• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.13-22
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigates the direct effect of service innovation and corporate image on distribution of behavioral intention and the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on these relationships. Research design, and methodology: The study was conducted through using a questionnaire as a research tool. The data were collected from 444 banking customers who used mobile banking services in Thailand. The data were analyzed through using the structural equation model (SEM). Results: The results demonstrated that service innovation and corporate image had a statistically significant effect on distribution of behavioral intention. Customer satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between service innovation and distribution of behavioral intention. On the other hand, it was found to mediate the link between corporate image and distribution of behavioral intention partially. Conclusions: These results emphasize the significance of strategic marketing practices in shaping customers' perceptions of organizational image, which can subsequently influence their satisfaction with the services. Furthermore, this study highlights the role of service innovation in creating perceived values for customers, leading to a positive attitude toward the services and a higher intention to use them.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to categorize the gap between coffee shop 'importance' (as perceived by customers before patronizing the coffee shop) and 'satisfaction' (perception of customers after patronizing the coffee shop) as positive or negative and to analyze the effect of these gaps on purchasing behavior. To do this, I used the gap between importance and satisfaction regarding the choice of a coffee shop as the explanatory variable and performed an empirical analysis of the direction and size of the effect of the gap on purchasing behavior (overall satisfaction, willingness-to-revisit) by applying the Ordered Probit Model (OPM). A previous study that used IPA to evaluate the effects of gaps estimated the direction and size of a quadrant but failed to analyze the effect of gaps on customers. In this study, I evaluated the effects of positive and negative gaps on customer satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Using OPM, I quantified the effect of positive and negative gaps on overall customer satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Per-head expenditure, frequency of visits, and coffee-purchasing place had the most positive effects on overall customer satisfaction. Frequency of visits, followed by per-head expenditure and then coffee-purchasing place, had the most positive impact on willingness-to-visit. Thus per-head expenditure and frequency of visits had the greatest positive effects on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. This finding implies that the higher the actual satisfaction (gap) of customers who spend KRW5,000 or more once or more per week at coffee shops is, the higher their overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit are. Despite the fact that economical efficiency had a significant effect on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit, college and university students still use coffee shops and are willing to spend KRW5,000 because they do not only purchase coffee as a product itself, but use the coffee shop for other activities, such as working, meeting friends, or relaxing. College and university students also access the Internet in coffee shops via personal laptops, watch movies, and study; thus, coffee shops should provide their customers with the appropriate facilities and services. The fact that a positive gap for coffee shop brand had a positive effect on willingness-to-revisit implies that the higher the level of customer satisfaction, the greater the willingness-to-revisit. A negative gap for this factor, on the other hand, implies that the lower the level of customer satisfaction, the lower the willingness-to-revisit. Thus, the brand factor has a comparatively greater effect on satisfaction than the other factors evaluated in this study. Given that the domestic coffee culture is becoming more upscale and college/university students are sensitive to this trend, students are attentive to brands. In most upscale coffee shops in Korea, the outer wall is built out of glass that can be opened, the interiors are exotic with an open kitchen. These upscale coffee shops function as landmarks and match the taste of college/university students. Coffee shops in Korea have become a cultural brand. To make customers feel that coffee shops are upscale, good quality establishments and measures to provide better services in terms of brand factor should be instituted. The intensified competition among coffee shop brands in Korea as a result of the booming industry indicates that provision of additional services is needed to differentiate competitors. These customers can also use a scanner free of charge. Another strategy that can be used to boost brands could be to provide and operate a seminar room for seminars and group study. If coffee shops adopt these types of strategies, college/university students would be more likely to consider the expenses they incur worthwhile and, subsequently, they would be more likely to be satisfied with the brands of these coffee shops, with an associated increase in their willingness-to-revisit. Gender and study year had the most negative effects on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Female students were more likely to be satisfied and be willing to return than male students, and third and fourth-year students were more likely to be satisfied and willing-to-return than first or second-year students. Students who drink coffee, read books, and use laptops alone at coffee shops are easily noticeable. High-grade students tend to visit coffee shops alone in order to use their time efficiently for self-development and to find jobs. The economical efficiency factor had the greatest effect on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit in terms of a positive gap. The higher the actual satisfaction (gap) of students with the price of the coffee, the greater their overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Economical efficiency with a negative gap had a negative effect on willingness-to-revisit, which implies that a less negative gap will result in a greater willingness-to-revisit. Amid worsening market conditions, coffee shops located around colleges/universities are using strategies, such as a point or membership card, strategic alliances with credit-card companies, development of a set menu or seasonal menu, and free coffee-shot services to increase their competitive edge. Product power also had a negative effect in terms of a negative gap, which indicates that a higher negative gap will result in a lower willingness-to-revisit. Because there are many more customers that enjoy coffee in this decade, as compared to previous decades, the new generation of customers, namely college/university students, want various menu items in addition to coffee, and coffee shops should, therefore, add side menu items, such as waffles, rice cakes, cakes, sandwiches, and salads. For example, Starbucks Korea is making efforts to enhance product power by selling rice cakes flavored in strawberry, wormwood, and pumpkin, and providing coffee or cream free of charge. In summary, coffee shops should focus on increasing their economical efficiency, brand, and product power to enhance the satisfaction of college/university students. Because shops adjacent to colleges or universities enjoy a locational advantage, providing differentiated services in terms of economical efficiency, brand, and product power, is likely to increase customer satisfaction and return visits. Coffee shop brands should, therefore, be innovative and embrace change to meet their customers' desires. Because this study only targeted college/university students in Seoul, comparative studies targeting diverse regions and age groups are required to generalize the findings and recommendations of this study.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.63-83
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• 2017

Purpose: In Korea, market size of social commerce has been increased steadily and highly, but profits of social commerce companies have been decreased because of excessive marketing cost. To overcome this stagnant market environment, new marketing strategy that could attract customers and make customers continue to use social commerce is required instead of cost consuming marketing strategy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among characteristics of social commerce - that is, economic value and information quality - usefulness, enjoyment, satisfaction and repurchase intention by applying motivation theory to the area of social commerce. Design/Methodology/Approach: Previous researches have been studied by applying Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Model, although there are many studies related with customer acceptance model in the field of e-commerce. However, there is not so many studies in applying motivation theory. So this study adopts new approach to examine why customers use social commerce based on motivation theory. Thus, this study adopts economic value and information quality as antecedents, and then customers will perceive extrinsic and intrinsic motivation; usefulness is extrinsic and enjoyment is intrinsic, and adopts satisfaction and repurchase intention as a dependent variable. The data of questionnaire were collected from customers who have experience to buy something in social commerce. 228 questionnaires as data unit of individual level were collected using random sampling. Findings: This study proved empirically that the relationship between antecedents and motivation factors has a positive influence, and motivation factors also have a positive influence on repurchase intention through satisfaction. This study provides the managers an insight that social commerce companies should pay more attention to improve customer satisfaction in order to increase higher performance in repurchase intention of social commerce.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.192-210
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• 2023

Purpose - Vietnam has the fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia and is emerging as a critical overseas market for Korean banks in the post-COVID-19 era. Accordingly, many Korean banks entered the Vietnamese market to overcome the limitations of the saturated domestic financial market and create new revenue sources. This study examined the current status of digital finance in Vietnam and the cases of Korean banks that have succeeded in the Vietnamese market. Then, importance-performance analysis (IPA) was conducted on local customers, managers and staff members of Korean banks in Vietnam. Design/methodology - In this study, we analyzed the importance and satisfaction factors of mobile banking app usage in Vietnam through IPA. In particular, we identified the differences between the two groups by considering the viewpoint of customers who use mobile banking apps and that of managers and staff members who provide mobile banking services. Findings - The IPA results from the customer group and managers and staff members group were generally similar, but differences were observed in Ease of Use (Technology), Innovativeness (Organization), and Increase in Revenue (Economic). In the case of the customer group, Ease of Use (Technology) is located in the second quadrant, which shows low satisfaction compared to high importance. However, in the managers and staff members group, Ease of Use (Technology) is located in the first quadrant, which indicates high importance and high satisfaction. This difference in perception can cause complaints from local customers; thus, it is necessary to change the perception of the technological aspect for ease of use of mobile banking apps in consideration of the customer's position. In addition, it is necessary to allocate the resources invested in the Innovativeness (Organization) and Increase in Revenue (Economic) to Ease of Use (Technology). Originality/value - In this study, based on the HOTE framework, factors for using mobile banking apps were derived, and IPA was conducted targeting local customers (app user) and managers and staff members (app provider) of Korean banks in Vietnam. Through this, we presented the results of empirical analysis that can help Korean banks efficiently utilize limited resources and budgets.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.152-162
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• 2008

The objectives of this study were to: a) examine foreign customers’ satisfaction and expectations for the food and service attributes of Korean restaurants located in the U.S., b) measure the gap between the satisfaction and expectations for food and service attributes, c) analyze through IPA analysis the crucial attributes needing improvement in order to minimize the discrepancy between customers’ expectations and performance, and d) analyze the effects of factors related to the food and service attributes on overall customer satisfaction in regard to Korean restaurant selection. A total of 255 American customers who had visited four Korean restaurants located within metropolitan and rural areas of the U.S. were surveyed for this study. Statistical analyses, including t-tests, factor analysis, and multiple regression, were performed using the SPSS statistical package (12.0). The American customers’ overall satisfaction of the food and services offered by the Korean restaurants was relatively high, with the exception of tangible service attributes such as comfortable chairs, restroom cleanliness, and restaurant interior. The urban foreign customers, however, were dissatisfied with the use of healthful ingredients in Korean food, because their expectation level toward this aspect exceeded their satisfaction level. In terms of Korean restaurant selection, tangible services related to the restaurant facilities were identified as the critical factor having an effect on American customer satisfaction.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.57-74
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• 2023

Purpose: As global interest in environmental issues increases, the demand for green products/services is increasing. Companies are establishing eco-friendly policies to meet the changing expectations of customers. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of eco-friendly behavior and third-party certification on trust, satisfaction, and loyalty as well as the mediating role of satisfaction based on SOR and signaling theory. Research design, data and methodology: This study collected data from 501 respondents who visited restaurant and analyzed using measurement model with SPSS 28.0 and SmartPLS 4. Results: First, restaurants' eco-friendly behavior and third-party certification (TPC) positively influenced trust while these did not influence satisfaction. Second, trust positively influenced satisfaction. Third, trust and satisfaction positively influenced loyalty. Fourth, TPC had stronger impact on trust and satisfaction compared to eco-friendly behavior in female group while TPC had stronger impact on trust in male group. Conclusions: This study emphasized the importance of TPC over eco-friendly behavior. Restaurants should maintain pro-environmental behaviors such as reducing single-use items while obtaining TPC such as ISO and LEED certifications to increase customer trust. It also found the importance of trust and satisfaction in securing loyal customers. Restaurants should make efforts to build bonds with customers through authentic marketing such as events that encourage customer participation.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.317-326
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to the loyalty of Chinese customers who use Korean medical and tourism services. Methods: Participants were 158 Chinese who visited plastic surgery clinics in Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, One-way ANOVA, $Scheff{{\acute{e}}$ test, Pearson Correlation and Hierachical Multiple Regression. Results: Medical service quality, tourism service quality and medical and service satisfaction were positively correlated with customer loyalty. Medical service quality and medical and tourism service satisfaction had significant influence on customer loyalty. The explained variance for customer loyalty was 84.9%. Conclusion: These results suggest the need to improve the tourism service and medical and tourism service satisfaction to retain loyal customers.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.23-31
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• 2014

In this study, in order to analyze customers' space satisfaction, ten modern high-class Korean restaurants, five in New York and another five in Seoul, that were opened or remodeled after 2008 were selected and satisfaction characteristics survey of 197 customers who use these Korean restaurants was conducted by using Likert 5-point scale. The study results(a high reliability was obtained showing the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of average 0.895 for all questions) were analyzed for the frequency, percentage, mean, etc. and the mean between groups were comparatively analyzed by conducting the t-test, Duncan's test by using the SPSS 18.0 statistical program. The results are as follows. First, the results of customers general characteristic comparative analysis, all the Seoul and New York customers have comparatively high academic ability, high income and eating-out expenses. The main customers in Seoul were the women in their thirties and forties while those in New York were mainly in their forties and fifties both men and women at similar rate. Second, as to the satisfaction with the interior, the satisfaction with finishing materials was little higher in New York as Seoul (3.30 points) and New York (3.86 points). The satisfaction with color was relatively higher in Seoul (3.66 points) and relatively lower in New York (3.18 points). As the satisfaction with furniture and decorating accessories was relatively lower in both Seoul (3.10 points) and New York (3.48 points). The satisfaction with space size in Seoul (the total space size: 3.99 points, private space size; 3.90 points) was relatively higher than that in New York (the total space size: 3.46 points, private space size; 3.28 points). The satisfaction with interior and exterior in both Seoul (exterior: 3.63 points, interior: 3.40 points) and New York (exterior: 3.28 points, interior: 3.39 points) were average. For the satisfaction of environment, Seoul (3.42 points) was slightly lower than that of New York (3.56 points). Third, the result of customers' satisfaction in Seoul and New York showed no commonality. Therefore in order to be renewed as the Korean restaurants with high customer satisfaction, it is expected that the Korean restaurants located in Seoul and New York need to plan the space by considering their customers' characteristics and satisfactions.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-27
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• 2012

Many companies have recently become interested in using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as a new channel to communicate with their customers. For example, companies often offer "special deals" (e.g., coupons, discounts, free samples, etc.) to their customers who participate in promotions or events on social networking sites. Companies often make important announcements on their products or services on social networking sites. By doing so, customers are encouraged to continue to have relationships with companies on social networking sites and to recommend the companies' presence on social networking sites to other potential customers. Moreover, customers who keep close relationships with companies on social networking sites often provide the companies with valuable suggestions and feedback. For instance, Starbucks has more than 2 million followers on Twitter, and often receive suggestions and feedback for their product offerings and services from the followers on Twitter. Although companies realize potential benefits of using social networking sites as a channel to communicate with their customers, it appears that many companies have difficulty forging long-lasting relationships with customers on social networking sites. It is often reported that many customers who had followed companies on Twitter later stopped following them for various reasons. Therefore, it is an important issue to understand what motivates customers to continue to keep relationships with companies on social networking sites. Nonetheless, due attention has yet paid to this issue until recently. This study intends to contribute to our understanding on customers' intention to continue to follow companies on Twitter and to spread positive word-of-mouth about companies on Twitter. Specifically, we identify seven potential factors that customers perceive as important in evaluating their experience with companies on Twitter. The seven factors include similarity, receptivity, interactivity, ubiquitous connectivity, enjoyment, usefulness and transparency. We posit that the seven perception factors can affect the two types of satisfaction, emotional and cognitive, which can in turn influence on customers' intention to follow companies on Twitter and to spread positive word-of-mouth about companies on Twitter. Research hypotheses formulated in this study were tested with data collected from a questionnaire survey administered to customers who had been following companies on Twitter. The data was analyzed with the partial least square (PLS) approach to structural equation modeling. The results of data analysis based on 177 usable responses were generally supportive of our predictions for the effects of the seven factors identified and the two types of satisfaction. In particular, out results suggest that emotional satisfaction was strongly influenced by perceived similarity, perceived receptivity, perceived enjoyment, and perceived transparency. Cognitive satisfaction was significantly influenced by perceived similarity, perceived interactivity, perceived enjoyment, and perceived transparency. While cognitive satisfaction was found to have significant and positive effects on both continued following and word-of-mouth intentions, emotional satisfaction had a significant and positive effect only on word-of-mouth intention.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.149-169
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• 2011

As the number of smart phone users increases, many organizations begin to adopt social media rapidly to diversify communication channels with customers. Specifically, twitter, which supports instant and two-way communications between users and between organizations and users, has been adopted by many organizations as an efficient way not only to identify new customers but also to retain existing customers. However, little attention has been given to the issue on how organizations can effectively use twitter to improve customer satisfaction. To explore the issue, this study proposes two major dimensions, customer participation and organization resource utilization, which should be considered in building a utilization strategy for twitter in organizations. We then develop four different combinations along with these dimensions-follow, mention, retweet, and review types. Based on case studies of 27 organizations that use twitter, we evaluate the degrees of customer participation, resource utilization, and customer satisfaction, and examine matching or mismatching of the adoption purpose of twitter and its actual utilization. The study results reveal that organizations in the matching group show higher customer satisfaction that those in the mismatching group. This study sheds new light on twitter research by developing a new conceptual framework and using a case study approach to explore the relationship between the utilization strategy of twitter and customer satisfaction.