• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.137-164
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• 2011

In the past, retailers secured customer loyalty by offering convenient locations, unique assortments of goods, better services than competitors, and good credit policy. All this has changed. Goods assortments among stores have become more alike as national-brand manufacturers place their goods in more and more retail stores. Service differentiation also has eroded. Many department stores have trimmed services, and many discount stores have increased theirs. Customers have become smarter shoppers. They don't pay more for identical brands, especially when service differences have diminished. In the face of increased competition from discount storess and specialty stores, department stores are waging a comeback war. Growth of intertype competition, competition between store-based and non-store-based retailing and growing investment in technology are changing the way consumers shop and retailers sell. Different types of stores-discount stores, catalog showrooms, department stores-all compete for the same consumers by carrying the same type of merchandise. The biggest winners are retailers that have helped shoppers to be economically cautious, simplified their increasingly busy and complicated lives, and provided an emotional connection. The growth of e-retailers has forced traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to respond. Basically brick-and-mortar retailers utilize their natural advantages, such as products that shoppers can actually see, touch, and test, real-life customer service, and no delivery lag time for small-sized purchases. They also provide a shopping experience as a strong differentiator. They are adopting practices as calling each shopper a "guest". The store atmosphere should match the basic motivations of the shopper. If target consumers are more likely to be in a task-oriented and functional mindset, then a simpler, more restrained in-store environment may be better. Consistent with this reasoning, some retailers of experiential products are creating in-store entertainment to attract customers who want fun and excitement. The retail experience must deliver value to turn a one-time visitor into a loyal customer. Retailers need a tool that measures the full range of components that define experience-based value. This study uses an experiential value scale(EVS) developed by Mathwick, Malhotra and Rigdon(2001) which reflects the benefits derived from perceptions of playfulness, aesthetics, customer "return on investment" and service excellence. EVS is useful to predict differences in shopping preferences and patronage behavior of customers. EVS consists of items measuring efficiency, economic value, visual appeal, entertainment value, service excellence, escapism, and intrinsic enjoyment, which are subscales of experiencial value. Efficiency, economic value, service excellence are linked to the utilitarian shopping value. And visual appeal, entertainment value, escapism and intrinsic enjoyment are linked to hedonic shopping value. It has been found that consumers value hedonic experiences activated from escapism and attractiveness of shopping environment as much as the product quality, price, and the convenient location. As a result, many department stores, discount stores, and other retailers are introducing differential marketing strategy based on emotional/hedonic values. Many researches suggest that consumers go shopping not only for buying products but also for various shopping experiences. In other words, they seek the practical, rational value as well as social, recreational values in the shopping process(Babin et al, 1994; Bloch et al, 1994). Retailers may enhance buyer's loyalty to store by providing excellent emotional/hedonic value such as the excitement from shopping, not just the practical value of buying good products efficiently. We investigate the effect of perceived shopping values on the emotional experience and store loyalty based on the EVS(Experiential Value Scales) developed by Holbrook(1994), Mathwick, Malhotra and Rigdon(2001). This study assumes that the relative effect of shopping value dimensions on the responses of shoppers will differ according to types of stores and analyzes the moderating effect of store type(department store VS. discount store) on the causal relationship between shopping value dimensions and store loyalty. Emprical results show that utilitarian values of shopping experience and hedonic value of shipping experience give the positive effect on the emotional response of consumers and store loyalty. We also found the moderating effect of store types. The effect of utilitarian shopping values on the attitude toward discount store is higher than the effect of utilitarian shopping values on the attitude toword department store. And the effect of hedonic shopping value on the emotional response to discount store is higher than on the emotional response to department store. The empirical results reflect on the recent trend that discount stores try to fulfill the hedonic needs of consumers as well as utilitarian needs(i.e, low price) that discount stores traditionally have focused on

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.257-268
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• 2005

It is recently suggested in Korea that Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) is an alternative plan of Korean Dental Fee Schedule which has been operated on a fee-for-service basis since the introduction of the national health insurance program in 1977. RBRVS applicable to diagnosis and treatment for temporomandibular disorders (TMD), a common cause of orofacial pain, is needed to be estimated in Korea and the establishment of the standard terminology of dental procedures for TMD should be preceded. The purposes of this study were to develop a new classification system of health care service items for TMD and to investigate time needed for each item, which enables RBRVS to be estimated prior to establishment the payment system of health care services for TMD. The dental service items for TMD in this study were categorized through Delphi process which 10 TMD specialists were participated in and the time needed for each service item was investigated by work sampling and time study method with a stopwatch. The results of this study demonstrated the new classification system of dental services for TMD comprising 151 service items and exhibited the average time for each items ranging from 7.22 min for cold laser therapy to 171.71 min for direct fabrication of anterior repositioning splint. Conclusively, it is suggested that the classification system for TMD developed in this study, considering specific characteristics on basis of resources for health care service of dental procedures, should be helpful to estimate payment level for each service item.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.266-274
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• 2015

The price for health service are decided by very complicated process because many of factors are related with them. The RBRVS(resource-based relative value scale) were used to calculate the Korean health service fees including dental fees. This study aimed to compare dental fees of Korea with other countries, such as Japan, Germany, and the US for evaluating the adequacy. Dental fees were categorized as oral evaluation and imaging, dental treatment including restorative, periodontal, and surgical work, and preventive treatment and compared by each country. The official documents about dental fees were collected from Korea, Japan, Germany, and the US. Each fee was presented as their own currency at first. Then they were converted into Korean won (KRW) by applying the market exchange rates at a specific point of time. Finally the fees were adjusted by purchasing power parities (PPPs) which equalize the different currencies. In general, the level of Korean fees were markedly low compared to those of Japan, Germany, and the US. German fees were similar or higher than that of Japan, and the US. The Korean fees were lower than three other countries 1.2~4.1 times for oral evaluation and 2.2~7.3 times lower for panoramic radiography. The endodontic fees of Japan, Germany, and the US were higher 1.8~15.3 times and 4.0~35.9 times for the deciduous teeth extraction compared to the Korean. In Japan the prophylaxis was 3.2 times more priced than the Korean fee. Exceptionally, the fees for re-evaluation, amalgam filling, and scaling were lower priced in Japan than other countries. This study has limitations on the items in definition and contents of dental practices units which were not exactly comparable and differently determined by countries. However, this study is meaningful because it surveyed the price levels to compare four different countries and then applied PPPs adjustment. This finding can be used to develop the dental RBRVs of Korean national health insurance and will contribute to improving the payment systems of health care.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.115-125
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• 2020

Background: The phenomenon of tree dieback in forest ecosystems around the world, which is known to be associated with high temperatures that occur simultaneously with drought, has received much attention. Korea is experiencing a rapid rise in temperature relative to other regions. Particularly in the growth of evergreen conifers, temperature increases in winter and spring can have great influence. In recent years, there have been reports of group dieback of Pinus densiflora trees in Korea, and many studies are being conducted to identify the causes. However, research on techniques to diagnose and monitor drought stress in forest ecosystems on local and regional scales has been lacking. Results: In this study, we developed and evaluated an index to identify drought and high-temperature vulnerability in Pinus densiflora forests. We found the Drought Stress Index (DSI) that we developed to be effective in generally assessing the drought-reactive physiology of trees. During 2001-2016, in Korea, we refined the index and produced DSI data from a 1 × 1-km unit grid spanning the entire country. We found that the DSI data correlated with the event data of Pinus densiflora mass dieback compiled in this study. The average DSI value at times of occurrence of Pinus densiflora group dieback was 0.6, which was notably higher than during times of nonoccurrence. Conclusions: Our combination of the Standard Precipitation Index and growing degree days evolved and short- and long-term effects into a new index by which we found meaningful results using dieback event data. Topographical and biological factors and climate data should be considered to improve the DSI. This study serves as the first step in developing an even more robust index to monitor the vulnerability of forest ecosystems in Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.130-137
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• 2019

The fee-for-service system is used as the main payment system for health care providers in Korea. It has been argued that it can't reflect differences in the medical practice costs across regions because the fee schedule is calculated based on the average cost. So, some researchers and providers have disputed that there is need for adopting geographic practice cost index (GPCI) used in the United States for the Medicare program for the elderly to the fee-for-service payment system. This study performed to identify whether the difference in the practice costs among regions exists or not and to examine the feasibility of applying GPCI to Korea payment system. For this purpose, we calculated modified-GPCI and examined considerations to introduce GPCI in Korea. First we identified available data to calculate GPCI. Second, we made applicable GPCI equations to Korea payment system and computed it based on four types of regions (metropolitan, urban, suburban, and rural). We also categorize the regions based on the availability of the medical resources and the capability of utilizing them. As a result, we found that there wasn't any significant difference in the GPCI by regional types in general, but the indices of rural areas (0.91-0.98) was relatively low compared to the indices of other regions (0.96-1.07). Considering the need to use GPCI floor, the pros and cons of using GPCI, and the concern of the regional imbalance of resources, the introduction of GPCI needs to be carefully considered.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.199-203
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• 2015

With the development of industry these days, the demand for electric power increases and the larger capacity for power transfer is required. The scales of facilities should become larger; and the relative systems are required to operate with a higher degree of reliability. Therefore, stabilization of electric power systems is an important issue. The high degree of reliability required in the process of production and supply of electric power is an essential part of industrial society. Accident such as blackouts causes a hugh amount of economic losses to the high-tech industrial society dependent upon electric power. This paper is about the basic study of the relations between the load current and lifetime of power cables in operation. In order to do the research, we installed a current transformer and an equipment for measuring temperature at the 6.6. kV cables in operation. The two equipments have been installed on the cable systems in operation for the last 20 years. Since the insulation resistance of most of the cables showed the value larger than the threshold, it was not easy to tell the remaining lifetime of cables. The load current of the cables was almost constant. The surrunding temperature was $15{\sim}25^{\circ}C$, little variation of temperature values.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2002

Small angle light scattering (SALS) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) have been used to investigate the light scattering patterns with time evolved during water vapor quenching (relative humidity of 53 (${\pm}3)%$ at $26^{\circ}C$ of polysulfone (PSf)/NMP/Alcohol and chlorinated poly(vinyl chloride) (CPVC)/THF/Alcohol, respective1y. Time dependence of the position of the light scattering maximum was observed at PSf dope solutions, confirming spinodal decomposition (SD), while CPVC dope solutions showed a decreased scattered light intensity with an increased q-value, indicating nucleation & growth (NG). For the each system, domain growth rate in the intermediate and late stage of phase separation decreased with increasing the number of carbon of alcohol used as additive (non-solvent). Also, in the early stage for SD, the scattering intensity with time was in accordance with Cahn's linear theory of spinodal decomposition, regardless of types of non-solvent additive. Also, the size scales obtained by SALS were mutually compared to domain sizes gained by FE-SEM measurement. These observations of scattering pattern were much clearly observed for the 20PSf/70NMP/10n-butanol (w/w%) and agreed with the theoretical predictions for scattering patterns of each stage like the early, the intermediate, and the late stage of SD type phase separation. As the scattering maximum was observed at the larger angles (larger q) in the order of n-butanol > n-propanol > methanol > no alcohol, the pore size of final morphology decreased.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.269-277
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• 2010

Previous studies have shown that the most important factor affecting customer loyalty in the service industry is service quality. However, on the subject of whether service quality has a direct or indirect effect on customer loyalty, scholars' views apparently vary. Some studies suggest that service quality has a direct and fundamental influence on customer loyalty (Bai and Liu, 2002). However, others have shown that service quality not only directly affects customer loyalty, it also has an indirect impact on customer loyalty by influencing customer satisfaction and perceived value (Cronin, Brady, and Hult, 2000). Currently, there are few domestic articles that specifically address the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty in the mobile communication industry. Moreover, research has studied customer loyalty as a whole variable, rather than breaking it down further into multiple dimensions. Based on this analysis, this paper summarizes previous study results, establishes an effect mechanism model among service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in the mobile communication industry, and presents a statistical test on model assumptions by using customer investigation data from Heilongjiang Mobile Company. It provides theoretical guidance for mobile service management based on the discussion of the hypothesis test results. For data collection, the sample comprised mobile users in Harbin city, and the survey was taken by random sampling. Out of a total of 300 questionnaires, 276 (92.9%) were recovered. After excluding invalid questionnaires, 249 remained, for an effective rate of 82.6 percent for the study. Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficient was adapted to assess the scale reliability, and validity testing was conducted on the questionnaire from three aspects: content validity, construct validity. and convergent validity. The study tested for goodness of fit mainly from the absolute and relative fit indexes. From the hypothesis testing results, overall, four assumptions have not been supported. The ultimate affective relationship of service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty is demonstrated in Figure 2. On the whole, the service quality of the communication industry not only has a direct positive significant effect on customer loyalty, it also has an indirect positive significant effect on customer loyalty through service quality; the affective mechanism and extent of customer loyalty are different, and are influenced by each dimension of service quality. This study used the questionnaires of existing literature from home and abroad and tested them in empirical research, with all questions adapted to seven-point Likert scales. With the SERVQUAL scale of Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988), or PZB, as a reference point, service quality was divided into five dimensions-tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy-and the questions were simplified down to nineteen. The measurement of customer satisfaction was based mainly on Fornell (1992) and Wang and Han (2003), ending up with four questions. Based on the study’s three indicators of price tolerance, first choice, and complaint reaction were used to measure attitudinal loyalty, while repurchase intention, recommendation, and reputation measured behavioral loyalty. The collection and collation of literature data produced a model of the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in mobile communications, and China Mobile in the city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province was used for conducting an empirical test of the model and obtaining some useful conclusions. First, service quality in mobile communication is formed by the five factors mentioned earlier: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. On the basis of PZB SERVQUAL, the study designed a measurement scale of service quality for the mobile communications industry, and obtained these five factors through exploratory factor analysis. The factors fit basically with the five elements, indicating the concept of five elements of service quality for the mobile communications industry. Second, service quality in mobile communications has both direct and indirect positive effects on attitudinal loyalty, with the indirect effect being produced through the intermediary variable, customer satisfaction. There are also both direct and indirect positive effects on behavioral loyalty, with the indirect effect produced through two intermediary variables: customer satisfaction and attitudinal loyalty. This shows that better service quality and higher customer satisfaction will activate the attitudinal to service providers more active and show loyalty to service providers much easier. In addition, the effect mechanism of all dimensions of service quality on all dimensions of customer loyalty is different. Third, customer satisfaction plays a significant intermediary role among service quality and attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, indicating that improving service quality can boost customer satisfaction and make it easier for satisfied customers to become loyal customers. Moreover, attitudinal loyalty plays a significant intermediary role between service quality and behavioral loyalty, indicating that only attitudinally and behaviorally loyal customers are truly loyal customers. The research conclusions have some indications for Chinese telecom operators and others to upgrade their service quality. Two limitations to the study are also mentioned. First, all data were collected in the Heilongjiang area, so there might be a common method bias that skews the results. Second, the discussion addresses the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty, setting customer satisfaction as mediator, but does not consider other factors, like customer value and consumer features, This research will be continued in the future.