Casual mobile games (CMG) is one of the three types of game genres with the highest market share in turnover. This type of games can be distinguished from hardcore games in that their play sessions are usually shorter, the rules are simpler and required commitments are less (Engl & Nacke, 2013). Some of the most popular games with these features are, for example, Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga, and Hearthstone. The retention rate of players is one of the subjects that sparks most interest to the industry since many players abandon the games only a few hours after downloading them. Companies are very interested in knowing what factors influence a player's decision to continue playing and recommending a game to other players, because it is the loyal players who could potentially pay for upgrades, make in-app purchases or attract indirect revenue through advertising (Hsu & Lin, 2016). Although previous research has extensively studied the antecedents of the continuance intention to use online games on PC and video game consoles, few works have tried to understand the factors that drive loyalty in mobile games (MG) (Hamari, Keronen, & Alha, 2015; Shaikh & Karjaluoto, 2015). MG differ from those developed for PCs and game consoles not only because of hardware limitations but also due to software limitations (Kuittinen, Jultima, Niemelä, & Paavilainen, 2007). The technical characteristics of a game influence perceived value (Choe & Schumacher, 2015) and, consequently, loyalty (Chang, 2013, Su, Chiang, Lee, & Chang, 2016). This study examines the antecedents of loyalty towards CMG from the perspectives of perceived value (i.e. hedonic and utilitarian values) (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994; Chang, 2013; Chang et al., 2014; Davis, Lang, & Gautam, 2013). In addition, it explores the moderating effect of intensity of playing, because intensity can mitigate the impact of satisfaction on loyalty (Lu & Wang, 2008). Based on the literature review a research model was proposed and evaluated using survey data of 372 respondents with structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. The results reveal that hedonic value (i.e. perceived enjoyment and perceived attractiveness) and, to a lesser extent, utilitarian value (i.e. effort expectancy and perceived usefulness) are crucial to the player’s loyalty towards a mobile game. Intensity of playing weakens the relationship between perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and loyalty intention. Based on the findings, this research has important theoretical and practical implications in understanding the motivations of players to remain loyal to a mobile game and how these motivations vary depending on the intensity of playing.

With competition among hotel brands intensifying more than ever before, there has been a burgeoning interest in the hospitality industry on the topic of brand love. However, progress of brand love research in hotel context has been limited and investigation on antecedents of brand love has mainly focused on affective and relational aspects, while neglecting cognitive aspects of brand love. Therefore, the objective of this research was to illuminate the importance of brand love's cognitive aspect by identifying cognitive brand loyalty as a necessary component of brand love in hotel context. In addition, present research suggests that by inducing cognitive engagement among customers, hotel brands can attain cognitive brand loyalty from customers, which in turn derives brand love. To achieve the research objective, a questionnaire with items measuring brand love, cognitive brand loyalty and two aspects of cognitive engagement, cognitive attention and cognitive absorption, was distributed to 300 individuals through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Brand love was measured with scale adapted from Carroll and Ahuvia (2006), cognitive brand loyalty was measured using items introduced by Back and Parks (2003), and cognitive engagement elements were measured using items developed by So, King and Sparks (2014). In analyzing the data, structural equation modeling method was used. The findings of the study indicate that the effect of cognitive brand loyalty on brand love is significant and that the relationship between cognitive attention and cognitive brand loyalty is also positive and significant. However, the relationship between cognitive absorption and cognitive brand loyalty was positive only at a marginally significant level. As a result, the indirect effect of cognitive attention on brand love was positive and significant yet, the indirect effect of cognitive absorption on brand love was insignificant. This study enriches the brand love literature’s spectrum by illuminating the importance of brand love’s cognitive aspect. However, it is important to note that the focus is not necessarily on the cognitive processing or the standards, but on the cognitive engagement experience. In addition, because customers generally process information most heavily during the booking process, present research brings out managerial implications for hotel brands to direct more customers to their own brand website rather than the online-travel-agency( OTA) website. For instance, the results of present research illustrate that price discount or additional amenity are not enough to develop brand love. Rather, hotels should provide loyalty members who book directly through brand sites with more enjoyable, creative, and relevant to self-room shopping experience.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among the service quality, professional competence and loyalty of China tourists visiting Taiwan. A crosssectional survey was used to collect usable data from the China tourists who participate in group tourism to Taiwan. The result indicate that the China tourists felt the service quality of “meal” in Taiwan is the best and good feeling in “professional knowledge” of tour guide. In addition, this study found that the professional competence of tour guide has an intermediary effect between the quality of tourist services and tourist loyalty. The quality of tourism service can positively influence the loyalty of China tourists to Taiwan, meanwhile, the quality of tourism service can positively affect the professional competence of tour guide and the professional competence of tour guide can positively affect the loyalty of China tourists travel to Taiwan. According to the results, the study found that travel agencies should focus on the training of tour guide, which help travel agencies to raise the value of travels product and attract more tourist.

As Internet use has increased, customers have become more active at sharing their travel opinions through social media regarding their experiences with service organizations. Social media has become a ubiquitous tool that enables customers to share their travel experiences. In particular, members of Generation Y are more likely to be active on social media and more likely to share their experiences online. Understanding Generation Y’s online customer engagement preferences on different social media platforms may help to enhance brand loyalty. Customer engagement (CE) has been attracting the attention of both practitioners and academics because it may help to enhance both brand loyalty and purchase decisions. Social media platforms have become a significant communication tool for both customers and service providers, creating an opportunity to engage with customers. Interacting with active customers on the right social media platform can increase direct bookings, building brand loyalty. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine Generation Y’s brand loyalty preferences through its members’ engagement with social media. The results of this research will expand understanding of Generation Y customers’ online engagement through social media. This research may also suggest how hotels are able to utilize social media platforms in order to encourage online engagement with Generation Y by building brand loyalty.

Introduction In the modern society, online shopping has been expanding and become part of people's lives. With the development of online shopping, people's online shopping awareness have increased. In the purchase process, people focus on the information, especially online evaluation. Online shopping population is becoming more aware of the negative online evaluation, businesses are more and more attention to the negative comments, but sellers lack strategies and methods to deal with negative evaluation, and the reply function offered by site are rarely used. Compared with traditional Mouth Marketing, Internet Word of Mouth Marketing(eWOM) has such characteristics as anonymity, non confrontation, wide spread and fast spread. However, it is difficult to imagine the impact of all the internet word-of-mouth information on the consumer's willingness to buy. They need to criticize and screen the information before they are used because of the large amount of information that consumers have come into contact with. Online product evaluation (abbreviated evaluation) is a kind of internet word-of-mouth. As a new means and platform for network communication, it has its own unique characteristics. With the rapid development of electronic commerce in China, the content of evaluation has become an important basis for the purchase decision of Internet consumers. In the field of marketing, Gao Xiang finds that consumers usually think that negative information is more judgmental value than positive information, so they will rely more on the negative information when buying decisions. Therefore, it is of great significance to the research of negative online evaluation. In the field of marketing, Gao Xiang found that consumers generally think that negative information is more judgmental than positive information, so they rely more on negative information for decision making in purchasing. Therefore, the research of negative online evaluation is significance. Whether the business can deal with negative evaluation effectively becomes the key to success in sales volume. Burnkrant and Consineau believes that the herd effect is the process of psychological change that people consciously and unconsciously take the opinions of the majority as the criterion to make judgments and make impressions. Group characteristics, such as scale, and the proportion of others' opinions, will affect the herd effect. The current research shows that the more people hold the same view, more people will agree with this view. In other words, the individual will be affected by the majority of the group's opinions. Businesses reply with negative evaluations in various ways as a result of the negative impact of negative reviews. It takes the C2C's largest platform, Taobao, as an example. Some seller cooperate with illegal companies to harass buyers who do not modify the review, and coerce buyers to modify the evaluation. This kind of problem has been a hot issue in society for some time. At the same time, the C2C network platform provides a function that the seller can respond to the buyer's evaluation. But few seller use it. Theoretical Development Businesses reply with negative evaluations in various ways as a result of the negative impact of negative reviews. It takes the C2C's largest platform, Taobao, as an example. Some seller cooperate with illegal companies to harass buyers who do not modify the review, and coerce buyers to modify the evaluation. This kind of problem has been a hot issue in society for some time. At the same time, the C2C network platform provides a function that the seller can respond to the buyer's evaluation. But few seller use it. This study further deepens the related research on the negative evaluation of the network. More attention has been paid to the negative evaluation itself and the analysis of its content, publisher characteristics and evaluation results. There are few studies on how to respond to negative evaluations and to use the business response function of a website. This paper studies the relationship between the response of the merchant to the negative online reviews and the customer's purchase intention and the internal influence mechanism, and deepens the previous research. At the same time, it provides some inspiration for the follow-up internet word-of-mouth research. This study also enriches the related research on consumer perceived risk. Previous studies have shown that consumers' purchase behavior and willingness to purchase will be affected by perceived risk. And communication with the seller can reduce perceived risk to a certain extent. Research Design Based on the above background, this paper make a study about the sellers’ reply of negative evaluation and potential purchasing intention. Based on the online reviews of consumer perception of risk, the basis of relevant literature consumer consumption and purchase willingness, combined with consumer behavior theory, service recovery theory, empathy theory and attribution theory, build research model in this paper. On this basis, this paper collected and analyzed the data through literature research, experimental scenarios, questionnaires and statistical analysis, and verify hypothesis based on data analysis. Results and Conclusion Through data analysis, the main conclusions are as follows: The reply to the negative comments can affect consumers' perceived risk and purchasing intention; consumers' perceived risk plays an intermediate role between the reply to the negative and purchasing intention. Product type plays a regulating role between the way of reply and consumers' perceived risk. For Search goods, external and internal attribution explanatory reply made no significant difference in affecting consumer consumers' perceived risk. Perceived risk under external attribution is lower than under the internal attribution. On the basis of research, this paper put forward online communication strategies for C2C business and help sellers do business better.

The antecedents of customer loyalty have been a subject of interest to marketers and researchers alike. Few studies have investigated the moderating influence of brand image on customer satisfaction and loyalty. A framework was developed and tested to link casino service quality with satisfaction (affective and cognitive satisfaction) and loyalty (revisit intention and willingness to recommend). The influence of brand image as a moderator was also proposed. Quantitative surveys with 240 mainland Chinese tourists, who were the major source of tourists in Macau, were conducted. All the proposed hypotheses were supported. This study contribute knowledge on customers’ satisfaction and loyalty to casinos by explaining the interrelationships between casino brand image, casino service, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The research demonstrates that satisfied customers are more inclined to revisit and recommend the casino. These relations are stronger for customers who scored higher in image than those who scored lower. The study provides promotional marketing strategies for the casino industry and theoretical suggestions for future study.

Introduction Marketing research frequently highlights the role of branding in customer’s decision making in a variety of sectors (Khan et al., 2015). Especially in cases where brands are related to the provision of services, creating competitive experiences seems to be an aspect of paramount importance for marketers (Hartman, et al., 2009). For this reason branding could be regarded as a means to improve a business’s performance (Hsu et al., 2011). Gilmore and Pine (2002) confirm the necessity for a brand to be associated with competitive characteristics, since it is widely acceptable that just selling a product is not enough, thus, the customer should go through a memorable experience in order to support, and, even more, to stay loyal to a brand. According to Liu et al. (2017) in the hotel industry visitors’ brand attitude and brand performance could mediate or moderate loyalty. Although the tourism and hospitality industry heavily relates on experience (Yuan & Wu, 2008), literature does not adequately examine the respective field (Ritchie & Hudson, 2009). This drawback combined with the new tendencies generated by the globalisation (Khan et al., 2015) lead to the need of further research which this study contributes to. The study focuses on hotel branding and existing literature in order to examine the way that brand influences tourists’ purchasing intentions and loyalty. In order to achieve this aim, the role of income and age on brand identification, the study examines the impact of brand identification, image and awareness in visitor satisfaction and price and quality issues, resulting to the formulation of loyalty. The theoretical contribution of the study concerns the examination of the influence of branding on visitors’ loyalty in accommodation establishments, something that is under-researched from previous studies, especially when dealing with destinations heavily affected by an economic crisis. Proposed Model The proposed model is based on the combination of two theories, which are the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). Following Ajzen (1991) TPB focuses on three determinants of the human behaviour: (i) reactions towards a basic behaviour (ii) attitude towards others’ approval or disapproval of a behaviour, and (iii) perceptions of the degree of difficulty in performing a behaviour. Furthermore, TRA is used in order to predict an individual’s behaviour based on their existing attitudes and intentions, defined by the expectations of the individual in terms of its attitudinal outcomes (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Untaru et al., 2016). Based on TPB and TRA, the study structures a linear model, formulating its constructs with the use of previous studies of Davvetas and Diamantopoulos (2017), Escalas and Bettman (2003; 2005), Kim and Kim (2005), Liu et al. (2017), Nam et al. (2011), Popp and Woratschek (2017), Sanchez et.al. (2006), Sincovics et al. (2010), Tarnanidis et al. (2015), Tsiros and Mittal (2000), and Yoo, et al. (2000). The model suggests that loyalty is influenced by visitor satisfaction and price quality issues, whilst the latter two constructs are impacted by brand aspects (identification; name; awareness). The following hypotheses were formulated: H1. Brand identification has a direct positive influence on satisfaction. H2. Brand identification has a direct positive influence on price and quality. H3. Satisfaction is positively affected by brand image. H4. Price-quality nexus is positively affected by brand image. H5. Brand awareness positively influences satisfaction. H6. Brand awareness has a direct impact on price-quality nexus. H7. Loyalty is positively affected by satisfaction. H8. Price-quality nexus exert direct influence on loyalty. Methodology The research was held at the Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” from June till August 2017. The respondents were adult tourists visiting Athens for holidays. The study was based on structured questionnaires, which are deemed suitable in cases when quantitative data are required, especially in public spaces and wherever the sample is self-selecting (e.g. tourist destinations, airports etc.) (Brotherton, 2015). Following Akis et al. (1996), for the study 95% minimum level of confidence, and 5% statistical error was selected. While the analogy 50/50 between positive and negative views applies, with N>20 and cumulative probability (Z) is 1.96 the sample size is calculated as follows: Out of 400 respondents 328 completed their questionnaires successfully. The response rate was 82 per cent. The questionnaire is based on previous research and consists of 57 Likert scale statements (1 strongly disagree; 5 strongly agree), also examining the socio-demographics of age and income. Results Structural Equation Model (SEM) was employed for the analysis of linear relations. Figure 1 illustrates the generated standardised coefficients of the model. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied for testing the compatibility of the data with the proposed model that was generated from respective previous research. Following Kline’s (2010) selection of indices’ importance, the study has generated the following indices: χ2=327.206, df=172, χ2/df=1.902 [acceptable value: 0≤χ2/df≤2; Schermelleh-Engel, Moosbrugger & Müller (2003)], CFI=.907, [acceptable value is when CFI is close to 1.0; Weston & Gore (2006)], SRMR=.769 [acceptable value is when SRMR<.8; Hu & Bentler (1999)], and RMSEA=.487 [acceptable value is when RMSEA<.5; Browne & Cudeck (1993)]. In factor analysis (Table 1) all values less than .4 were suppressed in an effort to evaluate higher coefficients (Norman & Streiner, 2008). The overall Cronbach A was .904, whilst in all constructs it has exceeded the minimum limit of .7. In addition, the Average Variance Explained (AVE) was higher than .5 [minimum acceptable .5; Kim (2014)]. Managerial Implications Several managerial implications could be generated from this study. First, the research can provide useful guidance to tourism and hospitality stakeholders, on reforming brand strategies accordingly in terms of achieving higher customer satisfaction and optimal outputs from price-quality nexus. Through these aspects the accommodation establishments and destinations can become more competitive and competent to pull prospective visitors. The study also constitutes a useful guide for market segmentation in terms of the influence of income and age in brand aspects. As the results indicate, the substantial influence of socio-demographics on the formulation of brand aspects can significantly influence targeted marketing and promotional activities for both, hotels and destinations. Limitations Despite the research’s theoretical contribution, several limitations need to be highlighted. Since the survey was conducted in a destination heavily affected by the current economic crisis (Athens) the influence of brand and loyalty aspects may differ in other metropolitan destinations having other characteristics. Therefore, any generalization should be made with caution. Moreover, the examination of different groups (i.e.: accommodation managers/owners; destination authorities) may generate different outcomes in terms of branding focus and loyalty formulation. Thus, the evaluation of perspectives of tourism and hospitality stakeholders is essential for the holistic approach of these matters. Finally, since perceptions may change over time, the repetition of this research may contribute to the understanding of the evolution of perspectives and their extent of alteration.

As blogs continue to grow in importance, they have quickly become one of the largest and most established forms of non-traditional media (Onishi and Manchanda, 2012; Stephen and Galak, 2012). Due to this popularity, brands are striving to connect to consumers through the blogosphere. One of the most popular approaches is incentivization, whereby the brand incentivizes the blogger to write a review of a given product (Uribe, Buzeta and Velásquez, 2016; Hwang and Jeong, 2016). However, incentivization may pose significant risks for bloggers, who are perceived to be independent from corporate interests and a credible source of information. We employed three experimental studies to show that intrinsic, as compared to extrinsic, incentivization acceptance motives mitigate the negative effect of positive incentivized reviews on perceived independence, credibility and ultimately, blog loyalty. In our final experiment, we find that that followers who are attached to a blog are more likely to continue to browse, revisit and recommend the blog, regardless of incentivization acceptance motives.

This research addresses an important, yet under-researched, issue concerning the management of loyalty programs (LPs) in the era of globalization: how to effectively motivate LP members from different cultures to continue the reward pursuit process. Drawing on cross-cultural research and regulatory fit theory, we identify feedback framing as a low-cost, easy-to-implement strategy for building program loyalty across cultures. Two cross-cultural studies confirm all the hypotheses about the effects of feedback framing. Overall, this research advances theoretical understanding of reward pursuit behavior across cultures and offers practical advice for managing LPs in different cultural contexts.

This paper examines the effects of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcement through social media on the consumer perception of the luxury brand consumption. A M&A is becoming more wide spread in the luxury market. Yet, the academic research examining the M&A in the luxury brand context has been sparse albeit the growing interests. Moreover, previous research has not paid attention to the effect of social media as a vehicle to communicate the M&A deal with consumers although social media is increasingly used by luxury brands in their brand communication these days. We aim to fill the gap in the luxury brand literature by examining how a horizontal M&A announcement delivered through social media would affect the brand loyalty derived from the luxury consumption values. Specifically, our research focuses on the four distinctive luxury brand values, which are symbolic, experiential, economic and quality values as well as the perceived sustainability of the M&A deal. We examine how a M&A announcement would affect these five values which in turn influence the brand loyalty, as well as examining the differential effect of social media and non-social media as a brand communication vehicle. In addition, we examine how the vertically differentiated luxury brand perceptions (i.e. different luxury tiers) between acquiring and acquired brands influence the consumption values and brand loyalty. Using a scenario-based online survey, our results reveal several interesting insights on the luxury brand M&A. First, our results show that use of social media as a communication vehicle has differential effects on how the M&A announcement influences consumption values and brand loyalty, comparing with the non-social media communication vehicle. Second, we find that a M&A announcement via social media has a positive impact on the consumer values. Third, the symbolic and experiential values have a positive influence on the brand loyalty, regardless of the luxury tier difference between brands. Fourth, our results show that the perceived sustainability has a positive impact on the brand loyalty as long as the M&A was completed between brands at different tiers. Fourth, the perceived quality has a positive impact on the brand loyalty only if the brand is acquired by a less prestigious brand. Lastly, economic value has a positive impact on the brand loyalty only if the acquiring brand is of more luxurious. In sum, our paper provides useful insights to both academics as well as practitioners in the luxury brand M&A context.

Despite significant research and progress in examining the effects of loyalty programs on consumer behavior and firm performance, it is still unclear the firm value implications of these programs. The main goal of this article is to investigate whether announcements related to the loyalty program introduction affect firm value. In addition, the current research examines the moderating role of program, firm, and market factors in order to present a complete picture. The authors test the hypotheses empirically by conducting an event study of 134 announcements which cover a set of firms in the United States in five industries for 17 years from 2000 to 2016. We find that on average, the introduction of a loyalty program is positively related to firm value. Findings of this study will help managers understand how and under what conditions, they should introduce a loyalty program in order to affect firm value positively.

Investigation concerning the presence of customer-brand relationships in online communities is recent and scarce and might offer potential (Moraes et al., 2014; Huber et al., 2015; Vernuccio et al., 2015). The purpose of this investigation is to understand and analyse how brand love can influence brand loyalty among millennials generation, considering engagement constructs and social networks. It bridges an academia gap in the context of the consumer brand relationship literature. This research aims to answer the following questions: (1) Is brand love effective in building true brand loyalty? (2) Does interactive engagement with brands and brand love contribute to build brand loyalty? and (3) Does interactive engagement on social networks reflect millennials love of brands? To collect data we conducted two online surveys, covering two different brand categories: Fashion and Electronics/Technology. We have in total 1278 inquiries. The analyses of data and hypotheses test were made by using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) and a multi-group factor analysis. The proposed structural equation model was validated and all hypothesis were accepted. So, consumers’ Brand Related Social Media Content was proved to have a direct impact on Social Interactive Brands and Brand Loyalty. Social Interactive Brands were proved to have a direct impact on Emotional Attachment and Self Expressive Brands which also proved direct impact on Brand Love. Brand Love for instance was proved has been directly connected with Brand Loyalty and Word of Mouth and Brand Loyalty also, directly impacts Word of Mouth. The model behave well in the previous research so we wanted to test it with a smaller sample and different brand categories the results would maintain. The results of the multi-group factor analysis showed that we have configural and metric invariance in both different studies, covering Fashion and Technological brands. As though for management purposes it might be of no disagreement to state that marketing alone is no longer enough to influence purchase motivation and intention for consumers. This investigation advance and valid a new theoretical framework in the consumer brand love approach

The impact of customer involvement in NSD on customer loyalty is still unknown, because most studies examine loyalty perceptions of only active participants in co-creation, while the few studies involving co-creation observers provide conflicting results. Research is also limited, as it measures user participation only at the design level, while customers are empowered to participate at all NSD stages. This study contributes to the literature by developing a model capturing the various levels of customer involvement in NSD co-creation and then, measuring its impacts on two type of user loyalty: brand loyalty and loyalty on innovation community. Data were collected from users of the Domino’s Mogul pizza toolkit empowering them to participate in all NSD stages and also to become pizza entrepreneurs by designing and selling their pizzas. Findings comparing the brand loyalty and the innovation community loyalty perceptions of users with various levels of co-creation involvement provide useful insights.

The use of brand communities have been hailed as an effective tool for marketers to develop relationships between their brands and consumers, with the ultimate goal to create and sustain brand loyalty. The majority of theoretical assertions regarding brand communities are underpinned by the use of social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982). Social identity theory posits that individuals have a need to construct and display a ‘self-concept’ and a strategy to communicate this is the process of identification with groups. As the focus of a brand community is the brand itself it is clear that brand community identification and brand identification must be correlated, but little research has explored this relationship or its effects. This study aimed to fill a gap within the knowledge by further exploring the relationship between brand identification and brand community identification by providing more insight into the role which an individuals’ identification with a brand community (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001) has within their relationship with the focal brand and their loyalty to that brand. Specifically, this research aimed to gain a greater understanding of the different effect brand community identification had upon the relationship between brand identification and both public and private brand loyalty. This was explored through the utilisation of a survey of fans of a professional basketball team within the UK (n=298). The data and subsequent analysis supported the hypotheses that individuals’ brand community identification has a positive relationship with both public and private forms of brand loyalty. More importantly it also presented brand community identification as a mediator in the relationship between brand identification and public brand loyalty. Therefore, this study is the first to present brand community identification as critical within consumers’ development of publicly displayed brand loyalty. Managerially this understanding provides support for the proactive utilisation of brand communities by marketers. It also provides guidance for the context in which brand communities are critical for the success of the brand. This research delivers support for marketers, to utilise brand communities proactively when trying to motivate consumers to participate in publicly displayed pro-brand behaviour. This guides the re-allocation of budget away from pure brand identification activities to brand community engagement strategies.

As the number of SNS(Weibo) users in China is growing rapidly, Chinese fashion brands are heavily dependent on SNSs as a fashion marketing communication tool. For this reason, the characteristics of SNS accounts and their influences on SNS users’ responses need to be studied. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the influences of the characteristics of Chinese fashion brands’ SNS accounts(Weibo) on the perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with the SNS acount, and brand loyalty. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey of men and women living in Beijing or Shanghai aged from 18 to 49 with experience of SNSs(Weibo). After a pilot survey of 70 subjects, the preliminary questionnaire was revised and then translated into Chinese. The questionnaire translated into Chinese was back-translated into Korean to ensure the translation was correct. The final questionnaire was administered to 600 subjects. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analysis, and structural equation model analysis were conducted for data analysis. The results of this study were as follows: Five factors were extracted for Weibo characteristics: interaction, information provision, information recency, information reliability, and information playfulness. The information reliability, information playfulness, and interaction of SNS accounts(Weibo) had significant influences on perceived usefulness. The information playfulness, information reliability, and information recency showed significant influences on satisfaction. The perceived usefulness exerted significant influences on satisfaction and brand loyalty. The satisfaction also had statistically significant influences on brand loyalty.

This study aims to configure what dimensions make up for smart phone after service quality, and how this service quality affects customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Smart phone market is a market of the device leading the digital convergence as well as positioning itself as one of the national growth driving industry. To survive in this matured market, companies should have to respond actively to radical changes and customers needs in the so-called Smart Revolution environment. Lately, however, the smart phone market is prospected to move from growth phase to mature phase by the scholars. In order to proactively respond to the change in such market condition, companies need to provide absolute advantage in customer loyalty over their competitors by revolutionizing the after-sales service quality. Qualified A/S will lead to service satisfaction and achieve customer loyalty. The empirical analysis results obtained through A/S quality are as follows : First, human quality (attitude, expertise, problem-solvability), environment quality (handling agility, convenience, comfort), service policy quality (quality guarantee, additional service operation) are dimensions that make up for A/S quality. Second, A/S quality dimension showed a significant positive influence on service satisfaction and A/S satisfaction showed a positive influence on customer loyalty as well. Based on this empirical study, we propose some implications for A/S quality improvement. First, human quality dimension has relatively higher influence on A/S satisfaction in case of free A/S, so companies need to solve the product problem completely when consumer’s first visit by continual employee education. Second, in case of paid A/S, the service policy quality-especially A/S Warranty period- has higher influence on A/S satisfaction.

The purpose of the study was to compare two different MBTI personality types by evaluating the influence of perceived risk on brand and store loyalty and purchase intention. 340 questionnaires were used for the analysis. For statistical analysis, SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 were performed, and frequency tests, reliability analyses and Structural Equation Modeling were used. The results of SEM analysis, confirmed that one question of brand loyalty and one question of store loyalty were inappropriate for this study. Thus, these two questions were removed and the research model was modified. To determine the goodness of fit of the research model, convergent validity was tested. Most items fell into the goodness of fit, and the average coefficient was fulfilled. According to the results of a path coefficient analysis for the Judging type, perceived risk has a significant influence on brand loyalty and brand loyalty also affected store loyalty. Furthermore, brand loyalty and store loyalty have a significant effect on purchase intentions, but perceived risk did not affect brand loyalty for the Perceiving type. Brand loyalty influences store loyalty and purchase intentions, but store loyalty did not influence purchase intentions. As a result of this study, it is concluded that considering consumers' personality types is critical to developing strategies that enhance brand loyalty.

The Chinese fashion market, which has typically been dominated by luxury brands, is expanding more into mid- to low-end fashion brands including global SPA (Specialty retailer of private label apparel) brands. This change in the Chinese fashion market is due to the growth of the middle class in China. The advance of the Chinese middle class is attributed to the fact that the wages of large city workers is improving due to the development of various industries, particularly IT. Recently, the Chinese government has initiated an anti-corruption movement, which has led to the prohibition of luxury goods consumption, and so the interest of Chinese potential fashion consumers has moved to the mid-to low-end fashion products imported from developed countries. In addition, young Chinese consumers' positive attitude toward online shopping is favorable for foreign mid-to low-end brands. These changes in the tastes of Chinese fashion consumers are favorable for Korean fashion brands in particular for several reasons. First, the Korean fashion industry does not have a history of producing luxury brands, but does produce many good mid- to low-end fashion brands. In addition, Chinese tend to consider Korean fashion and food culture as more developed and preferable due to the success of the Korean wave. Lastly, it is easy for Korean practitioners to offer online shopping and customer service. The emergence of mid- to low-end fashion brands started in Korea in the late 2000s when global SPA brands entered the market. Unlike Korea's soho brands, which are based on the "No-brand" strategy, global SPA brands have actually shaken up the market by offering reasonable prices for Korean domestic brand products that are of similar quality. Since then, consumers’ willingness to pay for clothing has been reduced even further in the Korean market even though the low-growth trend in the economy has stabilized. So, it is very important to analyze and study the consumption tendency for low and mid-priced fashion brands among both Chinese and Korean consumers. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Chinese and Korean consumers perceive the personality of mid- and low-priced fashion brands and how such personality affects brand loyalty, commitment, and perceived quality. Brand personality is a vital area of research since fashion products are a type of consumer good that is consumed by users close to the body and which can express the self and the personality to others. Aaker (1997) developed a brand personality measurement scale consisting of five dimensions which many researchers have used in exploring the brand personality dimension in various industries. In the study of fashion in particular, the dimension of brand personality has been explored and its effects have been analyzed. However, most of the research has focused on luxury or high priced brands. Also, the research has not compared cultures such as China and Korea in this regard. Therefore, this study explored how Chinese and Korean consumers perceive some of the mid- to low-end priced brands originating in Europe and Korea. Also, the research examined how multiple dimensions of brand personality affected perceived quality, commitment, and brand loyalty. This study assumed that perceived quality and commitment may mediate the relationship between brand personality dimensions and loyalty. In order to conduct quantitative research, this study adopted scales from the previous literature to measure the variables used in the research model. A professional online research company conducted the survey, which was designed to be administered only to potential consumers of mid-and low-priced fashion brands who had purchased one or both European and Korean brands which were suggested in the survey. Also, gender (female), residential area (Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai), and age (21-39 years old) were controlled for. In this research, the European origin brand was the global SPA (Zara, H & M, ONLY), and there were eight Korean brands, including “Style Nanda,” which is popular in China (Refer to Table 1). The data collected on the 250 Korean and 250 Chinese participants were analyzed using statistical package SPSS 20.0. The brand personality dimension was explored using factor analysis which applied Varimax rotation based on the principle component method. As a result, even though the items included were found to be somewhat different according to the country and origin of the brand, the brand personality dimensions of the European global brands turned out to be similar and reflected “TRENDY, SINCERITY, AND COMPETENCE.” Also, Chinese consumers’ perception of brand personality in Korean brands was found to be similar to their perception of European brands. However, Korean consumers’ perception of Korean brands, which are of course their own brands, was more diverse reflecting “TRENDY, SINCERITY, COMPETENCE, AND OUTGOING.” This seems to be because Korean consumers may have had more chance to experience Korean brands either online or offline through visiting stores or being exposed to a variety of marketing communications. Thus, because there are more Korean brands than European, Korean consumers may be able to have an accurate perception of the personality of Korean brands. The conceptual model of the current research includes the relationships among multiple dimensions of brand personality in perceived quality, commitment, and loyalty. Also, the mediating effect of quality and commitment between brand personality and loyalty was examined. In order to test the hypotheses, hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS was analyzed and is described in Table 2 in relation to European brands and in Table 3 in relation to Korean brands. As expected, brand personality dimensions that were found to be a significant factor in perceived quality, commitment, and loyalty were likely to vary based on Chinese or Korean perceptions. For Korean consumers’ perception of global brands, while TRENDY was likely to be the most powerful personality dimension forming brand loyalty, its impact on loyalty seemed not to be mediated by quality but rather by commitment. Also, the influences of COMPETENCE on loyalty were mediated by quality and commitment. For Chinese consumers’ perception of global brands, the impacts of SINCERITY as well as TRENDY on loyalty were found to be mediated by quality and commitment. In addition, COMPETENCE seemed to have a rather direct impact on quality, commitment, and loyalty without a mediating effect. For local brands, Korean consumers did not seem to rely on brand personality or commitment when considering brand loyalty. Since the R2 did not improve at all with adding mediating factors such as quality and commitment, there was found to be no mediating effects in the Korean cases for local brands. In particular, while TRENDY directly impacted loyalty, OUTGOING was found to be significant only in its impact on quality. On the other hand, all three dimensions of local brand personality turned out to be significant influencers on loyalty and quality for Chinese consumers. The impact of TRENDY and COMPETENCE on loyalty seems to be mediated by quality and commitment. In this study, we found that mid- to low-end fashion brands seemed to reflect valid brand personality according to the brand’s origin (global vs. local) as well as consumers’ culture (Chinese vs. Korean). Also, the effect of brand personality dimension was different. This study contributes to the study of brand personality and the Chinese fashion market by comparing a conceptual model of the consumption behavior of Chinese and Korean consumers in relation to mid and low-priced fashion brands and brand awareness formation. In particular, the research revealed differences between Chinese and Korean consumers, suggesting different approaches for Korean fashion practitioners who are planning on entering China, which has not only a similar market to that of Korea but also one that is familiar to Korean practitioners.

The tourism experience factor is an essential source of competitive advantage in the tourism industry and is an important factor for predicting future tourism behavior. Tourism experience elements can be composed of areas of education, entertainment, aesthetics and deviance (Pine and Gilmore, 1998). This study examines the effect of tourist experience factors on tourist loyalty and it is meaningful to see if the experiential economic theory of Pine and Gilmore (1999) is applicable. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on tourists using experiential tourism factors. As a result, it was found that recreational experiential factors had a significant effect on memory. Memory has a significant effect on both visitor satisfaction and tourist loyalty. This study has academic significance because it focuses on the tourism experience factor which is the core of experiential economic theory. Practical significance is that a lot of experiential contents should be found in order to better match the tourist experience factor to the requirements of visitors to the tourist site. As a result, it is expected to generate revenue and improve its competitiveness.

Mobile phone market, a market of the device leading the digital convergence as well as positioning itself as one of the national growth driving industry and as a daily necessity, is led globally by companies that have been actively responding to changes in the so-called Smart Revolution environment. Lately, however, the Smart Phone market is prospected to move from growth phase to mature phase by the scholars. In order for a company to proactively respond to the change in such market condition, it is imperative that they ensure absolute advantage in customer loyalty over their competitors by revolutionising the after-sales service(A/S) quality that will lead to service satisfaction. This study aims to configure what dimensions make up for mobile phone A/S quality, and how this quality affects customer satisfaction and loyalty as well as proposing directions for A/S quality improvement by identifying them case by case to see what dimensions have more impact on customer satisfaction.