The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence consumers’ acceptance intentions towards Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Genetic Testing service. DTC genetic testing service can be considered in two aspects: the application of new technology in genetic testing customers can directly purchase and the services for receiving the test results customer can’t directly analyze. Existing technology-based acceptance models have difficulty fully explaining consumers’ acceptance intentions towards DTC genetic testing services. Therefore, this study aims to propose a new acceptance model considering these two characteristics. A survey was conducted with 377 potential consumers for this research. The analysis revealed that health interest, prior knowledge, subjective norms, innovativeness, perceived usefulness, and perceived value affect consumers’ acceptance intentions. The results obtained through this study can help establish strategies and marketing plans necessary for the diffusion of services, such as DTC genetic testing services, that combine a new technology and a service. In the long term, the accumulated DTC genetic testing results data can contribute to the development of national genetic information infrastructure and preventive medical applications, as well as improve individuals’ quality of life.

Marine industry generates tons of waste, which is usually discarded or used for production of fish feed and low-value silage. However, marine residual raw materials (e.g., skins, heads, liver, and roe after fish gutting and processing) contain lipids rich in omega-3 fatty acid, which has several beneficial physiological effects such as maintenance of normal cardiac function, normal brain function, and normal vision. Food fortification with omega-3 fatty acid derived from marine residual raw materials can therefore provide health benefits and contribute to a circular food system. The current research explores consumer acceptance of the food fortified with microencapsulated fish oil derived from marine residual raw materials. Consumers may be hesitant to try these products due to food neophobia associated with tendency to eat foods with familiar ingredients. The idea of ingredients from normally discarded food parts may seem disturbing. However, there is a growing concern about low utilization of bioresources. Thus, conflicting goals may be in place and there is a need for research on motivations and barriers for consumption of this type of food. To address this, focus group interviews were conducted with 42 Norwegian consumers (7 groups, 4-7 participants each). The sample represented different age groups (20-55 years), genders, educational backgrounds, and income levels. Each participant received a compensation of ca. USD 30. The focus groups discussed food habits, attitude towards the fortified food and utilizing residual raw materials, and reasons for intake/no intake of such food. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results indicate that the informants have limited experience with fortified food. However, they demonstrate positive attitude towards the foods fortified with microencapsulated fish oil and appreciate the utilization of residual raw materials. Health benefits are one of the important motivations. Still, the informants are concerned about the fishy taste, as the flavor is also quite crucial. Another barrier is an expected high price for such food. Adding fish oil may also be a problem for vegetarians and consumers with allergies. Thus, transparent information about the food ingredients is essential. The results also highlight the importance of food’s sensory characteristics. The current study advances understanding of the consumer acceptance of the food with residual raw materials (so far under investigated in the literature), and thus provides a basis for finding an efficient strategy for communicating its benefits to consumers. It also provides societal health benefits and positive environmental effects due to the increased intake of omega-3 and better utilization of unused bioresources.

This research uses a practical attempt to explore further determinants of consumer behaviour needs to be considered in modern TAM’s. Based on This study applies a qualitative and a quantitative method. On the one hand, qualitative data was collected with the World Café approach and on the other hand, the quantitative data was collected by an online-survey, resulting in an effective sample of 126 respondents. The findings show that consumers attitude towards self-driving cars is positive and negative. Those descriptive variables for the context of autonomous driving have to be identified as a first step. Conclusively, implications and future research topics are presented.

Building on Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model(TRAM), the study aimed to examine how technology readiness affects consumers’ perceptions of ease of use, usefulness, and risk, which in turn predict their intention to use retail service robots. Specifically, the study proposed that technology readiness motivators (optimism and innovativeness) would influence perceived ease of use and usefulness, while technology readiness inhibitors (discomfort and insecurity) would affect perceived risk. The study further examined if the perception factors (ease of use, usefulness, and risk) contribute to intention to use retail service robots. A survey method was used with data collected from Korean consumers. The final sample size was 418. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings of the study revealed that technology readiness motivators positively affected perceived ease of use and usefulness while innovativeness had no impact on usefulness. All the inhibitors increased perceived risk. Lastly, as hypothesized, perceptions of ease of use, usefulness, and risk predicted intention to use retail service robots. This study extended the retail technology literature by applying and validating TRAM to the context of consumer acceptance of retail service robots. The study further helped marketers and retailers by highlighting the importance of technology readiness in improving consumer perceptions and responses towards retail service robots.

This study was conducted to understand the sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance for the commercially available clear broth for noodles. Totally, eight different clear broth samples were evaluated in this study. Seven trained panelists developed and evaluated sensory characteristics in the descriptive analysis. Significant differences (p<0.05) were obtained for all 28 attributes evaluated. Descriptive data was obtained by performing multivariate analysis of variance to identify differences between samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the mean values of descriptive attributes obtained in the descriptive analysis, and summarizes the sensory characteristics of clear broth for noodles. PCA of the clear broths revealed that the first two principal components are responsible for 80.66% variations. For sensory testing, 160 consumers were recruited, and their acceptance for each sample was assessed. Consumer data was obtained by applying partial least square-regression (PLSR) to establish the relationship between the descriptive data and the consumer acceptance data.

기술의 발전과 네트워크 성능 향상으로 웨어러블 디바이스는 ICT산업의 차세대 성장 동력으로 주목받고 있다. 중국은 웨어러블 디바이스 업계 후발주자이지만 매년 높은 성장률을 보이며 현재 세계 최대 규모로 성장하였다. 이에 본 연구는 FEA모델(Functional, Expressive, Aesthetic)을 적용하여 중국 소비자의 웨어러블 디바이스 채택요인을 확인하고자 한다. 더불어, 웨어러블 디바이스의 채택요인이 제품의 만족, 브랜드 충성도와 브랜드 내 다른 상품에 대한 구매의도에 미치는 영향에 관해 실증적으로 분석한다. 본 연구는 실증적 분석을 위하여 중국 내 소비자 208명을 대상으로 총 5일간 온라인 설문조사를 통해 자료를 수집하였다. 분석 결과, 웨어러블 디바이스의 호환성, 유희적 동기, 하위문화적 매력요인이 채택요인으로 확인되고 웨어러블 디바이스에 대한 만족은 해당 브랜드의 충성도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구의 결과는 웨어러블 디바이스에 대한 중국 소비자의 인식과 평가를 이해하는데 학문적 시사점을 제공하고 나아가 효과적인 커뮤니케이션 전략 수립에 실무적 통찰을 제공한다.

As fashion and distribution companies have increasingly turned to implementing marketing activities that use omni-channel strategies, it is imperative to explore consumer-oriented evaluations of omni-channel shopping for fashion products. Through contributing to the growing research flow of consumer behavior within omni-channel contexts, the current study explores consumer motivations for omni-channel fashion shopping and their impacts on the decision-making stages of fashion products. The authors first performed in-depth interviews with six Korean consumers and confirmed the four types of consumer motivation for omni-channel shopping, and how decision- making processes react to fashion companies’ omni- channel marketing strategies. These findings were used to set survey items for the main study. Based on the results and findings of previous literature, an online survey was conducted with 300 participants who had actual experience with omni-channel shopping for fashion products. The statistic results from the survey revealed the following: First, the in-depth interviews allowed the authors to confirm four factors of omni-channel shopping motivation (ubiquity, efficiency, convenience, and impulsiveness). Second, the survey showed the authors that among the four factors of omni-channel shopping orientation, impulsiveness had the greatest effect on consumer behaviors at the preand on-purchase stages, while the ubiquity factor had the greatest effect at the post-purchase stage. As such, the study empirically tested the omni-channel-specific factors of shopping orientation and motivation. In addition, it showed the effect of omni-channel marketing on various stages of the decision- making process and the study’s limitations and implications were discussed.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of alcohol content in Makgeolli made with Chinese matrimony vine (M-CMV) on the sensory profile and consumer acceptability. The M-CMVs were prepared with 6, 7, 8, and 9% alcohol content. Descriptive analysis of M-CMV was performed with six trained panelists. Thirteen attributes were generated and their intensities were alcohol content dependent. The consumer acceptance test was conducted with 57 consumers. M-CMV samples with 7% alcohol had the highest acceptance rate (5.8) followed by 6% M-CMV (5.6). Commercial rice Makgeolli (CRM) had the lowest consumer acceptance. Consumers were divided into two groups by clustering analysis. The majority of consumers (n=38) preferred M-CMV and did not like the commercial sample. Only 19 consumers indicated high acceptance ratings for CRM. However, these consumers also preferred 6 and 7% M-CMV. Partial least-squares regression analysis revealed moderate attribute intensities were related to greater consumer acceptability. The optimal alcohol content for the greatest consumer acceptance predicted by linear regression was 6.7%.

This research examines how advertising message effectiveness differs depending on media types that provide fashion information among teenagers. Employing cloth consumption value and ‘fitness’ of fashion style, young people’s attitudes toward advertising and brand of fashion product were analyzed. Theoretical contribution and practical implication for fashion industry are discussed. Introduction Teenagers are an important consumer group in the clothing market, and the market size is expanding. They are more likely to absorb new information and respond to social influences, compared to other age groups. Thus, it is expected that teenagers are greatly influenced by the fashion information gained when making a purchase decision. In adolescence, the peer group is especially influential, as well as the media. Therefore, it is possible that their use of information source will differ from other groups. The most popular medium for Korean teenagers in recent years is social media. A Social Network Service (SNS) is a web-based service that allows individuals to build social relationships, providing a place for users to exchange information and opinions by providing a platform for communication (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). As development of mobile Internet technology, smart phone or tablet PC is commonly used in Korea and SNS becomes vital way for communication for young people. Most of teenagers are using SNS daily and exchanging their opinion each other. Recently, it attracts increasing attention for marketers to deliver advertising messages as a new marketing tool. Fashion companies widely employ SNS in their marketing activities to enhance brand images, retain customers (Cho & Park, 2012). SNS serves as a platform for “many-to-many” interactive communication, unlike traditional mass media for ‘one-to-many’ communication. Unlike traditional media, SNS has a wider influence on participants. Therefore, exactly the same message could be differently functioned by the advertising delivering system. This study seeks to look at how message effectiveness differs depending on the type of media that provides fashion information. As mentioned earlier, social media has distinct characteristics from the traditional mass media. Thus, even when it is the same advertising information, its impact on the consumer can vary when transmitted through the mass media and through social media. In addition, social media is a collection of various social platforms that share specific properties rather than a single media. Thus, depending on the type of social media, the same ad information can also be expected to elicit differing responses from consumers. In this study, female youth were studied as subjects of research. The survey method was utilized. This will allow us to explore the impact of various media on female youth's response on fashion advertisement. Understanding the sources of information important in youth will help develop effective clothing products marketing. The use of clothing sources varies depending on the group. Therefore, each vendor is expected to establish effective marketing methods through research on the use of the clothing information sources of the target audience. Theoretical Background Type of Media In this study, type of advertising media was mainly categorized as follows: Social Network Service (SNS) and mass media. More specifically, SNS was reassigned into three by characteristics of service such as network-type, share-type, and blog-type (Chung & Lee, 2015). Overall, four types of media were analyzed in this study and each service was represented by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and magazine ad in the order named. Social Desirability and SNS Along the development of Internet based technology (IT), ways of advertising placement became diverse and moved focus on IT based service including SNS. Especially for young people, fashion industries are willing to catch their eyes on SNS. By the nature, young SNS users are eager to search, blog, and share what they have earned on SNS for various reasons. Sharing fashion information is very important for young female. Their expressions on SNS mean what they are; what I eat, wear and so on. A fellow feeling, so called ‘we-ness’, is extremely essential for Korean young people. Looking alike does not only share collectivistic spirits, but also makes feel not fall behind the trendy style. Using SNS is one of the best ways of confirming their fellow feeling and at the same time it reduces peer pressure. From the domain of fashion marketing, research on communication had been mostly focused on mass media, and research on SNS communication, sharing of consumption information among consumers had been insufficient (Jun & Park, 2013). Fashion companies are recently trying to utilize SNS as a new alternative to have efficient effects with little costs. The SNS communication effect plays a large role in the consumption of consumers and analyzes the influence of SNS on the responses of the customers. SNS has the characteristic in which recommendations of friends or reliable acquaintances based on trust are important (Jung & Cho, 2016). Fashion Information Source and Clothing Consumption Value Consumers’ choice of clothing is based on the information gained. Information provided by the media or other people's clothing is the main source of decision making. In this case, the media and the surrounding people will become sources of desirable fashion style. Earlier, Cox(1967) classified the type of information sources as marketer-driven sources, consumer-driven sources, and neutral sources. Several scholars classified information sources as personal and non-personal sources, and direct observations and experiences (Andreasen 1968, Sproles 1979). Park and Yoo(2000) classified consumers according to fashion lifestyles and analyzed the sources of information that each group utilized. Each group tended to use different types of fashion information sources. Fashion-following group and personality-oriented group utilized more media and personal information, such as print media and television, compared to pragmatism group and conformity group. Personality-oriented group tends to use more direct observation than other groups. Conformity group showed the least use of mass media, purchase experience, observation, and interpersonal information source. This result shows that the types and degree of information used varies depending on the consumer’s fashion lifestyle. Research has found that clothing consumption value is one of the major variables which affect consumer’s use of information source. Among several classifications of consumption values, Sheth’s model is the most utilized model in Korea fashion academia (Han and Kim, 2002). Sheth et al. (1991) classified consumption values into functional value, social value, emotional value, epistemic values, and conditional value. Han and Kim (2002) classified consumer groups into 4 groups utilizing Sheth’s classification: the Conspicuous, the Epistemic, the Social/Conformitive, and the Indifferent. There were significant different among the four groups in information search process. The Conspicuous and the Epistemic more tend to search carefully the clothes inside the store or in the show window than other groups. The two group members answered that they make a decision based on my own tastes than the other groups. Research Questions and Hypotheses Based on the earlier discussion, we propose following research question and hypotheses. Research Question 1: Would advertising message’s effect on young people’s attitudes toward advertising and brand of fashion product be different, depending on their consumption value of clothing? Hypothesis 1-1: Consumers in different consumption values groups will show different response to the same advertising message delivered through different channels. Specifically, social conformity group are more likely to show positive attitude toward advertising and brand presented on network-type SNS than advertising and brand presented on other platforms. Hypothesis 1-2: The Expressive is more likely to show positive attitude toward advertising and brand presented on magazine than other groups are. Research Question 2: Would advertising message’s effect on young people’s attitudes toward advertising and brand of fashion product be different, depending on their age group? Hypotheses 2-1: Young women will have better responses to SNS-based ads than magazine ads to older women. Research Question 3: Would advertising message’s effect on young people’s attitudes toward advertising and brand of fashion product be different, depending on their perception of ‘fitness’ of their desired fashion style? Hypotheses 3-1: When they perceive the presented style on the ad does not fit to their desired fashion style, network-type SNS is more likely to get positive attitude from the social conformity group than from the other groups. Methodology This present study aims to investigate the effects of advertising message by operating delivering system on consumers’ attitude toward fashion advertising and purchase intentions. This research employed a 4 (consumption value of clothing: expressive, practical, unique, social/conformity) X 4 (Advertising media type: network-type SNS, share-type SNS, blog-type SNS, and magazine) X 2 (fashion style fitness: fit/not fit) between subjects factorial design. The survey was conducted on 200 more young females, aged 16 to 24. Main Discussion Points This study aims to investigate how a fashion product ad works depending on the type of media on which the fashion advertising presents. To do this, authors will compare the advertising effectiveness among magazine ad, Facebook (Network type SNS), Instagram (Share type SNS), and Twitter(blog type SNS). First of all, we are going to examine how each advertising medium works depending on consumer’s consumption values, their age, and the perception of fitness of their desired fashion style. Based on the results, the theoretical contribution and practical implication will be discussed. This discussion will provide us deeper understanding on how fashion industry utilizes advertising media when female youth is a major target group