The Metaverse’s virtual world is used in various industries and is expected to continue to grow in the future. In addition, the Metaverse is a new type of society that integrates various new technologies, and NFT products play an essential role. Therefore, NFT product characteristics and industry trends should be assessed to revitalize the NFT market. To this end, this study confirms the influence relationship between social presence and NFT product characteristics in the Metaverse environment and examines the impact of each characteristic on consumer satisfaction and continued engagement intention to NFT product. Statistical analysis such as exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) using IBM SPSS Amos was conducted on data collected through a survey targeting male and female Korean consumers in their age group 10 to 50. Study results indicate that social presence significantly impacted all characteristics of NFT products (authenticity, scarcity, rarity, collectability, and interactivity). Scarcity and authenticity significantly impacted consumer satisfaction, and both authenticity and consumer satisfaction significantly impacted continued engagement intention. Thus, effective product development and marketing strategies can be established only by presenting different emphasized characteristics depending on the type of NFT product and the Metaverse’s social presence.

Urban regeneration has emerged as a new paradigm of urban development today. In this situation, awareness has increased that urban regeneration should be pursued in connection with culture and art (Evans, 2009). Urban transformation has continued through internal restructuring in an expanded or reduced scale by economic and social changes (Garcia, 2004). Initially, diverse public/private parties initiated urban image improvement and strong brand creation through leading developmental strategies in order to attract floating enterprises, residents and tourists. At this time, states built culture-centered urban regeneration strategies in relation to urban development and regeneration such as large-scale culture and art facility establishment or large event hosting (Couch, 1990). However, in the modern society, with the elevated awareness on environment, the focus has shifted from development towards service industry and tourist industry in urban. In this sense, cultural policies are deemed to be responsible for the expanded idea of urban development considering diverse aspects from physical and economic aspects, to social significance, sustainability and to culture and art (Bianchini & Parkinson, 1993; Garcia, 2004).

Since the arrival of omni-channel retailing, which promotes seamless experience for consumers and zero effort commerce, channel integration has been a big issue in both the domestic and the international retail industry. Some researchers have identified problems that can occur in the process of channel integration, such as cannibalization and channel conflict (Coelho & Easingwood, 2003). However, many studies on channel integration report its positive impact on a firm’s revenue growth through improved trust (Schramm-Klein & Morschett, 2006), higher consumer conversion rates (Neslin et al., 2006), and greater cross-selling opportunities (Berry et al., 2010). Regarding the issue of effectively establishing channel integration in order to bring positive synergy to a company, the present study intends to identify a solution within a company’s internal factors. This study aims to provide a strategic perspective on channel integration formation of domestic fashion retailers by identifying some of the key organizational components that drive a firm’s channel integration in this omni-channel era, when the boundaries between online and offline markets are disappearing. This study predicts that organizational structure and strategic orientation are the key components of a fashion retailer’s channel integration implementation in an omni-channel environment. As shown in previous studies, channel integration has a positive impact on a firm’s performance through active and innovative transformation of the organization’s hardware and software (Cao & Li, 2015; Yan, Wang, & Zhou, 2010). In particular, this study introduces channel (extension) strategies (number of different types of channels in both online and offline markets) into channel integration as one of the crucial variables, in addition to the two existing variables. The data were collected through a survey targeting mid-level executives or above, within a business unit of Korea’s fashion companies with over $10 million revenue. Through this selection, a total of 120 samples were used in the final analysis. Hierarchical regression modeling was used to prove the study’s hypothesis. The revenue size of a parent company and SBU was used as a control variable in the level 1 model; channel strategies in the level 2 model; organizational structure in the level 3 model, and organization strategic orientation in the level 4 model, which was used as an independent variable. Integrated back-end system and integrated human resource management, which are the highest levels of channel integration (Cao & Li, 2015; Oh, Teo, & Sambamurthy, 2012), have been used as dependent variables. The main findings of this study are as follows: In a back-end system integration model, organization strategic orientation was identified as the highest level when the organizational structure becomes more centralized, whereas the system integration level is the highest when the model is competitor-oriented and innovation-oriented. In the human resource management integration model, the human resource management integration level is at its highest when the organizational structure becomes formalized and specialized, and organization strategic behavior becomes more competitor-oriented and innovation-oriented.

The SNS, which is a social network service based on the Internet, is defined as a media service that supports the interactions among individuals, which occurs in the linked-ring. And it is a community-based system created a in a cyber space by individuals, where they open and observe information networks shared by them (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). According to the reports regarding present status in Republic of Korea, the penetration rate of SNS reached 59.0% of the population in 2015, and it is expected that Korea will take the first place in Asia for the second consecutive year as the number of users is on the rise with annual growth rate of 8% (DMC Report, 2015). This is closely connected with the spread of smartphones that has been popularized to such an extent that 95.9% of the whole nation has been using them since the iPhone was introduced in Korea six years ago, in 2009. It has been confirmed that 98.3% of mobile internet users get on the Internet by using a smartphone, as well as 92.4% use the mobile internet services at home, and they prefer to use the mobile internet even in a place equipped with cable internet (Korea Internet & Security Agency, 2014). Accordingly, the mobile contents use pattern has been changing gradually, and especially the SNS use pattern based on smartphones have been rapidly evolving, which results in the appearance of various media, of which the type is different from the existing ones. Due to the changes, many fashion brands, along with luxurious brands (Kim & Ko, 2011) based on the existing Social Media Marketing, are on the lookout for the SNS-based marketing strategy which is one level up from the old ones. Currently, in most of fashion brands, the consumers’ opinions are reflected in their designs after launching the newly designed product through the SNS. This marketing method, in which new strategies and patterns that are differentiated from the existing brands have been introduced, has proved the effects of SNS-based marketing with the great growth rates. In this way, the necessity of studies on the SNS smartphone is on the rise. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the changes in the past and present by investigating the present status of SNS in Korea. Furthermore, it is designed to verify the motivations that have impacts on the changes in usage pattern of the SNS through smartphones. The Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) (Kahneman et al., 2004), which is focused on in-depth interviews and studies on life style, has been adopted as a study method to verify the use pattern. And the strategic implication regarding the direction of development of mobile SNS in Korea has been identified by analyzing the causes for changes. According to the analytical results obtained through the DRM, it has been identified that the lifestyles of teens, twenties, thirties, forties and fifties are focused on the joyful and exciting activities, communication, personal and professional function, general basic function, and limited function, respectively. And according to the analytical results of types of mobile SNS, the teens and twenties prefer to use Facebook and Instagram. However, on the contrary people in their 30s and or older prefer to use the Cacao Story, which is a domestic SNS. The tendency seems to be based on the fact that the older people put more stress on the relationship with friends and acquaintances than the relationship with strangers. And on the basis of present-condition investigation it has been identified that the SNS has developed from the passive roles, which converts the offline-based relationships to online-based ones and merely facilitates storage of documents in digital form, into the active roles in which people may convey their own thoughts and emotions. As shown in the results of this study, the roles of SNS is no longer limited to the opportunities in which users may form a relationship with others on the Internet, but it provides the users with opportunities in which they position themselves as the main body in production, distribution and consumption of information, so we may put much meaning to the cast that the smartphone have brought about the change. In short, the changes in mobile life style prove that the life style has evolved into a structure, in which the users produce information themselves, distribute the information through their own networks and consume the information by using smartphones. And it implies that the sharp expansion of smartphone markets leads to the necessity of marketing strategies focused on the differentiated lifestyle, which is being diversified and subdivided.

Sales of luxury goods have increased drastically in the Asian marketplace over the past decade and therefore imply high potential for further future developments. While Japan has been an important market to luxury brands for a longer period of time, especially China and South Korea have gained in importance due to high sales volumes and increased desire to purchase luxury goods. Especially due to the economic crisis in Europe, luxury brands have to focus on the potential of these emrging Asian countries. In order to adapt and improve the marketing communication strategies successfully to the respective countries, an intensive analysis of the local luxury market, local competitors and the performance of leading luxury brands have to be examined. This is especially crucial to luxury brands since consumers are highly sensitive to the brand image and identitty which is why marketing strategies and brand positioning have to be considered carefully. The purpose of this study is 1) to examine the current luxury market in Japan, China and South Korea according to major fashion industries; 2) to analyze the critical success factors and marketing strategies of leading and aspiring local and global fashion luxury brands in the respective country 3) to give meaningful implications for existing and aspiring luxury brands. For that, after giving an overview of the luxury market in the respective country, case studies on leading and aspiring luxury brands in the major fashion cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo) will be conducted to examine critical success factors. By that, we will give an overview on the market entry and marketing strategy, such as social media, the usage of IT, and general ads as well as retail trends and communication channels. The findings indicate the current trends of luxury fashion brands in China, South Kore and Japan. Through this data review, case studies and suggestions, both academia and industry will gain important insights of the current tendencies of brands and consumers. Global marketers will understand the Asian luxury market better; local brands may find implications of how to enter other Asian markets and aspiring brands can learn about the critical success factors in the market.