• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.143-164
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• 2010

Although word-of-mouth (WOM) has been regarded as one of the very important topics in consumer research, its effects on other aspects of consumer behavior have been scarcely investigated in the context of health-care service industry. The WOM literature also suggests that it is essential for medical care service organizations in fierce competition to adopt WOM communication as a competitive weapon so as to be able to stay ahead of competition. The goal of this research was set to empirically study various relationships between antecedent variables, WOM acceptance, and purchase of medical care services. Specifically, drawing on the WOM literature, eight antecedents to WOM acceptance were selected first. Based on the relevant literature, seven sets of hypotheses on the relationships among antecedents to WOM, WOM acceptance, purchase intention and purchase of medical services were developed. Data were collected via an on-line survey. A total of 571 out of 600 responses turned out to be usable. The major findings of this study can be summarized as follows: First, 6 out of 8 antecedent variables to WOM acceptance were found to be positively affect WOM acceptance. However, the effects of (1) "newness of technology" pertaining to medical care service characteristics and (2) "involvement in health", one of receiver characteristics, were found to be insignificant. Second, most moderating effects on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services were found to be insignificant with one exception. That is, elapse of time was found to be a marginally significant moderator on the relationship between purchase and purchase intention of medical care services. Third, it was found that the higher the WOM acceptance, the higher the purchase intention of medical care services. Finally, the effect of WOM acceptance was found to be particularly strong when WOM contents were perceived as useful and positive. Overall, it seems essential for hospitals to actively adopt WOM communication as a competitive marketing tool if they plan to improve their business performance. In this respect, the current study may serve to improve the business performance of hospitals by way of providing theoretical and empirical evidence on the effects of WOM communication variables on WOM acceptance and medical care service purchase.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.863-867
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• 2007

The potential impact of the methods of sensory science on consumer testing and marketing is reviewed. Areas such as predicting purchase behavior, new approaches to scaling, and cross cultural effects are discussed. An example of the complexity of sensory measurement used to obtain consumer and marketing information is highlighted, using the simple paired preference test as an example.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.552-560
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• 2009

Bamboo leaf powder was added to Chiffon cake to increase its neutraceutical effects and storage periods. Specifically, 0, 7, 10 and 13% leaf powder was added to the cakes. The content of total dietary fiber in the bamboo leaf powder was 65.57%. The moisture content did not differ significantly among groups. The cake containing 10% bamboo leaf powder had the greatest volume, whereas the control group (0% bamboo leaf powder) had the lowest volume (p<0.05). The Hunter's L and a values decreased significantly as the amount of bamboo leaf powder increased. The b value of the control was lowest among the groups (p<0.05). Evaluation of the consumer acceptance of flavor revealed that the cakes containing the added bamboo leaf had greater consumer acceptance than the control. However, when the color was evaluated, the 13% group showed the lowest acceptance (p<0.05). Other factors such as texture, taste and overall acceptance did not differ significantly among groups. Additionally, the elasticity did not differ among groups, while the air cells were most uniform in the control. The strength of bamboo leaf aroma, bitter taste and aftertaste increased as the amount of bamboo leaf powder added increased. Cakes containing 10% and 13% added powder had the greatest moisture content, while the control had the lowest content (p<0.05). As in previous studies, the results of this study indicated that 10% bamboo leaf powder was the optimal level for the preparation of Chiffon cake. To evaluate the storage of cakes, the 10% group and the control were inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae and then incubated at $30^{\circ}C$ for 6 days. The microbial colony counts in the control group were dramatically increased after 48 hrs; however, the fungal concentration of the 10% group did not increase for 4 days. In conclusion, the addition of 10% bamboo leaf powder to Chiffon cake increased the storage time while maintaining adequate consumer acceptance.

• Design Convergence Study
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.59-70
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• 2016

Due to the newly emerging market for telepresence robots and the research in the area, designers and developers lack guidelines for specifying the physical characteristics of telepresence robots. On the basis of the previous literature, we attempted to make a distinction between two robot height approaches for telepresence robot designs: floor- versus desk-based robot designs. This research investigated the effects of these robot height approaches on consumer acceptance. We predicted that there would be difference between floor-based robots and desk-based robots regarding consumers' evaluation of and intent to purchase social robots. A study using two types of robots was conducted with sixty university students. The results showed that participants perceived desk-based robots as more useful than floor-based robots. In addition, the participants evaluated desk-based robots more positively than floor-based robots. Purchase intention and willingness to pay also showed similar results as evaluation. The implications for the design of telepresence robots in terms of increasing acceptance of robots are discussed in detail.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.117-121
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• 2008

The effects of water dropwort on the physical characteristics of tofu were investigated and consumer acceptance test was conducted. pH decreased significantly with increasing water dropwort concentration from 0 to 3%, whereas titratable acidity showed the reverse trend (p<0.05). The amount of water dropwort did not significantly influence the moisture content up to 2% substitution (p>0.05). Turbidity increased significantly with increasing water dropwort concentration (p<0.05). A significantly lower moisture content in 3% water dropwort tofu may be attributed to the denser structure and hardness of that was significantly higher than those of the other samples (p<0.05). Even though $a^*$-values of 3% water dropwort tofu was lower than that of control, $a^*$-values increased significantly with increasing water dropwort content (p<0.05). On the contrary, $b^*$-values decreased significantly with increasing water dropwort content (p<0.05). 2% water dropwort tofu was found to be the best with respect to its overall acceptability score.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2019

The present article covers a brief introduction on how repeated exposure design can be utilized for developing new food products. A generic consumer taste test which measures consumer acceptance in one trial may have limitation in predicting long-term acceptability of a product. The article describes the changes in food preference and choice during the course of life from infants to elderly. Then, several possible theories that proposes to delineate the underlying mechanisms for acquiring the liking for food is introduced. The article also discusses general experimental design, case studies which adopted repeated exposure design, the limitations and rapid test methods to predict long-term acceptance.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.545-556
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• 2021

The financial technology sector is now growing rapidly all over the world, and it has improved the banking system efficiency and customer experience. This research study attempts explicitly to explore the consumer acceptance attitude of FinTech and its products in Pakistan. Technology Acceptance Model was used to assess the entire variable associated with the consumer attitude to adopt new technology. Based on a survey conducted from Pakistan data and by employing the multiple regression analysis, this study proves that the risk involved in FinTech products and services results in less usage of financial technology. The findings of the study also show that the risk should be reduced if banks and other institutes that are involved in financial transactions online must provide security. Moreover, customers are not willing to pay an extra amount for using financial technology. It argues that usefulness helps to change the attitude of banking customers to use financial technology. The attitudes of the customers have a positive relationship with the adoption of financial technology. These results also help guide financial institutions to enhance the adoption of FinTech products. User attitudes must be changed by providing users with more security, less risky applications, and cost-effective products.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.15-25
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• 2019

Purpose - e-Commerce is now one of the alternatives in shopping. Ease of Use and convenience aspects are the main supporting reasons that e-commerce is a trend for most people today. This study examines the relationship between the theory of technology to consumer behavior in using e-commerce applications. Research design, data, and methodology - The number of samples in this study was 600 samples from four major e-commerce made in Indonesia. The research method of this study Structural Equation Model (SEM) with AMOS and SPSS applications as analysis tools. Results - The results of this study state that most hypotheses support prior research and grand theory. On the other hand, the components of technology acceptance theory are mostly able to moderate variable consumer behavior in the digital era. Conclusions - The combination of essential elements of technology theory are oriented to the fundamental aspects of human beings as social beings. The most important thing for the development of the e-commerce industry to develop and be sustainable is the obligation to increase consumer confidence. The combination of components of technology theory and CCT can be a comprehensive marketing strategy and innovation to competitive advantage in the future.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.338-363
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• 2018

Mobile marketing is a brand new phenomenon. In Malaysia, marketeers do not seem to understand well enough the perceptions of consumers according to mobile marketing, especially to the mobile service users. This study analyses and evaluates any significant relationship between consumer perceptions and intentions with respect to mobile marketing, and seeks to determine the expectations, preferences, pattern and usage of the consumers of Mobile Marketing Product and Service (MMP&S). The data was obtained by convenience sampling in the big cities of Malaysia. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and a sample of 112 usable questionnaires was selected. The result of this research applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) point to the fact that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived innovative, social influence have a direct positive relationship with the intention to use mobile marketing. This, in turn, can shed light on the main factors determining consumer intentions to use mobile marketing that may control consumer adoption of mobile marketing.

• Journal of the military operations research society of Korea
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.64-68
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• 1985

This paper considers the following case: (1) the product is paid by the right price for a lot accepted by a given consumer's acceptance sampling plan, and (2) the product is paid by the discounted price for a lot rejected by this plan. In such a case, the producer's sampling plan need not be the same as that of the consumer's. From the producer's view point, the producer need to determine the preliminary sample size which maximizes his revenue. This paper, therefore, determines an optimal preliminary sample size from the producer's view point. This preliminary sample size is affected by the consumer's acceptance sampling plan, percent defective, preliminary inspection cost and the discount rate of the price.