• Title/Summary/Keyword: Science concepts

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The Paradox of Grant Allen's Physiological Reductionism (그랜트 알렌의 생리학적 환원주의의 역설)

  • Lee, Sungbum
    • Cross-Cultural Studies
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    • v.44
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    • pp.411-430
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    • 2016
  • One of central issues in the Literature and Science discourses during the Victorian era is the relation of physiology to psychology. Many thinkers tackle the question of whether or not psychic phenomena can be reducible to their physiological bases. For instance, Victorian physiologist William Benjamin Carpenter claims that there should be a boundary between physiological and psychological qualities. Yet, his contemporary writer Grant Allen contends for the reduction of psychology into physiology. In the essay, I discuss Grant Allen's work Physiological Aesthetics (1877) so as to eventually problematize his physiological reductionism. I especially highlight the paradox of his physiological aesthetics. In order to clarify my argument, I introduce two concepts: evolutionary aesthetics and physiological reductionism. On the one hand, Allen argues for the development of aesthetic appreciation. The gradual evolution from gaudy to serene colors, for instance, reflects the fine differentiation of sensory organs. He believes that the existence of varied aesthetic pleasures corresponds to the evolution of sensory nerve structures. Nonetheless, Allen ironically gives more weight to the commonality of aesthetic experiences than to this teleological ordering of aesthetic experiences. He argues that there is no fundamental difference among humans in terms of their aesthetic assessments. Furthermore, there is even no essential distinction among plants, animals, and humans in light of their aesthetic appraisals, he states firmly. Although he asserts the gradual advance of aesthetic feelings caused by the intricacy of nervous systems, he simultaneously trivializes the evolution of aesthetic appraisal. In the essay, I highlight this paradox in Allen's physiological aesthetics. It should be underscored, lamentably enough, that Allen seeks biological purity by erasing fine lines among physiology, psychology, and sociality. He estranges aesthetic experiences from subjective variations and their socio-cultural contexts. He makes great efforts to eliminate individual differences and socio-cultural specificities in order to extremely biologize aesthetic experiences. Hence, Allen's physiological aesthetics is marked as the politics of physiological purification.

The Sillok as National Supreme Archives : An archival interpretation (실록(實錄) : 등록(謄錄)의 위계(位階))

  • O, Hang-Nyeong
    • The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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    • no.3
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    • pp.91-113
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    • 2001
  • History always be re-interpreted as the time flows. 'The Sillok', Which was registered in Memory of World of UNESCO in 1997, is comprehensive documents of the Chosun Dynasty, which had been compiled after kings' death, The Sillok encompasses 473 years of the reign in their 848 volumes(1,893 chapters). It was a history itself and has been main source in studying Korean history. Due to the rise of studies on the Sillok, time has come to explore the nature of the Sillok and to criticize the text, which would be called 'The Sillok-Study'. In this context, this paper examined three concepts that categorize the nature of the Sillok as historical materials ;Is it book or record?; The Sillok in register system in pre-modern society; And the Sillok as the National Archives. Korean historians, including myself, haven't yet examined the question whether the Sillok is the Book or Record in terms of archival science. At first, I regarded it as history book, and with this presupposition, wrote several papers on the characteristics of the Sillok. However, I recognized that the Sillok are close to record rather that history book as I examined the definition of glossary of librarian study, OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and Encyclopedia of Britannica, etc. Definitely, the Sillok was neither compiled and published to be read and sold publicly, nor meant to the works of literature or scholarship. one may say that the court-historians wrote comments on the facts and therefore it was just scholarly work. However, because the court-historians produced their comments on their own businesses, the outcome of 'their scholarly works' were also records conceptually, as were daily court-journalists in Rome. Its publication also had a absolutely different meaning from that of modern society. It was a method to preserve the important national records and distributed each edition of them to plural repositories for its safety and security. How can we explain its book-like shape and the procedure of compilation after a kings' death. The answer is as follows ; In pre-modern society, it was a common record-keeping system in the world to register records materials in order to arrange the materials of different sizes and to store them conveniently. And the lack of scientific preservation or conservation skill also encouraged them to register original records. Actually, the court-historians who participated in the compiling process called themselves "registering officers". On the other hand, similar to social hierarchy, there was a hierarchical system of records, and the Sillok was placed at the top of this hierarchy. In conclusion, the Sillok was a kind of registered records in the middle ages and the supreme records in the records-world. In addition to this we can also conceptualize the Sillok as archives. Through the compiling process, the most important and valuable records were selected to be the parts of Sillok. This process corresponds to the modem records appraisal. In the next step, it was preserved in the Four Archives(史庫) which located at remote site as archives and only accessible by the descendents in the future, who might be the people of the next dynasty. And nobody could access or read the documents at that time except the authorized court-historians who were archivists of the Chosun Dynasty. From this perspective, I conclude that Sillok was the supreme confidential archives in the register system. I work for the Government Archives as a historian and archivist. Whenever I entered the exhibition hall of the Government Archives and Records Service(GARS) and saw the replica of the Archives of Taebeak Mountain built during Chosun period, I always asked to myself a question whether the Sillok can be a symbol of the archival tradition of Korea and the GARS. Now, I can say, 'Yes!' definitely.

History and Archives : Colleagues or Strangers? (역사학과 기록학 학문의 인연, 학제의 괴리)

  • OH, Hang-Nyeong
    • The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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    • no.54
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    • pp.179-210
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    • 2017
  • By redefining the concept of history, my colleagues and I have reformed our department in terms of curriculum and faculty members. This paper is a report of some of the conclusions that we have obtained from this procedure. Despite a long relationship, two disciplines do not seem to match or complement each other in the Korean education system. We believe that this is due to the fact that the Department of Korean History has focused on "national history (NH)." By conferring a privilege on NH, persons, families, societies, regions, and others were removed from NH. To make matters worse, a biased view that history is just an interpretation has prevailed, and the empiricism of history was weakened, which brought about an indifference in keeping records and archives. In East Asia, "history" means both modern history and archives. The concern about the authenticity of records did not come from H. Jenkinson or L. Duranti, and not even from the electronic environment or the Public Records Act of 1998. Key concepts such as records, documents-archives, manuscripts, authenticity, compilation-appraisal, arrangement, and description are different from their signifiant but are same or similar to their $signifi{\acute{e}}$. In case of "provenance" and "original order," they are used in education and practice in the traditional archives. History includes the recording, archiving, and the story or historiography of an event. In this context, the Department of Korean History should contain a more archives-oriented curriculum and select an archival-trained faculty. On the other hand, the department has accumulated long-term experience with appraisal and description of records; thus, archival science should absorb the criticism of the material. History will be shaken without the help of archives, while archives will lose their root without history. We are at the point in which we need to be reminded why we want to be a historian or an archivist, and for this, the more colleagues, the better.

A Study on the Planting Design for the Renewal of Urban Neighborhood Park - In Case of Okgu Neighborhood Park, Siheung, Gyeonggi-do, Korea - (도시근린공원 리뉴얼을 위한 식재디자인 연구 - 경기도 시흥시 옥구공원을 대상으로 -)

  • Lee, Sang-Man;Jeong, Moon-Soon;Han, Bong-Ho;Park, Seok-Cheol
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.88-103
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    • 2019
  • This paper aims to identify planting design for the renewal of Okgu Park, located in Siheung, Gyeonggi-do. I designate planting concept fit spatial functions and also suggest planting designs that are proper for a growth environment. The spatial functions of the research site are divided on the basis of the park facilities, its surroundings, and usage. To understand the planting concept, this paper looks into the distribution of plant species and the precise planting structure. To understand the planting concept and the current usage of shade space in the park, I examine the distribution of plant species and the precise planting structure. There are 48 kinds of plants, with Zoysia japonica area (28.84%), Prunus yedoensis (8.0%), Pinus thunbergii (6.73%) and Zelkova serrata (6.38%) taking up the majority. 27 places were chosen for researching the precise planting structure. The research shows that the average green coverage ratio is 38.14% and the average green capacity coefficient is $0.72m^3/m^2$. The growth defective rate of trees in the shade areas is estimated by averaging the classified growth conditions of individual trees per block of shade areas. Areas with an inferior environment for growth and low spatial usage in Okgu Park are selected as subjects for planting design. After comparing the spatial functions with planting concepts and analyzing the growth of plants, I identify $36,236m^2$ areas with inferior growth condition. I also examine structures and the surrounding areas to find areas that require urgent planting improvement, specifically identifying landscape space and shade space around the fountain and the buffer space nearby the North gate. I rearrange spatial functions in the selected areas to devise a planting design considering the existing vegetation, layer structure, and its usage. I set the planting concept and direction to improve the landscape of the selected areas through implementing a planting design so the park users can be satisfied with each space.

A Study on the Potential Use of ChatGPT in Public Design Policy Decision-Making (공공디자인 정책 결정에 ChatGPT의 활용 가능성에 관한연구)

  • Son, Dong Joo;Yoon, Myeong Han
    • Journal of Service Research and Studies
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.172-189
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    • 2023
  • This study investigated the potential contribution of ChatGPT, a massive language and information model, in the decision-making process of public design policies, focusing on the characteristics inherent to public design. Public design utilizes the principles and approaches of design to address societal issues and aims to improve public services. In order to formulate public design policies and plans, it is essential to base them on extensive data, including the general status of the area, population demographics, infrastructure, resources, safety, existing policies, legal regulations, landscape, spatial conditions, current state of public design, and regional issues. Therefore, public design is a field of design research that encompasses a vast amount of data and language. Considering the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence technology and the significance of public design, this study aims to explore how massive language and information models like ChatGPT can contribute to public design policies. Alongside, we reviewed the concepts and principles of public design, its role in policy development and implementation, and examined the overview and features of ChatGPT, including its application cases and preceding research to determine its utility in the decision-making process of public design policies. The study found that ChatGPT could offer substantial language information during the formulation of public design policies and assist in decision-making. In particular, ChatGPT proved useful in providing various perspectives and swiftly supplying information necessary for policy decisions. Additionally, the trend of utilizing artificial intelligence in government policy development was confirmed through various studies. However, the usage of ChatGPT also unveiled ethical, legal, and personal privacy issues. Notably, ethical dilemmas were raised, along with issues related to bias and fairness. To practically apply ChatGPT in the decision-making process of public design policies, first, it is necessary to enhance the capacities of policy developers and public design experts to a certain extent. Second, it is advisable to create a provisional regulation named 'Ordinance on the Use of AI in Policy' to continuously refine the utilization until legal adjustments are made. Currently, implementing these two strategies is deemed necessary. Consequently, employing massive language and information models like ChatGPT in the public design field, which harbors a vast amount of language, holds substantial value.

An Exploratory Study on Consumer Behavior of Digital Banking Deposits: Focusing on Bank Loyal Customers (디지털 뱅킹 정기예금의 소비자 행동 실태에 관한 탐색적 연구 -은행 충성고객을 중심으로-)

  • Inkwan Cho;Soo Kyung Park;Bong Gyou Lee
    • Journal of Service Research and Studies
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.130-145
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    • 2023
  • The digital transformation of finance is accelerating, and digital banking has already become a major banking channel. Banks have traditionally placed importance on CRM(Customer Relationship Management) and have tried to retain their loyal customers, who contribute significantly to the bank, such as long-term transactions, holding accounts with a certain balance or more, and holding loans. In this situation, this study exploratorily analyzed the consumer behavior of digital banking deposits in a major bank of Korea(1,145 samples). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. The main findings of the study are summarized as follows. It was found that there were differences of consumer behavior in digital banking deposits by generation, and the MZ generation used digital banking more on holidays than other generations. As a result of analyzing the behavior of existing loyal customers and regular customers of digital banking deposit, there was a significant difference in both the amount and period of the deposit. It was confirmed that the existing loyal customers of the bank also engage in consumer behavior that contributes to the bank in digital banking. In addition, the interaction between the customer type and the date of sign up for the deposit period, which is the goal setting of financial consumers, it was found that there was a significant effect. This study empirically analyzed the consumer behavior of digital banking in a situation where decrease of bank branches and encounters with digital banking. The major concepts of the consumer behavior theory are Loyal Customer, Goal Pursuit, and Habit, which were confirmed in an example of digital banking. The results of this study can suggest practical implications for existing banks and Internet-only banks, including the importance of customer management in digital banking.

The Impacts of Need for Cognitive Closure, Psychological Wellbeing, and Social Factors on Impulse Purchasing (인지폐합수요(认知闭合需要), 심리건강화사회인소대충동구매적영향(心理健康和社会因素对冲动购买的影响))

  • Lee, Myong-Han;Schellhase, Ralf;Koo, Dong-Mo;Lee, Mi-Jeong
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.44-56
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    • 2009
  • Impulse purchasing is defined as an immediate purchase with no pre-shopping intentions. Previous studies of impulse buying have focused primarily on factors linked to marketing mix variables, situational factors, and consumer demographics and traits. In previous studies, marketing mix variables such as product category, product type, and atmospheric factors including advertising, coupons, sales events, promotional stimuli at the point of sale, and media format have been used to evaluate product information. Some authors have also focused on situational factors surrounding the consumer. Factors such as the availability of credit card usage, time available, transportability of the products, and the presence and number of shopping companions were found to have a positive impact on impulse buying and/or impulse tendency. Research has also been conducted to evaluate the effects of individual characteristics such as the age, gender, and educational level of the consumer, as well as perceived crowding, stimulation, and the need for touch, on impulse purchasing. In summary, previous studies have found that all products can be purchased impulsively (Vohs and Faber, 2007), that situational factors affect and/or at least facilitate impulse purchasing behavior, and that various individual traits are closely linked to impulse buying. The recent introduction of new distribution channels such as home shopping channels, discount stores, and Internet stores that are open 24 hours a day increases the probability of impulse purchasing. However, previous literature has focused predominantly on situational and marketing variables and thus studies that consider critical consumer characteristics are still lacking. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study builds on this third tradition of research and focuses on individual trait variables, which have rarely been studied. More specifically, the current study investigates whether impulse buying tendency has a positive impact on impulse buying behavior, and evaluates how consumer characteristics such as the need for cognitive closure (NFCC), psychological wellbeing, and susceptibility to interpersonal influences affect the tendency of consumers towards impulse buying. The survey results reveal that while consumer affective impulsivity has a strong positive impact on impulse buying behavior, cognitive impulsivity has no impact on impulse buying behavior. Furthermore, affective impulse buying tendency is driven by sub-components of NFCC such as decisiveness and discomfort with ambiguity, psychological wellbeing constructs such as environmental control and purpose in life, and by normative and informational influences. In addition, cognitive impulse tendency is driven by sub-components of NFCC such as decisiveness, discomfort with ambiguity, and close-mindedness, and the psychological wellbeing constructs of environmental control, as well as normative and informational influences. The present study has significant theoretical implications. First, affective impulsivity has a strong impact on impulse purchase behavior. Previous studies based on affectivity and flow theories proposed that low to moderate levels of impulsivity are driven by reduced self-control or a failure of self-regulatory mechanisms. The present study confirms the above proposition. Second, the present study also contributes to the literature by confirming that impulse buying tendency can be viewed as a two-dimensional concept with both affective and cognitive dimensions, and illustrates that impulse purchase behavior is explained mainly by affective impulsivity, not by cognitive impulsivity. Third, the current study accommodates new constructs such as psychological wellbeing and NFCC as potential influencing factors in the research model, thereby contributing to the existing literature. Fourth, by incorporating multi-dimensional concepts such as psychological wellbeing and NFCC, more diverse aspects of consumer information processing can be evaluated. Fifth, the current study also extends the existing literature by confirming the two competing routes of normative and informational influences. Normative influence occurs when individuals conform to the expectations of others or to enhance his/her self-image. Whereas informational influence occurs when individuals search for information from knowledgeable others or making inferences based upon observations of the behavior of others. The present study shows that these two competing routes of social influence can be attributed to different sources of influence power. The current study also has many practical implications. First, it suggests that people with affective impulsivity may be primary targets to whom companies should pay closer attention. Cultivating a more amenable and mood-elevating shopping environment will appeal to this segment. Second, the present results demonstrate that NFCC is closely related to the cognitive dimension of impulsivity. These people are driven by careless thoughts, not by feelings or excitement. Rational advertising at the point of purchase will attract these customers. Third, people susceptible to normative influences are another potential target market. Retailers and manufacturers could appeal to this segment by advertising their products and/or services as products that can be used to identify with or conform to the expectations of others in the aspiration group. However, retailers should avoid targeting people susceptible to informational influences as a segment market. These people are engaged in an extensive information search relevant to their purchase, and therefore more elaborate, long-term rational advertising messages, which can be internalized into these consumers' thought processes, will appeal to this segment. The current findings should be interpreted with caution for several reasons. The study used a small convenience sample, and only investigated behavior in two dimensions. Accordingly, future studies should incorporate a sample with more diverse characteristics and measure different aspects of behavior. Future studies should also investigate personality traits closely related to affectivity theories. Trait variables such as sensory curiosity, interpersonal curiosity, and atmospheric responsiveness are interesting areas for future investigation.

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Moderating Effect of Lifestyle on Consumer Behavior of Loungewear with Korean Traditional Fashion Design Elements (소비자대함유한국전통시상설계원소적편복적소비행위지우생활방식적조절작용(消费者对含有韩国传统时尚设计元素的便服的消费行为之于生活方式的调节作用))

  • Ko, Eun-Ju;Lee, Jee-Hyun;Kim, Angella Ji-Young;Burns, Leslie Davis
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.15-26
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    • 2010
  • Due to the globalization across various industries and cultural trade among many countries, oriental concepts have been attracting world’s attentions. In fashion industry, one's traditional culture is often developed as fashion theme for designers' creation and became strong strategies to stand out among competitors. Because of the increase of preferences for oriental images, opportunities abound to introduce traditional fashion goods and expand culture based business to global fashion markets. However, global fashion brands that include Korean traditional culture are yet to be developed. In order to develop a global fashion brand with Korean taste, it is very important for native citizen to accept their own culture in domestic apparel market prior to expansion into foreign market. Loungewear is evaluated to be appropriate for adopting Korean traditional details into clothing since this wardrobe category embraces various purposes which will easily lead to natural adaptation and wide spread use. Also, this market is seeing an increased demand for multipurpose wardrobes and fashionable underwear (Park et al. 2009). Despite rapid growth in the loungewear market, specific studies of loungewear is rare; and among research on developing modernized-traditional clothing, fashion items and brands do not always include the loungewear category. Therefore, this study investigated the Korean loungewear market and studied consumer evaluation toward loungewear with Korean traditional fashion design elements. Relationship among antecedents of purchase intention for Korean traditional fashion design elements were analyzed and compared between lifestyle groups for consumer targeting purposes. Product quality, retail service quality, perceived value, and preference on loungewear with Korean traditional design elements were chosen as antecedents of purchase intention and a structural equation model was designed to examine their relationship as well as their influence on purchase intention. Product quality and retail service quality among marketing mixes were employed as factors affecting preference and perceived value of loungewear with Korean traditional fashion design elements. Also effects of preference and perceived value on purchase intention were examined through the same model. A total of 357 self-administered questionnaires were completed by female consumers via web survey system. A questionnaire was developed to measure samples' lifestyle, product and retail service quality as purchasing criteria, perceived value, preference and purchase intention of loungewear with Korean traditional fashion design elements. Also, loungewear purchasing and usage behavior were asked as well in order to examine Korean loungewear market status. Data was analyzed through descriptive analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA and structural equation model was tested via AMOS 7.0. As for the result of Korean loungewear market status investigation, loungewear was purchased by most of the consumers in our sample. Loungewear is currently recognized as clothes that are worn at home and consumers are showing comparably low involvement toward loungewear. Most of consumers in this study purchase loungewear only two to three times a year and they spend less than US$10. A total of 12 items and four factors of loungewear consumer lifestyle were found: traditional value oriented lifestyle, brand-affected lifestyle, pursuit of leisure lifestyle, and health oriented lifestyle. Drawing on lifestyle factors, loungewear consumers were classified into two groups; Well-being and Conservative. Relationships among constructs of purchasing behavior related to loungewear with Korean traditional fashion design elements were estimated. Preference and perceived value of loungewear were affected by both product quality and retail service quality. This study proved that high qualities in product and retail service develop positive preference toward loungewear. Perceived value and preference of loungewear positively influenced purchase intention. The results indicated that high preference and perceived value of loungewear with Korean traditional fashion design elements strengthen purchase intention and proved importance of developing preference and elevate perceived value in order to make sales. In a model comparison between two lifestyle groups: Well-being and Conservative lifestyle groups, results showed that product quality and retail service quality had positive influences on both preference and perceived value in case of Well-being group. However, for Conservative group, only retail service quality had a positive effect on preference and its influence to purchase intention. Since Well-being group showed more significant influence on purchase intention, loungewear brands with Korean traditional fashion design elements may want to focus on characteristics of Well-being group. However, Conservative group's relationship between preference and purchase intention of loungewear with Korean traditional fashion design elements was stronger, so that loungewear brands with Korean traditional fashion design elements should focus on creating conservative consumers' positive preference toward loungewear. The results offered information on Korean loungewear consumers' lifestyle and provided useful information for fashion brands that are planning to enter Korean loungewear market, particularly targeting female consumers similar to the sample of the present study. This study offers strategic and marketing insight for loungewear brands and also for fashion brands that are planning to create highly value-added fashion brands with Korean traditional fashion design elements. Considering different types of lifestyle groups that are associated with loungewear or traditional fashion goods, brand managers and marketers can use the results of this paper as a reference to positioning, targeting and marketing strategy buildings.

The Effect of Common Features on Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option: The Moderating Role of Regulatory Focus (재몰유선택적정황하공동특성대우고객희호적영향(在没有选择的情况下共同特性对于顾客喜好的影响): 조절초점적조절작용(调节焦点的调节作用))

  • Park, Jong-Chul;Kim, Kyung-Jin
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.89-97
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    • 2010
  • This study researches the effects of common features on a no-choice option with respect to regulatory focus theory. The primary interest is in three factors and their interrelationship: common features, no-choice option, and regulatory focus. Prior studies have compiled vast body of research in these areas. First, the "common features effect" has been observed bymany noted marketing researchers. Tversky (1972) proposed the seminal theory, the EBA model: elimination by aspect. According to this theory, consumers are prone to focus only on unique features during comparison processing, thereby dismissing any common features as redundant information. Recently, however, more provocative ideas have attacked the EBA model by asserting that common features really do affect consumer judgment. Chernev (1997) first reported that adding common features mitigates the choice gap because of the increasing perception of similarity among alternatives. Later, however, Chernev (2001) published a critically developed study against his prior perspective with the proposition that common features may be a cognitive load to consumers, and thus consumers are possible that they are prone to prefer the heuristic processing to the systematic processing. This tends to bring one question to the forefront: Do "common features" affect consumer choice? If so, what are the concrete effects? This study tries to answer the question with respect to the "no-choice" option and regulatory focus. Second, some researchers hold that the no-choice option is another best alternative of consumers, who are likely to avoid having to choose in the context of knotty trade-off settings or mental conflicts. Hope for the future also may increase the no-choice option in the context of optimism or the expectancy of a more satisfactory alternative appearing later. Other issues reported in this domain are time pressure, consumer confidence, and alternative numbers (Dhar and Nowlis 1999; Lin and Wu 2005; Zakay and Tsal 1993). This study casts the no-choice option in yet another perspective: the interactive effects between common features and regulatory focus. Third, "regulatory focus theory" is a very popular theme in recent marketing research. It suggests that consumers have two focal goals facing each other: promotion vs. prevention. A promotion focus deals with the concepts of hope, inspiration, achievement, or gain, whereas prevention focus involves duty, responsibility, safety, or loss-aversion. Thus, while consumers with a promotion focus tend to take risks for gain, the same does not hold true for a prevention focus. Regulatory focus theory predicts consumers' emotions, creativity, attitudes, memory, performance, and judgment, as documented in a vast field of marketing and psychology articles. The perspective of the current study in exploring consumer choice and common features is a somewhat creative viewpoint in the area of regulatory focus. These reviews inspire this study of the interaction possibility between regulatory focus and common features with a no-choice option. Specifically, adding common features rather than omitting them may increase the no-choice option ratio in the choice setting only to prevention-focused consumers, but vice versa to promotion-focused consumers. The reasoning is that when prevention-focused consumers come in contact with common features, they may perceive higher similarity among the alternatives. This conflict among similar options would increase the no-choice ratio. Promotion-focused consumers, however, are possible that they perceive common features as a cue of confirmation bias. And thus their confirmation processing would make their prior preference more robust, then the no-choice ratio may shrink. This logic is verified in two experiments. The first is a $2{\times}2$ between-subject design (whether common features or not X regulatory focus) using a digital cameras as the relevant stimulus-a product very familiar to young subjects. Specifically, the regulatory focus variable is median split through a measure of eleven items. Common features included zoom, weight, memory, and battery, whereas the other two attributes (pixel and price) were unique features. Results supported our hypothesis that adding common features enhanced the no-choice ratio only to prevention-focus consumers, not to those with a promotion focus. These results confirm our hypothesis - the interactive effects between a regulatory focus and the common features. Prior research had suggested that including common features had a effect on consumer choice, but this study shows that common features affect choice by consumer segmentation. The second experiment was used to replicate the results of the first experiment. This experimental study is equal to the prior except only two - priming manipulation and another stimulus. For the promotion focus condition, subjects had to write an essay using words such as profit, inspiration, pleasure, achievement, development, hedonic, change, pursuit, etc. For prevention, however, they had to use the words persistence, safety, protection, aversion, loss, responsibility, stability etc. The room for rent had common features (sunshine, facility, ventilation) and unique features (distance time and building state). These attributes implied various levels and valence for replication of the prior experiment. Our hypothesis was supported repeatedly in the results, and the interaction effects were significant between regulatory focus and common features. Thus, these studies showed the dual effects of common features on consumer choice for a no-choice option. Adding common features may enhance or mitigate no-choice, contradictory as it may sound. Under a prevention focus, adding common features is likely to enhance the no-choice ratio because of increasing mental conflict; under the promotion focus, it is prone to shrink the ratio perhaps because of a "confirmation bias." The research has practical and theoretical implications for marketers, who may need to consider common features carefully in a practical display context according to consumer segmentation (i.e., promotion vs. prevention focus.) Theoretically, the results suggest some meaningful moderator variable between common features and no-choice in that the effect on no-choice option is partly dependent on a regulatory focus. This variable corresponds not only to a chronic perspective but also a situational perspective in our hypothesis domain. Finally, in light of some shortcomings in the research, such as overlooked attribute importance, low ratio of no-choice, or the external validity issue, we hope it influences future studies to explore the little-known world of the "no-choice option."

Brand Equity and Purchase Intention in Fashion Products: A Cross-Cultural Study in Asia and Europe (상표자산과 구매의도와의 관계에 관한 국제비교연구 - 아시아와 유럽의 의류시장을 중심으로 -)

  • Kim, Kyung-Hoon;Ko, Eun-Ju;Graham, Hooley;Lee, Nick;Lee, Dong-Hae;Jung, Hong-Seob;Jeon, Byung-Joo;Moon, Hak-Il
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.245-276
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    • 2008
  • Brand equity is one of the most important concepts in business practice as well as in academic research. Successful brands can allow marketers to gain competitive advantage (Lassar et al.,1995), including the opportunity for successful extensions, resilience against competitors' promotional pressures, and the ability to create barriers to competitive entry (Farquhar, 1989). Branding plays a special role in service firms because strong brands increase trust in intangible products (Berry, 2000), enabling customers to better visualize and understand them. They reduce customers' perceived monetary, social, and safety risks in buying services, which are obstacles to evaluating a service correctly before purchase. Also, a high level of brand equity increases consumer satisfaction, repurchasing intent, and degree of loyalty. Brand equity can be considered as a mixture that includes both financial assets and relationships. Actually, brand equity can be viewed as the value added to the product (Keller, 1993), or the perceived value of the product in consumers' minds. Mahajan et al. (1990) claim that customer-based brand equity can be measured by the level of consumers' perceptions. Several researchers discuss brand equity based on two dimensions: consumer perception and consumer behavior. Aaker (1991) suggests measuring brand equity through price premium, loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations. Viewing brand equity as the consumer's behavior toward a brand, Keller (1993) proposes similar dimensions: brand awareness and brand knowledge. Thus, past studies tend to identify brand equity as a multidimensional construct consisted of brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand knowledge, customer satisfaction, perceived equity, brand associations, and other proprietary assets (Aaker, 1991, 1996; Blackston, 1995; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Na, 1995). Other studies tend to regard brand equity and other brand assets, such as brand knowledge, brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and so on, as independent but related constructs (Keller, 1993; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993). Walters(1978) defined information search as, "A psychological or physical action a consumer takes in order to acquire information about a product or store." But, each consumer has different methods for informationsearch. There are two methods of information search, internal and external search. Internal search is, "Search of information already saved in the memory of the individual consumer"(Engel, Blackwell, 1982) which is, "memory of a previous purchase experience or information from a previous search."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). External search is "A completely voluntary decision made in order to obtain new information"(Engel & Blackwell, 1982) which is, "Actions of a consumer to acquire necessary information by such methods as intentionally exposing oneself to advertisements, taking to friends or family or visiting a store."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). There are many sources for consumers' information search including advertisement sources such as the internet, radio, television, newspapers and magazines, information supplied by businesses such as sales people, packaging and in-store information, consumer sources such as family, friends and colleagues, and mass media sources such as consumer protection agencies, government agencies and mass media sources. Understanding consumers' purchasing behavior is a key factor of a firm to attract and retain customers and improving the firm's prospects for survival and growth, and enhancing shareholder's value. Therefore, marketers should understand consumer as individual and market segment. One theory of consumer behavior supports the belief that individuals are rational. Individuals think and move through stages when making a purchase decision. This means that rational thinkers have led to the identification of a consumer buying decision process. This decision process with its different levels of involvement and influencing factors has been widely accepted and is fundamental to the understanding purchase intention represent to what consumers think they will buy. Brand equity is not only companies but also very important asset more than product itself. This paper studies brand equity model and influencing factors including information process such as information searching and information resources in the fashion market in Asia and Europe. Information searching and information resources are influencing brand knowledge that influences consumers purchase decision. Nine research hypotheses are drawn to test the relationships among antecedents of brand equity and purchase intention and relationships among brand knowledge, brand value, brand attitude, and brand loyalty. H1. Information searching influences brand knowledge positively. H2. Information sources influence brand knowledge positively. H3. Brand knowledge influences brand attitude. H4. Brand knowledge influences brand value. H5. Brand attitude influences brand loyalty. H6. Brand attitude influences brand value. H7. Brand loyalty influences purchase intention. H8. Brand value influence purchase intention. H9. There will be the same research model in Asia and Europe. We performed structural equation model analysis in order to test hypotheses suggested in this study. The model fitting index of the research model in Asia was $X^2$=195.19(p=0.0), NFI=0.90, NNFI=0.87, CFI=0.90, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.083, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. In Europe, it was $X^2$=133.25(p=0.0), NFI=0.81, NNFI=0.85, CFI=0.89, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.073, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. From the test results, hypotheses were accepted. All of these hypotheses except one are supported. In Europe, information search is not an antecedent of brand knowledge. This means that sales of global fashion brands like jeans in Europe are not expanding as rapidly as in Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea. Young consumers in European countries are not more brand and fashion conscious than their counter partners in Asia. The results have theoretical, practical meaning and contributions. In the fashion jeans industry, relatively few studies examining the viability of cross-national brand equity has been studied. This study provides insight on building global brand equity and suggests information process elements like information search and information resources are working differently in Asia and Europe for fashion jean market.

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