• International Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.75-85
• /
• 2011

This study aims to understand the experiences as consumers of Thai students studying in Korea. "Study Korea Project" which is a drive to globalize local universities by attracting more oversea students as a pull factor, and economic growth, values on education and Hallyu as push factors contribute to the increase the number of Thai students in Korea. In order to understand the experiences of Thai students as consumers studying in Korea, individual interviews were conducted. A total of 5 participants were asked about meaning of consumption in everyday life in Korea or any changes in consumption behavior compared to living in Thai. Three themes were identified through wholistic and selective approaches. First, all participants in the study said that they were surprised because of high living expense in Korea. Consequently, survival itself is too much for them and they have become more conscious of prices of goods. Secondly, since most participants in this study can control their own budget, they feel some degree of freedom and power of control of their own lives. This experience may help them to accomplish their developmental tasks during the transition to adulthood. Thirdly, they are easily imbued with Korean consumer culture. It causes various conflicts between buying and not-buying or friends gathering and saving money. Sometimes it makes them in stuck excessive consumption and financial problems. For a deeper understanding of oversea students' lives in Korea as consumers, further studies should take into consideration of not only their culture of origins, but also misconceptions that have accumulated around these students.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2017

Objectives: By the end of the 2000s, the economic situation in many European countries started to deteriorate, generating financial uncertainty, social insecurity and worse health status. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the recent financial crisis has affected the lifestyle health determinants and behaviours of older adults living in the Mediterranean islands. Methods: From 2005 to 2015, a population-based, multi-stage convenience sampling method was used to voluntarily enrol 2749 older adults (50% men) from 20 Mediterranean islands and the rural area of the Mani peninsula. Lifestyle status was evaluated as the cumulative score of four components (range, 0 to 6), that is, smoking habits, diet quality (MedDietScore), depression status (Geriatric Depression Scale) and physical activity. Results: Older Mediterranean people enrolled in the study from 2009 onwards showed social isolation and increased smoking, were more prone to depressive symptoms, and adopted less healthy dietary habits, as compared to their counterparts participating earlier in the study (p<0.05), irrespective of age, gender, several clinical characteristics, or socioeconomic status of the participants (an almost 50% adjusted increase in the lifestyle score from before 2009 to after 2009, p<0.001). Conclusions: A shift towards less healthy behaviours was noticeable after the economic crisis had commenced. Public health interventions should focus on older adults, particularly of lower socioeconomic levels, in order to effectively reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease at the population level.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.47 no.10
• /
• pp.109-122
• /
• 2009

This study examined the effects of household head’s worker status change type on household income and household head’s income using a total combined sample of 2,578 households from Korea surveyed in 1998 and 2002 KLIPS(Korean Labor and Income Panel Study). Binary logit regression results showed that household incomes were likely to decrease significantly when household head’s changed worker status from a regular employee, a temporary employee or a daily worker, or an employer or a self-employed to no job status, or from a regular employee to a temporary employee or a daily worker, an employer or a self-employed, or from an employer or a self-employed to a regular employee compared to a regular employee status maintenance. In contrast, household head’s incomes were likely to increase significantly when household head’s changed worker status from a temporary to a regular employee compared to a regular employee status maintenance. Women household heads were significantly associated with the likelihood of the decrease of household head’s income compared to men household heads. Household heads beyond their forties were significantly associated with the likelihood of the decrease of household head’s income compared to household heads in their thirties age-group counterparts. Household heads with education level beyond high school graduation were significantly associated with the likelihood of the increase of household head’s income compared to household heads with the education level of high school graduation. This study shows that a more comprehesive labor policy is needed for achieving sustainable household income inflow.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.655-668
• /
• 2011

Although consumer ethical behavior related with illegal copies of digital software has been considered to be an important issue, not many studies have attempted to examine the issue. Firstly, this study attemped to explain the moral judgment and intention to make illegal copies of smart phone applications for college students. Secondly, psychological factors such as moral intensity and perceived risk related to making illegal copies were tested to be significantly different in individual characteristics such as experience of ethical education and past experience of making illegal copies of software, sex, age and household income. Thirdly, the effect of related factors such as psychological factors and individual characteristics was estimated to significantly influence moral judgment and intention to make illegal copies. Two step method(using LIMDEP program) was applied to estimate the model as a structural equation model. According to the results of this study, magnitude of consequences, financial risk and performance risk were found to be significantly different in income groups(less than middle class vs more than middle class). Prosecution risk was found to be significantly different in gender groups(female vs male). In addition, social consensus, financial risk, performance risk and prosecution risk were found to be significantly different in ethical education groups(experience vs no experience). Furthermore, moral judgment for making illegal copies of smart phone applications was found to be significantly influenced by income, ethical education, magnitude of consequences, temporal immediacy and social consensus. And intention to make illegal copies of smart phone applications was found to be significantly influenced by moral judgment, age, financial risk, performance risk and prosecution risk.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.73-91
• /
• 2001

The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in home management part in the home economics textbooks for middle school from the 1st to the 7th curriculum period. The part of home management in the all of home economics textbooks published in every curriculum period was analyzed using several external criteria of textbook. The major findings of this study were as follows : 1. The part of home management was divided into even specific areas including 'definition and process of home management'. 'time management'. 'household labor/work management'. 'family financial management'.'purchasing'. and 'consumer protection'. 2. The part of home management has been included in the middle school home economics textbooks since the 1st curriculum period. The proportion of this part in the whole textbook varied with range from 5.1% to 31.8%. 3. The areas emphasized in the beginning of curriculum period were 'family financial management'and 'household labor/work management'. and 'utilization of family resource and environment management'were the areas emphasized in the later curriculum period. 4. The titles of the middle and small unit have begun to use recent words and have represented the including contents since the 4th curriculum period. 5. The numbers of illustrations. tables. pictures. and activities have increased since the 6th curriculum period. 6. Other unrelated areas such as computer and career preparation were included in the home management part in the 1st. 2nd. and 5th curriculum period.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.81-93
• /
• 2008

Female college consumers are orientated toward vanity and fashion luxury products in consumer society. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship of vanity type and attitude toward fashion luxury products. The data were collected from 517 female college students in Ulsan, Pusan, and Kimhai. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and MCA were used. Results of cluster analysis identified the vanity type of the female college students into non-vanity group, positive viewer, and vanity group. Above two third of the total sample were the vanity group and the positive viewer. The non-vanity group, was comprised the smallest proportion of female college students. Attitude toward fashion luxury products was classified into four factors; involvement for fashion luxury, superiority of the fashion luxury, hedonic and conspicious consumption, and negative response. The attitude toward fashion luxury products was significantly different across the 3 vanity type. The results of this study provide insights into female college consumers' increasing demands toward fashion luxury brands. Consumer education should be implemented for the vanity group, and personal financial management education program is needed in liberal arts curriculum.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2019

Internet-based financial services are being increasingly integrated into consumers' daily lives. Internet-only banks have emerged as a powerful tool accelerating financial inclusion. This study investigates the satisfaction and continuous use intention predictors for Internet-only banks. We employed an extended post-acceptance model and used six antecedent factors that included perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, privacy risk, functional risk, subjective norms, and network externality. All 351 participants used Internet-only banks and were 20-40 years of age. A self-administration online survey was conducted. SPSS 23.0 analyzed the frequency, description, and multiple regression analysis. The results of current study are as follows. The education, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and network externality positively influenced the satisfaction of Internet-only banks. Privacy risk negatively influenced satisfaction with Internet-only banks. Perceived ease of use, subjective norm, network externality, and satisfaction positively influenced the continuous use intention of Internet-only banks. The results of our study provide a better explanation of important factors that could enhance the understanding of satisfaction and continuous use intention for Internet-only banks. Furthermore, this study extends the antecedent variables to the knowledge of financial services and enlarges the understanding of users' post-adoption behaviors.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.17-34
• /
• 2019

Older women who live alone are among society's most vulnerable people, since they experience increased risk of multiple chronic diseases and have limited financial protection. This can lead older women living alone to catastrophic health expenditure(CHE), which is defined as a healthcare expenditure that exceeds a certain portion of a household's ability to pay. Using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA), this study investigated the incidence of CHE among older women living alone and identified the factors related to this incidence. Applying health expenditure thresholds of 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of ability to pay, the proportions of those with CHE were 41.3%, 22.9%, 14.6%, and 9.4%, respectively. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors related to CHE incidence, which include demographics, income, the number of chronic diseases, perceived health status, and health insurance type. The results show that the health care safety net in South Korea is insufficient for older women living alone. The findings can guide policymakers in improving healthcare and welfare policies to protect people from catastrophic payments. Particularly, welfare policies should be established for poor non-recipients who are not included within the benefits scope of the National Basic Livelihood Security System due to the unrealistic criteria of income recognition and family support obligation.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.97-113
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study is to examine adolescent consumers' donation intention. To attain the goal, a survey was conducted to middle and high school students and undergraduates at the age of 25 or younger residing in Seoul and the capital area from June 1st to the 25th in 2015. A total of 450 questionnaire sheets were used for final analysis. This study investigated adolescent consumers' donation attitude and donation intention levels and also the effects of related variables on their donation intention with the mediation of their donation attitude. The implications of this study for consumer education and policy will be meaningfully used to increase their donation behavior afterwards. According to the major findings of this study, first, adolescent consumers' donation attitude was relatively positive, and their donation intention was relatively lower than their donation attitude. Second, comparing the total causal effects of variables on donation intention, interest in donation was found to the biggest, and the next were subjective norms, mother's participation in the donation experience (yes), personal citizenship, donation attitude, male students, the subjective level of financial status, face-saving behavior, and undergraduates in order.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.77-92
• /
• 2022

Recently, digital transformation in the financial industry has been accelerated, and it has become an important task to improve the level of utilization of Internet banking by elderly consumers, who are vulnerable to Internet use. Accordingly, this study analyzed 3,101 respondents in their 60s or older from the 11th year of the Media Panel Survey to identify demographic, experiential, and psychological factors that affect the self-efficacy of elderly consumers' usage of Internet banking. The main research findings are as follows. First, gender, education, occupation, and income were identified as demographic variables. Second, the Internet shopping experience was identified as an experiential factor. Also, concerns about information security, digital literacy, and high will for problem-solving were identified as psychological factors. Third, as a result of the moderating effect analysis on whether the experiential and psychological factors have different influences according to the group divided into the 60s and 70s, the effect on self-efficacy in the usage of the Internet was classified by age. The results of this study will be able to enrich the discussions related to the intention to utilize technology among elderly consumers by empirically revealing that there are characteristics that cause differences in financial behavior even within one group called the elderly.