• Title/Summary/Keyword: Threat Factor

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"Legal Study on Boundary between Airspace and Outer Space" (영공(領空)과 우주공간(宇宙空間)의 한계(限界)에 관한 법적(法的) 고찰(考察))

  • Choi, Wan-Sik
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.2
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    • pp.31-67
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    • 1990
  • One of the first issues which arose in the evolution of air law was the determination of the vertical limits of airspace over private property. In 1959 the UN in its Ad Hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, started to give attention to the question of the meaning of the term "outer space". Discussions in the United Nations regarding the delimitation issue were often divided between those in favour of a functional approach ("functionalists"), and those seeking the delineation of a boundary ("spatialists"). The functionalists, backed initially by both major space powers, which viewed any boundary as possibly restricting their access to space(Whether for peaceful or military purposes), won the first rounds, starting with the 1959 Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space which did not consider that the topic called for priority consideration. In 1966, however, the spatialists, were able to place the issue on the agenda of the Outer Sapce Committee pursuant to Resolution 2222 (xxx1). However, the spatialists were not able to present a common position since there existed a variety of propositions for delineation of a boundary. Over the years, the funtionalists have seemed to be losing ground. As the element of location is a decisive factor for the choice of the legal regime to be applied, a purely functional approach to the regulation of activities in the space above the Earth does not offer a solution. It is therefore to be welcomed that there is clear evidence of a growing recognition of the defect inherent to such an approach and that a spatial approach to the problem is gaining support both by a growing number of States as well as by publicists. The search for a solution of the problem of demarcating the two different legal regimes governing the space above the Earth has undoubtedly been facilitated, and a number of countries, among them Argentina, Belgium, France, Italy and Mexico have already advocated the acceptance of the lower boundary of outer space at a height of 100km. The adoption of the principle of sovereignty at that height does not mean that States would not be allowed to take protective measures against space activities above that height which constitute a threat to their security. A parallel can be drawn with the defence of the State's security on the high seas. Measures taken by States in their own protection on the high seas outside the territorial waters-provided that they are proportionate to the danger-are not considered to infringe the principle of international law. The most important issue in this context relates to the problem of a right of passage for space craft through foreign air space in order to reach outer space. In the reports to former ILA Conferences an explanation was given of the reasons why no customary rule of freedom of passage for aircraft through foreign territorial air space could as yet be said to exist. It was suggested, however, that though the essential elements for the creation of a rule of customary international law allowing such passage were still lacking, developments apperaed to point to a steady growth of a feeling of necessity for such a rule. A definite treaty solution of the demarcation problem would require further study which should be carried out by the UN Outer Space Committee in close co-operation with other interested international organizations, including ICAO. If a limit between air space and outer space were established, air space would automatically come under the regime of the Chicago Convention alone. The use of the word "recognize" in Art. I of chicago convention is an acknowledgement of sovereignty over airspace existing as a general principle of law, the binding force of which exists independently of the Convention. Further it is important to note that the Aricle recognizes this sovereignty, as existing for every state, holding it immaterial whether the state is or is not a contracting state. The functional criteria having been created by reference to either the nature of activity or the nature of the space object, the next hurdle would be to provide methods of verification. With regard to the question of international verification the establishment of an International Satelite Monitoring Agency is required. The path towards the successful delimitation of outer space from territorial space is doubtless narrow and stony but the establishment of a precise legal framework, consonant with the basic principles of international law, for the future activities of states in outer space will, it is still believed, remove a source of potentially dangerous conflicts between states, and furthermore afford some safeguard of the rights and interests of non-space powers which otherwise are likely to be eroded by incipient customs based on at present almost complete freedom of action of the space powers.

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EFFECTS OF HYDROQUINONE ON NEOPLASTIC TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN EPITHELIAL CELLS IN CULTURE (Hydroquinone이 인체 상피세포의 발암화에 미치는 영향)

  • Sohn, Jung-Hee;Kim, Chin-Soo
    • Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.218-228
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    • 2010
  • Components of dental resin-based restorative materials are reported to leach from the filling materials even after polymerization. Hydroquinone (HQ) is one of the major monomers used in the dental resin and is known as a carcinogen. Thus, carcinogenic risk of HQ leaching from the dental resin becomes a public health concern. The present study attempted to examine the carcinogenic potentials of HQ on the human epithelial cell, which is the target cell origin of the most of oral cancers. Cytotoxicity of HQ was observed above 50${\mu}M$ as measured by LDH assay, indicating a relatively low toxicity of this substance in human epithelial cells. The parameters of neoplastic cellular transformation such as cell saturation density, soft agar colony formation and cell aggregation were analyzed to examine the carcinogenic potential of HQ. The study showed that 2-week exposure of HQ showed the tendency of increase in the saturation density and the significant enhancement of soft agar colony formation at the highest dose, 50 ${\mu}M$ only. It is suggested that HQ has a weak potential of carcinogenicity. When cells were treated with HQ and TPA, a well-known tumor promoter, the parameters of neoplastic cellular transformation was significantly increased. This result indicates that the potential risk of carcinogenicity from HQ is largely dependent upon the presence of promoter. Exposure of 50 ${\mu}M$ HQ increased the time-dependent apoptosis as measured by the ELISA kit. This concentration coincides with a dose of neoplastic transformation, indicating a possible link between apoptosis and HQ-induced cellular transformation. Hydroquinone generated Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which was evidenced by the treatment of antioxidants such as trolox and N-acetyl cysteine and the GSH depleting agent, BSO. Antioxidants blocked the generation of ROS and the GSH depleting agent, BSO dramatically increased the ROS production. Since HQ is known to increase ROS production thru activation of transcriptional factor such as c-Myb and Pim-1, it is speculated that ROS generation by HQ plays a role in the activation of oncogene, which may lead to neoplastic transformation. In addition, ROS is involved in the alteration of signal transduction, which regulates the apoptosis in many cellular systems. Thus, ROS-mediated apoptosis may be involved in the HQ-induced carcinogenic processes. Protein kinase C (PKC) is known to play pivotal roles in neoplastic transformation of cells and its high expression is often found in a variety of types of tumors including oral cancer. PKC translocation of PKC-${\alpha}$ was observed following HQ exposure. Altered signaling system may also play a role in the transformation process. Taken together, HQ leached from the dental resin does not pose a significant threat as a cancer causing agent, but its carcinogenic potential can be significantly elevated in the presence of promoter. The mechanism of HQ-induced carcinogenesis involved ROS generation, apoptosis and altered signaling pathway. The present study will provide a valuable data to estimate the potential risk of HQ as a carcinogen and understand mechanism of HQ-induced carcinogenesis in human epithelial cells.

A Study on Seismic Liquefaction Risk Map of Electric Power Utility Tunnel in South-East Korea (국내 동남권 지역의 전력구 지반에 대한 지진시 액상화 위험도 작성 연구)

  • Choi, Jae-soon;Park, Inn-Joon;Hwang, Kyengmin;Jang, Jungbum
    • Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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    • v.19 no.10
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    • pp.13-19
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    • 2018
  • Following the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, the Pohang Earthquake occurred in 2017, and the south-east region in Korea is under the threat of an earthquake. Especially, in the Pohang Earthquake, the liquefaction phenomenon occurred in the sedimentation area of the coast, and preparation of countermeasures is very important. The soil liquefaction can affect the underground facilities directly as well as various structures on the ground. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the liquefaction risk of facilities and the structures against the possible earthquakes and to prepare countermeasures to minimize them. In this study, we investigated the seismic liquefaction risk about the electric power utility tunnels in the southeast area where the earthquake occurred in Korea recently. In the analysis of seismic liquefaction risk, the earthquake with return period 1000 years and liquefaction potential index are used. The liquefaction risk analysis was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the liquefaction risk was analyzed by calculating the liquefaction potential index using the ground survey data of the location of electric power utility tunnels in the southeast region. At that time, the seismic amplification in soil layer was considered by soil amplification factor according to the soil classification. In the second stage, the liquefaction risk analysis based on the site response analyses inputted 3 earthquake records were performed for the locations determined to be dangerous from the first step analysis, and the final liquefaction potential index was recalculated. In the analysis, the site investigation data were used from the National Geotechnical Information DB Center. Finally, it can be found that the proposed two stage assessments for liquefaction risk that the macro assessment of liquefaction risk for the underground facilities including the electric power utility tunnel in Korea is carried out at the first stage, and the second risk assessment is performed again with site response analysis for the dangerous regions of the first stage assessment is reasonable and effective.

A Review Essay on Legal Mechanisms for Orbital Slot Allocation (정지궤도슬롯의 법적 배분기제에 관한 논고)

  • Jung, Joon-Sik;Hwang, Ho-Won
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.199-236
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    • 2014
  • This paper analyses from the perspective of distributive justice the legal mechanisms for international allocation of orbital slots, which are of co-owned nature and thereby limited natural resources in outer space. The allocative function is delegated to the International Telecommunication Union. The Radio Regulation, amongst such other legal instruments as the Constitution and Convention, by which the ITU and contracting States thereof abides, dictates how the orbital positions are distributed. Thus, the RR is thoroughly reviewed in the essay. The mechanisms are in a broad sense categorized into two systems: 'a posteriori system' where the 'first come, first served' principle prevails; and 'a priori system' designed to foster the utilisation of the slots by those who lack space resources and are, in especial, likely to be marginalised under the former system. The argument proceeds on the premise that a posteriori system places the under-resourced States in unfavourable positions in the securement of the slots. In contrast with this notion, seven factors were instantiated for an assertion that the degradation of the distributive justice derived from the 'first come, first served' rule, which lays the foundation for the system, could be either mitigated or counterbalanced by the alleged exceptions to the rule. However, the author of this essay argues for counterevidences against the factors and thereby demonstrating that the principle still remains as an overwhelming doctrine, posing a threat to the pursuit of fair allocation. The elements he set forth are as in the following: 1) that the 'first come, first served' principle only applies to assignments capable of causing harmful interferences; 2) the interoperability of the principle with the 'rule of conformity' with the all the ITU instruments; 3) the viability of alternative registrations, as an exception of the application of the principle, on the condition of provisional and informational purposes; 4) another reference that matters in deciding the priority: the types of services in the TFA; 5) the Rule of Procedure H40 proclaiming a ban on taking advantage of coming first to the Register; 6) the technical factors and equity-oriented norms under international and municipal laws along with; 7) the changes of 'basic characteristics' of registered assignments. The second half of this essay illustrates by examining the relevant Annexes to the Regulation that the planned allocation, i.e., a priori system, bear the structured flaws that hinder the fulfillment of the original purpose of the system. The Broadcasting and Fixed Satellite Systems are the reviewed Plans in which the 'first come, first served' principle re-emerges in the end as a determining factor to grant the 'right to international recognition' to administrations including those who has not the allotted portions in the Plan.

Ecological Factors Influencing Adolescent's Negative Emotion: Moderating Effects of Parent's Abuse (청소년의 부정적 정서에 영향을 미치는 생태학적 요인: 부모학대경험 여부의 조절효과)

  • Lee, Jongseok;Jung, Deuk;Kim, Insul;Hwang, Hyunseok
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.15 no.5
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    • pp.2713-2723
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    • 2014
  • This study adopts an ecological perspective to empirically navigate the issues surrounding the impact of parental abuse on the emotional development of adolescents. The data is used from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2011 (KCYPS 2011), which was conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute (n=2,270). Path models were constructed in which adolescents' environmental mediators (i.e., the relationship with parents, friends, and teachers; and school life) control their negative emotions (i.e., aggressiveness, negative physical symptoms, social weakness and depression); in turn to compare the difference between two groups based on parental abuse by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). As with the non-abused group (n=1,644), all the environmental mediators remained significant to control their negative emotion; whereas, the abused group (n=626) showed no significant pathway from their relationship with teachers and school life to negative emotion. This indicates that the abused group have limited number of the mediators to control their negative emotion than those of the non-abused group. For the non-abused group, the mediator with the highest total effect to control their negative emotion was the relationship with their friends; on the other hand, the abused group's mediator that showed the highest total effect to control their negative emotion was the relationship with their parents. Although the relationship with teachers remained significant as a mediator to affect school life for the both groups, teachers were not significant to control the negative emotion of the abused group. These findings suggest that the negative relationship with teachers in the abused group is a factor to threat the school adaptation of adolescents, which also leads to problems that are related to the emotional development of adolescents.

Analysis of the Weight of SWOT Factors of Korean Venture Companies Based on the Industry 4.0 (4차 산업혁명 기반 한국 벤처기업의 SWOT요인에 대한 중요도 분석)

  • Lee, Dongik;Lee, Sangsuk
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.115-133
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    • 2021
  • This study examines the concept and related technologies of the 4th industrial revolution that has been mixed so far and examines the socio-economic changes and influences resulting from it, and the cases of responding to the 4th industrial revolution in major countries. Based on this, by deriving SWOT factors and calculating the importance of each factor for Korean venture companies to prepare for the forth industrial revolution, it was intended to help the government and policymakers in suggesting directions for establishing related policies. Furthermore, the purpose of this study was to suggest a direction for securing global competitiveness to Korean venture entrepreneurs and to help with basic and systematic analysis for further academic in-depth research. For this study, a total of 21 items derived through extensive literature research and data research to understand what are the necessary competency factors for internal and external environmental changes in order for Korean venture companies to have global competitiveness in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. After reviewing SWOT factors by three expert groups and confirming them through Delphi survey, the importance of each item was analyzed by using AHP, a systematic decision-making technique. As a result of the analysis, it was shown that Strength(48%), Opportunity(25%), Threat(16%), Weakness(11%) were considered important in order. In terms of sub-items, 'quick and flexible commercialization capability', 'platform/big data/non-face-to-face service activation', and 'ICT infrastructure and it's utilization' were shown to be of the comparatively high importance. On the other hand, in the lower three items, 'macro-economic stability and social infrastructure', 'difficulty in entering overseas markets due to global protectionism', and 'absolutely inferior in foreign investment' were found to have low priority. As a result of the correlation verification by item to see differences in opinions by industry, academia, and policy expert groups, there was no significant difference of opinion, as industry and academic experts showed a high correlation and industry experts and policy experts showed a moderate correlation. The correlation between the academic and policy experts was not statistically significant (p<0.01), so it was analyzed that there was a difference of opinion on importance. This was due to the fact that policy experts highly valued 'quick and flexible commercialization', which are strengths, and 'excellent educational system and high-quality manpower' and 'creation of new markets' which are opportunity items, while academic experts placed great importance on 'support part of government policy', which are strengths. The implication of this study is that in order for Korean venture companies to secure competitiveness in the field of the 4th industrial revolution, it is necessary to have a policy that preferentially supports the relevant items of strengths and opportunity factors. The difference in the details of strength factors and opportunity factors, which shows a high level of variability, suggests that it is necessary to actively review it and reflect it in the policy.

A Study on the Direction of Mission Education Based on Ecumenical Mission (에큐메니칼 선교에 기초한 선교교육의 방향에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Eun Joo
    • Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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    • v.66
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    • pp.179-208
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    • 2021
  • Due to COVID-19, the entire world is facing the unprecedented phenomenon. Amid the threat of the virus, the global community is struggling for life. In such circumstances, churches in Korea have been criticised as selfish groups threatening the community by spreading the virus. With such criticism, they are disregarded by Korean society because their immorality and exclusive attitude towards other religions and cultures were also mentioned in public. There are many reasons for Korean churches to lose trust from people. One of the reasons for that is the quantitative growth of church and expansion of the power of church, which is a direction that has been practised so far as a missionary goal. The zeal for spreading gospel has undermined the trust of church and become a deteriorating factor for mission, which is irony. In such problematic situations, the change of paradigm is required for new mission. The passion for evangelisation should not only focus on the quantitative growth of church; it should change its direction for serving the world in lieu with the plan of God for the activity of redemption on this land. A hint of such mission can be found in ecumenical mission. Ecumenical mission is a new paradigm which was discussed in ecumenical movement led mainly by WCC, and its aim is to participate in activities of redemption of God for life in this world. Christian education has been a tool for the expansion of Christian power in the context of traditional mission. Reflecting on the role of Christian education as such, the change of direction as practical movement for the kingdom of God was tried in ecumenical movement: the beginning of the discussion of Christian education based on ecumenical mission. Due to exclusivity, aggressive mission, and the excessive attention to the system of ecclesiastical authority rather than life, Korean churches, which have lost trust in this society, should recover themselves as the model of the kingdom of God, and the establishment of mission education based on ecumenical mission is required for them to become a community towards life. Furthermore, this is an urgent task for Korean churches to implement such mission education in a church community.

A Study on the Effect of Booth Recommendation System on Exhibition Visitors Unplanned Visit Behavior (전시장 참관객의 계획되지 않은 방문행동에 있어서 부스추천시스템의 영향에 대한 연구)

  • Chung, Nam-Ho;Kim, Jae-Kyung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.175-191
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    • 2011
  • With the MICE(Meeting, Incentive travel, Convention, Exhibition) industry coming into the spotlight, there has been a growing interest in the domestic exhibition industry. Accordingly, in Korea, various studies of the industry are being conducted to enhance exhibition performance as in the United States or Europe. Some studies are focusing particularly on analyzing visiting patterns of exhibition visitors using intelligent information technology in consideration of the variations in effects of watching exhibitions according to the exhibitory environment or technique, thereby understanding visitors and, furthermore, drawing the correlations between exhibiting businesses and improving exhibition performance. However, previous studies related to booth recommendation systems only discussed the accuracy of recommendation in the aspect of a system rather than determining changes in visitors' behavior or perception by recommendation. A booth recommendation system enables visitors to visit unplanned exhibition booths by recommending visitors suitable ones based on information about visitors' visits. Meanwhile, some visitors may be satisfied with their unplanned visits, while others may consider the recommending process to be cumbersome or obstructive to their free observation. In the latter case, the exhibition is likely to produce worse results compared to when visitors are allowed to freely observe the exhibition. Thus, in order to apply a booth recommendation system to exhibition halls, the factors affecting the performance of the system should be generally examined, and the effects of the system on visitors' unplanned visiting behavior should be carefully studied. As such, this study aims to determine the factors that affect the performance of a booth recommendation system by reviewing theories and literature and to examine the effects of visitors' perceived performance of the system on their satisfaction of unplanned behavior and intention to reuse the system. Toward this end, the unplanned behavior theory was adopted as the theoretical framework. Unplanned behavior can be defined as "behavior that is done by consumers without any prearranged plan". Thus far, consumers' unplanned behavior has been studied in various fields. The field of marketing, in particular, has focused on unplanned purchasing among various types of unplanned behavior, which has been often confused with impulsive purchasing. Nevertheless, the two are different from each other; while impulsive purchasing means strong, continuous urges to purchase things, unplanned purchasing is behavior with purchasing decisions that are made inside a store, not before going into one. In other words, all impulsive purchases are unplanned, but not all unplanned purchases are impulsive. Then why do consumers engage in unplanned behavior? Regarding this question, many scholars have made many suggestions, but there has been a consensus that it is because consumers have enough flexibility to change their plans in the middle instead of developing plans thoroughly. In other words, if unplanned behavior costs much, it will be difficult for consumers to change their prearranged plans. In the case of the exhibition hall examined in this study, visitors learn the programs of the hall and plan which booth to visit in advance. This is because it is practically impossible for visitors to visit all of the various booths that an exhibition operates due to their limited time. Therefore, if the booth recommendation system proposed in this study recommends visitors booths that they may like, they can change their plans and visit the recommended booths. Such visiting behavior can be regarded similarly to consumers' visit to a store or tourists' unplanned behavior in a tourist spot and can be understand in the same context as the recent increase in tourism consumers' unplanned behavior influenced by information devices. Thus, the following research model was established. This research model uses visitors' perceived performance of a booth recommendation system as the parameter, and the factors affecting the performance include trust in the system, exhibition visitors' knowledge levels, expected personalization of the system, and the system's threat to freedom. In addition, the causal relation between visitors' satisfaction of their perceived performance of the system and unplanned behavior and their intention to reuse the system was determined. While doing so, trust in the booth recommendation system consisted of 2nd order factors such as competence, benevolence, and integrity, while the other factors consisted of 1st order factors. In order to verify this model, a booth recommendation system was developed to be tested in 2011 DMC Culture Open, and 101 visitors were empirically studied and analyzed. The results are as follows. First, visitors' trust was the most important factor in the booth recommendation system, and the visitors who used the system perceived its performance as a success based on their trust. Second, visitors' knowledge levels also had significant effects on the performance of the system, which indicates that the performance of a recommendation system requires an advance understanding. In other words, visitors with higher levels of understanding of the exhibition hall learned better the usefulness of the booth recommendation system. Third, expected personalization did not have significant effects, which is a different result from previous studies' results. This is presumably because the booth recommendation system used in this study did not provide enough personalized services. Fourth, the recommendation information provided by the booth recommendation system was not considered to threaten or restrict one's freedom, which means it is valuable in terms of usefulness. Lastly, high performance of the booth recommendation system led to visitors' high satisfaction levels of unplanned behavior and intention to reuse the system. To sum up, in order to analyze the effects of a booth recommendation system on visitors' unplanned visits to a booth, empirical data were examined based on the unplanned behavior theory and, accordingly, useful suggestions for the establishment and design of future booth recommendation systems were made. In the future, further examination should be conducted through elaborate survey questions and survey objects.

An Empirical Study on Influencing Factors of Switching Intention from Online Shopping to Webrooming (온라인 쇼핑에서 웹루밍으로의 쇼핑전환 의도에 영향을 미치는 요인에 대한 연구)

  • Choi, Hyun-Seung;Yang, Sung-Byung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.19-41
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    • 2016
  • Recently, the proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet personal computers and the development of information communication technologies (ICT) have led to a big trend of a shift from single-channel shopping to multi-channel shopping. With the emergence of a "smart" group of consumers who want to shop in more reasonable and convenient ways, the boundaries apparently dividing online and offline shopping have collapsed and blurred more than ever before. Thus, there is now fierce competition between online and offline channels. Ever since the emergence of online shopping, a major type of multi-channel shopping has been "showrooming," where consumers visit offline stores to examine products before buying them online. However, because of the growing use of smart devices and the counterattack of offline retailers represented by omni-channel marketing strategies, one of the latest huge trends of shopping is "webrooming," where consumers visit online stores to examine products before buying them offline. This has become a threat to online retailers. In this situation, although it is very important to examine the influencing factors for switching from online shopping to webrooming, most prior studies have mainly focused on a single- or multi-channel shopping pattern. Therefore, this study thoroughly investigated the influencing factors on customers switching from online shopping to webrooming in terms of both the "search" and "purchase" processes through the application of a push-pull-mooring (PPM) framework. In order to test the research model, 280 individual samples were gathered from undergraduate and graduate students who had actual experience with webrooming. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) test revealed that the "pull" effect is strongest on the webrooming intention rather than the "push" or "mooring" effects. This proves a significant relationship between "attractiveness of webrooming" and "webrooming intention." In addition, the results showed that both the "perceived risk of online search" and "perceived risk of online purchase" significantly affect "distrust of online shopping." Similarly, both "perceived benefit of multi-channel search" and "perceived benefit of offline purchase" were found to have significant effects on "attractiveness of webrooming" were also found. Furthermore, the results indicated that "online purchase habit" is the only influencing factor that leads to "online shopping lock-in." The theoretical implications of the study are as follows. First, by examining the multi-channel shopping phenomenon from the perspective of "shopping switching" from online shopping to webrooming, this study complements the limits of the "channel switching" perspective, represented by multi-channel freeriding studies that merely focused on customers' channel switching behaviors from one to another. While extant studies with a channel switching perspective have focused on only one type of multi-channel shopping, where consumers just move from one particular channel to different channels, a study with a shopping switching perspective has the advantage of comprehensively investigating how consumers choose and navigate among diverse types of single- or multi-channel shopping alternatives. In this study, only limited shopping switching behavior from online shopping to webrooming was examined; however, the results should explain various phenomena in a more comprehensive manner from the perspective of shopping switching. Second, this study extends the scope of application of the push-pull-mooring framework, which is quite commonly used in marketing research to explain consumers' product switching behaviors. Through the application of this framework, it is hoped that more diverse shopping switching behaviors can be examined in future research. This study can serve a stepping stone for future studies. One of the most important practical implications of the study is that it may help single- and multi-channel retailers develop more specific customer strategies by revealing the influencing factors of webrooming intention from online shopping. For example, online single-channel retailers can ease the distrust of online shopping to prevent consumers from churning by reducing the perceived risk in terms of online search and purchase. On the other hand, offline retailers can develop specific strategies to increase the attractiveness of webrooming by letting customers perceive the benefits of multi-channel search or offline purchase. Although this study focused only on customers switching from online shopping to webrooming, the results can be expanded to various types of shopping switching behaviors embedded in single- and multi-channel shopping environments, such as showrooming and mobile shopping.

The Impact of Collective Guilt on the Preference for Japanese Products (집체범죄감대경향일본산품적영향(集体犯罪感对倾向日本产品的影响))

  • Maher, Amro A.;Singhapakdi, Anusorn;Park, Hyun-Soo;Auh, Sei-Gyoung
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.135-148
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    • 2010
  • Arab boycotts of Danish products, Australian boycotts of French products and Chinese consumer aversion toward Japanese products are all examples of how adverse actions at the country level might impact consumers' behavior. The animosity literature has examined how consumers react to the adverse actions of other countries, and how such animosity impacts consumers' attitudes and preferences for products from the transgressing country. For example, Chinese consumers are less likely to buy Japanese products because of Japanese atrocities during World War II and the unjust economic dealings of the Japanese (Klein, Ettenson and Morris 1998). The marketing literature, however, has not examined how consumers react to adverse actions committed by their own country against other countries, and whether such actions affect their attitudes towards purchasing products that originated from the adversely affected country. The social psychology literature argues that consumers will experience a feeling called collective guilt, in response to such adverse actions. Collective guilt stems from the distress experienced by group members when they accept that their group is responsible for actions that have harmed another group (Branscombe, Slugoski, and Kappenn 2004). Examples include Americans feeling guilty about the atrocities committed by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib prison (Iyer, Schamder and Lickel 2007), and the Dutch about their occupation of Indonesia in the past (Doosje et al. 1998). The primary aim of this study is to examine consumers' perceptions of adverse actions by members of one's own country against another country and whether such perceptions affected their attitudes towards products originating from the country transgressed against. More specifically, one objective of this study is to examine the perceptual antecedents of collective guilt, an emotional reaction to adverse actions performed by members of one's country against another country. Another objective is to examine the impact of collective guilt on consumers' perceptions of, and preference for, products originating from the country transgressed against by the consumers' own country. If collective guilt emerges as a significant predictor, companies originating from countries that have been transgressed against might be able to capitalize on such unfortunate events. This research utilizes the animosity model introduced by Klein, Ettenson and Morris (1998) and later expanded on by Klein (2002). Klein finds that U.S. consumers harbor animosity toward the Japanese. This animosity is experienced in response to events that occurred during World War II (i.e., the bombing of Pearl Harbor) and more recently the perceived economic threat from Japan. Thus this study argues that the events of Word War II (i.e., bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) might lead U.S. consumers to experience collective guilt. A series of three hypotheses were introduced. The first hypothesis deals with the antecedents of collective guilt. Previous research argues that collective guilt is experienced when consumers perceive that the harm following a transgression is illegitimate and that the country from which the transgressors originate should be responsible for the adverse actions. (Wohl, Branscombe, and Klar 2006). Therefore the following hypothesis was offered: H1a. Higher levels of perceived illegitimacy for the harm committed will result in higher levels of collective guilt. H1b. Higher levels of responsibility will be positively associated with higher levels of collective guilt. The second and third hypotheses deal with the impact of collective guilt on the preferences for Japanese products. Klein (2002) found that higher levels of animosity toward Japan resulted in a lower preference for a Japanese product relative to a South Korean product but not a lower preference for a Japanese product relative to a U.S. product. These results therefore indicate that the experience of collective guilt will lead to a higher preference for a Japanese product if consumers are contemplating a choice that inv olves a decision to buy Japanese versus South Korean product but not if the choice involves a decision to buy a Japanese versus a U.S. product. H2. Collective guilt will be positively related to the preference for a Japanese product over a South Korean product, but will not be related to the preference for a Japanese product over a U.S. product. H3. Collective guilt will be positively related to the preference for a Japanese product over a South Korean product, holding constant product judgments and animosity. An experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses. The illegitimacy of the harm and responsibility were manipulated by exposing respondents to a description of adverse events occurring during World War II. Data were collected using an online consumer panel in the United States. Subjects were randomly assigned to either the low levels of responsibility and illegitimacy condition (n=259) or the high levels of responsibility and illigitemacy (n=268) condition. Latent Variable Structural Equation Modeling (LVSEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The first hypothesis is supported as both the illegitimacy of the harm and responsibility assigned to the Americans for the harm committed against the Japanese during WWII have a positive impact on collective guilt. The second hypothesis is also supported as collective guilt is positively related to preference for a Japanese product over a South Korean product but is not related to preference for a Japanese product over a U.S. product. Finally there is support for the third hypothesis, since collective guilt is positively related to the preference for a Japanese product over a South Korean product while controlling for the effect of product judgments about Japanese products and animosity. The results of these studies lead to several conclusions. First, the illegitimacy of harm and responsibility can be manipulated and that they are antecedents of collective guilt. Second, collective guilt has an impact on a consumers' decision when they face a choice set that includes a product from the country that was the target of the adverse action and a product from another foreign country. This impact however disappears from a consumers' decision when they face a choice set that includes a product from the country that was the target of the adverse action and a domestic product. This result suggests that collective guilt might be a viable factor for company originating from the country transgressed against if its competitors are foreign but not if they are local.