on consumer's unfavorable quality perception under the different conditions. The author controlled the timing of the promotional exposure and varied past promotional patterns and information presenting patterns. Unlike previous researches, the author examined the effects of price promotions setting limit to pretrial situation by controlling potentially moderating effects of prior personal experience with the brand. This manipulations enable to resolve possible controversies in relation to this issue. And this manipulation is meaningful for the work sector. Price promotion is not only used to target existing consumers but also to encourage product or service trial among nonusers of products or services. Thus, it is important for marketers to understand how price promotional informations about a brand have impact on consumer's unfavorable quality perception of the brand. If consumers associate a price promotion itself with inferior quality about unused brand, the promotion may not achieve the sales increase the economic incentives otherwise might have produced. In addition, if the price promotion ends, the consumer that have purchased that certain brand will likely to display sharply decreased repurchasing behavior. Through a literature review, hypothesis 1 was set as follows to investigate the adjustive effect of past price promotion on quality perception made by consumers; The influence that price promotion of unused brand have on quality perception made by consumers will be adjusted by past price promotion activity of the brand. In other words, a price promotion of an unused brand that have not done a price promotion in the past will have a unfavorable effect on quality perception made by consumer. Hypothesis 2-1 was set as follows : When an unused brand undertakes price promotion for the first time, the information presenting pattern of price promotion will have an effect on the consumer's attribution for the cause of the price promotion. Hypothesis 2-2 was set as follows : The more consumer dispositionally attribute the cause of price promotion, the more unfavorable the quality perception made by consumer will be. Through test 1, the subjects were given a brief explanation of the product and the brand before they were provided with a $2{\times}2$ factorial design that has 4 patterns of price promotion (presence or absence of past price promotion * presence or absence of current price promotion) and the explanation describing the price promotion pattern of each cell. Then the perceived quality of imaginary brand WAVEX was evaluated in the scale of 7. The reason tennis racket was chosen is because the selected product group must have had almost no past price promotions to eliminate the influence of average frequency of promotion on the value of price promotional information as Raghubir and Corfman (1999) pointed out. Test 2 was also carried out on students of the same management faculty of test 1 with tennis racket as the product group. As with test 1, subjects with average familiarity for the product group and low familiarity for the brand was selected. Each subjects were assigned to one of the two cells representing two different information presenting patterns of price promotion of WAVEX (case where the reason behind price promotion was provided/case where the reason behind price promotion was not provided). Subjects looked at each promotional information before evaluating the perceived quality of the brand WAVEX in the scale of 7. The effect of price promotion for unfamiliar pretrial brand on consumer's perceived quality was proved to be moderated with the presence or absence of past price promotion. The consistency with past promotional behavior is important variable that makes unfavorable effect on brand evaluations get worse. If the price promotion for the brand has never been carried out before, price promotion activity may have more unfavorable effects on consumer's quality perception. Second, when the price promotion of unfamiliar pretrial brand was executed for the first time, presenting method of informations has impact on consumer's attribution for the cause of firm's promotion. And the unfavorable effect of quality perception is higher when the consumer does dispositional attribution comparing with situational attribution. Unlike the previous studies where the main focus was the absence or presence of favorable or unfavorable motivation from situational/dispositional attribution, the focus of this study was exaus ing the fact that a situational attribution can be inferred even if the consumer employs a dispositional attribution on the price promotional behavior, if the company provides a persuasive reason. Such approach, in academic perspectih sis a large significance in that it explained the anchoring and adjng ch approcedures by applying it to a non-mathematical problem unlike the previous studies where it wis ionaly explained by applying it to a mathematical problem. In other wordn, there is a highrspedency tmatispositionally attribute other's behaviors according to the fuedach aal attribution errors and when this is applied to the situation of price promotions, we can infer that consumers are likely tmatispositionally attribute the company's price promotion behaviors. Ha ever, even ueder these circumstances, the company can adjng the consumer's anchoring tmareduce the po wibiliute thdispositional attribution. Furthermore, unlike majority of previous researches on short/long-term effects of price promotion that only considered the effect of price promotions on consumer's purchasing behaviors, this research measured the effect on perceived quality, one of man elements that affects the purchasing behavior of consumers. These results carry useful implications for the work sector. A guideline of effectively providing promotional informations for a new brand can be suggested through the outcomes of this research. If the brand is to avoid false implications such as inferior quality while implementing a price promotion strategy, it must provide a clear and acceptable reasons behind the promotion. Especially it is more important for the company with no past price promotion to provide a clear reason. An inconsistent behavior can be the cause of consumer's distrust and anxiety. This is also one of the most important factor of risk of endless price wars. Price promotions without prior notice can buy doubt from consumers not market share.

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The Relationship between Trust, Trustworthiness, and Repeat Purchase Intentions: A Multidimensional Approach (신뢰대상의 다차원적 접근법에 의한 신뢰와 재구매 의도와의 관계)

  • Lee, Soo-Hyung;Park, Mi-Ryong
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.1-31
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    • 2008
  • Trust is central to human relationships, at all times and places. The importance of trust is fundamental in all areas of human life, not only in the area of business administration. 2,500 years ago in China, Confucius taught that the foundation of politics was the trust of the people, more important even than military strength or the supply of food. Shakespeare's play, "Much Ado about Nothing' is about trust and deception. These days, trust and transparency in a commercial organization's business culture form the basis of the 'social capital' by which that organization increases its productivity. A successful company raises productivity by the accumulation of social capital, derived from a trust relationship between business partners, and between the company and consumers. Trust is the crucial factor. At the national level, building trust determines a nation's competitiveness. For a company, long term trust relationships with customers are essential for its survival in a business environment of rapid change. Such relationships, based on trust, are important assets to ensure a company's competitive advantage, and need to be organic to that company's business culture. Because of this importance, trust relationships have been studied in diverse areas within business administration, and especially within marketing, where they form the basis of a successful relationship between producer and consumer. However, what has been lacking is a unified definition of trust. Research has been conducted on the basis of various definitions and models. The majority of researchers have not considered the multidimensional character of the concept of trust until now. Approaches based on a one dimensional model have undermined the value of research results. Furthermore, researchers have only considered trust and trustworthiness as a single component. The majority of research has explored the consequences of perceived trust for outcomes such as loyalty or cooperation, but has neglected the effects of trustworthiness upon the mechanisms of consumer trust. This study focuses on the dimension of trust from such a perspective. It seeks to verify the effect of trust on customer intentions by breaking it down into three separate components: 1) the salesperson, 2) the product/service, and 3) the company. The purposes of this paper are as follows: Firstly, we review the multidimensional nature of trust objects: the salesperson, the product/service, and the company. Secondly, we analyze the relationship between multidimensional trust and trustworthiness. Thirdly, we analyze the connection between trust and repeat purchase intentions for the maintenance of long term relationships. For these purposes the author has developed several hypotheses as follows: H1-1: The competence of a salesperson is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the salesperson. H1-2: The benevolence of a salesperson is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the salesperson. H2-1: The competence of product/service is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the product/service. H2-2: The benevolence of product/service is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the product/service. H3-1: The reputation of a company is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the company. H3-2: The physical environment of a company is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the company. H4-1: Trust in a salesperson is positively associated with repeat purchase intentions. H4-2: Trust in a product/service is positively associated with repeat purchase intentions. H4-3: Trust in a company is positively associated with repeat purchase intentions. The data was compiled from 366 questionnaires. 500 questionnaires were collected, but some of the data was considered unsuitable and inappropriate. The subjects of the survey were male and female customers purchasing products at department stores in Seoul, Daegu and Gyeongbuk. It was carried out between Oct. 25 and 29, 2007. The data was analyzed by frequency analysis using SPSS 12.0 and structural equation modeling using LISREL 8.7. The result of the overall model analysis is as follows: Chi-Square=445.497, d.f.=185, p-value=0.0, GFI=.901, RMSEA=.0617, NNFI=.986, NFI=.981, CFI=.989, AGFI=.864, RMR=.0872. The results of the overall model analysis were coherent. It was found that trust is a multi-dimensional construct, that each of the dimensions of trust are meaningful influences on customer's repurchase intention. Trust in a company may be the most relevant, while trust in a product/service and a salesperson may be less relevant to repurchase intentions. The effective factors in determining trust in a salesperson and a company's product/service were found to be competence and benevolence. Factors in determining trust in a company were its reputation and physical environment, and the relationship of each effective trust factor has been verified in this research. As a result, it was found that competence and benevolence have a meaningful influence on trust in a salesperson and in product/service. It was also found that a company's reputation influences the overall trust in the company significantly but a company's physical environment does not have much effect.

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Improvement of Certification Criteria based on Analysis of On-site Investigation of Good Agricultural Practices(GAP) for Ginseng (인삼 GAP 인증기준의 현장실천평가결과 분석에 따른 인증기준 개선방안)

  • Yoon, Deok-Hoon;Nam, Ki-Woong;Oh, Soh-Young;Kim, Ga-Bin
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.40-51
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    • 2019
  • Ginseng has a unique production system that is different from those used for other crops. It is subject to the Ginseng Industry Act., requires a long-term cultivation period of 4-6 years, involves complicated cultivation characteristics whereby ginseng is not produced in a single location, and many ginseng farmers engage in mixed-farming. Therefore, to bring the production of Ginseng in line with GAP standards, it is necessary to better understand the on-site practices of Ginseng farmers according to established control points, and to provide a proper action plan for improving efficiency. Among ginseng farmers in Korea who applied for GAP certification, 77.6% obtained it, which is lower than the 94.1% of farmers who obtained certification for other products. 13.7% of the applicants were judged to be unsuitable during document review due to their use of unregistered pesticides and soil heavy metals. Another 8.7% of applicants failed to obtain certification due to inadequate management results. This is a considerably higher rate of failure than the 5.3% incompatibility of document inspection and 0.6% incompatibility of on-site inspection, which suggests that it is relatively more difficult to obtain GAP certification for ginseng farming than for other crops. Ginseng farmers were given an average of 2.65 points out of 10 essential control points and a total 72 control points, which was slightly lower than the 2.81 points obtained for other crops. In particular, ginseng farmers were given an average of 1.96 points in the evaluation of compliance with the safe use standards for pesticides, which was much lower than the average of 2.95 points for other crops. Therefore, it is necessary to train ginseng farmers to comply with the safe use of pesticides. In the other essential control points, the ginseng farmers were rated at an average of 2.33 points, lower than the 2.58 points given for other crops. Several other areas of compliance in which the ginseng farmers also rated low in comparison to other crops were found. These inclued record keeping over 1 year, record of pesticide use, pesticide storages, posts harvest storage management, hand washing before and after work, hygiene related to work clothing, training of workers safety and hygiene, and written plan of hazard management. Also, among the total 72 control points, there are 12 control points (10 required, 2 recommended) that do not apply to ginseng. Therefore, it is considered inappropriate to conduct an effective evaluation of the ginseng production process based on the existing certification standards. In conclusion, differentiated certification standards are needed to expand GAP certification for ginseng farmers, and it is also necessary to develop programs that can be implemented in a more systematic and field-oriented manner to provide the farmers with proper GAP management education.

Research Framework for International Franchising (국제프랜차이징 연구요소 및 연구방향)

  • Kim, Ju-Young;Lim, Young-Kyun;Shim, Jae-Duck
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.61-118
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this research is to construct research framework for international franchising based on existing literature and to identify research components in the framework. Franchise can be defined as management styles that allow franchisee use various management assets of franchisor in order to make or sell product or service. It can be divided into product distribution franchise that is designed to sell products and business format franchise that is designed for running it as business whatever its form is. International franchising can be defined as a way of internationalization of franchisor to foreign country by providing its business format or package to franchisee of host country. International franchising is growing fast for last four decades but academic research on this is quite limited. Especially in Korea, research about international franchising is carried out on by case study format with single case or empirical study format with survey based on domestic franchise theory. Therefore, this paper tries to review existing literature on international franchising research, providing research framework, and then stimulating new research on this field. International franchising research components include motives and environmental factors for decision of expanding to international franchising, entrance modes and development plan for international franchising, contracts and management strategy of international franchising, and various performance measures from different perspectives. First, motives of international franchising are fee collection from franchisee. Also it provides easier way to expanding to foreign country. The other motives including increase total sales volume, occupying better strategic position, getting quality resources, and improving efficiency. Environmental factors that facilitating international franchising encompasses economic condition, trend, and legal or political factors in host and/or home countries. In addition, control power and risk management capability of franchisor plays critical role in successful franchising contract. Final decision to enter foreign country via franchising is determined by numerous factors like history, size, growth, competitiveness, management system, bonding capability, industry characteristics of franchisor. After deciding to enter into foreign country, franchisor needs to set entrance modes of international franchising. Within contractual mode, there are master franchising and area developing franchising, licensing, direct franchising, and joint venture. Theories about entrance mode selection contain concepts of efficiency, knowledge-based approach, competence-based approach, agent theory, and governance cost. The next step after entrance decision is operation strategy. Operation strategy starts with selecting a target city and a target country for franchising. In order to finding, screening targets, franchisor needs to collect information about candidates. Critical information includes brand patent, commercial laws, regulations, market conditions, country risk, and industry analysis. After selecting a target city in target country, franchisor needs to select franchisee, in other word, partner. The first important criteria for selecting partners are financial credibility and capability, possession of real estate. And cultural similarity and knowledge about franchisor and/or home country are also recognized as critical criteria. The most important element in operating strategy is legal document between franchisor and franchisee with home and host countries. Terms and conditions in legal documents give objective information about characteristics of franchising agreement for academic research. Legal documents have definitions of terminology, territory and exclusivity, agreement of term, initial fee, continuing fees, clearing currency, and rights about sub-franchising. Also, legal documents could have terms about softer elements like training program and operation manual. And harder elements like law competent court and terms of expiration. Next element in operating strategy is about product and service. Especially for business format franchising, product/service deliverable, benefit communicators, system identifiers (architectural features), and format facilitators are listed for product/service strategic elements. Another important decision on product/service is standardization vs. customization. The rationale behind standardization is cost reduction, efficiency, consistency, image congruence, brand awareness, and competitiveness on price. Also standardization enables large scale R&D and innovative change in management style. Another element in operating strategy is control management. The simple way to control franchise contract is relying on legal terms, contractual control system. There are other control systems, administrative control system and ethical control system. Contractual control system is a coercive source of power, but franchisor usually doesn't want to use legal power since it doesn't help to build up positive relationship. Instead, self-regulation is widely used. Administrative control system uses control mechanism from ordinary work relationship. Its main component is supporting activities to franchisee and communication method. For example, franchisor provides advertising, training, manual, and delivery, then franchisee follows franchisor's direction. Another component is building franchisor's brand power. The last research element is performance factor of international franchising. Performance elements can be divided into franchisor's performance and franchisee's performance. The conceptual performance measures of franchisor are simple but not easy to obtain objectively. They are profit, sale, cost, experience, and brand power. The performance measures of franchisee are mostly about benefits of host country. They contain small business development, promotion of employment, introduction of new business model, and level up technology status. There are indirect benefits, like increase of tax, refinement of corporate citizenship, regional economic clustering, and improvement of international balance. In addition to those, host country gets socio-cultural change other than economic effects. It includes demographic change, social trend, customer value change, social communication, and social globalization. Sometimes it is called as westernization or McDonaldization of society. In addition, the paper reviews on theories that have been frequently applied to international franchising research, such as agent theory, resource-based view, transaction cost theory, organizational learning theory, and international expansion theories. Resource based theory is used in strategic decision based on resources, like decision about entrance and cooperation depending on resources of franchisee and franchisor. Transaction cost theory can be applied in determination of mutual trust or satisfaction of franchising players. Agent theory tries to explain strategic decision for reducing problem caused by utilizing agent, for example research on control system in franchising agreements. Organizational Learning theory is relatively new in franchising research. It assumes organization tries to maximize performance and learning of organization. In addition, Internalization theory advocates strategic decision of direct investment for removing inefficiency of market transaction and is applied in research on terms of contract. And oligopolistic competition theory is used to explain various entry modes for international expansion. Competency theory support strategic decision of utilizing key competitive advantage. Furthermore, research methodologies including qualitative and quantitative methodologies are suggested for more rigorous international franchising research. Quantitative research needs more real data other than survey data which is usually respondent's judgment. In order to verify theory more rigorously, research based on real data is essential. However, real quantitative data is quite hard to get. The qualitative research other than single case study is also highly recommended. Since international franchising has limited number of applications, scientific research based on grounded theory and ethnography study can be used. Scientific case study is differentiated with single case study on its data collection method and analysis method. The key concept is triangulation in measurement, logical coding and comparison. Finally, it provides overall research direction for international franchising after summarizing research trend in Korea. International franchising research in Korea has two different types, one is for studying Korean franchisor going overseas and the other is for Korean franchisee of foreign franchisor. Among research on Korean franchisor, two common patterns are observed. First of all, they usually deal with success story of one franchisor. The other common pattern is that they focus on same industry and country. Therefore, international franchise research needs to extend their focus to broader subjects with scientific research methodology as well as development of new theory.

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