• Title/Summary/Keyword: individual behavior model

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Information types and characteristics within the Wireless Emergency Alert in COVID-19: Focusing on Wireless Emergency Alerts in Seoul (코로나 19 하에서 재난문자 내의 정보유형 및 특성: 서울특별시 재난문자를 중심으로)

  • Yoon, Sungwook;Nam, Kihwan
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.45-68
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    • 2022
  • The central and local governments of the Republic of Korea provided information necessary for disaster response through wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) in order to overcome the pandemic situation in which COVID-19 rapidly spreads. Among all channels for delivering disaster information, wireless emergency alert is the most efficient, and since it adopts the CBS(Cell Broadcast Service) method that broadcasts directly to the mobile phone, it has the advantage of being able to easily access disaster information through the mobile phone without the effort of searching. In this study, the characteristics of wireless emergency alerts sent to Seoul during the past year and one month (January 2020 to January 2021) were derived through various text mining methodologies, and various types of information contained in wireless emergency alerts were analyzed. In addition, it was confirmed through the population mobility by age in the districts of Seoul that what kind of influence it had on the movement behavior of people. After going through the process of classifying key words and information included in each character, text analysis was performed so that individual sent characters can be used as an analysis unit by applying a document cluster analysis technique based on the included words. The number of WEAs sent to the Seoul has grown dramatically since the spread of Covid-19. In January 2020, only 10 WEAs were sent to the Seoul, but the number of the WEAs increased 5 times in March, and 7.7 times over the previous months. Since the basic, regional local government were authorized to send wireless emergency alerts independently, the sending behavior of related to wireless emergency alerts are different for each local government. Although most of the basic local governments increased the transmission of WEAs as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 increases, the trend of the increase in WEAs according to the increase in the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 was different by region. By using structured econometric model, the effect of disaster information included in wireless emergency alerts on population mobility was measured by dividing it into baseline effect and accumulating effect. Six types of disaster information, including date, order, online URL, symptom, location, normative guidance, were identified in WEAs and analyzed through econometric modelling. It was confirmed that the types of information that significantly change population mobility by age are different. Population mobility of people in their 60s and 70s decreased when wireless emergency alerts included information related to date and order. As date and order information is appeared in WEAs when they intend to give information about Covid-19 confirmed cases, these results show that the population mobility of higher ages decreased as they reacted to the messages reporting of confirmed cases of Covid-19. Online information (URL) decreased the population mobility of in their 20s, and information related to symptoms reduced the population mobility of people in their 30s. On the other hand, it was confirmed that normative words that including the meaning of encouraging compliance with quarantine policies did not cause significant changes in the population mobility of all ages. This means that only meaningful information which is useful for disaster response should be included in the wireless emergency alerts. Repeated sending of wireless emergency alerts reduces the magnitude of the impact of disaster information on population mobility. It proves indirectly that under the prolonged pandemic, people started to feel tired of getting repetitive WEAs with similar content and started to react less. In order to effectively use WEAs for quarantine and overcoming disaster situations, it is necessary to reduce the fatigue of the people who receive WEA by sending them only in necessary situations, and to raise awareness of WEAs.

An Experiential Research on a Confucianism Treatment Model - Focusing on an emotion experience program, A Confucianism thinking - (체험적 연구를 통한 덕(德) 철학치유 구조 - 유가의 철학적 사려방법인 「정감체험」 프로그램을 통하여 -)

  • Choi, Yeoung-chan;Choi, Yeon-ja
    • Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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    • v.126
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    • pp.423-461
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    • 2013
  • The researcher conducted this study to investigate what special meaning does an emotion experience program, a Confucianism philosophical thinking, has for Sunwoo(善友), and based on what structure it unveils a good clue of Sunwoo(善友); and to reveal the structure of philosophical counselling treatment simultaneously. Thus, the researcher performed an "emotion experience program for 3 weeks, targeting 22 research subjects and collected the data of their experience. As for date analysis, a phenomenological analytic method of Colaizzi (1978), one of qualitative research methods was used. It was because the phenomenological analytic method of Colaizzi was suggested to derive common properties of whole research subjects rather than those of individual research subject, which could help develop the theories of philosophical counselling treatment. The finding of the analysis revealed the intrinsic structure of the phenomenon which the research subjects experienced through "an emotion experience program" was reborn as 'unfamiliarity and suspicion', 'burden', 'recognition of a method and a need', 'self-reflection', 'awareness of nature and the correct behavior', 'joy and pleasure', and 'rebirth as a valuable existence'. These were categorized to examine the structure of philosophical counselling treatment. The findings revealed the treatment went through the precesses: 'the start of learning and intentional guidance', 'reflection', 'enlightenment', 'Sugichiin(修己治人)', 'freedom', and 'transcendence. Considering the purpose of Confucian philosophy is living valuable life and the accomplishment of objectives is based on the transcendence, realizing preallotment and putting it into practice, the structure of emotion experience by the research subjects is appropriate for the purpose of Confucian philosophy and the process of objective accomplishment.

Nutritional status and metabolic syndrome risk according to the dietary pattern of adult single-person household, based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (국민건강영양조사 자료에 의한 식이 패턴별 1인 가구의 영양 상태와 대사증후군 위험도)

  • Keum, Yu Been;Yu, Qi Ming;Seo, Jung-Sook
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.54 no.1
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    • pp.23-38
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    • 2021
  • Purpose: This study was undertaken to evaluate the health, nutritional status and metabolic syndrome risk according to the dietary pattern of adult single-person households, using information obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: Data were collected from the 2013-2016 KNHANES, of adults aged 19-64 years, belonging to single-person households. Based on cluster analysis, the dietary patterns of subjects were classified into three groups. The dietary behavior factors, health-related factors, nutritional status, and prevalence of metabolic syndrome obtained from KNHANES questionnaires were compared according to the individual dietary pattern. The nutrient intake data of the subjects were calculated using the semi-food frequency questionnaire. Moreover, blood and physical measurement data of the subjects were analyzed to obtain the prevalence of metabolic syndromes. Results: The major dietary intakes of subjects were classified as 'Rice and kimchi', 'Mixed', and 'Milk·dairy products and fruits' patterns. Characteristics of subjects based on their dietary pattern, gender, age, and education level were significantly different. The 'Milk and fruits' pattern showed low frequency of skipping breakfast and eating out, and had higher intake of dietary supplements. Frequency of alcohol intake and smoking rates were highest in the 'Mixed' pattern. Maximum nutrient intake of fat, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin C, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium was obtained in the 'Milk·dairy products and fruits' pattern. According to dietary patterns adjusted for age and gender, the risk of metabolic syndrome was 0.380 times lower in the 'Milk·dairy products and fruit' pattern than in the 'Rice and kimchi' pattern. However, when adjusted for other confounding factors, no significant difference was obtained between dietary patterns for metabolic syndrome risk. Conclusion: These results indicate that the health and nutritional status of a single-person household is possibly affected by the dietary intake of subjects.

Review of Erosion and Piping in Compacted Bentonite Buffers Considering Buffer-Rock Interactions and Deduction of Influencing Factors (완충재-근계암반 상호작용을 고려한 압축 벤토나이트 완충재 침식 및 파이핑 연구 현황 및 주요 영향인자 도출)

  • Hong, Chang-Ho;Kim, Ji-Won;Kim, Jin-Seop;Lee, Changsoo
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.32 no.1
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    • pp.30-58
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    • 2022
  • The deep geological repository for high-level radioactive waste disposal is a multi barrier system comprised of engineered barriers and a natural barrier. The long-term integrity of the deep geological repository is affected by the coupled interactions between the individual barrier components. Erosion and piping phenomena in the compacted bentonite buffer due to buffer-rock interactions results in the removal of bentonite particles via groundwater flow and can negatively impact the integrity and performance of the buffer. Rapid groundwater inflow at the early stages of disposal can lead to piping in the bentonite buffer due to the buildup of pore water pressure. The physiochemical processes between the bentonite buffer and groundwater lead to bentonite swelling and gelation, resulting in bentonite erosion from the buffer surface. Hence, the evaluation of erosion and piping occurrence and its effects on the integrity of the bentonite buffer is crucial in determining the long-term integrity of the deep geological repository. Previous studies on bentonite erosion and piping failed to consider the complex coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical behavior of bentonite-groundwater interactions and lacked a comprehensive model that can consider the complex phenomena observed from the experimental tests. In this technical note, previous studies on the mechanisms, lab-scale experiments and numerical modeling of bentonite buffer erosion and piping are introduced, and the future expected challenges in the investigation of bentonite buffer erosion and piping are summarized.

A Study on the Concept of 'Loyalty and Filial Piety' in the Taoist Scriptures (도교 경전에 나타난 충효관 연구 - 『문창효경(文昌孝經)』과 『정명충효전서(淨明忠孝全書)』를 중심으로 -)

  • Jo Min-hwan
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.45
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    • pp.37-67
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    • 2023
  • This paper aims to examine the loyalty and filial piety pursued by Taoists, focusing on the concept of loyalty and loyalty shown in Wenchang Filial Piety Classic and General Collection of Jingming on Loyalty and Filial Piety. After the Han Dynasty, the concept of loyalty and filial piety became the representative virtues that led the country and society to follow the ideology of Confucius as the dominant ideology. This applied to everyone from emperor to each individual. Taoism had different reasons for promoting the concept of loyalty and filial piety and these even varied from sect to sect, but generally, Taoism could also be said to emphasize loyalty and filial piety. Depending on the sect of Taoism, filial piety might be valued on its own or filial piety might be valued in conjunction with loyalty. In particular, defining Taoism was criticized for "forgetting the desirable behavior required in the human network of the world and severing relationships with various objects encountered in life." In this respect, the concept of loyalty and filial piety in General Collection of Jingming on Loyalty and Filial Piety, could be observed to emphasize 'filial piety' in conjunction with 'loyalty', and this shows the influence of Confucius' concept of loyalty and filial piety. At the same time, this shows the concept of loyalty and filial piety as reimagined by Taoism. The most fundamental aim of Taoism is to pursue immortality. However, as a prerequisite for becoming such a god, loyalty and filial piety, were practiced alongside 'gentleness' and 'humanity and trustworthiness.' Here, the Taoist emphasis on 'loyalty and filial piety', 'gentleness', and 'humanity and trustworthiness' is essentially the same as in Neo-Confucianism. However, seeking to become an immortal through these values represents a motivation that is different from Neo-Confucians who denied the pursuit of immortality. In this paper, loyalty and filial piety as understood and practiced by Neo-Confucian scholars will be compared with the same concepts in the Taoist context and the findings will be summarized via three categories. First, in the Taoist model longevity and the pursuit of immortality are seen as being closely related to filial piety. The reason why achieving longevity and pursuing immortality was considered closely related to filial piety is because this is a modified and enhanced reimagining of the Neo-Confucianist concept of loyalty and filial piety. The other is that Taoism's concept of loyalty and filial piety is richly supplemented with content about 'interactions between heaven and humankind.' When filial piety is practiced in this context, the principle of responding to the gods of heaven and earth is emphasized. At the same time, Taoism presents consequences for insufficient filial piety to parents or insufficient loyal to the king; disasters will be brought down by heaven. Finally, it is argued that the practice filial piety is necessary and should extend not only to parents to all phenomena in the world without distinguishing based on one's degree of intimacy to those phenomena.

A Case Study on the Success Factors of Overseas Agricultural Startup: Focusing on the Case of Banana Farm in Cote d'Ivoire (해외 농업스타트업(Agricultural Startup) 성공요인에 관한 사례연구: 'C사'의 제2창업기(바나나 팜 개발사례)를 중심으로)

  • Jin hwan Park;Sang soon Kim
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.18 no.3
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    • pp.61-79
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    • 2023
  • This study is a case study of overseas banana farms as a global agricultural startup that has hardly been attempted so far in terms of paradigm shift in the industry, beyond regional limitations. It was researched for the purpose of revealing the success factors of 'global agricultural startup' in terms of business process, entrepreneurship, and management dimensions learned through direct participation and observation at the local level. In order to study global agricultural startups, this study also conducted a comparative analysis of global startups (global startups) and global agricultural startups(global agricultural startups). In fact, the analysis consists of 'definition', 'components', and 'success factors', and we want to confirm the difference between the two concepts that can be distinguished. The case analysis tried to maximize the advantages of 'participatory action research' by directly observing and experiencing banana farms. In the case of banana farm cases, by dividing them into preparation process for farm development and farm development and management process, various variables considered in farm management were explained through the whole process of farm management. Through the process of overcoming and responding to specific failure cases, we tried to secure the reliability and validity of the research, and the case studies related to entrepreneurship, management, and organization analyzed by applying them by subdividing them into theoretical areas belonging to components and management that were theorized in existing preceding studies. This study is almost the first study on the process of creating a local entry business by directly moving the head office overseas rather than entering overseas agriculture as a subsidiary, joint venture or overseas corporation. In particular, it is a unique case that corresponds to agriculture in terms of region(Africa), scale(startup), and industry that have not been introduced so far as a global agricultural startup. In terms of entrepreneurship, it also concretely exemplified how entrepreneurship components such as innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, proactiveness, vision sharing, social contribution, leadership, etc., which have not been attempted so far in agricultural cases, are manifested and effective. The management and cultural aspects also went beyond the argument that only cultural aspects are important in overseas business, and also confirmed individual failure cases and their responses in recruitment, job, wage, retirement, development, organizational structure management, etc. As a result, there is significance and implications of this study in that it provides theoretical confirmation as well as practical and responsive basis for 'entrepreneurship', 'farming management', and 'management' aspects in overseas agricultural startup business operation.

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Human Mind Within and Beyond the Culture - Toward a Better Encounter between East and West - (문화속의 인간심성과 문화를 넘어선 인간심성 - 동과 서의 보다 나은 만남을 위하여 -)

  • Bou-Yong Rhi
    • Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.107-138
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    • 2013
  • The purpose of this article is to awaken our colleagues to the culture and mind issues that have been forgotten or neglected by contemporary psychiatry under the prevalence of materialistic orientation. Cultural psychiatry too, though it has been contributed a great deal to widen the mental vision of psychiatry, has revealed several limitations in its approach. In the course of one sided search for culture specific factors in relation to mental health, conventional cultural psychiatry has neglected an effort to explore the common root underlying the different cultures and the common foundation of human mind. Cross sectional comparisons of the cultures alone have inevitably prevented the global considerations to culutre and mind in historical aspects and the dynamic interactions between mind and culture more in depth. The author suggested that the total view of mind and total approach of analytical psychology of C.G. Jung might be capable to replenish those limitations. Author explained the ways of C.G. Jung's observations and experiences of non-western culture and his concepts of culture and mind. The author demonstrated Jung's view of culture with the example of Filial Piety, Hyo, the Confucian moral norm which can be regarded as components of the collective consciousness though connected with archetypal patterns of behavior of intimacy between parent and child. In regard to the coexistence of multi-religious cultures in Korea the author made a proposal of 'culture spectrum' model for understanding value orientations of person in religious cultures. He identified in case of the Korean 4 types of cultural spectrums: Person with predominantly the Buddhist culture; with the Confucian; with the Shamanist; and with the Christian culture. The author also made an attempt to depict the dynamic interactions of different religious cultures in historical perspectives of Korea. Concepts of mind from the Eastern thoughts were reviewed in comparison with Jung's view of mind. The Dao of Lao Zi, One Mind by Wonhyo, the Korean Zen master from the 7th century, the Diagram of the Heaven's Decree by Toegye, a renowned Neo-Confucianist of Korea from the 16th century and his theory of Li-Ki, were explored and came to conclusion that they represent certainly the symbol of the Self in term of C.G. Jung. The goal of healing is 'the becoming whole person'. Becoming whole person means bringing the person as an individual to live not only within the specific culture but also to live in the world beyond the culture which is deeply rooted in the primordial foundation of human mind.

An Empirical Study on Influencing Factors of Switching Intention from Online Shopping to Webrooming (온라인 쇼핑에서 웹루밍으로의 쇼핑전환 의도에 영향을 미치는 요인에 대한 연구)

  • Choi, Hyun-Seung;Yang, Sung-Byung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.19-41
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    • 2016
  • Recently, the proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet personal computers and the development of information communication technologies (ICT) have led to a big trend of a shift from single-channel shopping to multi-channel shopping. With the emergence of a "smart" group of consumers who want to shop in more reasonable and convenient ways, the boundaries apparently dividing online and offline shopping have collapsed and blurred more than ever before. Thus, there is now fierce competition between online and offline channels. Ever since the emergence of online shopping, a major type of multi-channel shopping has been "showrooming," where consumers visit offline stores to examine products before buying them online. However, because of the growing use of smart devices and the counterattack of offline retailers represented by omni-channel marketing strategies, one of the latest huge trends of shopping is "webrooming," where consumers visit online stores to examine products before buying them offline. This has become a threat to online retailers. In this situation, although it is very important to examine the influencing factors for switching from online shopping to webrooming, most prior studies have mainly focused on a single- or multi-channel shopping pattern. Therefore, this study thoroughly investigated the influencing factors on customers switching from online shopping to webrooming in terms of both the "search" and "purchase" processes through the application of a push-pull-mooring (PPM) framework. In order to test the research model, 280 individual samples were gathered from undergraduate and graduate students who had actual experience with webrooming. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) test revealed that the "pull" effect is strongest on the webrooming intention rather than the "push" or "mooring" effects. This proves a significant relationship between "attractiveness of webrooming" and "webrooming intention." In addition, the results showed that both the "perceived risk of online search" and "perceived risk of online purchase" significantly affect "distrust of online shopping." Similarly, both "perceived benefit of multi-channel search" and "perceived benefit of offline purchase" were found to have significant effects on "attractiveness of webrooming" were also found. Furthermore, the results indicated that "online purchase habit" is the only influencing factor that leads to "online shopping lock-in." The theoretical implications of the study are as follows. First, by examining the multi-channel shopping phenomenon from the perspective of "shopping switching" from online shopping to webrooming, this study complements the limits of the "channel switching" perspective, represented by multi-channel freeriding studies that merely focused on customers' channel switching behaviors from one to another. While extant studies with a channel switching perspective have focused on only one type of multi-channel shopping, where consumers just move from one particular channel to different channels, a study with a shopping switching perspective has the advantage of comprehensively investigating how consumers choose and navigate among diverse types of single- or multi-channel shopping alternatives. In this study, only limited shopping switching behavior from online shopping to webrooming was examined; however, the results should explain various phenomena in a more comprehensive manner from the perspective of shopping switching. Second, this study extends the scope of application of the push-pull-mooring framework, which is quite commonly used in marketing research to explain consumers' product switching behaviors. Through the application of this framework, it is hoped that more diverse shopping switching behaviors can be examined in future research. This study can serve a stepping stone for future studies. One of the most important practical implications of the study is that it may help single- and multi-channel retailers develop more specific customer strategies by revealing the influencing factors of webrooming intention from online shopping. For example, online single-channel retailers can ease the distrust of online shopping to prevent consumers from churning by reducing the perceived risk in terms of online search and purchase. On the other hand, offline retailers can develop specific strategies to increase the attractiveness of webrooming by letting customers perceive the benefits of multi-channel search or offline purchase. Although this study focused only on customers switching from online shopping to webrooming, the results can be expanded to various types of shopping switching behaviors embedded in single- and multi-channel shopping environments, such as showrooming and mobile shopping.

The Impacts of Social Support and Psychological Factors on Guild Members' Flow and Loyalty in MMORPG (MMORPG에서 길드 구성원들의 사회적 지지와 심리적 요인들이 플로우 및 충성도에 미치는 영향)

  • Kang, Ju-Seon;Ko, Yoon-Jung;Ko, Il-Sang
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.69-98
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    • 2009
  • We investigated what factors motivate gamers to participate in a guild and why they continue to be engaged as members of the guild. We find that, based on the result of focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, social support and self-esteem factors play important roles. Considering both prior research and the focus group interviews we have conducted, we define social support and character control as independent variables. Character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables while guild flow and game loyalty as dependent variables. Accordingly, we develop the research model and hypotheses, and verify them empirically. Based on our experiences of playing the WoW game, we proposed a research model and conducted focus-group interviews (FGIs). FGIs involve formulating a hypothesis and then collecting some relevant data. FGIs were conducted face-to-face with students of C University in Korea. We formulated structured interview schedules, and the questions were based on our research variables and personal experiences. The questions for the interviews encompassed the following areas: (a) the demographic characteristics of the focus group; (b) the number of years for which respondents had played online games; (c) the motive for starting a game; (d) the number of game-characters assumed by each gamer; (e) the type of game played; and (f) other issues such as the reasons for involvement in the play, the willingness to reuse the game in case new versions were released, etc. On average, it took two hours to interview each of three groups. A primary set of FGIs was conducted with three groups on the premise that there would be some differences caused by character race (Horde vs. Alliance) or by playable server (Normal vs. Combat). With respect to the manner of playing, we found that guild members shared information, felt a sense of belonging, and played computer games for quite a long time through the guild; however, they did not undergo these experiences when playing alone. Gamers who belonged to a specific guild helped other players without expecting compensation for that, freely shared information about the game, gave away items for free, and more generous with other members who made mistakes. The guild members were aware of the existence other members and experienced a sense of belonging through interactions with, and evaluations from, other players. It was clear that social support was shown within the guild and that it played an important role as a major research variable. Based on the results of the first FGIs, a second set of in-depth FGIs was carried out with a focus on the psychology of the individual within the guild and the social community of the guild. The second set of FGIs also focused on the guild's offline meetings. Gamers, over all, recognize the necessity of joining a community, not only off-line but also online world of the guild. They admit that the guild is important for them to easily and conveniently enjoy playing online computer games. The active behavior and positive attitudes of existing guild members can motivate new members of the guild to adapt themselves to the guild environment. They then adopt the same behaviors and attitudes of established guild members. In this manner, the new members of the guild strengthen the bonds with other gamers while feeling a sense of belonging, and developing social identity, thereby. It was discovered that the interaction among guild members and the social support encouraged new gamers to quickly develop a sense of social identity and increase their self-esteem. The guild seemed to play the role of socializing gamers. Sometimes, even in the real world, the guild members helped one another; therefore, the features of the guild also spilled over to the offline environment. We intend to use self-esteem, which was found through the second set of FGIs, as an important research variable. To collect data, an online survey was designed with a questionnaire to be completed by WoW gamers, who belong to a guild. The survey was registered on the best three domestic game-sites: 'WoW playforum,' 'WoW gamemeca,' and 'Wow invent.' The selected items to be measured in the questionnaire were decided based on prior research and data from FGIs. To verify the content of the questionnaire, we carried out a pilot test with the same participants to point out ambiguous questions as a way to ensure maximum accuracy of the survey result. A total of 244 responses were analyzed from the 250 completed questionnaires. The SEM analysis was used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. As a result, we found important results as follows: First, according to the statistics, social support had statistically significant impacts on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity shows its clear impact on self-esteem and game loyalty. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on the guild flow. These days, the number of virtual community is rising along with its significance largely because of the nature of the online games. Accordingly, this study is designed to clarify the psychological relationship between gamers within the guild that has been generally established by gamers to play online games together. This study focuses on the relationships in which social support influences guild flow or game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem, which are present within a guild in the MMORPG game environment. The study results are as follows. First, the effects of social support on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proven to be statistically significant. It was found that character control improves character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Among the seven variables, social support, which is derived from FGIs, plays an important role in this study. With the active support of other guild members, gamers can improve their ability to develop good characters and to control them. Second, character identity has a positive effect on self-esteem and game loyalty, while guild identity has a significant effect on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Self-esteem affects guild flow. It was found that the higher the character and guild identities become, the greater the self-esteem is established. Contrary to the findings of prior research, our study results indicate that the relationship between character identity and guild flow is not significant. Rather, it was found that character identity directly affects game players' loyalty. Even though the character identity had no direct effect on increasing guild flow, it has indirectly affected guild flow through self-esteem. The significant relationship between self-esteem and guild flow indicates that gamers achieve flow, i.e., a feeling of pleasure and excitement through social support. Several important implications of this study should be noted. First, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct this study. Through FGIs, it was observed that both social support and self-esteem are important variables. Second, because guilds had been rarely studied, this research is expected to play an important role in the online community. Third, according to the result, six hypotheses (H1, H5, H6, H7, H8, and H11) setup based on FGIs, were statistically significant; thus, we can suggest the corresponding relationships among the variables as a guideline for follow-up research. Our research is significant as it has following implications: first, the social support of the guild members is important when establishing character control, character identity, guildidentity and self-esteem. It is also a major variable that affects guild flow and game loyalty. Second, character control when improved by social support shows notable influence on the development of character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity and guild identity are major factors to help establish gamers' own self-esteem. Fourth, character identity affects guild flow through self-esteem and game loyalty. The gamers usually express themselves through characters; the higher character identity is, the more loyalty a gamer has. Fifth, guild identity, established within the guild, has clear effects on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Sixth, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to conduct this study. Based on the results of focus group interviews and SEM analysis, we find that the social support by guild members and psychological factors are significant in strengthening the flow of guild and loyalty to the game. As such, game developers should provide some extra functions for guild community, through which gamers can play online games in collaboration with one another. Also, we suggest that positive self-esteem which is built up through social support can help gamers achieve higher level of flow and satisfaction, which will consequently contribute to minimizing the possibility for the players to develop negative attitude toward the guild they belong to.