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%.

Omni-channel strategy is an innovative paradigm for integrated information distribution of inventory, sales, operations, marketing, delivery, pickups and returns in supply chain management. Recently the distribution strategy faces new challenges with the advent of mobile distribution channels. Social media with countless apps imposes additional stress on supply chain operations. Due to these changes, distribution network in supply chain is changing naturally and rapidly from multi-channel to omnni-channel platform. Recently numerous domestic distributors establish and adapt this new supply chain optimization tool as a part of seamless flow of movements of goods from one channel to other channels. The objective of this paper is to present a preliminary findings on how omnni-channel affects the supply chain management. A survey is used to ascertain in the degree of omnni-channel implementation and statistical evidence is provided to test sets of hypothesis. The results of the questionnaire showed that consumers' purchasing styles differed by gender, age, purchase purpose, and product type. In particular, women consider purchasing experience in omni-channel to be important. As food and household goods can be conveniently shipped, consumers prefer online purchasing it. Conversely, consumers tend to favor omni-channel strategy in connection with offline experience in IT products.

This study was conducted to identify sensory characteristics of soy-meat samples by trained panels and to observe the relationship between these sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of the samples. Descriptive analysis was performed on eight samples; four types of patty style soy-meat samples (Soy-meat Patty; SP) made with a Ddukgalbi recipe (YSP, VSP, LSP, and SSP) and four types of Bulgogi style soy-meat samples (Soy-meat Bulgogi; SB) made with a Bulgogi recipe (YSB, VSB, LSB, and SSB). Seven panelists were trained, and they evaluated the appearance, odor/aroma, flavor/ taste, texture/mouth feel, and after taste attributes of these samples. Forty attributes were generated by panelists, and 37 attributes were significantly different across products (p<0.05). The SB group was characterized by beef, leek, and garlic flavor as well a sweetness, denseness, slipperiness, chewiness, and pepper after taste. The SP group was characterized by roughness, particle size, rancid oil flavor, raw bean flavor, astringent, sourness, and adhesiveness. Consumer test (n=125) showed that the VSB sample had the highest scores for acceptability of appearance, flavor, texture, and overall liking. The PLSR results show that the attributes that were more positively associated with acceptance of soy-meat samples were beef taste, wetness, and chewiness, whereas the raw bean smell and rancid oil flavor attributes were negative.

For decades, researchers and practitioners have focused on ethical and environmental consumerism that is regarded as a mainstream phenomenon in contemporary consumer culture (e.g., Doane, 2001; Low & Davenport, 2007). In this context, the ethical consumer is supposed to be concerned about a broad spectrum of issues ranging from the environment and animal welfare to societal concerns, including human rights. By “shopping for a better world” (Low & Davenport, 2007, p. 336), the ethical buyer demands products that meet his/her moral principles and boycotts companies involved in unethical practices (e.g., Muncy & Vitell, 1992; Barnett et al., 2005). Nevertheless, a critical perspective on the economic reality has led to the discussion if the ethical consumer is nothing more than a myth (e.g., Carrigan & Attalla, 2001; Devinney et al., 2010). A particular industry context where cruel production processes are widely discussed is the cosmetics industry. Therefore, from the multitude of ethical dilemmas related to consumption behavior and cruel business activities, the underlying study focuses on animal testing for cosmetic purposes. The main research focus of this study is built on the idea that anthropomorphic communication about cruel tactics in production processes has significant impacts on consumers’ perception and behavior. Besides the form of communication, the perception of anthropomorphic communication is largely determined by personal and individual characteristics of the recipient. In addition to the ability to emphasize – generally known as to encourage the perception of harmful conditions and foster the ability to experience and share another´s condition or state of mind and emotional context (Johnson, Cheeks & Smither, 1983; Cohen & Strayer, 1996) - there exists a “dark side” of consumer personality as well. The Dark Triad which is composed of Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy. Hence, the study additionally examines the impact of bright and dark personality traits on the perception of anthropomorphized communication and highlights the importance for the identification of diverse consumer segments.

The purpose of this study is to identify the antecedents of repurchase intention toward fast fashion brands. Perceived quality, perceived price, deindividuation, and overly trendy styles, which are product characteristic variables, and fashion innovativeness, which is a consumer characteristic variable, were considered as antecedents. It was hypothesized that product and consumer characteristics influence repurchase intention toward fast fashion brands not only directly, but also indirectly through cognitive dissonance. Data were gathered by surveying university students in Seoul using convenience sampling. Three hundred and fifty-two questionnaires were used in the statistical analysis. SPSS was used for exploratory factor analysis, and AMOS was used for confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. The factor analysis of product characteristics revealed four dimensions: “perceived quality”, “perceived price”, “deindividuation”, and “overly trendy styles”, and the factor analysis of consumer characteristics revealed one dimension. The factor analysis of cognitive dissonance revealed two dimensions, “regrets” and “perceived uncertainty.” The hypothesized path test proved that perceived quality, deindividuation, overly trendy styles, and fashion innovativeness influence repurchase intention directly. Perceived price and deindividuation influence repurchase intention indirectly through the factor of cognitive dissonance, which is the perceived uncertainty, indicating the importance of cognitive dissonance. The results indicate effective marketing strategies should be used to decrease consumers’ cognitive dissonance, and suggestions for future study are provided.

This study is to explore the effect of music characteristics (i.e., likeliness and familiarity of music) on the relationship between mood and attitude toward the product in the online shopping mall selling hand-made shoes. A total of 319 consumers participated in experiments with online shopping mall stimuli with a variety of background music. In results, consumer mood positively affected attitude toward the hand-made shoe products in the online shopping mall under background music. A moderating effect of music likeliness was found in the relationship between mood and product attitude, indicating that mood more strongly affected product attitude under more liked music than under less liked music. When consumers are listening to more liked music and are in good mood, they may build their attitudes toward products independently from their mood, whereas they may build positive attitude under good mood versus negative attitudes under bad mood if they are listening to less liked music. A moderating effect of music familiarity was not found in the relationship between mood and product attitude. Based on results, it was confirmed that the S-O-R model could be applied to explain the effect of background music on consumer responses in online shopping malls. Marketers may be able to select and adjust the likeliness and familiarity of background music to better serve consumers in diverse shopping conditions, referring to the study findings.

Background & Research Objectives The ever-changing nature of fashion and multicultural consumption motives shape and challenge the contemporary global fashion world. To some extent, it has been experienced that individuals across countries engage in similar fashion movements simultaneously. Therefore, it may be assumed that there partially exists a homogenized, transnational global consumer segment when it comes to the purchase of clothing items. Nevertheless, on the other hand, there still remain several divergences in the consumption behavior of fashion products around diverse parts of the world (Yurchisin & Johnson, 2010). It is universally agreed that consumers engage in shopping with specific decision-making modes and styles which make the search for a common instrument that is able to describe the purchase orientation of fashion consumers across cultures quite problematic and challenging. Indeed, according to the buyer´s cultural backgrounds, fashion consumption motives and the benefits searched for when buying an apparel product could be very different (Tahmid, 2012).Today´s fashion consumer is characterized by a continuously evolving set of complex wants and needs that can be satisfied by a wide variety of competing alternatives (Pandey & Dixit, 2011). The different aspirations and motivations which consumers express are generally shaped by various shopping outcomes which they are prone to achieve (Yurchisin & Johnson, 2010).Motivation is described as an internal state that activates goal-oriented behaviour. It refers to the processes that lead people to behave as they do. It occurs when a need is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy. The need creates a state of tension that drives the consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate it. This need may be utilitarian (i.e., a desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit) or it may be hedonic (i.e., an experiential need, involving emotional responses or fantasies). Marketers try to create products and services to provide the desired benefits and help the consumer to diminish this tension (Solomon, 2013).It is advocated that fashion consumption is made up of two major categories of drivers, namely social consumption motives and individual consumption motives which both represent psychological determinants. Those psychological factors influencing apparel purchase behavior can be separated into rational, emotional (perceptional) and patronage motives (Diamond, 2005). Rational motives replicate a pragmatic orientation, such as quality- or price consciousness in purchase behavior. In contrast, emotional drivers include, amongst others, motivations linked to physical vanity and fashion consciousness, adventure-, gratification- and pleasure seeking, materialism, status and conspicuousness, impulsive and compulsive consumption. Patronage motives, on the other hand, reflect habitual buying and for instance are connected to brand-consciousness and store loyalty (Diamond, 2005). By profiling international apparel consumers based on their individual decision-making styles and modes, more meaningful ways to identify and understand different cross-cultural customer segments are offered. As a result, fashion industries are able to target each customer segment with more focused marketing-strategies, based on their motives and aimed-for benefits linked to purchasing clothing products.This topic raises a number of important questions for researchers and practitioners. To the authors´ knowledge no empirical contributions to compare and contrast prevalent motives of apparel consumption in Western nations exist. Hence, in order to fill this research gap and broaden this important research area, this explorative study focuses on the identification and discussion of similarities and differences in buying characteristics between the USA, France, Germany and Austria by analyzing valuable motives that have not yet been empirically examined in a cross-cultural fashion context. Methodology Starting with a review of existing literature regarding generic consumer decision making motives, like e.g. Sproles & Kendall (1986), Mokhlis (2009) and Hiu, Siu, Wang & Chang (2001), an initial classification into rational, emotional and patronage motiveswas undertaken for the field of fashion, which later on was expanded using the results of a qualitative pre-study conducted with 50 interviewees in New York to gain first insights as a basis for the proximate, main empirical research. In compliance with triangulation theory in social science (see e.g. Cohen & Manion, 2000), which advocates data collection from manifold sources, a combination of quantitative and qualitative research was carried out in the core study, consisting of expert interviews and an online consumer survey. Due to a lack of existing literature foundation, the main research is explorative and not based on specific hypotheses. In the first section, a qualitative analysis of the mentioned motives was done using NVivo on the grounds of 16 expert interviews with fashion marketing communication and design experts in the four research countries. The second part of the empirical study was conducted via a quantitative consumer survey, to enable a Web based questioning through Lime Survey. To minimize possible language barriers, the questionnaire was delineated in three languages, translated from English into French and German by bilingual professionals in order to ensure best possible quality, precision, accuracy, reliability and validity of the empirical study. For this specific type of quantitative research, a stratified random sampling procedure was applied. Altogether, 693 individuals (482 female and 211 male subjects) participated in the online survey, 174 in USA, Germany and Austria respectively, and 171 in France. The total non-student sample included participants with a mean age of 28.4 years. Subjects were asked to evaluate 22 rational, emotional and patronage motives derived from literature and the pretest on a 7 point Likert scale. Cross-cultural similarities and differences were revealed throughout the examination process. An analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) on the mean values and a subsequent Post-Hoc Tukey Test disclosed significant variations between the four nations for 15 out of the 22 tested motivational determinants influencing fashion consumption behavior. In a first step, the authors refrained from using a factor analysis, in order to retain more detailed information. Findings demonstrate that American consumers pay the most attention towards price-value relations and cheap deals, compared to the remaining countries. They additionally consider quality attributes the least when deciding upon which fashion products to buy. In contrast to the other nations, American consumers are most pragmatically oriented when deciding upon which apparel items to purchase. Furthermore, they engage the least in spontaneous clothes shopping in the spur of the moment. An investigation of the preferred brand segments per country supported these outputs by highlighting the statistic that American consumers buy significantly less apparel from the upper-middle price segment than Austrian, German or French consumers. Accordingly, in comparison to the other nations, American consumers purchase the most value/discount fashion. Moreover, outcomes illustrate that French consumers have a higher tendency of buying garments from the same stores and boutiques than Austrian and German consumers. Correspondingly, Austrian and German consumers feel significantly less confused by over-choice of apparel offerings than French consumers. To that effect, in terms of country of origin being a characteristic that impacts fashion consumption, findings prove that French consumers value national heritage of clothing more than Austrian and German consumers. Indeed, they tend to also pay more attention to buying apparel that originates from the home country. Outcomes further pinpoint that compared to Austrian and German consumers, Americans and French utilize fashion significantly more to make a positive impression on others, feel socially belonging and accepted as well as to be part of a reference group. In contrast to Austrians and Germans, Americans are more likely to adjust their wardrobe to the specific expectations and norms of their working environments. In addition, results indicate that French consumers devote more consideration towards dressing in accordance to their job conventions than Austrian and German consumers. Interestingly, Austrian and German consumers value physical vanity significantly more than American and French consumers. French consumers, however, employ fashion the most as a means of boosting satisfaction with one´s self-image, compared to the other research nations. Detailed results of the empirical study will be thoroughly discussed in the presentation in order to explicitly highlight specific common and divergent archetypes and patterns between the research countries. Additionally, final key outcomes, in-depth implications as well as limitations and directions for future research will be addressed in the conference.

This study present an integrative model incorporating key consumer characteristics (shopping motivations, need for touch, and perceived risk) as drivers/barriers of e-commerce in the footwear industry. An online survey was conducted using a sample of 4,203 customers of a global footwear retailer. The model was validated across cultural/gender segments.

These days, thanks to lots of smart devices and advanced communication technologies, consumer’s recognition and relations have been changed. They, beyond relying on information and services which are produced by experts, produce information and knowledge by themselves via SNS or web that they want to know. As consumer’s recognition is changing like this, SNS is evolving into social platform. Therefore, this paper is intended to clarify overall relationship between network characteristics in social platform, knowledge sharing, social capital, social innovation and customer’s value. This paper has clarified influences between variables related to consumer’s behaviors in social platform and the results are summarized as following: First, network characteristics in social platform are found to positively affect knowledge sharing efforts of social platform. Second, knowledge sharing has been found to positively affect social capital and innovation in social platform. However, enjoyment in helping others i.e a sub variable is found to positively affect social capital and innovation through anticipated reciprocal relationships. Third, social capital and innovation in social platform have affected customer value in social platform positively. Consequently, this paper is intended to solve various problems found from overall societies and industries through social innovation and also to advance them. For these purposes, social platform is believed to prompt sharing idea and knowledge based on interactions between users and social relationship. These actions become social capitals resulting in social innovation. Moreover, these would create new businesses and marketing opportunities across various areas in the processes that innovative activities form customer values.

본 연구는 세계 최대 소비시장으로 성장하고 있는 중국 소비자의 G감성 유형별 특징을 알아보고, 감성별 소비형태 및 선호 컬러를 분석하여 중국시장을 위한 기초자료로 제공하는데 목적이 있다. 조사를 위해 중국 4개 도시의 소비자를 대상으로 G감성 및 소비 형태에 대한 설문을 실시하였다. G감성유형을 분류한 결과 중국 소비자는 자신의 가치관과 정체성에 따라 행동하며, 합리적이고 논리적인 소비를 추구하는 G1유형이 가장 많이 나타났으며, 선행연구의 한국소비자에서 가장 많이 나타난 G3유형과는 다른 시장 성격을 나타냈다. 소비의 특성으로 중국소비자는 백화점에서 의류 구입을 선호하고 있으며, G2유형의 경우 백화점 다음으로 로드샵을 선호하고 있어 G감성에서 제시한 행동범위가 넓고 소비가 많은 행동파의 유형특성과 일치하고 있다. 중국소비자는 의복구매 시개인이 선호하는 컬러를 우선 구입하고 있으며, 무채색의 선호 비중이 매우 높게 나타났다. 무채색에서 검정의 비율이 가장 높았으며, 백색, 짙은 회색, 옅은 회색의 순으로 조사되었다. 유채색에서는 브라운, 오렌지, 빨강, 파랑의 순으로 나타났으며, G4유형의 경우 다른 유형에 비하여 다양한 색채 선호를 보였다. 이러한 결과는 패션디자인과 기업의 마케팅전략 기초자료로 활용 할 수 있으며, 소비자를 위한 새로운 커뮤니케이션 방법으로 활용할 수 있다.

The effects of different ingredient formulations on physicochemical qualities and consumer preferences were investigated using Baikseolgi incorporated with perilla powder, a healthy food ingredient, as a model system. Perilla powder was incorporated into the formulation at five different amounts (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% (w/w)) by replacing equivalent amount of non-glutinous rice flour. After appropriate mixing, rice cakes were steamed and quality attributes were evaluated after cooling. The pH increased but moisture content decreased significantly with an increase in the perilla powder substitution (p < 0.05). Lightness (L*) decreased significantly from 80.32 to 70.73 with the higher incorporation of perilla powder (p < 0.05), indicating that the color of Baikseolgi became dark. Redness (a*) and yellowness (b*); on the other hand, increased significantly (p < 0.05). Hardness decreased significantly as the perilla powder content increased in the formulation (p < 0.05). With respect to overall acceptability, the control received the highest mean score of 5.90; however, this was not significantly different from all samples tested except for 20% sample (p > 0.05). Five percent sample received the highest or competitively high preference scores in all attributes; thus, incorporation of 5% perilla powder in the formulation of Baikseolgi would be recommended while taking advantages of the health benefits of perilla without sacrificing the quality acceptance by the consumers.

We investigated the consumption inclinations of consumers for environmentally-friendly agricultural products (EFAP) for better production and distribution of EFAP. Consumer inclinations in large supermarkets from April 7th to 30th, 2008 were surveyed. Data were analyzed using the SPSSWIN 12.0 program. Results showed that 90.4% of consumers recognized EFAP and 76.4% of those who recognized the products had actually bought the products. Members of the "have purchased group" bought EFAP once a week because they believed these products were safe from hazards, such as pesticide. The amount spent on EFAP was less than 20% of the total food budget and the major consumed items were green vegetables and fruits. The sale location was mainly large supermarkets and agricultural cooperation outlets. Although many people were satisfied with EFAP from the viewpoint of nutritional and sensory qualities and safety compared with general agricultural products, they were notsatisfied with the price. Many consumers trusted that EFAP were safe and nutritional. Members of the "not purchased group" also trusted the nutritional and sensory qualities of EFAP and recognized the safety issue, but they were not satisfied with the price, compared with general agricultural products. Consequently, to succeed in the market, EFAP should maintain the confidence of the consumer while decreasing in price.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the consumer characteristics in foodservice according to university students' lifestyles. The data were collected by the questionnaire survey of 520 university students from Daegu Gyeongbuk Province. The SPSS/Win 12.0 program was used to analyse the samples. The results are as follows: 1) Lifestyle was divided into 10 factors and 3 clusters, namely "Convenience Intention" (cluster I), "Health Information Intention" (cluster II), and "Gender Equality Intention" (cluster III). 2) The differences in general characteristics between the three clusters were founded on gender, frequency of visits, companion, information type, and the type of restaurant. 3) The characteristics of cluster I (Convenience Intention) are explained by it consisting of the group with low averages in consumer dissatisfaction, complaints, compensation, and repurchase intention, where as cluster II was the high average group and cluster III the middle average group. Based on these results, consumer characteristics in foodservice are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality characteristics and consumer acceptance of the Kimchi affected by the storage method and the duration. The characteristics of Kimchi fermented and stored in the traditional method, such as cave facility or pit storage on the shore were compared to the Kimchi which was stored in the Kimchi refrigerator using the physicochemical and sensory evaluation. The quality of Kimchi stored by the Kimchi refrigerator was most acceptable with 3 month storage, while that of Kimchi stored by the storage facility under the ground on the shore was 1 month storage. Shelf life of Kimchi was extended up to 5 month stored by Kimchi refrigerator, and 3 month for the Kimchi stored under the ground on the shore.