• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.46-54
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• 2023

In this study, we examined the residual amounts of formaldehyde in hygiene products to determine the safety of these products in Gyeonggi-do. Formaldehyde is among the harmful substances that may remain within certain hygiene products. On the basis of an analysis of formaldehyde in a total of 222 items (6 disposable paper straws, 9 disposable paper napkins, 21 toilet papers, 13 disposable dishcloths, 16 disposable paper towels, 32 wet wipes for food service restaurants, 25 disposable cotton swabs, and 100 disposable diapers), we detected traces in three wet wipes for food service restaurants (1.87 to 4.45 mg/kg), which is approximately 9% to 22% of the standard level (20 mg/kg). We established that all the hygiene products assessed in the study met the individual standards for formaldehyde, thereby confirming that safe products are being distributed. In the standards and specifications for hygiene products, the formaldehyde test method is regulated for application with respect to three categories based on the type of product. The samples used in this study were of types for which method 1 or method 2 is applied, and the limits of detection, limits of quantification, linearity, and recovery rates were reviewed to verify the validity of each test method. When method 2 was applied, we experienced interference when performing analysis at a wavelength of 412 nm, which was associated with the influence of impurities in some samples of disposable cotton swabs and disposable diapers. Consequently, in these cases, the results were compared after analysis using method 1. By comparing the results obtained using method 2 with those obtained using method 1, the latter of which were unaffected by the interference of impurities, we were able to detect formaldehyde at low concentrations. These findings accordingly highlight the necessity to standardize the formaldehyde test method for future analyses.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.107-123
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• 2018

The global impact of climate change on agriculture is now increasing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of climate change on livestock productivity. The variables that have the greatest influence on climate change factors were examined through previous studies and expert surveys. We also used the actual productivity data of livestock farmers to investigate the relationship with climate change. In order to evaluate the climate for changes in livestock productivity, national representative data (such as bullocks, dairy, pigs, laying hens, and broilers) were surveyed in Korea. Also, to select and classify evaluation indexes, we selected climate change factor variables as prior studies and studied the weighting factor of climate variable factors. In this study, the researchers of industry, academia, and farmers in the livestock sector conducted questionnaires on the indicators of vulnerability to climate change using experts, and then weighed the selected indicators using the hierarchical analysis process (AHP). In order to verify the validity of the evaluation index, was examined using domestic climate data (temperature, precipitation, humidity, etc.). Correlation and regression analysis were performed. The empirical relationship between climate change and livestock productivity was examined through this study. As a result, we used data with high reliability of statistical analysis and found that there are significant variables.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.3A
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• pp.297-307
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• 2010

Recently, maintenance engineering and technology for civil and building structures have begun to draw big attention and actually the number of structures that need to be evaluate on structural safety due to deterioration and performance degradation of structures are rapidly increasing. When stiffness is decreased because of deterioration of structures and member cracks, dynamic characteristics of structures would be changed. And it is important that the damaged areas and extent of the damage are correctly evaluated by analyzing dynamic characteristics from the actual behavior of a structure. In general, typical measurement instruments used for structure monitoring are dynamic instruments. Existing dynamic instruments are not easy to obtain reliable data when the cable connecting measurement sensors and device is long, and have uneconomical for 1 to 1 connection process between each sensor and instrument. Therefore, a method without attaching sensors to measure vibration at a long range is required. The representative applicable non-contact methods to measure the vibration of structures are laser doppler effect, a method using GPS, and image processing technique. The method using laser doppler effect shows relatively high accuracy but uneconomical while the method using GPS requires expensive equipment, and has its signal's own error and limited speed of sampling rate. But the method using image signal is simple and economical, and is proper to get vibration of inaccessible structures and dynamic characteristics. Image signals of camera instead of sensors had been recently used by many researchers. But the existing method, which records a point of a target attached on a structure and then measures vibration using image processing technique, could have relatively the limited objects of measurement. Therefore, this study conducted shaking table test and field load test to verify the validity of the method that can measure multi-point displacement responses of structures using image processing technique.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.41-59
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• 2003

The present study was conducted to (1) explore the perceptions of Korean men and women about what is an important relationship for them and how do each gender group construe relational self, and (2) develop the scale to assess the factors of relational self and verify construct validity of the scale. 40 college students and 60 adults participated in survey and FGI (Focused Group Interview) respectively, and content analysis of their responses yielded 2 categories with 39 characteristics of relational self. The one category was named 'instrumentality' which was important to men and the other was named 'expressivity' which was important to women. The list of 39 items was administered to a nationwide sample of 1503 Korean adults to assess their construal of relational self through the 6-point Likert scale. Principal axis factor analysis showed that the two categories were unidimensional with high reliability. As a result of factor analysis on each category, a total of 9 factors were extracted. Specifically, the instrumentality consisted of factors such as utilitarianism, independence, initiativeness, self-assurance, and competence. And the factors of expressivity were empathy, passiveness, dependency, consideration. The tests of mean difference revealed that men had higher scores in most of the instrumental factors, while women had higher scores in most of the expressive factors. But there was no sex difference in the interdependent self-construal scale(Cross, 2000) which has been frequently used for measuring relational self. This is related to the Korean's collective cultural characteristics, and it was concluded that the relationship with others is very important to both Korean men and women, but the meaning and expectation of the relationship as well as the method for its preservation are different to each sex group. In addition, the correlation analyses indicated that the feminity score was positively correlated with the expressiveness while the masculinity score was positively correlated with instrumentality. This result implicated the differences of relational self among Korean people were related to the socialization process of each sex, i.e., sex role identity. Finally, limitations of this study and the directions for future research were discussed.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.133-150
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to develop a female entrepreneurial competency model. For the purpose, two Focus Group Interviews (FGI) were conducted with seven outstanding female entrepreneurs, and three expert reviews were conducted. In addition, in order to verify the validity of the provisional female entrepreneur competency model derived from the FGI and competency modeling expert review, the female entrepreneur competency model was finally confirmed through a survey of 442 female entrepreneurs. The results were as follows. First, a female entrepreneur competency model consisting of 6 competency groups and 25 competencies of entrepreneurship, emotion, business management, relationship management, strategic management, and multitasking, and 75 behavioral indicators describing each competency was developed. Second, sensibility and multitasking are competencies that reflect the characteristics of female entrepreneurs. In particular, 'social sense', which is the ability to be considerate of others in the emotional competency group and the ability to respond well to subtle nuances, and the multitasking competency group's unique strengths are women's ability to perform various tasks at the same time. The 'work-family control ability' of a female entrepreneur who maintains a balance between 'multi-tasking' and work and family is a representative competency of only female entrepreneurs. Third, the developed female entrepreneurship competency model is meaningful in that it not only increases female entrepreneurial competency so that prospective female entrepreneurs can successfully run a business through entrepreneurship education, but it also makes it easy for existing female entrepreneurs to reflect and improve their competencies. If we provide appropriate training programs to female entrepreneurs based on their competency, it will be possible to effectively enhance the entrepreneurial competency, which is the key to strengthening the competitiveness of female entrepreneurs. The female entrepreneur competency model developed through this study can provide a basis for future research on competency diagnosis and education needs analysis.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.201-214
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• 2022

This study theoretically and empirically examined whether organizational communication mediates the effect of organizational learning culture perceived by members in the organization on task performance and contextual performance. Organizational learning culture is defined as a culture that is good at creating, acquiring, transferring, and modifying behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. The hypothesis of this study is that the perceived organizational learning culture can increase performance through organizational communication between members. In particular, we measured communication within the organization into three types: upward, horizontal, and downward. These communications were set as mediating variables. In empirical studies, independent variables were perceived organizational learning culture, mediation variables were upward, horizontal and downward communication, and dependent variables were task performance and contextual performance. Hypothesis 1 is that the organizational learning culture will have a positive effect on employees' tasks and contextual performance. Hypothesis 2 is about the mediating effect of communication on the relationship between Hypothesis 1. In the empirical study, after verifying the validity and reliability of the research variables, correlation analysis and hypothesis verification were conducted. Hypothesis 1 was verified through regression analysis, and all detailed hypotheses were supported. To verify Hypothesis 2, we conducted a bootstrap test using process macro to separate the total, direct, and indirect effects and examine the significance of the indirect effects. As a result, Hypothesis 2 was partially supported. Downward communication mediated organizational learning culture and task and contextual performance, and horizontal communication mediated organizational learning culture and contextual performance. The mediating effect of upward communication was not significant. The results of this study contributed to the suggestion of implications, research limitations, and research directions. Organizational learning culture is the direction and intention of the organization to achieve its goals through the learning and growth of its members. By strengthening internal motivation, organizational members can take voluntary desirable actions that help groups and organizations as well as essential tasks given. since this relationship appears as a medium of downward communication, organizations can strengthen the relationship between organizational learning culture and performance through leadership education.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.35-48
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• 2024

This study analyzed the value empathy of environmentally sustainable fashion products, encompassing environmental, economic, and social values, drawing from existing literature. We sought to verify the relationship between empathic value and the likability and purchase intention towards these products. To validate these relationships, we formulated research hypotheses and conducted an online survey targeting female college students residing in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, who have experience purchasing environmentally sustainable fashion products. The survey was conducted from August 10th to August 20th, 2023, with a total distribution of 352 questionnaires. Among the collected responses, 313 valid responses were utilized for data analysis. The collected survey data underwent frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 26.0 software. The analysis yielded the following results. First, the empathy value of environmentally sustainable fashion products was classified into environmental protection values, economic values, and social values. Second, the economic and social values of environmentally sustainable fashion products were found to have a positive effect on favorability. Third, it was found that the environmental protection value and social value of environmentally sustainable fashion products had a positive effect on purchase intention. Fourth, it was found that Chinese female college students' favorability toward environmentally sustainable fashion products had a positive effect on their purchase intention. Based on these results, it is judged that companies need to emphasize the characteristics of products such as environmental protective value, economic value, and social value in order to promote consumers' purchase of environmentally sustainable fashion products. The purpose of this study is to help develop marketing strategies for environmentally sustainable fashion products by providing basic data, development ideas, and methods useful for environmentally sustainable fashion-related industries and companies by analyzing the relationship between empathy value, favorability, and purchase intention.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.25-51
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• 2012

Researches about the relationship between SST(Self Service Technology) and TRI(Technology Readiness Index) have been carried out after TRI was developed by Parasuraman and his colleagues(2000). We hypothesize Consumer Readiness can also influence consumer's motivation, attitude, and intent to use SST. Currently, there has been no research on this subject. In this study, we investigated the relationship between TR, Consumer Readiness and SST Core Attitudinal Model which Dabholkar & Bagozzi(1994) proposed. The researchers also investigated moderating effects of consumer traits and situational factors to verify the acceptance of such forms of service delivery by all kinds of consumers and under different situational contexts. Self consciousness, the need for interaction with an employee, and the technology anxiety were used as consumer trait variables. Perceived waiting time and perceived crowding were used as situational variables. 380 questionnaires were distributed to a sample group of people in their 20's and 30's, and the data were analyzed with structural equation model using AMOS 18.0 program. All of Cronbach's alpha values representing reliabilities were satisfactory. The values of Composite Reliability(CR) and Average Variance Extracted(AVE) also showed the above criteria, thus providing evidence of convergent validity. To confirm discriminant validity among the constructs, confirmatory factor analysis and correlations among all the variables were examined. The results were satisfactory. The results of this study are summarized as follows. 1. Optimism and innovativeness of TR partially influenced the motivation to use SST. People who tend to be optimistic use SST because of ease of use and fun. The innovative however, usually use SST due to its performance. However, consumer readiness of role clarity, ability and self-efficacy influence all the components of motivation to use SST, ease of use, performance and fun. The relative effect of consumer readiness on the motivation to use SST was much stronger and more significant than that of TR. No other previous studies have examined the effects of Consumer Readiness on SST usage motivation, attitude and intention. It is academically meaningful that the researchers verified that Consumer Readiness is the important precedent construct influencing the self service technology core Attitudinal Model. Our findings suggest that marketers should consider fun and ease of use attributes to promote the use of self service technology. In addition, the SST usage frequency will rise rapidly when role clarity, ability, and self-efficacy which anybody can easily handle SST is assured. If the SST usage rate is increased, waiting times for customers could be decreased. Shorter waiting time could lead to higher customer satisfaction. It may also result in making a long-term profit owing to the reduced number of employees. Thus, presentation of using SST by employees or videos showing how to use it will promote the usage attitude and intent. 2. In SST core attitudinal model, performance and fun factors among SST usage motivation affected attitudes of using SST. The attitude of using SST highly influenced intent to use SST. This result is consistent with previous researches that dealt with the relationship between motivation, attitude and intention. Expectation of using SST could result in good performance just like the effect of ordering menu to service employees and to have fun since fun during its use could promote more SST usage rate. 3. In the relationship among motivation, attitude and intent in SST core attitudinal model, the moderating effect of consumer traits(self-consciousness, need for interaction with service employees and technology anxiety) and situational factors(perceived crowding and perceived waiting time) were tested. The results also supported the hypothesized moderating effects except perceived crowding. The highly self-conscious tended to form attitudes to use SST because of its fun compared to those who were less self-conscious because of its performance. People who had a high need for interaction with service employees tended to use SST for its performance. This result indicates that if ordering results are assured, SST is easily accessible to even consumers who have a high need for interaction with a service employee. When SST is easy to use, attitudes strengthen intent among people who had a high level of anxiety of technology. People who had low technology anxiety formed attitudes to use SST because of its performance. Service firms must ensure their self service technology is designed to be easy to use for those who have a high level of technology anxiety. Shorter perceived waiting times strengthened the attitude to use self service technology because of its fun. If the fun aspect is assured, people willing to use self service technology even perceive waiting time to be shorter than it actually is. Greater perceived waiting times form higher level of intent to use self service technology than those of shorter perceived waiting times. This implies that people view self service technology as a faster alternative to ordering service employees. The fun aspect of self service technology will attract a higher rate of usage for self service technology. 4. It has been proven that ease of use, performance and fun aspects are very important factors in motivation to form attitudes and intent to use self service technology regardless of the amount of perceived waiting time, self-consciousness, need for interaction with service employees, and technology anxiety. Service firms must consider these motivation aspects(ease of use, performance and fun)strongly in their promotion to use self service technology. Ease of use, assuring absolute performance compared to interaction with service employees', and adding a fun aspect will positively strengthen consumers' attitudes and intent to use self service technology. Summarizing the moderating effects, fun is the most valuable factor triggering SST usage attitude and intention. Therefore, designing self service technology to be fun will be the key to its success. This study focused on the touch screen self service technology in fast food restaurant. Although it has its limits due to the fact that it is hard to generalize the results to any other self service technology, the conceptual framework of this study can be applied to future research of any other service site.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.209-237
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• 2012

1. Research Purpose Consumers rely on various clues to evaluate their decision to patronize a retail store, and store brand is one of them (Dodds 1991; Grewal et al. 1998). As consumers find ever increasing variety of contact points connecting them to specific store, the value of experiential shopping as a means of increasing store's brand equity warrants greater attention from scholars of retail management. Retail shopping values are credited for creating not only cognitive experiences like brand knowledge but also emotional experiences such as shopping pleasure and pride (Schmitt 1999). This may be because today's consumers place emphasis on emotional values associated with shopping pleasure, lifestyle brought to life, brand relationship, and store atmosphere more than utilitarian values such as product quality and price. Many previous literature found this to be true (Ahn and Lee 2011; Mathwick et al. 2001). This brings forth important research issues and questions regarding the roles of shopping experiential values and brand equity with regard to consumer's retail patronage choice. However, despite this importance, research on this area remains quite inadequate (Hwang 2010). For this reason, this study aims to verify the relationships among experiential shopping values, retail store brand equity and tries to link that with customer loyalty by surveying large-scale discount store shoppers in Korea and China. 2. Research Contents In order to carry out the research objective, this study conducted comprehensive literature survey on previous literature by discussing major findings and implications with regard to shopping values and retail brand equity and store loyalty. For data collection, researcher employed survey-based research method where data were collected in two major cities of Korea (Seoul) and China (Bejing) and sampling frame was based on patrons of large discount stores in both countries. Specific research questions raised in this study are as follows; RQ1: How do Korean and Chinese consumers differently perceive of shopping values regarding shopping at large-sclae discount stores? RQ2: Are there differences in consumers' emotional consumption propensities? RQ3: Do Korean and Chinese consumers display different perceptions of brand equity towards large-scale discount stores? RQ4: Are there differences in relationships between shopping values and brand equity for Korean and Chinese consumers? For statistical analysis, SPSS17.0, AMOS17.0 and SmartPLS were employed. 3. Research Results The data collected through face-to-face survey conducted in Seoul and Bejing revealed appropriate data validity and reliability as a result of exploratory/confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests, andh SEM model yielding satisfactory model fitness. The result of the study may be summarized by three main points. First, as a result of testing differences in consumption dispositions, Chinese consumers showed higher scores in aesthetic and symbolic dispositions, whereas Korean consumers scored higher in hedonic disposition. Second, testing on perceptions toward brand equity of large discount stores showed that Korean consumers exhibited more positive perceptions of brand awareness and brand image than Chinese counterparts. Third, the result of exploratory factor analysis on the experiential shopping values revealed different factors for each country. On Korean side, consumer interest value, aesthetic value, and hedonic value were prominent, whereas on Chinese side, hedonic value, aesthetic value, consumer interest value, and service excellence value were found salient. 4. Research Implications While many previous studies on inter-country differences in retailing area mainly focused on cultural dispositions or orientations to explain the differences, this study sets itself apart by specifically targeting individual consumer's shopping values from an experiential viewpoint. The study result provides important theoretical as well as practical implications for large-scale discount store, especially the impotance of fully exploring the linkage between shopping values and brand equity, which has significant influence on loyalty. Therefore, the specific implications deriving from the result shed some important insights upon the consumption values based on shopping experiences and brand equity. The differences found in store shoppers between the two countries may also provide useful insights for Korean and Chinese retailers who plan to expand their operations globally. Related strategic implications derived from this study is the importance of localizing retail strategy which is based on the differences found in experiential shopping values between the two country groups. Especially the finding that Chinese consumers value consumer interest and service excellence, whereas Koreans place importance on hedonic or aesthetic values indicates the need to differentiate the consumer's psychographical profiles when it comes to expanding retail operations globally. Particularly important will be to pursue price-orienated strategy in China in consideration of the high emphasis on consumer interests and service excellence, but to emphasize the symbolic aspects of brand equity in Korea by maximizing the brand equity associated with aesthetic values and hedonic orientations. 5. Recommendations This study focused on generic retail branded discount stores in both countries, thus making it difficult to tease out store-specific strategies based on specific retail brands. Future studies may benefit fro employing actual brand names in survey questionnaire to verify relationship between shopping values and brand-based store strategy. As with other studies of this nature, this study needs to strengthen the result's generalizability by selecting respondents from a wider spectrum of respondents.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.99-124
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• 2012

Our society has long been talking about necessity for innovation. Since companies in particular need to carry out business innovation in their overall processes, they have attempted to apply many innovation factors on sites and become to pay more attention to their innovation. In order to achieve this goal, companies has applied various information technologies (IT) on sites as a means of innovation, and consequently IT have been greatly developed. It is natural for the field of IT to have faced another revolution which is called cloud computing, which is expected to result in innovative changes in software application via the Internet, data storing, the use of devices, and their operations. As a vehicle of innovation, cloud computing is expected to lead the changes and advancement of our society and the business world. Although many scholars have researched on a variety of topics regarding the innovation via IT, few studies have dealt with the issue of could computing as IT. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to set the variables of innovation attributes based on the previous articles as the characteristic variables and clarify how these variables affect "Performance Expectancy" of companies and the intention of using cloud computing. The result from the analysis of data collected in this study is as follows. The study utilized a research model developed on the innovation diffusion theory to identify influences on the adaptation and spreading IT for cloud computing services. Second, this study summarized the characteristics of cloud computing services as a new concept that introduces innovation at its early stage of adaptation for companies. Third, a theoretical model is provided that relates to the future innovation by suggesting variables for innovation characteristics to adopt cloud computing services. Finally, this study identified the factors affecting expectation and the intention to use the cloud computing service for the companies that consider adopting the cloud computing service. As the parameter and dependent variable respectively, the study deploys the independent variables that are aligned with the characteristics of the cloud computing services based on the innovation diffusion model, and utilizes the expectation for performance and Intention to Use based on the UTAUT theory. Independent variables for the research model include Relative Advantage, Complexity, Compatibility, Cost Saving, Trialability, and Observability. In addition, 'Acceptance for Adaptation' is applied as an adjustment variable to verify the influences on the expected performances from the cloud computing service. The validity of the research model was secured by performing factor analysis and reliability analysis. After confirmatory factor analysis is conducted using AMOS 7.0, the 20 hypotheses are verified through the analysis of the structural equation model, accepting 12 hypotheses among 20. For example, Relative Advantage turned out to have the positive effect both on Individual Performance and on Strategic Performance from the verification of hypothesis, while it showed meaningful correlation to affect Intention to Use directly. This indicates that many articles on the diffusion related Relative Advantage as the most important factor to predict the rate to accept innovation. From the viewpoint of the influence on Performance Expectancy among Compatibility and Cost Saving, Compatibility has the positive effect on both Individual Performance and on Strategic Performance, while it showed meaningful correlation with Intention to Use. However, the topic of the cloud computing service has become a strategic issue for adoption in companies, Cost Saving turns out to affect Individual Performance without a significant influence on Intention to Use. This indicates that companies expect practical performances such as time and cost saving and financial improvements through the adoption of the cloud computing service in the environment of the budget squeezing from the global economic crisis from 2008. Likewise, this positively affects the strategic performance in companies. In terms of effects, Trialability is proved to give no effects on Performance Expectancy. This indicates that the participants of the survey are willing to afford the risk from the high uncertainty caused by innovation, because they positively pursue information about new ideas as innovators and early adopter. In addition, they believe it is unnecessary to test the cloud computing service before the adoption, because there are various types of the cloud computing service. However, Observability positively affected both Individual Performance and Strategic Performance. It also showed meaningful correlation with Intention to Use. From the analysis of the direct effects on Intention to Use by innovative characteristics for the cloud computing service except the parameters, the innovative characteristics for the cloud computing service showed the positive influence on Relative Advantage, Compatibility and Observability while Complexity, Cost saving and the likelihood for the attempt did not affect Intention to Use. While the practical verification that was believed to be the most important factor on Performance Expectancy by characteristics for cloud computing service, Relative Advantage, Compatibility and Observability showed significant correlation with the various causes and effect analysis. Cost Saving showed a significant relation with Strategic Performance in companies, which indicates that the cost to build and operate IT is the burden of the management. Thus, the cloud computing service reflected the expectation as an alternative to reduce the investment and operational cost for IT infrastructure due to the recent economic crisis. The cloud computing service is not pervasive in the business world, but it is rapidly spreading all over the world, because of its inherited merits and benefits. Moreover, results of this research regarding the diffusion innovation are more or less different from those of the existing articles. This seems to be caused by the fact that the cloud computing service has a strong innovative factor that results in a new paradigm shift while most IT that are based on the theory of innovation diffusion are limited to companies and organizations. In addition, the participants in this study are believed to play an important role as innovators and early adapters to introduce the cloud computing service and to have competency to afford higher uncertainty for innovation. In conclusion, the introduction of the cloud computing service is a critical issue in the business world.