• Title/Summary/Keyword: data service quality

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consumers' purchasing behavior of functional cosmetics and Inula based functional cosmetics merchandising research (국내 소비자의 기능성화장품 구매행태 및 선복화 활용 기능성화장품 상품화를 위한 연구)

  • Han, Do-Kyung;Lee, Hyun-Jun;Lee, Eun-Hee;Paik, Hyun-Dong;Shin, Dong-Kyoo;Park, Dae-Sub;Hwang, Hye-Seon;Hong, Wan-Soo
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.17 no.8
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    • pp.236-250
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    • 2016
  • This study was conducted to provide baseline data regarding functional cosmetics so that Inula. based cosmetics can increase its competitiveness in the market as well as to understand current trends to enable anticipation of demands for future product development. For this research, general consumers over the age of 20 residing in Seoul and the Gyeonggi district were surveyed. The results show consumers preferred serum-type products among various types of cosmetics, and that they purchased these once every 1-3 months. Consumers also preferred these products in less than 10-30ml capacity, and at costs of less than 30,000-50,000 KRW. For whitening, functional cosmetics consumers also preferred the serum type, in less than 30-50ml capacity and priced less than 30,000-50,000 KRW. Consumers preferred to purchase functional cosmetics in single units. The major purchasing location, with a high preference rate, was cosmetic stores, and the major sources of information, also with high preference rates, were 'experienced reviews from family, friends and acquaintances' and 'TV advertisements'. Respondents selected 'over 50,000 KRW' the most for all items when responding to 'Purchase Intent for Functional Cosmetics containing Inula', and responded that they were willing to pay 10%-30% more for functional cosmetics containing Inula compared to standard functional cosmetics. These results show that businesses in the cosmetics industry need to take consumer demand into account when developing new functional cosmetic products, as well as establish plans to create specialized spaces that provide better quality service and increase word of mouth effect through better utilization of various types of offline media, social media, and blogs. The study also shows a need for businesses to develop products fully utilizing the Inula flower, which has been shown to be effective as a natural skin whitener, wrinkle reducer and skin moisturizer, to appeal to the increasing number of customers interested in health and beauty.

The Effect of Herding Behavior and Perceived Usefulness on Intention to Purchase e-Learning Content: Comparison Analysis by Purchase Experience (무리행동과 지각된 유용성이 이러닝 컨텐츠 구매의도에 미치는 영향: 구매경험에 의한 비교분석)

  • Yoo, Chul-Woo;Kim, Yang-Jin;Moon, Jung-Hoon;Choe, Young-Chan
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.105-130
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    • 2008
  • Consumers of e-learning market differ from those of other markets in that they are replaced in a specific time scale. For example, e-learning contents aimed at highschool senior students cannot be consumed by a specific consumer over the designated period of time. Hence e-learning service providers need to attract new groups of students every year. Due to lack of information on products designed for continuously emerging consumers, the consumers face difficulties in making rational decisions in a short time period. Increased uncertainty of product purchase leads customers to herding behaviors to obtain information of the product from others and imitate them. Taking into consideration of these features of e-learning market, this study will focus on the online herding behavior in purchasing e-learning contents. There is no definite concept for e-learning. However, it is being discussed in a wide range of perspectives from educational engineering to management to e-business etc. Based upon the existing studies, we identify two main view-points regarding e-learning. The first defines e-learning as a concept that includes existing terminologies, such as CBT (Computer Based Training), WBT (Web Based Training), and IBT (Internet Based Training). In this view, e-learning utilizes IT in order to support professors and a part of or entire education systems. In the second perspective, e-learning is defined as the usage of Internet technology to deliver diverse intelligence and achievement enhancing solutions. In other words, only the educations that are done through the Internet and network can be classified as e-learning. We take the second definition of e-learning for our working definition. The main goal of this study is to investigate what factors affect consumer intention to purchase e-learning contents and to identify the differential impact of the factors between consumers with purchase experience and those without the experience. To accomplish the goal of this study, it focuses on herding behavior and perceived usefulness as antecedents to behavioral intention. The proposed research model in the study extends the Technology Acceptance Model by adding herding behavior and usability to take into account the unique characteristics of e-learning content market and e-learning systems use, respectively. The current study also includes consumer experience with e-learning content purchase because the previous experience is believed to affect purchasing intention when consumers buy experience goods or services. Previous studies on e-learning did not consider the characteristics of e-learning contents market and the differential impact of consumer experience on the relationship between the antecedents and behavioral intention, which is the target of this study. This study employs a survey method to empirically test the proposed research model. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 629 informants. 528 responses were collected, which consist of potential customer group (n = 133) and experienced customer group (n = 395). The data were analyzed using PLS method, a structural equation modeling method. Overall, both herding behavior and perceived usefulness influence consumer intention to purchase e-learning contents. In detail, in the case of potential customer group, herding behavior has stronger effect on purchase intention than does perceived usefulness. However, in the case of shopping-experienced customer group, perceived usefulness has stronger effect than does herding behavior. In sum, the results of the analysis show that with regard to purchasing experience, perceived usefulness and herding behavior had differential effects upon the purchase of e-learning contents. As a follow-up analysis, the interaction effects of the number of purchase transaction and herding behavior/perceived usefulness on purchase intention were investigated. The results show that there are no interaction effects. This study contributes to the literature in a couple of ways. From a theoretical perspective, this study examined and showed evidence that the characteristics of e-learning market such as continuous renewal of consumers and thus high uncertainty and individual experiences are important factors to be considered when the purchase intention of e-learning content is studied. This study can be used as a basis for future studies on e-learning success. From a practical perspective, this study provides several important implications on what types of marketing strategies e-learning companies need to build. The bottom lines of these strategies include target group attraction, word-of-mouth management, enhancement of web site usability quality, etc. The limitations of this study are also discussed for future studies.

A Study on the Experience of Physical Therapy Accident in The Physiotherapist (물리치료사에 있어서 물리치료 사고의 경험에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Jong-Dae
    • Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.69-80
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    • 2002
  • The objective of research provides the physical therapy of good quality to the patients to search for the problem pant against a physical therapy accident and it simultaneously respects physical therapy company law, the possibility of preparing a system defensive ability in order to be. The data were collected from 2000 October 1 to December 30th, and analyzed by a frequency and a percentage, oneway ANOVA, Scheffe method, $x^2$ official approvals. Conclusion (1) the accident where the patient falls from inside the treatment 'room is many and occasionally' 29.3% (63 people) with was many most. (2) Because of a mistake by a part-time therapist in holiday or a colleague therapist to do, the fracture or bum accident happens 12.5% (27 people), by a assist nurse due to more showed 12.1% (26 people) experience degree in the patient. (3) From physical therapy process breakdown of the medical treatment machinery and tools or it is in malfunction to do and the experience which has a failure to physical therapy is one enemy 68.1% (147 people) was in item. Also it treats and the patient or in the protector it sends an explanation in advance not to be, the experience which it enforces 50% (108 people), of service hour treatment equipment the medical treatment directives broad way of the doctor is accurate in insufficiency and does not enforce the experience is 45.4% (98 people), the patient whom I am treating Hot Pack (electricity has pack inclusion) with to do, the art dealer (over at 1 buffoonery) the experience which it puts on 27.1% (58 people), The patient whom I am treating is the electrotherapy flag (electricity has pack exclusion) with to do, the art dealer (1 degree art dealer over) the experience which it puts on 16.3% (35 people), the experience boat song the patient against a fracture from physical therapy process 9 person (4.2%) was visible an experience degree. (4) With hospital infection to do, from the patient the experience and the therapist which receive a problem proposal were caused by with hospital infection and the answer back regarding the experience which tries to receive a treatment appeared 6% (13 people), 42% (9 people) with each. (5) It listened to the treatment hour patient or the appeal of the protector and especially it does not appear to be being important it was not and and the management which is special it did not take, also the experience where the condition of the patient is deteriorated after that was 10.3% (22 people). (6) The condition or state of the patient does not agree with the medical treatment instruction of the doctor not to be, amendment one experience was 67.5% (145 people). (7) The experience degree of the physical therapy accident which relates with physical therapy recording and a secret maintenance 59.7% (129 people) 'is many and occasionally it is,' it showed an answer back and e it showed a most high accident experience degree. (8) The business overweight of physical therapy company 43.3% (93 people) with was high most from recognition degree of the physical therapy company against a physical therapy accident. (9) Against the question which asks the responsibility subject matter of physical therapy accident the whole answer back volition 42.8% did it is a joint responsibility where the multi person relates. (10) The accident occurs most the hour unit which plentifully in the afternoon 64.3% (133 people) with appeared from the recognition degree against the frequency hour unit of physical therapy accident. (11) Physical therapy it bought and after the various medical treatment accident which relates against the attitude of the, patient side against the physical therapy company it understood and trillion it was many most with 33.3% to be finished. (12) After physical therapy accident the management against the physical therapy company of the hospital authorities concerned above all do not experience 70.6% (149 people), from event right and wrong submission 22.7% (48 people), warning management 2.8% (6 people), the event report requirement and money compensation were each 0.5% (1 person). (13) As the prevention book of physical therapy accident most it is important, the fact which it thinks that, the persons supplement of physical therapy company 58.8% (127 people) with was high most. (14) It related with a physical therapy accident and the medical law 43.5%, civil law 23.9%, was visible the answer back ratio of the criminal law 13.7% from the degree which probably is a relation law.

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Needs and Satisfaction of Cancer Patients on the Medical Services in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (제주지역 암환자의 의료서비스 요구도 및 만족도 분석)

  • Kim, Woo-Jeong;Kim, Min-Young;Chang, Weon-Young;Choi, Jae-Hyuck
    • Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.153-160
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    • 2010
  • Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate needs and satisfaction on the medical services of cancer patients in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. Methods: Total 174 cancer patients, who visited at the clinic of Jeju National University Hospital, submitted informed consent and participated in this study from July 13 to July 30, 2009. Self questionnaire was used and data were analyzed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Mann-Whitney U test, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Participants expressed the needs of most economical support (3.38 out of 4), followed by counseling of treatment plan (3.22), information of disease (3.07), and disease management except cancer (2.97). Participants were satisfied most with religious counseling (3.41), followed by nursing service support (3.39), employment counseling (3.26), and counseling for family or interpersonal relationships (3.26). The satisfaction of economical support was the lowest (1.98). Satisfaction of men was higher than women, and needs in patients who were living with children was the highest. Patients who were living alone or with children showed the lowest satisfaction about the medical services. There were no significant differences in the general characteristics, however, participants who were older than 60 years of age or had higher income showed lower needs and higher satisfaction. There were no significant differences in the medical characteristics, however, thyroid cancer patients and patients who were treated with radiation therapy or transarterial embolization showed low satisfaction. Conclusion: Cancer patients seemed to need more economical support, information of treatment or disease, and symptom management. Furthermore, there were various needs about the services, depending on family formation or economical support of patients. Therefore, it is certain that patients who were suffering from other cancers, except the 5 major cancers, needed more services. In conclusion, continuous and systemic policy to consider patient's characteristics and needs are needed in community as well as health care system.

Complication and Failure Analysis of Fixed Restorations (고정성 보철물과 연관된 합병증과 실패에 관한 조사)

  • Yun, Mi-Jung
    • Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.149-159
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    • 2011
  • Restoring and replacing teeth with fixed prostheses commonly used in dental practice. Because of improper oral hygiene care and inaccurate laboratory procedure, complication of fixed prostheses was found in the mouth of patient. Although many efforts have been continually made to obtain the data of long term prognosis of fixed prostheses, it was difficult to do it. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical status of fixed prostheses to improve the quality of dental care. In order to assess the clinical status of fixed prostheses, a total of 154 individuals (aged 22-82, 88 women and 66 men loaded with 578 unit of fixed prostheses, and 423 abutments) who visited the Department of Prosthodontics, Pusan National University Hospital, between January 2009 to December 2009 and removed old fixed prostheses were examined. The results of this study were as follows: 1. Length of service of fixed prostheses was $10.3{\pm}05.5$ years (mean), 10.0 years (median). 2. Location of fixed prostheses was found to have statistically significant influence on longevity of fixed prostheses (P<.05). The longevity of fixed prostheses was high in anterior-posterior combination region (mean:13.1, median:13.5) than anterior and posterior region. 3. Longevity of fixed prostheses made of metal was longest (mean:13.3, median:12.3). 4. Number of units in fixed prostheses was found to have no statistically significant influence on longevity of fixed prostheses (P>.05). 5. Condition of opposing dentition was found to have statistically significant influence on longevity of fixed prostheses (P>.05). The fixed prostheses lasted longest when opposed by complete denture (mean:17.1, median:19.7), removable partial denture, fixed prosthesis and natural dentition trailing behind (P<.05) 6. Periodontal disease (37.5%), dental caries (19.0%), defective margin (18.4%) were frequent complications. In 33.1% of the cases, abutment state after removing fixed prostheses was needed to be extracted.

우리나라 농촌지역의 출산조절행태 및 출산조절행위의 결정요인 분석

  • Chung, Kyung-Hee;Han, Seung-Hyun;Bang, Sook
    • Korea journal of population studies
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.33-53
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    • 1988
  • This study aimed at developing a desirable family planning policy and strategy by examining the current status of family planning practice in rural Korea and by indentifying the crucial factors which affect fertility control behavior. For this purpose, an analytical study was conducted, using the survey data collected in July 1985, on an interview basis, on 1, 440 married women living in the Soyi, Wonnam and Maingdong townships of Eumseong County(in North Chungcheong Province). This study population has the typical characteristics of rural areas, and the results of the analysis can be summarized as follows: 1. In regard to the demographic characteristics of the study population : their average age at marriage was 23.7, they had an average of 2.6 children( 1.3 boys, 1.3 girls) :10% experienced the death of their child (ren) :14% had spontaneous abortion(s) :4% weathered stillbirth(s) :35% went through induced abortion (s) : and 5.5% were currently pregnant. The average of their ideal numbers of children was 2.2, while 44% felt that they must have a son. 2. Looking at the contact rate with medical & health institutions, over the past 1 year, the visit rate to health subcenters was 43.7%, while 26.9% visited the (county) health center :59.6% had been to private clinics : and 41.5% went to the Soonchunhyang - Eumsung hospital : thus showing a relatively high rate of accessibility. 3. The utilization rate of family planning services was 76.5%, with tubectomy being the most prominent method at 52.3%, while the informants were health workers in 54.2% of the acceptors. Of the 8.4% who discontinued the use of contraceptive methods, only 26% did so due to want for pregnancy, natural infertility (meno - pause), or other reasons, while the remaining 74% stopped usage on account of side effects, failure in the methods themselves, and inconvenience of use, thus pointing to a situation where the proper choice of family planning methods have not yet been made. It can be noted that there is a strong motivation for early birth stopping as 35.3% practice family planning even with only one child, of which 38.3% have had sterilization operations. According to results of a multiple regression analysis, among the variables affecting contraception usage the most significant variable was the number of sons. 4. 34.8% experienced induced abortions. It was shown as a result of multiple regression analysis that the number of children and attitudes toward induced abortions extensively affected their frequency of abortions conducted. 5. In the regard to the relation between family planning and induced abortions, 33.7% of the women used both, while 52.0% of them used only the former(family planning), with only 1.4 % utilizing solely the latter(abortion), and 12.9% totally abstaining from fertility regulation : again, the discriminant analysis indicated that the choice of family planning and/or induced abortion was determined by the number of children and attitudes toward induced abortion. In view of the above mentioned results, the following are some comments and suggestions concerning problems related to the current family planning policies, in Korea : 1. It is difficult to expect a further quantitative expansion in family planning program operations, as there has been an excessive supply of target-oriented sterilization operations on women. From a maternal and child health care point of view, it will be desirable to have a diversification of service points in the future where family planning methods may be properly chosen, so that choices of methods which suit the mothers' characteristics and tastes may be made by the individuals themselves by strengthening their quality of family planning information services. 2. Along with the strengthening of the qualitative improvement of family planning services policies must be implemented to effectively promote the moral (ethical) deterrents to induced abortions and to preference for sons. From a maternal care standpoint, the social permissive norm toward induced abortion must be modified, and the bias towards son must be analyzed as the women with more daughters have a lower rate of family planning acceptance. Such changes in attitudes, however, can not be hoped to be accomplished with ad hoc policies, but will only be possible when an enhancement of the women's status(within the society) is brought about in a long - term perspective.

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Operative Challenges in Releasing Administrative Information and Records (행정정보 및 보존기록물 공개의 운영과제)

  • Lee, Won-Kyu
    • The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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    • no.12
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    • pp.81-135
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    • 2005
  • The release of administrative information has been the challenge of our age following the maturation of democratic ideology in our society. However, differences of opinion and conflict still exist between the government and private sectors regarding the issue, and it seems that the technical and policy-related insufficiencies of information and record management that actually operate the release of information are the main causes. From the perspective of records management, records or information are variable in their nature, value, and influence during their life span. The most controversial issue is the records and information in the current stage of carrying out business activities. This is because the records and information pertaining to finished business are but evidence to ascertain the past, and have only a limited relationship to the ideal of the 'democratic participation' by citizens in activities of the public sector. The current information release policies are helpless against the 'absence of information,' or incomplete records, but such weakness can be supplemented by enforcing record management policies that make obligatory the recording of all details of business activities. In addition, it is understood that the installation of 'document offices("Jaryogwan")' that can manage each organization's information and records will be an important starting point to integrate the release, management, and preservation of information and records. Nevertheless, it seems that the concept of 'release' in information release policies refers not to free use by all citizens but is limited to the 'provision' of records according to public requests, and the concept of 'confidential' refers not to treating documents with total secrecy but varies according to the particulars of each situation, making the actual practice of information release difficult. To solve such problems, it is absolutely necessary to collect the opinions of various constituents associated with the recorded information in question, and to effectively mediate the collective opinions and the information release requests coming from applicants, to carry out the business more practically. Especially crucial is the management of the process by which the nature and influence of recorded information changes, so that information which has to be confidential at first may become available for inquiry and use over time through appropriate procedures. Such processes are also part of the duties that record management, which is in charge of the entire life span of documents, must perform. All created records will be captured within a record management system, and the record creation data thus collected will be used as a guide for inquiry and usage. With 'document offices(Jaryogwan)' and 'archives' controlling the entire life span of records, the release of information will become simpler and more widespread. It is undesirable to try to control only through information release policies those records the nature of which has changed because, unlike the ones still in the early stages of their life span and can directly influence business activities, their work has finished, and they have become historical records or evidences pointing to the truth of past events. Even in the past, when there existed no formal policy regarding the release of administrative information, the access and use of archival records were permitted. A more active and expanded approach must be taken regarding the 'usage' of archival records. If the key factor regarding 'release' lies in the provision of information, the key factor regarding 'usage' lies in the quality and level of the service provided. The full-scale usage of archival records must be preceded by the release of such records, and accordingly, a thorough analysis of the nature, content, and value of the records and their changes must be implemented to guarantee the release of information before their use is requested. That must become a central task of document offices and "Today's information" will soon become "yesterday's records," and the "reality" of today will become "history" of the past. The policies of information release and record management share information records as their common objective. As they have a mutual relationship that is supplementary and leads toward perfection, the two policies must both be differentiated and integrated with each another. It is hoped that the policies and business activities of record management will soon become normalized and reformed for effective and fair release of information.

The Mediating Effect of Experiential Value on Customers' Perceived Value of Digital Content: China's Anti-virus Program Market (경험개치대소비자대전자내용적인지개치적중개영향(经验价值对消费者对电子内容的认知价值的中介影响): 중국살독연건시장(中国杀毒软件市场))

  • Jia, Weiwei;Kim, Sae-Bum
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.219-230
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    • 2010
  • Digital content makes big changes to our daily lives while bringing opportunities and challenges for companies. Creative firms integrate pictures, texts, videos, audios, and data by digitalization to develop new products or services and create digital experiences to promote their brands. Most articles on digital content contribute to the basic concept or development of marketing it in literature. Actually, compared with traditional value chains for common products or services, the digital content industry seems to have more potential value. Because quite a bit of digital content is free to the consumer, price is not necessarily perceived as an indicator of the quality or value of information (Rowley 2008). It becomes evident that a current theme in digital content is the issue of "value," and research on customers' perceived value of digital content is a necessity. This article argues that experiential value has an advantage in customers' evaluations of digital content. Two different but related contributions to the understanding of "value" of digital content are made here. First, based on the comparison of digital content with products and services, the article proposes two key characteristics that make experiential strategy available for digital content: intangibility and near-zero reproduction cost. On top of that, based on the discussion of the gap between company's idealized value and customer's perceived value, this article emphasizes that digital content prices and pricing of digital content is different from products and services. As a result of intangibility, prices may not reflect customer value. Moreover, the cost of digital content in the development stage may be very high while reproduction costs shrink dramatically. Moreover, because of the value gap mentioned before, the pricing polices vary for different digital contents. For example, flat price policy is generally used for movies and music (Magiera 2001; Netherby 2002), while for continuous demand, digital content such as online games and anti-virus programs involves a more complicated matter of utility and competitive price levels. Digital content companies have to explore various kinds of strategies to overcome this gap. Rethinking marketing solutions such as advertisements, images, and word-of-mouth and their effect on customers' perceived value becomes essential. China's digital content industry is becoming more and more globalized and drawing special attention from different countries and regions that have respective competitive advantages. The 2008-2009 Annual Report on the Development of China's Digital Content Industry (CCIDConsulting 2009) indicates that, with the driven power of domestic demand and governmental policy support, the country's digital content industry maintained a fast growth of some 30 percent in 2008, obviously indicating the initial stage of industry expansion. In China, anti-virus programs and other software programs which need to be updated use a quarter-based pricing policy. Customers can download a trial version for free and use it for six months or a year. If they want to use it longer, continuous payment is needed. They examine the excellence of the digital content during this trial period and decide whether to pay for continued usage. For China’s music and movie industries, as a result of initial development, experiential strategy has not been much applied, even though firms in other countries find the trial experience and explore important strategies(such as customers listening to music for several seconds for free before downloading it). For the above reasons, anti-virus program may be a representative for digital content industry in China and an exploratory study of the advantage of experiential value in customer's perceived value of digital content is done in the anti-virus market of China. In order to enhance the reliability of the survey data, this study focused on people who were experienced users of anti-virus programs. The empirical results revealed that experiential value has a positive effect on customers' perceived value of digital content. In other words, because digital content is intangible and the reproduction costs are nearly zero, customers' evaluations are based heavily on their experience. Moreover, image and word-of-mouth do not have a positive effect on perceived value, only on experiential value. That is to say, a digital content value chain is different from that of a general product or service. Experiential value has a notable advantage and mediates the effect of image and word-of-mouth on perceived value. The results of this study help provide an understanding of why free digital content downloads exist in developing countries. Customers can perceive the value of digital content only by using and experiencing it. This is also why such governments support the development of digital content. Other developing countries whose digital content business is also in the beginning stage can make use of the suggestions here. Moreover, based on the advantage of experiential strategy, companies should make more of an effort to invest in customers' experience. As a result of the characteristics and value gap of digital content, customers perceive more value in the intangible digital content only by experiencing what they really want. Moreover, because of the near-zero reproduction costs, companies can perhaps use experiential strategy to enhance customer understanding of digital content.

A Study on Hoslital Nurses' Preferred Duty Shift and Duty Hours (병원 간호사의 선호근무시간대에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Gyeong-Sik;Jeong, Geum-Hui
    • The Korean Nurse
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.77-96
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    • 1997
  • The duty shifts of hospital nurses not only affect nurses' physical and mental health but also present various personnel management problems which often result in high turnover rates. In this context a study was carried out from October to November 1995 for a period of two months to find out the status of hospital nurses' duty shift patterns, and preferred duty hours and fixed duty shifts. The study population was 867 RNs working in five general hospitals located in Seoul and its vicinity. The questionnaire developed by the writer was used for data collection. The response rate was 85.9 percent or 745 returns. The SAS program was used for data analysis with the computation of frequencies, percentages and Chi square test. The findings of the study are as follows: 1. General characteristics of the study population: 56 percent of respondents was (25 years group and 76.5 percent were "single": the predominant proportion of respondents was junior nursing college graduates(92.2%) and have less than 5 years nursing experience in hospitals(65.5%). For their future working plan in nursing profession, nearly 50% responded as uncertain The reasons given for their career plan was predominantly 'personal growth and development' rather than financial reasons. 2. The interval for rotations of duty stations was found to be mostly irregular(56.4%) while others reported as weekly(16.1%), monthly(12.9%), and fixed terms(4.6%). 3. The main problems related to duty shifts particularly the evening and night duty nurses reported were "not enough time for the family, " "afraid of security problems after the work when returning home late at night." and "lack of leisure time". "problems in physical and physiological adjustment." "problems in family life." "lack of time for interactions with fellow nurses" etc. 4. The forty percent of respondents reported to have '1-2 times' of duty shift rotations while all others reported that '0 time'. '2-3 times'. 'more than 3 times' etc. which suggest the irregularity in duty shift rotations. 5. The majority(62.8%) of study population found to favor the rotating system of duty stations. The reasons for favoring the rotation system were: the opportunity for "learning new things and personal development." "better human relations are possible. "better understanding in various duty stations." "changes in monotonous routine job" etc. The proportion of those disfavor the rotating 'system was 34.7 percent. giving the reasons of"it impedes development of specialization." "poor job performances." "stress factors" etc. Furthermore. respondents made the following comments in relation to the rotation of duty stations: the nurses should be given the opportunity to participate in the. decision making process: personal interest and aptitudes should be considered: regular intervals for the rotations or it should be planned in advance. etc. 6. For the future career plan. the older. married group with longer nursing experiences appeared to think the nursing as their lifetime career more likely than the younger. single group with shorter nursing experiences ($x^2=61.19.{\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=41.55.{\;}p=.000$). The reason given for their future career plan regardless of length of future service, was predominantly "personal growth and development" rather than financial reasons. For further analysis, the group those with the shorter career plan appeared to claim "financial reasons" for their future career more readily than the group who consider the nursing job as their lifetime career$(x^2$= 11.73, p=.003) did. This finding suggests the need for careful .considerations in personnel management of nursing administration particularly when dealing with the nurses' career development. The majority of respondents preferred the fixed day shift. However, further analysis of those preferred evening shift by age and civil status, "< 25 years group"(15.1%) and "single group"(13.2) were more likely to favor the fixed evening shift than > 25 years(6.4%) and married(4.8%)groups. This differences were statistically significant ($x^2=14.54, {\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=8.75, {\;}p=.003$). 7. A great majority of respondents(86.9% or n=647) found to prefer the day shifts. When the four different types of duty shifts(Types A. B. C, D) were presented, 55.0 percent of total respondents preferred the A type or the existing one followed by D type(22.7%). B type(12.4%) and C type(8.2%). 8. When the condition of monetary incentives for the evening(20% of salary) and night shifts(40% of. salary) of the existing duty type was presented. again the day shift appeared to be the most preferred one although the rate was slightly lower(66.4% against 86.9%). In the case of evening shift, with the same incentive, the preference rates for evening and night shifts increased from 11.0 to 22.4 percent and from 0.5 to 3.0 percent respectively. When the age variable was controlled. < 25 yrs group showed higher rates(31.6%. 4.8%) than those of > 25 yrs group(15.5%. 1.3%) respectively preferring the evening and night shifts(p=.000). The civil status also seemed to operate on the preferences of the duty shifts as the single group showed lower rate(69.0%) for day duty against 83. 6% of the married group. and higher rates for evening and night duties(27.2%. 15.1%) respectively against those of the married group(3.8%. 1.8%) while a higher proportion of the married group(83. 6%) preferred the day duties than the single group(69.0%). These differences were found to be statistically all significant(p=.001). 9. The findings on preferences of three different types of fixed duty hours namely, B, C. and D(with additional monetary incentives) are as follows in order of preference: B type(12hrs a day, 3days a wk): day shift(64.1%), evening shift(26.1%). night shift(6.5%) C type(12hrs a day. 4days a wk) : evening shift(49.2%). day shift(32.8%), night shift(11.5%) D type(10hrs a day. 4days a wk): showed the similar trend as B type. The findings of higher preferences on the evening and night duties when the incentives are given. as shown above, suggest the need for the introductions of different patterns of duty hours and incentive measures in order to overcome the difficulties in rostering the nursing duties. However, the interpretation of the above data, particularly the C type, needs cautions as the total number of respondents is very small(n=61). It requires further in-depth study. In conclusion. it seemed to suggest that the patterns of nurses duty hours and shifts in the most hospitals in the country have neither been tried for different duty types nor been flexible. The stereotype rostering system of three shifts and insensitiveness for personal life aspect of nurses seemed to be prevailing. This study seems to support that irregular and frequent rotations of duty shifts may be contributing factors for most nurses' maladjustment problems in physical and mental health. personal and family life which eventually may result in high turnover rates. In order to overcome the increasing problems in personnel management of hospital nurses particularly in rostering of evening and night duty shifts, which may related to eventual high turnover rates, the findings of this study strongly suggest the need for an introduction of new rostering systems including fixed duties and appropriate incentive measures for evenings and nights which the most nurses want to avoid, In considering the nursing care of inpatients is the round-the clock business. the practice of the nursing duty shift system is inevitable. In this context, based on the findings of this study. the following are recommended: 1. The further in-depth studies on duty shifts and hours need to be undertaken for the development of appropriate and effective rostering systems for hospital nurses. 2. An introduction of appropriate incentive measures for evening and night duty shifts along with organizational considerations such as the trials for preferred duty time bands, duty hours, and fixed duty shifts should be considered if good quality of care for the patients be maintained for the round the clock. This may require an initiation of systematic research and development activities in the field of hospital nursing administration as a part of permanent system in the hospital. 3. Planned and regular intervals, orientation and training, and professional and personal growth should be considered for the rotation of different duty stations or units. 4. In considering the higher degree of preferences in the duty type of "10hours a day, 4days a week" shown in this study, it would be worthwhile to undertake the R&D type studies in large hospital settings.

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An Exploratory Study on the Components of Visual Merchandising of Internet Shopping Mall (인터넷쇼핑몰의 VMD 구성요인에 대한 탐색적 연구)

  • Kim, Kwang-Seok;Shin, Jong-Kuk;Koo, Dong-Mo
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.19-45
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    • 2008
  • This study is to empirically examine the primary dimensions of visual merchandising (VMD) of internet shopping mall, namely store design, merchandise, and merchandising cues, to be a attractive virtual store to the shoppers. The authors reviewed the literature related to the major components of VMD from the perspective of the AIDA model, which has been mainly applied to the offline store settings. The major purposes of the study are as follows; first, tries to derive the variables related with the components of visual merchandising through reviewing the existing literatures, establish the hypotheses, and test it empirically. Second, examines the relationships between the components of VMD and the attitude toward the VMD, however, putting more emphasis on finding out the component structure of the VMD. VMD needs to be examined with the perspective that an online shopping mall is a virtual self-service or clerkless store, which could reduce the number of employees, help the shoppers search, evaluate and purchase for themselves, and to be explored in terms of the in-store persuasion processes of customers. This study reviewed the literatures related to store design, merchandise, and merchandising cues which might be relevant to the store, product, and promotion respectively. VMD is a total communication tool, and AIDA model could explain the in-store consumer behavior of online shopping. Store design has to do with triggering a consumer attention to the online mall, merchandise with a product related interest, and merchandising cues with promotions such as recommendation and links that induce the desire to pruchase. These three steps might be seen as the processes for purchase actions. The theoretical rationale for the relationship between VMD and AIDA could be found in Tyagi(2005) that the three steps of consumer-oriented merchandising are a store, a product assortment, and placement, in Omar(1999) that three types of interior display are a architectural design display, commodity display, and point-of-sales(POS) display, and in Davies and Ward(2005) that the retail store interior image is related to an atmosphere, merchandise, and in-store promotion. Lee et al(2000) suggested as the web merchandising components a merchandising cues, a shopping metaphor which is an assistant tool for search, a store design, a layout(web design), and a product assortment. The store design which includes differentiation, simplicity and navigation is supposed to be related to the attention to the virtual store. Second, the merchandise dimensions comprising product assortments, visual information and product reputation have to do with the interest in the product offerings. Finally, the merchandising cues that refer to merchandiser(MD)'s recommendation of products and providing the hyperlinks to relevant goods for the shopper is concerned with attempt to induce the desire to purchase. The questionnaire survey was carried out to collect the data about the consumers who would shop at internet shopping malls frequently. To select the subject malls, the mall ranking data announced by a mall rating agency was used to differentiate the most popular and least popular five mall each. The subjects was instructed to answer the questions after navigating the designated mall for five minutes. The 300 questionnaire was distributed to the consumers, 166 samples were used in the final analysis. The empirical testing focused on identifying and confirming the dimensionality of VMD and its subdimensions using a structural equation modeling method. The confirmatory factor analysis for the endogeneous and exogeneous variables was carried out in four parts. The second-order factor analysis was done for a store design, a merchandise, and a merchandising cues, and first-order confirmatory factor analysis for the attitude toward the VMD. The model test results shows that the chi-square value of structural equation is 144.39(d.f 49), significant at 0.01 level which means the proposed model was rejected. But, judging from the ratio of chi-square value vs. degree of freedom, the ratio was 2.94 which smaller than an acceptable level of 3.0, RMR is 0.087 which is higher than a generally acceptable level of 0.08. GFI and AGFI is turned out to be 0.90 and 0.84 respectively. Both NFI and NNFI is 0.94, and CFI 0.95. The major test results are as follows; first, the second-order factor analysis and structural equational modeling reveals that the differentiation, simplicity and ease of identifying current status of the transaction are confirmed to be subdimensions of store design and to be a significant predictors of the dependent variable. This result implies that when designing an online shopping mall, it is necessary to differentiate visually from other malls to improve the effectiveness of the communications of store design. That is, the differentiated store design raise the contrast stimulus to sensory organs to promote the memory of the store and to have a favorable attitude toward the VMD of a store. The results that navigation which means the easiness of identifying current status of shopping affects the attitude to VMD could be interpreted that the navigating processes via the hyperlinks which is characteristics of an internet shopping is a complex and cognitive process and shoppers are likely to lack the sense of overall structure of the store. Consequently, shoppers are likely to be alost amid shopping not knowing where to go. The orientation tool enhance the accessibility of information to raise the perceptive power about the store environment.(Titus & Everett 1995) Second, the primary dimension of merchandise and its subdimensions was confirmed to be unidimensional respectively, have a construct validity, and nomological validity which the VMD dimensions supposed to have a positive correlation with the dependent variable. The subdimensions of product assortment, brand fame and information provision proved to have a positive effect on the attitude toward the VMD. It could be interpreted that the more plentiful the product and brand assortment of the mall is, the more likely the shoppers to favor it. Brand fame and information provision as well affect the VMD attitude, which means that the more famous the brand, the more likely the shoppers would trust and feel familiar with the mall, and the plentifully and visually presented information could have the shopper have a favorable attitude toward the store VMD. Third, it turned out to be that merchandising cue of product recommendation and hyperlinks affect the VMD attitude. This could be interpreted that recommended products could reduce the uncertainty related with the purchase decision, and the hyperlinks to relevant products would help the shopper save the cognitive effort exerted into the information search and gathering, which could lead to a favorable attitude to the VMD. This study tried to sheds some new light on the VMD of online store by reviewing the variables mentioned to be relevant with offline VMD in the existing literatures, and tried to link the VMD components from the perspective of AIDA model. The effect size of the VMD dimensions on the attitude was in the order of the merchandise, the store design and the merchandising cues.It is said that an internet has an unlimited place for display, however, the virtual store is not unlimited since the consumer has a limited amount of cognitive ability to process the external information and internal memory. Particularly, the shoppers are likely to face some difficulties in decision making on account of too many alternative and information overloads. Therefore, the internet shopping mall manager should take into consideration the cost of information search on the part of the consumer, to establish the optimal product placements and search routes. An efficient store composition would be possible by reducing the psychological burdens and cognitive efforts exerted to information search and alternatives evaluation. The store image is in most part determined by the product category and its brand it deals in. The results of this study support this proposition that the merchandise is most important to the VMD attitude than other components, the manager is required to take a strategic approach to VMD. The internet users are getting more accustomed and more knowledgeable about the internet media and more likely to accept the internet as a shopping channel as the period of time during which they use the internet to shop become longer. The web merchandiser should be aware that the product introduction using a moving pictures and a bulletin board become more important in order to present the interactive product information visually and communicate with customers more actively, therefore leading to making the quantity and quality of product information more rich.

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