Genderless fashion is a trend that involves clothing and accessories designed for anyone, regardless of gender identity, and may blur traditional gender boundaries by incorporating elements associated with men's or women's clothing. The trend is driven by changing attitudes towards gender, increasing awareness and acceptance of gender fluidity and non-binary identities, and a desire for more inclusive ways of expressing gender through fashion. Empirical evidence on how genderless or gender-neutral marketing efforts affect consumer response is limited. Our experimental study contributes to this literature by analyzing the role of clothing gender labels and consumer gender on purchase intention of clothing.

MMORPG 게임의 특성상 이러한 사용자들에게 어떻게 효율적이고 안전하며 개인화된 네트워크 서비스를 제 공할 것인가 하는 문제가 시급히 해결되어야 할 과제입니다. 클러스터링 알고리즘은 네트워크 사용자 행동 을 분석할 때 사용자 행동 데이터의 규모를 미리 결정해야 하며 생성된 클러스터에도 의미 기능이 부족합 니다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 네트워크 사용자 행동 데이터의 특성에 대한 클러스터 분석을 수행하고 LFM, 행렬 분해 및 기타 방법을 적용하여 네트워크 사용자 행동 클러스터링을 위한 자동 클러스터 레이블 생성 방법을 제안한다. 실험 결과 제안하는 방법은 사용자 행동 데이터의 규모를 미리 결정할 필요가 없으며 클 러스터링 과정에서 클러스터 레이블을 동시에 생성할 수 있으며 생성된 클러스터 레이블은 사용자 행동의 실제 의미를 따릅니다.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of purchase of processed foods and the awareness about food label among middle school students. This survey was conducted by involving 350 middle school students in Incheon city, Korea from June 17~19, 2015. Middle school students consumed confectioneries, bread, carbonated drinks, and juices and ice creams once or twice a week at the rate of 53.4, 53.0, 40.6, and 36.9%, respectively. The most frequent place, time, and reason to purchase the processed foods were ‘convenience store (36.2%)’, ‘after school (26.8%)’, and ‘hunger (77.9%)’. The subjects exhibited top priority (57.0%) on the taste at the time of purchasing the processed foods. Interestingly, the girl-students (44.7%) checked the labels of food more than the boy students (34.0%). The reasons for checking the food labels included acquiring significant information about the shelf life (27.0%), price (18.1%), nutrient (19.1%), and food additives (14.1%). Among the food labeling information, the name of the product (55.7%), the date of manufacture (49.3%) and the content (32.6%) were checked mainly by the subjects. In addition, the major reason for not confirming the food labeling was ‘the food label was too small or crude (31.9%)’. It is necessary to inform about the processing methods and ingredients of the processed to middle school students so that they can make the correct choice of processed foods. Development of proper education methods on nutrition for middle school students is necessitated for healthy living.

Introduction A private label (PL) is defined as a brand owned, sold and distinguished by retailers (Lincoln & Thomassen, 2009). Therefore, most PLs display only their brand name on their product labels or packages. However, in the Japanese consumer goods market, an increasing number of manufacturers’ names are now being displayed on PL product packages. For example, the “Seven Premium” PL, by Seven & I Holdings, displays the manufacturer’s name on its product labels using the phrase “This product is a joint development product with manufacturer X.” This indicates that retailers are utilizing the brand of the national brand (NB). This type of branding strategy can be classified as co-branding or a brand alliance. In Japan, expansion of PL co-branding may have improved consumers’ attitudes toward PLs and contributed to their development. Theoretical Background Most prior research on co-branding has focused on brand alliances between two NBs. Therefore, studies on alliances between PLs and NBs are very limited. Vaidyanathan and Aggarwal (2000) focused on ingredient branding, which merged elements of PLs with NB ingredients. Based on the combination theory (Park, Jun, & Shocker 1996), attitude accessibility theory (Fazio, 1986), and attribution theory (Heider, 1958; Kelly, 1973), they found that the association of brand name ingredients with private brand products could positively impact consumers’ evaluations of unfamiliar products. Also, the use of a brand name ingredient in a PL did not negatively affect consumers’ evaluations of this product. Arnett, Laverie, and Wilcox (2010) focused on brand alliances of retailers and manufacturers in the clothing category. Based on the attitude accessibility theory and the information integration theory (Anderson, 1971; Smith, 1993), they found that consumers’ attitudes toward alliances can influence retailer equity, manufacturer brand equity, and shopping intentions. They also found that pre-alliance retailer equity significantly affects attitudes toward alliances. Except for post-alliance retailer equity, perceived fit moderates all relationships between consumers’ attitudes toward the outcome of an alliance. Prior research on co-branding indicates that the attitudes and attributes of co-brands are influenced by the attitudes and attributes of constituent brands. In addition, a constituent brand’s familiarity moderates the effect (Park et al., 1996; Simonin & Ruth, 1998). As another notable finding, attitudes about co-brands influence constituent brand attitudes, with the effect being moderated by brand familiarity (Simonin & Ruth, 1998). Based on prior findings, this study examines whether co-branded PLs are influenced by their constituent NBs and by the familiarity of constituent brands in the case of Japanese co-branded PLs. This study also examines whether a spillover effect exists for constituent brands. Methodology An Internet survey of 798 women living in the Greater Tokyo area was conducted in August 2017. Subjects were assigned to one of four groups, grouped by PL and NB brand familiarity (Figure 1). The familiar “salad dressing” category was selected. While this category includes several large and popular manufacturers, many small, unknown manufacturers also exist within it, a fact that is relevant to the purpose of this study. High-familiarity PLs and NBs were selected based on their market shares in the category. However, Seven Premium, the most popular PL in Japan, was not selected as it had already adopted a co-branding strategy. Aeon’s Topvalu was chosen as a high-familiarity PL. While Topvalu is one of the most popular PLs in Japan, it has not yet taken a co-branding strategy. All measures were assessed through a seven-point, semantic, differential scale. Attitudes toward constituent brands (PLs and NBs), co-brands, perceived quality of constituent brands, and brand familiarity of constituent brands were measured. Using covariance structure analysis, we examined factors influencing attitudes about co-branding and the spillover to constituent brands after considering co-branded formations. Regarding familiarity, a multi-group analysis was conducted. Results Attitudes toward constituent brands (PLs and NBs) positively influenced attitude toward co-branded PLs. In addition, the influence on the co-branded PLs was greater for PLs (Table 1). From the multi-group analysis, the influence of familiarity on the attitude toward co-branded PLs can be found in some cases (Table 2). In the case of high-familiarity PLs with high-familiarity NBs (Group 1), the attitudes about co-branding by NBs were not significant. On the other hand, a positive co-branding attitude by NB was found in other cases. In cases of low-familiarity PLs with low-familiarity NBs (Group 4), the co-brand’s influence was greater for NBs. Moreover, since the attitude toward co-branding positively influenced differences of attitude between post-alliance and pre-alliance toward PLs and NBs, the spillover effect is confirmed (Table 3). Discussion Our results, which suggest that co-branding with NBs can be an effective strategy if PLs have low familiarity, are consistent with prior research. PLs in Japan, which have a lower penetration ratio than those in Europe and the United States, are still in a developmental stage (Kumar & Steenkamp, 2007). Since PLs in Japan are less familiar than leading NBs, co-branding with an NB can be an effective strategy for a PL. On the other hand, when a PL is already established as a brand and has high familiarity, co-branding with a NB might have little effect. In this case, it might be necessary to devise a different strategy, such as changing a PL’s brand name. Seven Premium, the most popular PL in Japan, was introduced in 2007. From the beginning, when its brand had low familiarity, it opted for a co-branding strategy, and our findings suggest that this decision significantly improved overall attitudes toward PLs.

Introduction Consumers throughout the world, including Asia, are showing increased concerns about food safety. Public policy, industry, and academic researchers are turning increased attention to the effects of food labeling requirements. General food labels provide information about serving size, servings per container, total calories per serving, calories from fat, and minimum daily nutritional value. Consumers must then use the food labeling information to make individual dietary choices. Thus it is appropriate for researchers to ask how consumers formulate product choices and evaluations according to food labeling information including calorie counts and standardized nutritional information (Ford et al. 1996; Keller et al. 1997; Roe, Levy, & Derby 1999). Long-term strategies are critically needed to find ways to protect public health and to assure food safety. Health practitioners and governmental regulators have increased their efforts to address the growing problem by sponsoring programs for food safety and by requiring nutritional labeling. In answer to the need for further research in food consumption behavior (RFC), this study was conducted to investigate how manufacturers might use consumers’ perceptions of risks and involvement for planning the most effective food labeling. Theoretical Framework To find ways to promote general and social marketing healthful consumer use of food labels (Lefebvre, 1988; McDermott, 2000), this study utilizes consumer segmentation techniques in which consumers are categorized according to psychological and demographic profiles (Slater, Kelly, & Thackeray, 2006). That is, they are segmented based on essential homogeneous responses (Forthofer, 2000; Kotler, 1971) and demographic characteristics, including age, gender, income and social class, although demographics may be less effective than psychological differences for predicting responses to health promotions (Lefebvre, 1988; Slater, 1991). The psychographics approach to consumer segmentation, derived from marketing techniques, selects variables that predict health behaviors; that is, consumers are segmented according to how they process communication channel properties and message features (Rimal & Adkins, 2003). By focusing on consumer segmentation we elucidate how consumers react to food labeling designed to promote health and food safety. Consumer segmentation should help us understand why consumers might reject risky unhealthful behaviors and adopt protective healthful behaviors (Slater, 2006). The risk perception attitude framework (Garretson & Burton, 2000; Rimal & Real 2003; Turner, Rimal, Morrison &, Kim, 2006) is a theoretical perspective for segmenting consumers based on their perceptions of risk and their beliefs about personal efficacy. According to the risk perception attitude framework, risk perceptions are usually insufficient to motivate behavior, but when high risk perceptions are coupled with strong efficacy beliefs, people are more motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. Social cognitive theory and the extended parallel process model also support the importance of efficacy beliefs as moderating risk perception effects on self-protective behavior (Bandura 1986; Witte 1994). Using the risk perception attitude framework for purposes of this study, consumers are classified into four groups according to their risk perception and self-efficacy as indicated by their involvement in health concerns. 1) The "indifference" group comprises study participants who have low risk perceptions and low involvement; they believe they face few risks, lack control of their actions, and are thus not motivated to undertake protective behaviors. 2) The "responsive" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and high involvement and thus are motivated to undertake extensive self-protective behaviors. 3) The "proactive" group comprises participants who have low risk perception but high involvement; they believe strongly in their personal abilities to take control, but perceive low risk and are thus not motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. 4) The "avoidance" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and low involvement; they are concerned about the need to counter risks but lack the self-efficacy and involvement to follow recommendations. Research Questions To examine the risk perception attitude framework in the context of research on food consumption behavior (RFC), three central research questions are posed: RQ1: How are consumers classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement? RQ2: Do different consumer types show different attitudes toward paying higher prices for safer food and toward paying attention to food labels? RQ3: What factors influence consumer classifications? Methods Data for this study came from research on food consumption behavior (RFC) conducted by Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) in 2014. In 2013, the KREI began gathering data regarding food consumption behavior to help the food industry develop more efficient use of food resources. RFC data are appropriate because they include data about various consumption patterns regarding food lifestyles, purchases, and food safety. Specifically, RFC for this study, we gathered data for a stratified sampling of 6,311 consumers, 19 to 75-years-old, living in 16 metropolitan city-regions in South Korea. Table 1 shows general features of the research participants. Among the respondents, 44.2% were men; 55.8% were women; 10.7% were 19 to 25-years-old; 37.6% were high school graduates; 46.9% had lower than middle school graduation levels, 21.9% were college graduates, 2.3% had post-graduate levels, 1.1% were uneducated; 36.5% had average monthly family incomes of 200~399; 1.3% had the highest rate of 1000 and more; 1.0% had low to moderate interest in health; 42.8% reported that they bought food two or three times weekly; 0.7% reported buying food once a month. Respondents reported an average 3.93 regarding risk perceptions for food safety. Their reported average level of involvement was 3.32; average of intention to pay higher prices for safe food was 3.37, and their average likelihood of checking food labels was 3.15. Measurement To score education levels, the uneducated group = 1, less than middle school = 2, high school graduates = 3, college graduates = 4, and postgraduates = 5. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to measure participants’ interest in their health (1 = complete indifference to 5 = very much interested). Also a five-point Likert scale was used to measure perceived risk for twelve items related to food safety: foreign substances, pesticide residue, use of antibiotics in livestock and fish, natural toxicity, food additives, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, bacterial contamination, livestock disease, GMO, irradiation, packing hazards, and allergens (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Involvement was measured for three questions regarding food origin, food materials, and eco-friendly products (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels were measured from 1 = not at all to 5 = very positive. Results Four consumer groups were classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement. We followed previous RPA model studies (e.g., Sullivan et al., 2008; Jo & Yoo, 2011) and classified groups based on median perceived risk and involvement: (≥4.00) for high perceived risk, (<4.00) for low perceived risk, (≥3.333) for high involvement, and (< 3.33) for low involvement. The responsive group had high perceived risk and high involvement; the proactive group had low perceived risk and high involvement; the avoidance group had high perceived risk and low involvement; and the indifference group had low perceived risk and low involvement. Additionally, ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey test was conducted to examine the average difference among the four groups regarding their intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. Multinomial logit regression was performed to discover the factors that influence classification of consumer types. Classification of consumer types according to perceived risk and involvement Table 1 shows the consumer classifications according to the level of perceived risk and involvement: 1,198 participants, 21.8%, were in the indifference group with low perceived risk and low involvement; 1,254 participants, 22.8%, were in the proactive group with low perceived risk and high involvement; 1,125 participants, 20.5%, were in the avoidance group with high perceived risk and low involvement; 1,924 participants, 35.5%, were in the responsive group with high perceived risk and high involvement. Among the four groups, the responsive group had a statistically significant relatively high ratio: χ2 value for group classification was 79.695 (p <.001). Consumer classification differences in purchase intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels Table 2 shows differences in intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. The proactive group showed the highest average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food at 3.52, followed by the responsive group at 3.51, the avoidance group at 3.25, and the indifference group at 3.16. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that the high involvement group, in contrast with the low involvement group, showed higher average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food. Among the low involvement groups, those with high perceived risk had higher average intentions than those with low perceived risk. The responsive group showed the highest average intentions to check food labels at 3.44, followed by the proactive group at 3.43, the avoidance group at 2.74, and the indifference group at 2.27. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that high involvement groups, in contrast with low involvement groups, showed higher average intentions to check food labels, but no difference was found according to the level of perceived risk. Influential factors of consumer segmentations Table 3 shows the results of examining the factors of gender, age, education, monthly average family income, and interest in health that are typical in consumer segments. Comparing all groups with the responsive group, the indifference group was most likely to comprise young women who had lower educational levels, lower monthly income, and less interest in health. The proactive group was most likely to be made up of men. The avoidance group was most likely to be made of young men who had lower educational levels, lower monthly incomes, and less interest in health. Discussion This study is an investigation of the theoretical framework of risk perception and involvement according to indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance consumer segments. The study centrally indicates that the four risk perception–involvement framework groups differ in their perceptions of risk and the extent of their involvement. By revealing the importance of high involvement as a fruitful intervention strategy, the results suggest practical implications for public policymakers and marketers who strive to devise appropriate food labeling. Social cognitive theory has long stressed the importance of enhancing personal involvement (Bandura 1986). That insight can be applied to the risk perception attitude framework for identifying particular audiences who will respond to involvement-enhancing messages. Our findings suggest that a useful strategy in promoting change is to recognize that consumers will react differently according to their tendencies toward indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance.

E-commerce has become an irreplaceable sales channel for businesses of any size all around the globe. It is a major source of revenue and sales through this channel continue to gain momentum with an annual growth rate of 20%3). The ubiquity, flexibility, and convenience associated with e-commerce has undoubtedly changed the consumption patterns. However, consumers’ preferences and considerations when making purchasing decisions are not static either. In a global competition, businesses have to adopt quickly to respond emerging trends in retail. An important and persistent trend in this regard is ethical consumption, a development which has been widely researched in an offline context. The present experiment demonstrated that online shop-related ethical labeling positively influences consumers’ willingness to pay and purchase intention across a broad range of products. While any type of ethical labeling showed a positive effect in these regards as compared to no ethical labeling, there was no pronounced difference between the various types of labels used. Accordingly, we assume that consumers make inferences from a specific ethical label about the higher–level ethical “trait”.

46 2016 Global Marketing Conference at Hong Kong Proceedings: 46-47 (July 2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.15444/GMC2016.01.04.01 WHY DO CONSUMERS BUY PREMIUM PRIVATE LABELS? – SOME QUAL-ITATIVE INSIGHTS Olivier Reimann, University of Vienna, Austria1) Udo Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria2) ABSTRACT Private labels (PL) have developed remarkably well during the last two decades. In many Western European countries they achieved market shares of around 30 percent and more. A phenomenon that recently gained momentum in academia and practice are premium PL (PPL). That are PL positioned as “better and cheaper” or “higher in price and superior in quality” compared to the leading NB. However, with regard to the perceived quality gaps consumers attributed economy and standard PLs vis-à-vis national brands (NB) in the past, it appears contradictory that PPL could become “one of the hottest trends in retail-ing”. To the best of the authors’ knowledge no study published up to now has addressed the following research question: Why do consumers prefer PPL over NB or other PL tiers. The present work tries to provide some insights into this research gap. We conducted two empirical research projects which aim at shedding some light on po-tential drivers of PPL product choice. Both projects are field studies with two leading grocery retail chains in a Central European country as research objects. In this country, the grocery retail market is characterized by a relatively high PL market share (29 percent in 2013) and a high concentration of retailer power: in 2014 the top three retailers cov-ered 85 percent of the overall market. Project I conducted focus group interviews. Partici-pants discussed about economy PL, standard PL and PPL products. Participants debated whether / under which circumstances they would choose one of these PL tiers or a NB. Research project II consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with consumers in stores. The study revealed major determinants of PPL product choice: (1) quality and price, (2) packaging, (3) origin, and uniqueness, and (4) co-branding. We also gained some insights into the role of psychographics and demographics, brand management and communica-tion as well as on store loyalty. Disadvantageous for retailers, the reasons for PPL prod-uct choice are mainly not PPL brand related. PPL shoppers search for intrinsic or extrin-sic cues and would buy any other brand that offers a similar product. However, the find-ings for co-branding PPL showed that suggestions to apply traditional branding strategies in order to increase (premium) PL success should gain more attention from academia and retailers.

This study examined the utilization of processed food and the recognition of food labels among 257 university students (201 females and 56 males) in Seoul and Kangwon-do. The results of the study showed that the most important considered information on food labels are shelf life, nutrition facts, and price in sequential order. Female students’recognition of nutrition facts was significantly higher than that of male students (p<0.05). Female students more attentively checked the manufacturer, origin of the products, and shelf life information on food labels than did the male students. In checking out the food labels information, the most checked items on food labels were calories, trans fatty acid and cholesterol in that order and the least checked information was the sodium contents. Among processed foods, male students’consumption was dominant in instant noodles, frozen dumplings, and canned goods, while female students had more candies/chocolates. In selecting processed foods, male students showed strong preference for cheaper and quantitative products, while female students chose more tasty, brand new, well-known brand, and products of domestic origin. Frequency of canned and frozen food consumption showed a positive correlation with BMI, while candies/chocolates showed a negative correlations with BMI. Negative correlations were found in the attitude of selecting food with longer shelf life and BMI. The results of this study suggest that university students need to be well informed to make wise food choices that contribute to a healthy diet. Additionally, food manufacturers and government authorities concerned should make certain that consumers know how to use food label information more easily and effectively through proper education.

The purposes of this study were to examine understanding, attitudes, and behaviors of college students regarding the nutrition labels of food package and the relations among these factors and demographic background such as educational experience with label, major, home place and parents' status. The study was surveyed 471 undergraduate students enrolled in general education classes at local university. Generally, college students could understand nutrition label. Nutrition related class in college didn't influence Nutrition label understanding, use and purchasing behavior. Students whose mothers with higher than college education level and professional work showed strong dependability on nutrition label. Label use, understanding and purchasing behaviors significantly associated with gender of subjects. All the subjects looked at the amount of sodium most frequently among all the nutrients listed on the food package(88.8%). Of all the food labels, the manufacturing date(25.1%) was considered the most important and the refund and exchange(12.9%) was considered the least important information. This paper suggested that nutrition education program for college students needs to be developed in series from elementary school curriculum and to enhance the use of nutrition labels.

Purpose - This study aims to explore the influence of combining "non-halal" labels with visual and textual warning labels on cigarette packages to induce the intention to quit smoking and boost the stop-smoking campaign. Research design, data, and methodology - This study examines" non-halal" labeling on cigarette packages using an experimental method. A total of 120 smokers, aged 18-23, were chosen from among Universitas Indonesia students. Data obtained were analyzed using ANOVA and T-Test. Results - The use of a "non-halal" label as a warning on cigarette packages is more effective to influence Muslim smokers to quit smoking. The results also suggest that "non-halal" labels more effectively increase intentions to quit smoking when use din combination with textual-visual labels. Conclusions - The study found that the addition of "non-halal" labels in textual or textual-visual warning labels on cigarette packages would significantly increase the intention of Moslems smokers to quit smoking. These results support previous research findings, that if cigarettes are labeled as "non-halal" (haram) products for Moslem teenagers, it will induce them to quit smoking.

The small number of fusion research that addresses fear-appeal and self-efficacy in the effectiveness of warning labels cause the label is not clear, then the purpose of the study is the first to examine the effect of the combination of the message. With the experimental method, a total of 240 participants were smokers consist of Indonesian university students in the age range 18-23 years. Data obtained then processed with ANOVA statistical methods and Test T. The results are consistent with previous studies that the visual warning labels more effective than the textual warning labels alone. Results also suggest that a warning label should be both visual and textual messages combined with self-efficacy. Limitations, this study does not differentiate among smokers and non-smokers, in addition to the images are used only one type of disease, so that the research needs to be done to distinguish these factors.

최근 패키지디자인은 소재의 개발과 기술 발전에 힘입어 다양한 욕구를 충족시켜왔다. 본질적인 기능인 상품의 보호, 보존뿐 아니라 특정한 목적이나 전략에 따라 적절한 패키지디자인 적용이 가능해지면서 패키지는 브랜드 전략을 표출하는 디자인 방안의 하나로 많은 기능을 수행하고 있다. 본고에서는 이 가운데 특히 작은 면적의 한정된 요소인 라벨을 중심으로 최근의 기술 동향을 살펴보고 패키지디자인의 적용 가능성을 고찰하는데 목적이 있다. 패키지 라벨은 상품명과 브랜드를 표시하고 필요한 정보를 제공해준다. 그러나 제한된 크기나 공간적 한계로 인해 필요한 정보를 모두 제공할 수는 없으며 가능한 가장 효율적이고 시각적으로 어필할 수 있는 디자인을 찾기 위한 노력과 시도를 계속 하고 있다. 본고에서는 국내외 패키지의 라벨디자인 가운데서 기술적, 기능적 측면에서 차별화되고 의미 있는 사례들을 살펴보고 앞으로 다양한 방향에서 디자인 적용 가능성을 고찰하였다. 연구 결과 포장재의 발전에 따라 얇고 기능적이며 환경에 대한 부담을 줄여주는 라벨디자인이 다양하게 개발되고 있으며, 패키지 자체와 결합되거나 생략되는 등 기존의 라벨이라는 영역을 넘나드는 시도가 활발하며 이와 같은 시도는 더욱 확대될 것으로 기대된다.