• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.487-501
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• 1997

Prepurchase decision making process was investigated for the female high school students grouped by fashion leadership. Differences in the fashion leadership were also investigated among the groups determined by demographic characteristics. Data were obtained from 600 female students attending at 4 different high schools in Seoul by self-administered questionnaires, and 430 were used for the data analysis. Respondents were divided into 5 groups by fashion leadership: innovators(6.3%), early adopters(29.8%) , early majority(43.7%) , late majority(16.9%) , laggards(3.3%) , The groups with higher monthly allowances and monthly clothing expenditures showed higher fashion leadership. At the problem recognition stage, students with higher fashion leadership felt buying needs more often than those with lower fashion leadership. At the information search stage, students with higher fashion leadership tended to use higher number of information sources and mass media, visited stores more often, spent more time and collected new information more often, and tended to show higher satisfaction levels with searched information than students with lower fashion leadership. Leaders tended to search information at bonded goods stores and small shops in the area, and laggards prefered to visit small stores in the market. At the alternative evaluation stage, students with higher fashion leadership reported to use higher number of evaluative criteria and consider brand name, acknowledgment of others, becomingness with wardrobe as important criteria for evaluating apparel products; those with lower fashion leadership thought utility, comfort, size, sewing quality an6 fit as key criteria.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.15-38
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• 2014

This paper explores the influence of pursuing goals on customer channel preference in Chinese rural market. With the rapid change in distribution channels and increase in multi-channels, it is necessary to understand the preference for channel choice as well as product choice. This study empirically validated the conceptual framework of the relationship between the pursuing goals and customer channel choice proposed by Balasubramanian, Raghunathan, and Mahajan (2005). Based on the survey data of 232 fertilizer customers in Chinese rural market, this study explores how economic, social, and psychological pursuing goals can impact customer channel preference by mediating variables of product utility and process utility. The results indicate that pursuing goals positively related with product utility and process utility, and product / process utility can mediate the relationship between pursuing goals and customer channel preference positively. Consequently, we can conclude that customers' economic-social-psychological pursuing goals can directly influence customer channel preference via their purchase process utility and product utility. This result also implies that product utility is effective on process utility during consumer's buying decision making, and process utility and product utility are not mutually independent. Therefore, purchase process utility is a "latent driving force" on customer's channel choice decision.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.342-366
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• 2023

This study attempts to extend the customer value - customer satisfaction - customer loyalty framework by introducing key constructs of scarcity messages as a major environmental stimulus and the urge to buy impulsively as its response in the context of group-buying social commerce, across countries including Korea and China. More specifically, this study proposes that scarcity messages influence customers' value perception (i.e., utilitarian value and hedonic value) and thereby influencing customer satisfaction and further customer loyalty. Moreover, the study suggests that scarcity messages and utilitarian and hedonic values arouse the urge to buy impulsively. In the Korean sample, the results show that scarcity messages increase both utilitarian and hedonic values as well as the urge to buy impulsively, which in turn leads to customers' satisfaction and further loyalty. Besides, customer satisfaction is determined by utilitarian value, not hedonic value. In the Chinese sample, utilitarian value-related relationships are insignificant. More specifically, scarcity messages only influence hedonic value which increases the urge to buy impulsively. Besides, customer satisfaction is determined by both utilitarian and hedonic values, but not by the urge to buy impulsively.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.65-72
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• 2015

Purpose - A rapidly changing business environment places great demands on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs need to find strategic alternatives for continued growth and, ultimately, survival. Thus, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are deemed an acceptable solution. Research to date has dealt with M&A in major organizations and focused on post merger integration (PMI). Our study focuses on SMEs, as they are relatively new and unknown to the public. Therefore, this study highlights successful M&A and decision making for SMEs through a case study analysis. Research design, data, and methodology - For this study, we examined an M&A case between company S, which produces cell phone parts, and company P, which produces SSD cases. We reviewed theories and previous studies in M&A literature. We comprehensively examined the decision-making procedure at each M&A stage, describing the situation of the buying company and the selling company from the period of the M&A announcement through deal completion. In addition, we conducted interviews with both companies. The data regarding this case study were collected through interviews with managers of both companies who actively participated in the M&A process. When necessary, we asked them about additional relevant information during the interviews. Results - The result of the M&A between company S and company P was deemed acceptable with the exception of the long negotiation period. However, company S was not able to prepare for PMI after the acquisition due to a controversy over acquisition values. Moreover, the employees of the newly formed company, especially those who came from company P, complained about the M&A and attempted to leave. Thus, implications for successful M&As of SMEs are as follows: First, the procedural compliance of the M&A is needed. Second, support is needed from the CEO for the working group, rather than excessive intervention during due diligence. Third, the right, talented members of the organization should be part of the process of the M&A. Fourth, the use of various types of outside expert or business consultants is needed. Fifth, the strategic intervention by Human Resource managers is required. Last, sharing M&A information among employees is important as information dissemination will help employees be more receptive to such a change. However, this study has several limitations as a single case study; more varied SME M&A case studies are needed in order to generalize the results of the study. Conclusions - Most of the research dealing with M&As has focused on major companies and PMI and neglected SMEs. Thus, our study focuses on SMEs and the decision-making procedures for M&A. This study has significantly contributed to the literature in this area and has provided practical information around the implications of sound decision-making during M&As. Specifically, the results of the study contribute to the need for research on M&A among SMEs, which to date has often been neglected as a topic of choice.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2002

Todays, electronic commerce(EC) results to the revolution and new paradigm of business, more and more Web-based EC applications have emerged. But, it's web systems should be satisfied by customers and it should be successful to buying some goods in virtual stores with easy to use. The usability and acceptance of the EC web system is one of the key factors in the successful construction of EC system. In this paper, we considered the characteristics of information search and decision making process in the design of EC web system to be used easily and to be more acceptable to customers. On the basis of these characteristics, we could classified with the activities of the process of buying in the domestic web systems. And, the log files of experimental tasks were analyzed by the statistical method of data mining. As the these results, the important factors of the process of buying could be summarized, 5 user groups could be seen in EC customers, and the usage patterns of these groups were described. These results could be very useful to design user-oriented EC web system.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.23-33
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• 2000

Up until the mid-90s, the housing market of Korea has been supplier-oriented with the constant shortage of housing supply. But today, with the surplus of supply over demand and ever-increasing competitiveness in the housing market, understanding consumers needs have become one of the keys to successful business. Consumers overall living standard have increased and they are now looking for better living environment. As a matter of course, there have been much studies focusing on the evaluation factors and consumers preferences of the living environment, somewhat overlooking the asset value of a residential property. Consumers see their house in terms of both a living space and an asset. Therefore, it is these two values altogether that influences the buying decision process of consumers. This study seeks to stress on the importance of the fact that it is both the living environment and asset value of a house that are considered in the buyers valuation of residential property. And the study suggests that influencing factors of housing attributes in the decision-making process of buyers be sub-categorized into two broad groups, value as a living space and value as an asset. This is to serve both the researcher in the academic field and marketers for better understanding of consumers needs and influencing factors of buyers valuation of housings vis-a-vis market.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.117-136
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• 2012

Given to the prevalence of social commerce such as Groupon, Ticketmonster, and Coupang, it has become critical to understand customer purchasing behavior in social commerce environments. When consumers make purchasing decisions in social commerce, they often act impulsively. This is because social commerce is a deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificates usable at local companies. However, the vast majority of social commerce research has viewed consumer decision-making as a rational process. This study develops a theoretical framework to investigate key drivers of customer's impulsive purchasing in social commerce. This study identifies flow, positive emotion, negative emotion, social commerce attractiveness, and discounted price as the key antecedents of impulsive purchasing. Data collected from 164 users who had prior purchasing experiences with social commerce were empirically tested against the research model using partial least squares analysis. The analysis results indicate that flow plays an important role in facilitating customers' impulsive purchasing in social commerce environments. Moreover, the findings show the exact roles of positive emotion, negative emotion, social commerce attractiveness, and discounted price on consumer's impulsive purchasing.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.75-83
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• 2017

This paper examines key determinants and the effect of country-of-origin on customer's purchase intention of functional food and dietary supplement product in Vietnam. Exploratory study was identified to evaluate personal and social factors on customer's buying behavior. Twenty-eight reflective constructs were adapted from literature and designed by using a seven-point Likert scale to facilitate measurement. By using non-probability convenience sampling, data was collected from a survey of 242 Vietnamese who have experienced in buying functional and supplement food. This paper employed partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) as a technique employed to analyze the measurement and structural models. The findings provide evidence that social prestige customer perceives and their positive attitude toward functional food which are main factors influencing on consumers' purchase intention. Customer's perceived prestige plays an important role in decision-making process to purchase. The higher social prestige taken up in consumers' mind, the higher consumers' purchase intention is. Moreover, the more positive attitude customer holds toward functional food, the higher consumers' purchase intention. The research results provide useful information in current understanding of what antecedents determine factors influencing customer's intention to purchase functional food and lead to managerial implications for business strategies.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.7-14
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• 2012

As a new format of retailing, social shopping on SNS has rapidly grown in recent. Although there is much literature associated with customer behaviours in the academic world, little attention has been paid to identifying the shopping patterns of SNS shoppers. This paper will, thus, identify how perceived value has an impact on the buying intention of SNS shoppers, after illustrating what kind of factor influences the formation process of perceived value in the Korean marketplace. Given that SNS shoppers are for the most part 20s as well as 30s, the authors handed out questionnaires to them. Furthermore, based on literature review results, the conceptualised research model was developed. Despite lack of literature, the authors developed five constructs like price reduction, quantity- and time-limited message, product ranges, information-sharing, and required number of shoppers. The researchers made a considerable effort to identify the relationship between research concepts and each variable, based on a few research analysis methods such as frequency analysis, the Varimax rotation technique used orthogonal rotation, Cronbach's Alpha, PCA (Principle Component Analysis), and the like. Amongst the 5 variables used to measure the degree of influences on the perceived value as a social shopping characteristic, it has been evident that price cut, required minimum shoppers, product variety, and information-sharing have a positive impact on the perceived value formation processes of SNS customers. Also, this research implies that SNS retailers can differentiate themselves from other retailers by differently using the above factors. From a practitioner's point of view, these factors should be strategically used to increase the social shopping opportunities of SNS users. It is, furthermore, evident that the perceived value formed by the above 4 factors have played an important role in the buying decision process of SNS customers. In a sense, whether customers are aware of higher price cut rates, information-sharing, required minimum shoppers, and product variety has a positive impact on making buying decisions. From a retailer's point of view, online shopping mall operators are able to use blog as well as twitter to improve the buying intention as a marketing tool of social network, because the business activities provided by social shopping retailers, like the rapid, accurate responses to customer requirements, the provision of a variety of information, and the communications between customers are closely related to buying intentions. There are a few research limitations to conduct this empirical research. It was not easy to review prior papers, due to its lack. In spite of the increasing number of SNS shoppers in Korea, little research attention has been paid to this kind of research topic by academicians, because buying products or services through SNS is in its infancy. With regard to research populations, it would be difficult to generalise the research findings in Korea, owing to unbalanced respondent distribution. Considering the above research limitations as well as the growth of social shopping, many authors should pay considerable attention to SNS-related issues in the future, and develop the more sophisticated criteria to measure the characteristics of SNS shoppers.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 1997

Environmental issues are increasingly important in consumer decision-making. This paper focuses on the consumer's role in consumption process-purchase, use, and disposal, which has significant environmental consequences. And this paper discusses several approaches to motivate consumer's awareness and responsibility for the environment and further his/her lifestyle change. The Green Consumer should be able to consider the implications of his/her lifestyle choices as well as his/her purchase, use, and disposal decisions. Consumer education and various consumer movements for environment preservation should keep the goal in perspective, which is not only to motivate consumer's long-term behavior change but also to consign his/her buying power and political power to help make changes where he/she really counts.