Introduction Aim Research in the Swedish retail sector 2017, shows that 37% of the public in Sweden has attitudes and behavior that make them part of the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability group (Lohas). Lohas is a method (see Lohas.se) to measure sustainable living in a global context (Swedish Sustainability Ranking 2017). This make Sweden in the forefront. Furthermore, the Swedish government has issued a new law (entered into force in 2017) that demands Swedish companies with more than 250 employees or a certain turnover to annually report their sustainability efforts and how it connects to their business model. This is the background for our study investigating different industry sectors in Sweden. In this environment, retailers such as IKEA, Apoteket, Max Burger, Clas Ohlson, and H&M, followed by others, have gained recognition regarding their strong brands as well as good practice within sustainability. Sustainability has recently become more relevant to study. In Sweden repeated surveys, (2004-2017), have shown that Swedish retailers are perceived as the most reputable and sustainable of all companies. What is the background that makes retailers so trusted and sustainable among the general public and customers in Sweden? The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the underlying factors which give retailers in Sweden such a high sustainability scores over time i.e. what factors are important to achieve sustainable brand equity in the Swedish retail sector. A detailed comparison will be made of two large surveys carried out in 2016 and 2017. Design/methodology/approach This paper explores the branding framework Customer-Based Brand Equity as well as Points of Difference (POD) and Points of Parity (POP) in a projective retailer sustainability perspective, Keller, Apéria and Georgson (2012). The overall customer brand equity framework is developed by Keller (1993). PODs is defined as unique associations, strong and favorable, linked to a brand. POPs are associations that can be shared with other brands, Keller, Sternthal, and Tybout (2002). Ailawadi and Keller (2004) discuss the importance of measuring retailer brand equity. According to the researchers brand equity has been one of the most challenging and important issues for both academics and managers. The chosen framework and the analysis for the study is the corporate brand level. A sustainability index, developed by Apéria, has been developed and tested during the period 2015-2017. The sustainability index measures four dimensions of sustainability: environment/climate, society/ethics, longterm/future perspective, and openness (see figure 1). The index is inspired by the Triple bottom line approach. The data comes from the Swedish Sustainability Ranking, the largest survey on sustainability in Sweden. More than 18,000 online surveys were carried out in 2016 and 25,000 surveys carried out in 2017. The panelists participating in the survey were recruited in order to be representative of the Swedish general public, age 18-74 years. 190 well-known and visible consumer companies were measured in 2016 and 200 companies and organizations in 2017. These companies were selected because they are well-known, salient and represent important categories from a consumer point of view. Our view of salience is based on Ehrenberg, Barnard and Scriven (1997). A pre-study was carried out in 2015 in order to understand consumer criterias for choice of retailer. In 2016, 32 retailers where measured in a specific retailer frame of reference. 4,225 surveys where carried out among general public who participated in the study. In the 2017 survey, 35 retailers were measured and 3,416 surveys were carried out, also in a retailer frame of reference targeting the general public. All respondents taking part in the study initially ranked companies with product, brand, and sustainability attributes. The respondents ranked these retailers with approximately 35 brand- attitude questions (Likert scale from 1-7). In the second part of the interview each respondent also indirectly, through a projective approach, described the retailer. The perspective of reputation and sustainability metrics has traditionally been used in a strict rational point of view. One example of reputation metrics is the RepTrak model described by Fombrun, Ponzi, and Newburry (2015), and van Riel (2012). Chun and Davies (2004) and J. Aaker (1997) have also discussed corporate character and brand personality from a rational point of view. Ailawadi and Keller (2004) have pointed out that brand personality as an area deserves greater attention from research. The authors of this article argue that a complementary perspective is needed to fully understand how consumers evaluate corporate brands and sustainability and the complexity behind this process. The authors propose to add emotional components in the evaluation, as a complement to the traditional rational view. The proposed way to understand the emotional side of a corporate brand is to use projective techniques (Apéria 2001, Apéria and Back 2004, Keller, Apéria and Georgson 2012). An advantage of projective techniques is that they may elicit responses that respondents may be unwilling or unable to give by traditional interview methods. In this retailer study we used projective techniques in order to explore the more emotional aspects of the retailers. Findings The results from the analyze presents Swedish retailers as representing the most sustainable of all company categories in Sweden. During a period between 2004-2017 the retail category have been in top positions of the Swedish reputation and sustainability ranking, measured in a longitudinal study. Apoteket, The Body Shop and Clas Ohlson have been ranked as number one, one time each. While IKEA has been number one eleven times during the period. During the last two years, 2016 and 2017 IKEA was ranked as number one, based on the sustainability index. The analyze has shown that the highly sustainable retailers operating in the Swedish market primarily are characterized by strong brands as well as strong perceptions of sustainability. An interesting example is the local Swedish fast-food company Max Burgers that strongly outperforms McDonald´s both as a brand as well on sustainability. Successful retailers have different personalities, and archetypes compared with other corporate categories. The analysis reveals that the strongest retailers with a high sustainability index are characterized by having strong brand personalities. Furthermore, the analysis also reveals that the archetypes characterizing these retailers are we-oriented archetypes such as: ordinary/familiar, stable/down to earth, but also the ego-oriented archetype focused/specialist. Examples of retailers with a strong brand personality are IKEA, The Body Shop, Stadium, ICA, Zara and H&M. When we compare the data from the study 2016 with 2017 we see the same results. Our results from both studies indicate that local retailers are more positively evaluated than international. We-orientated brands score higher than ego-orientated. Some retail categories are perceived better than others are. Examples of strong retail categories are pharmacies, furniture, food, and sport stores and weak retailer categories are hamburger restaurants, consumer electronics and telecom stores. However, there is always an opportunity for a retailer to be stronger than the category they represent. One example, earlier mentioned is the local hamburger chain Max Burgers that strongly outperforms international competitors such as Burger King and McDonald´s, when we compare their sustainability indexes. The results indicate that both rational and emotional factors constitute an important part of the Sustainable Brand Equity Model. This new model (see figure 2) has been developed and tested during surveys 2015-2017 by one of the authors as a part of the Swedish Sustainability Ranking. Central components of the model are sustainability indexes, corporate brand personality, brand associations meeting need segments which lead to brand loyalty and trust capital. Finally, our survey shows that retailers needs to be strong in both brand and sustainability. It´s not enough to only excel in sustainability. Research limitations/implications The Sustainability survey was carried out both in 2016 and 2017 in a retailer frame of reference including different retailers from different sectors. The authors recognize that Swedes rank retailers as the most reputable and sustainable category of companies every year. In different countries the general public has different opinions about which companies they found most reputable (Apéria, Simcic Brønn, and Schultz, 2004). Originality/value The authors compares the chosen 32 retailers studied in 2016 with 35 retailers studied in 2017 with the same method. In both surveys we used both rational questions and emotional projective questions in order to understand the retailers in-depth. In both surveys a sustainability index was used in order to rank the retailers.

This study advances the literature by addressing the issues surrounding Sunday trading and provides in-depth insights into family-run small and medium size businesses (SMEs), employees and consumers attitudes and perception towards Sunday Trading. The results of semi-structured interviews found immense support for extending Sunday Trading hours and highlighted the socio-economic change. The arguments against Sunday Trading were found to be redundant. Sunday is the second busiest shopping day of the week. Lack of experienced Sunday workforce was found to be a major concern. Non-resident parents and parents with small children were amongst the supporters for reforming Sunday Trading act. Sunday is the new Saturday. The findings justify recent trends towards the creation of more pleasurable shopping environments that offer family activities to entice the customers into stores. Finally, more efforts should be made to understand and cater for the needs of the shoppers who believe reforming the Sunday Trading law is a necessity of today’s modern Britain. The findings demonstrate that Sunday Trading offers different benefits to consumers, employees and SMEs. The findings provide important implications for policy makers and practitioners.

Introduction There is ample evidence in the medical research literature to show that the harmful effects of smoking are real. As a result, most governmental agencies around the world attempt to discourage smoking among smokers and nonsmokers alike by requiring cigarette companies to print health-warning messages on their product packages as a means to deter smoking. Little, however, is known about the credibility of these cigarette-warning messages perceived by both smokers and non-smokers alike on the effectiveness of these messages. Other studies have also examined socio-psychological factors other than health warning messages such as peer pressure, bad breadth, et al., (Pechmann, et al, 2003) which can also influence consumer desires whether or not to smoke. No study to our knowledge has incorporated this factor other than just health warning messages in the same model to study this phenomenon. Furthermore, most research on this topic has focused on consumers in western industrialized countries, even though the issues related to smoking can be just as severe in developing countries and warrants more research attention. In this research, we propose to study the credibility of cigarette warning messages on the effectiveness of these messages on deterring smoking behavior and the mediating effects of the perceived health and social risks in an integrated structural equation model (SEM) framework in an emerging country- Turkey. The study should provide insights into how these factors may influence smokers and nonsmokers differently and enable public policy makers to institute programs or strategies targeting the two different segments of consumers. Literature Background and Hypotheses Copious research has reported on the efficacy of Health Warning Message (HWM) in the Health Communications and Marketing literature (for reviews see Hammond, 2011; Noar, et al, 2015; 2016). In the USA, current rules only require health warnings be printed with tiny fonts on cigarette packages. The effectiveness of this format to deter smoking has come into serious questions. Other countries including countries in the EU have long required pictorial depiction of health hazards resulting from smoking be printed on cigarette packages that must occupy a substantial portion (50% or more) of the surface area on the cigarette package. The assumption is that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. However, the results are equivocal at best (Sabbane, et al., 2009). The real impact of HWM continues to be a point for debate as there are other tobacco consumption reduction methods such as increased taxes and smoking bans (Ruiter & Kok, 2005) various governments can and have imposed. Previous research has shown that when consumers believe that smoking behavior leads to unhealthy consequences and is unwise and unattractive, they generally would refrain from engaging in this behavior (Azjen & Fishbein, 1980). However, consumers who think that they are invincible and that these health hazards will never affect them but only other people, may have engaged in the process of rationalization and may actually discount the credibility of these claims. If so, the HWM may become less effective (Kees, et al., 2006). We therefore formulate the following hypothesis: H1: Perceived credibility of HWMs increases the effectiveness of HWMs. On the other hand, the extent to which consumers may perceive that cigarette HWMs to be credible can better persuade them about the health and social risks such as yellow teeth, bad breath, bad smell, et al., leading to social rejection associated with smoking (Pechmann, et al., 2003). Hammond’s review article (2011) provided some evidence that size and the presentation format can enhance the believability of HWMs. We should expect then that a greater perceived credibility will lead to better persuasion. Similarly, Kowitt, et al. (2016) also show in their study that the believability of HWMs vary among the adolescents regarding cigar smoking. Again, the assumption is that if they perceive the messages to be more credible, they will be more effective in persuading them about the harmful effects of smoking. We thus formulate the following two hypotheses: H2: Perceived credibility of HWMs increases negative social risk perception of smoking H3: Perceived credibility of HWMs increase negative health risk perception of smoking Past research has revealed that knowledge about the negative consequences of a behavior can lead to behavior change even though this may be contingent upon how difficult it is to quit a behavior such as smoking (Nourjah, et al., 1994). Consumer behavior literature has confirmed that due to various factors, attitude may not correlate with behavior even in the context of smoking (Ruiter &Kok, 2005; Solomon, 2018). Extant literature suggests that HWMs may be more successful in influencing attitude (Cameron & Williams, 2015). This research focuses on the health risk perception’s potential impact on intention to quit smoking rather than the act of actually quitting smoking. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, other factors such as smoking ban and price increases, et al. may cause smoking behavior change. Hence we present the following hypothesis: H4: Perceived health risks associated with smoking influence the effectiveness of HWMs. Smoking has become less socially acceptable in western industrialized countries in recent years. Many nations and states have now banned smoking in public places such as colleges, restaurants and airports including second hand smokes. This creates a social stigma for many smokers. Smokers, as a result, has to bear greater social risks these days. This may also cause them to develop a negative attitude toward smoking as well as reducing their intention to smoke (Chuang & Huang, 2012). As Turkey is a country whose citizens care more about social acceptance, we postulate the following hypothesis: H5: Perceived social risks of smoking affect the effectiveness of HWMs. As mentioned earlier, the effectiveness of HWMs may vary according to subjects’ responses to such messages. They may discount the message veracity by a process of rationalization or even by the extent to which they may have been addicted to the habit. This is so particularly for smokers who may have engaged in such behavior for a long time. Hence, one should expect these messages to be more persuasive and thus more effective in dissuading non-smokers from starting the habit. Smokers, on the other hand, are likely to remain unconvinced and view these messages as exaggerations and therefore less affected by these messages (Hammond, 2009; Hahn & Renner, 1998; Pechmann & Knight, 2002). Based on this discussion, we postulate that the impacts of HWMs’ credibility on perceived health and social risks, as well as the messages’ effectiveness will vary depending on the smoking status of the subjects. We expect greater impacts for non-smokers. Therefore, we tested the SEM for smokers and the same model for nonsmokers in this study. The model is shown in Figure 1 in the Appendix. MethodologyWe designed a four parts questionnaire to measure the constructs in the model we used in this study. In the first part of the questionnaire, we first presented the 14 HWMs currently required by law in Turkey to be displayed on cigarette packages. Furthermore, each of these messages is to be rotated on the packages. We then used the semantic differential scale items comprising of five bipolar adjectives derived from previous literature (Beltramini, 1988; Renee & Cameron, 2015) to measure the perceived credibility of HWMs: (1) believable- unbelievable, (2) convincing- unconvincing, (3) reasonable- unreasonable, (4) easy to understand- hard to understand, (5) informativeuninformative. In the second part of the questionnaire, we operationalized the effectiveness construct by asking the respondents to indicate the extent to which they perceived these HWMs as effective on a 1 item semantic differential scale: “HWMs motivate me to quit or not quit smoking” for smokers and “HWMs reduce my curiosity and desire to try smoking” for nonsmokers. In the third part of the questionnaire, we measured health and social risks perceptions by using 4 statements. Respondents were asked to indicate their agreement/disagreement with each of the 5- point Likert scales culled from Kim (2006): Smoking makes me “contract various diseases and become addicted (health risks); Smoking makes me look “stupid, filthy (social risks). The last part of the questionnaire asked respondents about their smoking status and demographics including age, gender and the level of education. We collected the data by posting a copy of the questionnaire online on a website dedicated to discussing higher education issues in Turkey (www.akademikpersonel.org). We obtained an effective sample size of 432 after removing those with incomplete answers. Male and female respondents constituted 50 % of the sample each. The largest percentage of respondents was in the age group of 17 to 22 (35 %). Respondents (249) who have achieved the level of a college undergraduate degree or equivalent on education constituted 58 % of the sample. We conducted Chi-sqaure analyses to test significance of demographic differences between the two groups of smokers and nonsmokers. The results revealed no significant differences on age (χ2/3df=4.83; p=0.185), gender (χ2/1df=2.70; p=0.123) and the level of education (χ2/2df= 0.873; p= 0.646) between the smoking and nonsmoking subsamples. ResultsWe used WarpPLS 5.0 to conduct the structural model analyses as this analysis tool does not require the data set to be normally distributed (Kock & Lynn, 2012). We first tested the measurement scales with respect to their convergent and discriminant validities through standardized factor loadings. We conducted an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). We eliminated two items on the credibility scale, which did not reach at least 0.5 on factor loadings for both subsamples. The two remaining items are “believable” and “convincing”. We then evaluated reliabilities of the scales for both subsamples, results for both subsamples showed that both credibility and health risk scales achieved Cronbach’s α scores higher than 0.7. Even though the Cronbach α score for the two items scale to measure social risk only reached a value of 0.6 for each of the subsample, this is considered adequate due to the smaller number of items used (Field, 2013). We assessed the assumptions of PLS-SEM. Variance inflation factors (VIFs) are well below the recommended 3.30. Hence, both vertical and lateral collinearity assumptions were met, thus deemed to be free from the common method bias (Kock & Lynn, 2012). We then evaluated convergent and discriminant validities of the latent construct. Discriminant validity was achieved as the square roots of AVE (average variance extracted) scores were higher than and correlation of the factor with another measure (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). For each subsample, composite reliabilities of all factors were higher than 0.8 and indicators’ loadings higher than 0.5 on the latent constructs. Thus, all scales used in the model achieved convergent validities for each subsample. We then proceeded to test the structural model for each of the subsamples. The results showed that for nonsmokers, the model explained 12% of total variance in the effectiveness of HWMs and for smokers 33%. All path coefficients were significant for nonsmokers except the health risks → HWMs effectiveness (β= 0.05, p= 0.23). Other path coefficients all showed significance as follows: perceived credibility of HWMs → perceived health risks (β= 0.154, p= 0.01), perceived credibility → perceived social risks (β= 0.148, p= 0.014), perceived credibility of HWMs → perceived effectiveness (β= 0.285, p < 0.01) and perceived social risk → perceived effectiveness (β= 0.148, p < 0.014). For the smokers’ subsample, the path coefficient between the perceived health risks and effectiveness was also shown to be non-significant (β= 0.06, p= 0.19). All other path coefficients all showed significance as follows: perceived credibility of HWMs → perceived health risks (β= 0.197, p < 0.01), perceived credibility → perceived social risks (β= 0.247, p< 0.001), perceived credibility of HWMs → perceived effectiveness (β= 0.503, p < 0.001) and perceived social risk → perceived effectiveness (β= 0.213, p < 0.001). These results confirmed H1, H2, H3 and H5 but not H4 for both smokers and nonsmokers. Discussion and Conclusion This study reveals some useful insights about how HWMs on cigarette packages may influence smokers and nonsmokers differently in an emerging country- Turkey, which can be used by public policy makers to formulate effective anti-smoking campaigns to target the two groups. The effect sizes appeared to be greater for smokers than nonsmokers. This suggests that if these HWMs can be crafted to be perceived as more credible, the smokers can be more persuaded to quit smoking than for nonsmokers to start smoking. These results appear to be consistent across the board whether we are considering the direct effect or indirect effects through the mediating variables. This is perhaps somewhat consistent with what we would expect based on our earlier discussions. Smokers may be more resistant to HWMs due to the fact they are already engaged in such behavior and therefore more likely to discount the messages as well as the associated health and social risk perceptions. For nonsmokers, on the other hand, it may not take as much to convince them about the harmful effects of smoking and therefore greater perceived credibility of HWMs may be less critical in persuading them not to start smoking. It is important then when designing such HWMs to consider carefully whether these messages are perceived to be credible. Some of the US cigarette warning messages printed in tiny scripts are ambiguous such as smoking can be harmful to your health clearly can not be expected to be highly credible. Research has also shown that pictorial messages can be more persuasive. However, research has also shown that the results are far from being conclusive (Sabbane, et al., 2009). More research is warranted, especially in emerging countries. It is also interesting to note that social risks perceptions are more persuasive than health risks perceptions. Future communications strategies should place a greater emphasis on this factor and not just on health risks. Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research Although our study is able to provide some useful insights into how perceived credibility of HWMs can influence the effectiveness in deterring smoking among nonsmokers and smokers alike either directly or indirectly through perceived health and social risks, we would like to point out several limitations of this study. First, we collected our data online using a web portal in Turkey that focuses on discussing higher education issues in general and therefore the respondents’ level of education is higher than the general population as well as the age group being younger. Future study should collect data from other age groups and education levels to produce results that are more generalizable. We conducted our study in one emerging country- Turkey. In future studies, more countries should be included. As the results revealed the prominence of social risks over health risks in influencing the effectiveness of anti-smoking campaigns, the issue about how to promote the social wellbeing of not smoking (promotional) versus the health risks aspects of the campaign warrants further research.

The hotel industry vs. online travel agencies: forever foe? The rise of Online Travel Agency (OTA) conglomerates such as Expedia and Priceline has forced the hotel industry to find ways of working with, or avoiding, an increasingly powerful channel for room distribution, and an increasingly relevant set of brands for consumers (Zhang, Denizci Guillet, & Kucukusta, 2015; Lee, Denizci Guillet, & Law, 2013). Although strategizing how to work with different electronic distribution channels has been studied, very few of them have addressed hoteliers‘ perceptions of OTAs, and how OTAs are affecting the industry. In this exploratory research, we sought to investigate the state of current and possible future relationships between OTAs and the hotel industry, from the perspective of diverse hoteliers in the U.S. Using a grounded theory method (Charmaz, 2014; Corbin, Strauss, & Strauss, 2014) that advises to maximize variety to increase the chances of finding new distinctions through a method of ‗constant comparison‘ between data sources, we interviewed eight highly accomplished hotel industry professionals in the U.S., mostly executives, across a variety of roles. Two of our informants were owners/operators of a large hotel management group (Interviewees 1 and 2), one was a former C-level executive at a major hotel brand (Interviewee 3), one was a senior executive at a midlevel regional hotel brand (Interviewee 4), one was the owner/operator to two family-run independent hotels (Interviewee 5), one was the owner of an independent, luxury hotel online services provider (Interviewee 6), one was the manager of a mid-level major brand hotel (Interviewee 7), and one was the owner of a hotel real estate investment company (Interviewee 8). The interviews were semi-structured on: the influence of OTAs on their business, and the hotel industry in general and current strategies for working with, or competing against, OTAs. The interviewees were guaranteed full anonymity, and the resulting 60-75 minute conversations were fully transcribed. Based on the grounded theory design, we followed gradual phases of data analysis: a preliminary open coding phase where concepts are associated with a line-by-line reading of transcripts; a focused coding phase where a limited number of concepts are chosen for further analysis; and an ‗axial‘ coding phase where concepts are systematically related to each other. During the open coding phase, this study‘s authors individually did initial code generation. They then came together to select the primary themes that emerged during focused coding, and worked together to relate the chosen themes to each other, and to key contextual variables such as industry role, hotel size, and hotel category. The impact of OTAs The first consistent perception of OTAs from every corner of the hotel industry is that they ―are not going away‖ (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8). The interviewees noted that OTAs first came into the picture post 9-11 when the market was down. Back then, hoteliers ―signed up for OTAs without thinking about any future impacts‖ (Interviewee 5), and ―did not anticipate how disruptive they were going to be, because the original OTA model was to sell distressed or unusable inventory‖ (Interviewee 1). The negative perceptions of OTAs were widespread, with the use of terms such as ―necessary evils‖, ―evil empires‖, and ―Frankenstein‖ (Interviewees 4 and 5). The hotel industry ―sold its soul‖ to OTAs (Interviewee 1), we [hoteliers] are idiots‖ (Interviewee 8) and ―we hate them all.‖ (Interviewee 5). The interviewees expressed that OTAs have had an unexpectedly significant and negative impact on the hotel industry and their business, ―dramatically changing the landscape of hotel business‖ (Interviewee 8). With a marketing budget far larger than that of many hotels, OTAs have successfully convinced consumers to book on their websites for speed, convenience, choice, and loyalty points, and made them believe – incorrectly, according to the interviewees – that they can get the cheapest rates there. The negative view of OTAs has led to a predominantly zero-sum view of the hotel- OTA relationship. OTAs have consolidated to develop a large network of suppliers, and they have been taking more direct business away from hotels, according to the interviewees. As such, the main impact of OTAs on the interviewees‘ hotel bookings was increasing costs due to commission fees to the OTAs, which ―drive up the customer acquisition cost, [which is why] profit hasn‘t gone up in proportion to the revenue increase‖ over the years (Interviewee 6). All but one interviewee mentioned the term ―rate parity,‖ whereby hotels and OTAs have to offer the same room rates on their respective websites. Nonetheless, one interviewee expressed discontent about OTAs‘ practices of rate parity, because hoteliers have ―no clue what they‘re selling [my inventory] for, especially when hotels are packaged with other travel products‖ (Interviewee 5). To minimize this negative financial impact, hotels try to increase direct bookings as much as possible from their members by offering extra features such as mobile check-in, or better rates available only to them. This ‗closed group‘ offering is also practiced by OTAs through which their loyalty program members can also be offered more favorable pricing or terms. The interviewees mentioned that the impact of OTAs is larger for independent than for chain hotels because independent hotels have no ―big distribution channel, and it‘s a way for [them] to be visible‖ (Interviewee 8). However, OTAs are more expensive for independent than for chain hotels, as the latter can leverage their large size to negotiate better terms with OTAs. The OTA commission rates at the interviewees‘ hotels ranged between 6% and 28%, with the highest rate being for independent hotels. Four interviewees pointed out that hotel location and service/price level influence the degree to which OTAs are utilized. That is, OTAs‘ booking volume is higher at resorts, and at hotels at or near airports with a high guest turnover. OTAs‘ booking volume is also higher for hotels with limited service (economy or budget hotels) than those with higher levels of service/price (luxury or upper scale hotels). The former, as compared to the latter, are akin to ―soap on a shelf‖ (Interviewee 8) because they are not distinctive in the consumer‘s mind, and consumers who choose to stay at the former are typically price-elastic. Although the majority of bookings at major chain hotels are still generated by direct bookings, what concerns the hoteliers most is that the percentage of bookings by OTAs has been ―growing at a double-digit rate for many years‖ (Interviewee 3). This makes the interviewees feel that ―OTAs take customers away‖ from their hotels (Interviewee 8). Strategic response of the hotel industry Although all the interviewees acknowledged and worried about the negative financial impact of OTAs, the only consistent strategy for coping with OTAs was to divert bookings to more cost-effective channels such as direct booking, or ―limit visibility over premium dates as much as possible‖ (Interviewee 8). They responded that they use or have to use most or all major OTAs (e.g., Expedia, Priceline), simply because these are prevalent and most familiar to consumers today. The response to the perceived OTA threat varied, depending on the respondent‘s role in the hotel industry. The REIT investor (Interviewee 8) and the major brand executive (Interviewee 3) displayed the purest zero-sum view of the relationship. The REIT investor believed the best response is to strengthen the bargaining position of hotels and win back lost revenue, expressing that hotels are ―letting other people take all this money…we‘re stupid.‖ From the major brand perspective, the best response was consolidation (getting bigger) to have better leverage in complex OTA negotiations, and to have more capital for marketing campaigns and technology development. For the more ―independent‖ respondents there was more scope to react by working with OTAs at some level. The single hotel manager and the independent hotel owner both used the metaphor of ―playing the game‖ to survive in the new era: ―You‘d better play ball with them if you want a presence online‖ (Interviewee 5). For an independent hotel, ―Expedia is my franchise website‖ (Interviewee 7) because OTAs are ―doing things that I could never do as an independent‖ (Interviewee 5). In particular, they emphasized the necessity to understand and master the digital marketing landscape of social media, review sites, search engine optimization, daily deal sites, and a good online presence on their own websites, expressing ―You gotta fish where the fish are‖ (Interviewee 4). Independent and small hotels do suffer from higher OTA commissions, but can also work in their favor in terms of preferred placement in hotel searches and referrals from OTAs. The technology service company‘s, (Interviewee 6) key strategic response was to gain control over customer data, because customer email addresses are particularly important for ―retargeting and email marketing to get guests back for zero costs‖ but is difficult to obtain when receiving bookings from OTAs. Some interviewees were able to see other potential strategic responses that were promising, but not yet pursued widely. One example was ‗bundling‘ products and services along with hotel rooms in new ways (Interviewees 1, 2, 4, 5, 6), similar to Airbnb‘s recent pivoting of offerings. Recognizing that part of the success of OTAs comes from customer convenience, some interviewees thought that innovations such as eliminating check-in (Interviewee 4) would help hotels cope with the new pressures. The regional hotel chain executive and the hotel management company owners perceived that changes to the physical product offered by hotels were needed to compete with Internet providers, especially Airbnb, saying that hotels need to ―rethink the long hallway‖ and the ―300 square-foot rooms‖ (Interviewee 4). This same executive saw significant barriers to innovation in the hotel industry. ―We [hotel industry] are definitely trying…but we are capital heavy, labor heavy, slow to innovate‖ (Interviewee 4). Discussion Our exploratory findings suggest that hoteliers, across a variety of hotel industry roles, had an almost uniformly profoundly negative, zero-sum view of the OTA relationship. While not dismissing the very real concerns and profitability pressures of the hotel industry, we are concerned that these perceptions may lead hotel industry players to not pursue or develop the relationship between them and OTAs in more mutually beneficial ways. The strategy of choice right now is to simply compete directly with OTAs, which is not a strategy that has necessarily worked for other traditional industries when digital intermediaries have entered their space, especially highly fragmented ones with many service providers such as the media and retail industries (Grossman, 2016). This view of the relationship does explain the relative lack of innovation about how to maximize the benefits of this relationship for both sides. In contrast to the zero-sum view, we would point to an alternative theory such as coopetition (Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 2011). The theory of co-opetition points to two simultaneous processes: the cooperation required to ‗create the pie‘, or create value for all parties; and the competition to ‗divide up the pie‘ or capture the value created. Success in co-opetition comes from ‗changing the game‘ by developing new partnerships with four related parties: customers, suppliers, competitors, and complementors that offer ancillary services. In our data, we saw some tentative recognition of co-opetition possibilities in each of these four categories. For new customer relationships, we saw some desire by hoteliers to improve customer convenience and value, beyond simply increasing loyalty rewards. Some hoteliers recognized that OTAs have succeeded in part because of the consumer convenience and value proposition is a superior one. For new supplier relationships, there is limited recognition that new kinds of hotel products might be needed, supplied by non-traditional sources as in the Airbnb case, or by construction partners when building new hotels. Hotels have traditionally worked with complementors by bundling rooms with various travel services such as gaming or meals, but OTAs and Airbnb now offer similar services, making it difficult for hoteliers to differentiate themselves. Thus, there is an opportunity for hoteliers to creatively rethink their relationship with complementors, which none of our respondents mentioned. Despite the negative perceptions, our respondents reported some possibilities for new relationships with their OTA competitors, by using digital marketing techniques to their own advantage. To take an example, instead of having a booking war against OTAs, Red Lion Hotels strategically decided it would partner with Expedia in 2016. When customers see Red Lion hotel rates on Expedia sites, they see both a loyalty member rate, which is lower, and a non-member rate. Even if they are not part of Red Lion‘s loyalty program, customers can still book the loyalty rate and are then automatically enrolled as Red Lion members – thus enjoying member benefits while at the same time also earning points with Expedia. To complete the enrollment, the customer‘s email address is then sent to Red Lion ―which is a big deal because the online travel agencies don‘t normally share such information with partners‖ (Schaal, 2016b, p. 1). Looking across all four categories of new co-opetition relationships, however, we see little evidence of coordinated, systematic strategies for pursuing them in the hotel industry. For the hotel industry to respond to the rise of today‘s OTAs, and the other technology companies that might enter the industry in the future, we suggest that hotels will need to transcend their negative, zero-sum views of the OTA relationship and actively experiment with new co-opetition relationships. In addition, the hotel industry should also continue to improve the effectiveness of its traditional responses to OTAs, including their loyalty programs and brand loyalty initiatives. Several interviewees acknowledged that consumer behavior is changing and consumers today are not as brand loyal at they used to be. Research results echo the same phenomenon. For example, Wollan, Davis, De Angelis, and Quiring (2017) found that 71% of 25,426 respondents in 33 countries said ‗loyalty programs do not engender loyalty‘; 77% ‗retract their loyalty more quickly than they did three years ago‘; and 61% said they ‗switched one brand to another in the last year.‘ Decreasing brand loyalty is also apparent for hotels. MBLM (2017) found that consumers have the least ‗brand intimacy‘ (emotional bond with a brand) with hotel brands compared to those of other industries such as automotive and retail. Similarly, Oracle Hospitality (2017) found that 58.7% of survey participants (8,000 in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, France, Germany, Japan, U.K. and U.S.) stated that they do not belong to any hotel program. The Global Traveler Study (2014) also found the diminishing meaning of ‗loyalty to one hotel,‘ as 66% of their 4,618 respondents in the U.S., U.K., Germany and China are members of 1-4 hotel loyalty programs, while 15% are members of 5 or more programs. Despite the decreasing numbers and the questioned value of such programs, hoteliers are still trying to make consumers loyal to their own brand by enticing them to join their loyalty program. This effort is to increase direct bookings and compete with OTAs by offering ‗member-only‘ incentives such as member discounts, or additional perks such as free late check-outs, free meals, or free upgrades. However, these incentives may exacerbate the already increasing costs for hoteliers, particularly if they are attracting consumers who are price sensitive and would not book directly unless they get something back. While the interviewees mentioned their efforts to increase direct bookings through loyalty programs, none referred to the cost of those programs. Given the changing consumer behavior toward becoming less loyal to brands, it stands to reason for hoteliers to re-consider their loyalty programs. Conclusion Hoteliers are fighting intermediation and trying to push direct bookings. This is nothing new for them since they have been doing it with traditional travel agencies for years. Yet, bookings with traditional agencies remain strong, and OTA bookings continue to grow. It seems that it might be time for hoteliers to quit fighting intermediation, and embrace the ―good‖ that it can bring by adopting a co-opetition mindset, while also creatively thinking about brand loyalty programs and what they might bring to that mindset – if anything. In the zero-sum perception of OTAs, however, we found little space for innovative thinking about how to create new offerings through new partnerships, or loyalty programs. While existing OTAs, and emerging OTAs such as Airbnb, are personalizing services for customers, offering new services that are bundled with rooms, and new products with a new population of room suppliers, the hotel industry‘s response is to simply copy what the OTAs are doing and apply it to their own online bookings. We urge the hotel industry to move beyond this response, and be equally creative in finding new co-opetition opportunities that speak to the traditional strengths of the hospitality industry and its experienced professionals.

“If you‟re ever found yourself wondering what to do during an annoyingly long layover (hi, hello, all of us), „get Botox‟ will soon join your list of possibilities – at least if you‟re traveling in South Korea”(MacKenzie, 2017). Introduction Cosmetic surgery has become a new attraction for Chinese tourists to visit Korea. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea, 27,646 of 127,648 Chinese medical tourists who visited Korea in 2016 did so to obtain cosmetic surgery (Nam, 2017). This paper presents how external desire influenced the socio-historical development of the cosmetic surgery tourism in South Korea, focusing on Chinese crossborder consumption. In analyzing this relatively new phenomenon, we identified two intertwined desires. Specifically, while popularity of cosmetic surgery in South Korea is driven by the desire of individual Chinese consumers to obtain symbolic capital by achieving so-called K-beauty, this directly supports the collective desire of the Korean nation to construct a new Korean-ness. This trend has led to the promotion of Medical Korea, aiming to erase the former image of uncool industrial emerging country. In examining these complex practices, we employed the conception of “nation-ness” (Taylor, 1997) to elucidate the renewal of Korean national identity in the medical tourism industry and the global marketplace (Anderson, 1991; Appadurai, 1996; Lee, 2017). This paper commences with a brief outline of the socio-historical development of cosmetic surgery in Asian societies. We then discuss the connection of beauty and social capital among the Chinese consumer society and how Korean‟s cosmetic surgery industry has become the icon site for the achieving the ideal beauty. The paper closes with an illustration of the inter-relationship between the emerging consumer desire for beauty and the reconstruction of Korean-ness. Cosmetic surgery in contemporary asian consumer society Drawing on Giddens‟s (1991) notion of reflexivity, Belk (1988) and other consumer researchers have revealed that consumers consider their body as their possession and a reflection of their self. Consequently, some see it as a resource for constructing their desired identity through cosmetic surgeries (Askegaard, Gertsen, & Langer, 2002; Schouten, 1991; Thompson & Hirschman, 1995). While this phenomenon has mostly been examined in the context of contemporary Western consumer society, it is increasingly becoming more widespread. Such practices have resulted in human body no longer being viewed as a biological entity, but rather as “the finest consumption object” that can be further refined if needed (Baudrillard, 2005, p. 129). Altering one‟s body has traditionally been considered a taboo in many Asian cultures. In ancient Chinese society, there was a general perception that our bodies, down to a single hair and a flake of skin, are given to us by our parents. Therefore, any modification to the way our body looks and functions would be considered disrespectful to one‟s parents (Hua, 2013). However, in the world of cable TV and mass-circulation of Hollywood movies, in which social media has become an indispensable part of everyday life for most individuals, it is not surprising that Western beauty ideals have emerged as a dominant reference for the rest of the world. As the Westernized values and lifestyles become more easily accessible through media, they challenge these former social norms. Consequently, Asian women are increasingly seeking body modifications, such as plastic surgery, in an attempt to attain the elusive ideal beauty. In her research on body alternations, Orbach (2011) reported that 50 percent of teenage girls in South Korea planned to alter their faces or bodies through plastic surgery. According to the available evidence, in 2011, South Korea was rated first in the world in terms of the per capita ratio of aesthetic plastic surgeries (Shin, 2011). The success of South Korea‟s plastic surgery industry then made the country one of the best site for body alternations in the global beauty marketplace. Chinese desire for new face: beauty as capital Although it directly counters old Confucian doctrine of not tampering with one‟s body for filial piety, cosmetics surgery is very popular in China. In her book Buying Beauty, Hua (2013) noted that the increasingly brutal competition for jobs has prompted Chinese women to regard beauty as capital. It is thus not uncommon for Chinese parents to finance their daughters‟ cosmetic surgery, as they have come to perceive a pretty face as a worthwhile long-term investment, as it may increase the future career and/or marriage prospects of their daughters. For this reason, Chinese women are undergoing cosmetic surgery at a much younger age than do their Western counterparts. “Being good-looking is capital” has become the epitome of Chinese young girls. They consider attractive appearance that a cosmetic surgery may proffer as a form of capital, which they believe can give them a competitive advantage in the increasingly fierce job market (Hua, 2013). This attitude is prevalent among women, as gender and appearance discrimination is widespread in Chinese job market even in occupations where outward appearance usually has no relevance, such as civil service and government institutions (Hua, 2013). Owing to the increasingly widespread access to popular and social media and TV as a result of China reopening its doors, Chinese beauty standards have changed, whereby the perception of ideal image is heavily influenced by Western movies, pop culture, and the fashion and beauty industry (Hua, 2013). As Luo‟s (2012) research demonstrated, however, these newly adopted Western beauty ideals are coming into conflict with those that have traditionally been held by the Chinese. Yet, as Li et al. (2007) have shown, not all recent changes to the perceptions of and attitudes toward external appearance can be attributed to the Western influence. In their cross-cultural study on skin-whitening practices in four Asian markets, the authors reported that the desire for “white skin” in many Asian cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian) has a long history. Saraswati (2010) concurred with this finding, stating that, in the non-Western context, the desire for “whiteness” cannot be equated to the desire for “Caucasian whiteness,” implying that the concept of whiteness may be context-dependent. This tension seems to be relieved by the adoption of Korean beauty ideal, which blends the Western and Korean physical traits and has resulted in Hallyu or the Korean Wave. Since the late 1990s, the term “Hallyu” has been used to describe the influx of South Korean popular culture in Asia. Korean TV dramas, movies, and popular music (K-pop) have in recent decades become staples in Asian markets formerly dominated by Japan and Hong Kong (Seabrook, 2012). Since the Korean Wave hit China, the visual appearance, fashion trends, hairstyle choices, and make-up styles of Korean stars have become highly popular. Consequently, many Chinese people regard Korea as the cosmetic surgery hub of Asia, as Korean beauty is admired by Chinese people who thus aspire to attain it by undergoing various surgical and non-surgical procedures. This growing trend was spurred by the success of the TV drama, Jewel in the Palace, which resulted in the popularity of the lead actress Lee Young Ae among Chinese women, who would ask plastic surgeons to make them look like her (Hua, 2013). The popularity of Korean pop culture and the widespread adoption of the Korean beauty ideals can be interpreted as counter-standard against the Western beauty. Yet, as Hua (2013) and others argue, the rise of Korean influence in the Asian markets can also be viewed as an indication of the submission to the Western beauty imperialism. This tension exists, as their Mongolian heredity with more prominent noses and lighter skins than other Asians gives Koreans certain “Western” features (Fairclough, 2005). The new face and desire for the new national identity Not long ago, Korea had the reputation as an emerging industrial nation that manufactures low-cost cars and appliances (Fairclough, 2005; Seabrook, 2012). South Korea has a long history and reputation as an industrial hub in East Asia. Some of the top global brands, such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG, began as the key manufacturing partners of Western brands in the early and mid-twentieth century. Korea is also often associated with the Korean War, as described in US motion pictures, such as MASH (Preminger & Altman,1970). However, in the late 1990s, this image began to change with the increasing popularity of aforementioned Hallyu entertainment contents (Fairclough, 2005). In fact, the latest “Korean Wave” has ushered a brand-new transnational representation of Korea into the global marketplace. Following a highly successful cultural Hallyu, Korea has recently launched medical Hallyu, promoting cosmetic surgery (Eun, 2013). In the 2000s, Korean cosmetic surgery emerged as a successful byproduct of the Korean Wave. This growing trend has since become a source of great national pride in South Korea (Holliday, Bell, Cheung, Jones, & Probyn, 2015). While Korean entertainment products were generating enormous revenues, cosmetic surgery was recognized as a profitable addition to the already lucrative export industry, as foreign tourists were willing to travel to the country in order to undergo operations that would make them look like Korean Hallyu stars. In recognition of this change in attitudes towards physical appearance and beauty ideals, “Korean cosmetic surgery” (Hanshi zhengxing) and “Korean-style beauty” (Hanshi meirong) became key words in the cosmetic surgery advertisements in China (Davies & Han, 2011). Cosmetic surgery clinics in the trendiest Gangnam and Apgujeong districts of Seoul often provide medical tourism packages targeting foreign tourists coming from China and other Southeast Asian countries (Eun, 2013). As Hallyu boasts a creative integration of the Western and Korean elements in its entertainment contents (Shim, 2006), Korean cosmetic surgeons are attempting to achieve the same. According to a doctor that took part in Shim‟s (2009) study, Korean surgeons have the best skills to operate on Asian patients, as they have smaller physique and denser subcutaneous tissues compared to their Western counterparts. Although Korean surgeons used to travel to the U.S. to obtain training for the popular procedures, such as eyelid surgery, they subsequently modified the American techniques, realizing that they were inappropriate for the “Korean Body.” For instance, removing too much fat from the eyelids created an unnatural Western eyes that were not suitable for Korean facial structure. Such specialism, which is now internationally recognized, makes aspirant youths from neighboring China and Korean diaspora more than willing to travel to Korea to undergo elective cosmetic procedures that would improve their visual appearance (Holliday, Bell, Cheung, Jones, & Probyn, 2015). The Korean government‟s active support for the export of cultural products has also helped the proliferation of cosmetic surgery tourism. In 2009, the Korean National Assembly passed an amendment to the medical law, enabling hospitals to advertise their services and promote medical tourism (Eun, 2013). Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), a subsidiary organization of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, runs an online medical tourism platform website, visitmedicalkorea.com, to provide foreign tourists with information about Korean medical tourism. It also supports the overseas marketing of companies and hospitals as a means of attracting more tourists to the country (Korea Tourism Organization, n.d.). While the KTO website is not solely dedicated to cosmetic surgery tourism, Visit Medical Korea‟s website boasts the massive number of cosmetic surgery operations performed every year in Korea. The country is now the third largest cosmetic surgery market after the U.S. and Brazil, as the recognition of the high skill level of Korean surgeons and their use of modern technology motivates many individuals to visit Korea for their beauty enhancement (Korea Tourism Organization and Korea Health Industry Development Institute, n.d.). The fact that Korea has achieved economic progress through rapid modernization but did not give up many of its traditions is another allure to many Asian tourists (Fairclough, 2005). This is emphasized in the promotional video published by KTO through the juxtaposition of the beauty of traditional porcelain making inherited from Joseon dynasty with cutting edge medical technology and skills of Korean medical industry (Korea Tourism Organization, 2016). Conclusion: renewing “Korean-ness” in the global marketplace Desire to be beautiful and prolong one‟s youth is not unique to modern times. Yet, medical advances now make even extending one‟s height by breaking and separating the thigh bone to prompt growth possible. While this sounds scary and can be highly dangerous, it is a very popular operation in Shanghai. Cosmetic surgery is no doubt a popular service high on many Chinese consumers‟ list. Although it may be cynical to say that our desire for beautiful body is perpetuated and exploited by the style industries, it is true that the beauty, cosmetic, fashion, media, and celebrity industries are playing an important role in shaping our beauty standards and promoting the ideal body size/shape in the contemporary marketplace (Orbach, 2011). In this study, we connected Chinese consumers‟ desire for new facial features with the emerging plastic surgery tourism in South Korea as an exemplar of the reconstruction of national identity. The term “nation-ness” is comprehensive and links disparate phenomena, such as nation, nationalism, and nationality by including “everything from the bureaucratic fact of citizenship to the nationalist‟s mythical construction of nation as an eternal entity” (Taylor, 1997, p. 277). In this study, we argued that cosmetic surgery has become a new Korean national identity, which is not solely reflected in the rise of Korean beauty and style in the Pan-Asian (Cayla & Eckhardt, 2008) or even global marketplace. The new identity has also inherited the techno-industrial past, as the preciseness and high quality of Korean “industry” are valuable traits to transfer to this new medical field. In this paper, we demonstrated that the creation and promotion of ideal beauty and body is part of a broader political strategy, in which governments, corporations, and key cultural stakeholders are actively, and sometimes collectively, shaping and monitoring individuals‟ bodily practices.

The young generation that was born in the digital age grew up with digital technologies; they listen to music online on web sites like YouTube, which provides access to music by artists from all over the world. We conducted a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) experiment with fifty-six young adults. The human brain generates electrical waves as long as it lives. Since the dynamic nature of brain rhythm is at work in all kinds of human brain function, neuroscientists have used brain rhythm to understand brain function. Since the work of Gerstein and Mandelbrot (1964), many attempts have been made to use random-walk analyses to account for brain responses like the spiking of neurons, cell migration, and motor variability. Like any other biological system, the brain pursues functional efficiency at all levels of operation—in the brain’s case, from the neuronal cell level to the neural network level. Before one can determine the presence of a periodic rhythm versus a random state in brain activation, one must determine whether external stimuli can shape the brain’s modulation pattern. Brain-wave patterns are affected by whether the neural circuit that governs a particular set of brain functions reaches a significant level of activation. The bottom-up processing of external stimuli can be affected by top-down processing; in other words, the execution of higher-order cognitive attention can affect the degree of randomness in the bottom-up processing of external sensory inputs like that of music. Unlike EEG signals, the rhythms of hemodynamic signals are not commonly calculated, possibly because hemodynamic signals are sluggish. The random-walk test on neural time series has been applied only recently to magnetoencephalography (MEG) data (Kipiński, König, Sielużycki, & Kordecki, 2011), and it has rarely been applied to hemodynamic signals measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). However, since hemodynamic responses are the result of neurovascular coupling—a dynamic event among the brain’s neurons, glias, and vasculatures—it is possible to calculate the degree of randomness of hemodynamic signals as surrogates for neuronal activity. While brain activities are inherently random and noisy in their natural state, when the brain rhythm is modified by music that provides appropriate levels of sensory stimulation, the brain’s signals will begin to reflect the music’s rhythms. This reflection is called “attunement.” The effect of sensori-neural stimulation on hemodynamic responses measured by fNIRS has been reported in neuroscience research that found that auditory stimulation and music elevated the concentrations of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and total hemoglobin (HbT) in blood flow to certain regions of the brain (Hoshi & Tamura, 1993; Kotilahti et al., 2010; Sakatani, Chen, Lichty, Zuo, & Wang, 1999). However, studies have shown decreases (increases) in children’s (adults’) prefrontal cerebral volume after they play computer games. For example, one study suggested that the level of attention may modulate the directional changes in HbO2 and HbT concentrations (Nagamitsu, Nagano, Yamashita, Takashima, & Matsuishi, 2006). The brains of children who find that a game lacks adequate levels of perceptual stimulation do not require an additional supply of oxygen, but adults who find playing the same game a cognitive challenge require more effort to perform the same task, so they require elevated levels of oxygen in their brains (Ferreri et al., 2014). According to musical theorists, when the brain is entrained, the attention follows the music (London, 2012). When members of the digital generation listen to music, the perceptual stimulation level is likely to related to the degree of randomness in brain responses as well as the quality of the sensory experience. Drawing on the literature review, we predict that TBF is higher for a stimulus that is above OSL than the TBF for a counterpart stimulus that is below OSL. We also predict that the hemodynamic rhythm of related brain regions to music that is above OSL adopts a regular predictable pattern. Hence, we propose the following research hypotheses: H1: Digital music that provides acoustic stimulation near the OSL creates brain responses in the form of higher TBF and lower randomness in HbO2 concentrations than does digital music that provides acoustic stimulation that is below the OSL. Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy The transparency of biological tissue to light in the near-infrared wavelengths makes NIRS possible. NIRS is non-invasive and portable, and it has a cost advantage. The incident near-infrared light from a transmitting optode (source) is scattered through the tissues, and the reflected light is detected by a receiving optode (detector). The amount of the source light that a tissue absorbs depends on the light’s wave length, and the oxygenation status determines the brain’s absorption of the light. The loss of the intensity that is due to the absorption of the photons can be measured in units of optical density (Zaramella et al., 2001). The changes in [oxy-Hb] and [deoxy-Hb] can be calculated according to the modified Beer-Lambert law (Kocsis, Herman, & Eke, 2006) using two wave lengths of near-infrared light—in our case, 780 and 850nm. We used a 12-channel wireless fNIRS system (Biomedical Optics Lab, Korea University) with sampling rates of 8 ~10 Hz to measure the participants’ hemodynamic response while they watched the videos. The system consists of three light sources and five detectors (a 3×7 grid). The fNIRS probe was attached to each subject’s forehead. The detectors of the lowest line were set along the Fp1 and Fp2 electrode line according to the international 10/20 system. Measurements from channels 1, 2, 11, and 12, which contained noise from movements of the subjects’ heads, hair, and sweat, were excluded from further analysis. Neuroscience research has recorded acoustic stimulation in various regions of the brain, including the temporal brains of newborn babies (Hoshi & Tamura, 1993) and the frontal brains of adults (Sakatani et al., 1999). Since infrared light cannot penetrate hair, brain regions that are not covered by hair, such as the prefrontal cortex, are well-suited to an fNIRS study. When a member of the digital generation listens to music online, the motivation is usually enjoyment, so brain activity changes that are due to popular music should occur in brain areas that are associated with reward-related processing—that is, the medial pre-frontal cortex (mPFC) (Haber & Knutson, 2010). As the mental function of pleasurable experience that is modulated in the medial frontal cortex increases, TBF to this region increases. In particular, the processing of sounds is dominantly modulated by the brain’s right hemisphere (Kaiser, Lutzenberger, Preissl, Ackermann, & Birbaumer, 2000). We analyzed TBF to the right brain area of the mPFC at channel 5 using fNIRS. The research hypothesis predicts that songs that provide strong sensory stimulation above the OSL increase the TBFs of those in the digital generation more than do songs that present a sensory stimulation level that is much under the OSL. TBF can be directly obtained as a product of HbT (Wyatt et al., 1990). After the music began in the experiment, the subjects’ concentrations of HbT increased until HbT reached its peak at around five to eight seconds; then it decreased for the next thirty seconds. There was a divide of hemodynamic responses between the two songs that had more than a million hits per day (A and B) and the remaining three (C, D, and E). We conducted repeated measures of ANOVA on TBF, measured at forty seconds, for the five songs, since TBF at the end of each set of song segments can represent the digital generation’s level of sustained attention. The multivariate test for the model was significant, and the main effect of songs on TBF was significant (Wilk’s Lambda 0.75, F(4,51)=4.249, p=0.005,  ). After the forty seconds of each song were over, the TBF levels remained at the highest level for song A, followed in order by Songs B, C, D, and E. Pairwise comparisons after the Bonferroni correction showed that there was a significant divide in the length of time that the TBF levels remained at the highest level between songs A/B and songs C/D/E (p<0.05). Other differences were not significant, possibly because the neural data contained large individual difference variances (between-subject F test: F(1,54) =38.501, .p<0.001, ). The results support hypothesis 1. Next, we examined the relationships between TBF and daily hits, and BORP and daily hits. The Pearson correlation coefficient between TBF and daily hits was 0.88 (p<0.05), and the correlation coefficient between BORP and daily hits was -0.96 (p<0.05). Pairwise comparisons after the Bonferroni correction showed that, there was a significant divide in the length of time that the TBF levels remained at the highest level between songs A/B and songs D/E (p<0.05). Other differences were not significant, possibly because neural data contains a large portion of individual variance (between-subject F test: F(1,54) =372.675, p<0.001,  ). These results are consistent with our hypothesis 1b that pop music that presents stimulation above OSL can reduce the randomness in hemodynamic signals. The changes in the participants’ hemoglobin concentrations while they listened to popular songs show a mean-reverting tendency with low BORP—a “rhythm” such that a system recovers order and balance in due time. The brain’s response to less popular songs were random-walk processes, which represents a neural drain, a process in which brain fails to recover from oxygen depletion because of boredom. In conclusion, we found that total blood flow to the right medial prefrontal cortex increased less when the young adults were exposed to music that presented acoustic stimulation near the optimal sensory load (OSL) than it did when they were exposed to songs with a level of stimulation much below the OSL. The degrees of hemodynamic randomness decreased significantly while the participants listened to online music that provided near-OSL stimulation. Online popularity, recorded as the number of daily hits, was significantly positively correlated with the total blood flow and negatively correlated with hemodynamic randomness. These findings suggest that a new digital media strategy may be required that provides a sufficient level of sensory stimulation as an essential part of marketing to the digital consumer generation.

Despite the continued and increasing relevance of public policy and regulatory issues in managerial marketing, legal topics related to marketing are often covered in little detail. “Business law” or “legal environment of business” courses typically address marketing issues superficially, while courses for marketing majors may include a few references to legal or regulatory topics as anecdotes or archaic history (e.g., Sherman Antitrust Act). Managerially germane topics such as consumer privacy, antitrust, consumer protection, product safety, or intellectual property may be cursorily included in an introductory business law course or principles of marketing course, but this does not insure connection of these concepts with “real life” significance. Many practical factors, such as globalization, and academic factors, such as those related to the establishment of a broad domain of research and conceptual development in “marketing and public policy,” have expanded the domain of marketing from a pure business orientation to one through which law, regulation, and public policy are worthy of more in-depth treatment of these topics in the tertiary marketing education curriculum. This paper outlines why and how “marketing and public policy” can be taught and how it can complement the broader curriculum of the business school. From the manager’s perspective, the legal environment of business often represents a series of challenges or impediments to the manager’s decisions and to a business’ success. At the same time, whether or not a consumer is aware of it, these same business impediments often represent protections to the consumer from financial or physical harm. Criminal sanctions in a global (or national) marketing context can include imprisonment for managers or multimillion dollar judgments against companies; this should provide sufficient incentive for marketing practitioners in the business community to develop an interest in marketing law, and this interest can be fostered through examples, cases, and student research. Public policy topics often compel decision makers to consider broad questions (“what is a market?”) as much as they must bear in mind matters related to consumers and competitors (“Is comparative advertising effective?”). Teaching marketing students to be concerned and informed about the law can produce marketing managers who are aware of their social and legal environments. Incorporating public-policy related examples across courses can also satisfy pedagogical objectives.

Since the late 1980s, information communication and technology (ICT) have reshaped the landscape of the tourism industry (Buhalis & Law, 2008). Thanks to the Web 2.0 technology, tourism practitioners have never been this close to their customers over social media platforms. According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), social media refers to “a group of Internet-based applications which build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (p. 61). In line with this definition, electronic social networks, user-generated content aggregators, as well as location-based applications are all typical social media platforms, across which enable customers to create, edit, and share content. The increasingly growing social media platforms have greatly facilitated implementations of customer engagement strategies for organizations. As a psychological state, customer engagement is featured by interactive customer experiences with an organization, which encourage psychological, emotional, and physical investment a customer has in the organization (Harrigan, Evers, Miles, & Daly, 2017). In the tourism and hospitality context, customer engagement strategies are as critical in strengthening customer loyalty, trust, and brand evaluations (So, King, & Sparks, 2016). Useful insights have been gained relating to conceptualization and measurement scale of customer engagement, organizational and cultural obstacles to consumer engagement within hotel organizations (Chathoth et al., 2014), customer engagement in a social media context alongside the process of recognition (Cabiddu et al., 2014). Underlying the practical and theoretical significance of customer engagement lies the subjective nature of views on the social media platforms. Goh, Heng, and Lin (2014) recognized that engagement in social media brand communities positively lead to enhanced purchase expenditures through embedded information and persuasion. Quantitively, the persuasive effect of user generated information is at least 22 times more than that of marketer’s in terms of marginal effect. Although previous research has examined consequences of consumer engagement, there has been less attention paid to its causes. Meanwhile, as far as Brodie et al. (2011) were concerned, the persistency of consumer-brand engagement is contingent on an assessment of tangible and intangible costs against possible benefits such as product news and offers. Therefore, identification of these benefits can offer supplementary insights into current literature of consumer engagement. The current study utilizes the self-determination theory to uncover how engagement in social media activities is facilitated by consumers’ intrinsic motivators and what psychological benefits can consumer obtain from such engagement, as either psychological state or process (Brodie et al., 2011). Research subjects in this study are Chinese social media users. According to eMarketer’s (2017) estimated that more than 80 percent of Internet users in China (i.e., around 626 million people) accessed social networks regularly in 2017. The importance of tapping this massive market can never be overestimated.

Introduction Kotler (2015) warned that, if we only pursue economic growth and revenue/profit expansion, we will end up with overconsumption and wastes, bringing serious damage to our planet. He advocated the transition from the growth-oriented economy to the steady-state economy. Steady state economy is defined as an economy that maintains desired sufficient level of throughput with the lowest feasible flows of matter and energy from production to consumption (Kotler, 2015). As Kotler mentioned, this idea is somewhat utopian as most companies are still living in the growth-oriented economy. The purpose of this research is to extend Kotler’s idea by conceptualizing a more concrete model to visualize the marketing in the steady state economy. The model consists of five major elements; customers, stakeholders, employees, suppliers and community. The authors also present twelve propositions that explain promoting factors for the marketing in the steady state economy based on the multiple case studies conducted in Japan. Literature review The steady-state economy itself is actually not a new idea in economics. For example, typical classical economists (e.g., Adam Smith and John Stewart Mill) advocated the transition to the steady-state economy after saturation of economic growth. Neo-classical economists have also postulated the concept of steady state economy with regard to the law of diminishing returns (Tellis, 2008). Many previous studies have continuously put efforts on developing theories and practices to meet with economic, social and environmental needs simultaneously, since Kotler and Zaltman (1971) proposed the concept of social marketing. Although social marketing is closely related to marketing in the steady-state economy, its ethical egotism remains a problem (Crane and Desmond, 2002). Lerman and Shfrin (2015) and Gopaldas (2015) claim positive marketing which creates value for the firm, its customers, and society at large. In short, these concepts suggest the possibility that individual, self-seeking, and short-run behaviors can be consistent with aggregate, altruistic, and long-run behaviors. Besides above exceptions, however, most marketing researchers have evaded the question: What is marketing in the steady-state economy? The purpose of our study is to develop a conceptual framework to analyze “steady-oriented” companies and their marketing strategies based on the case studies in Japan. Research methodology In order to answer the above question, we adopt qualitative heuristic approaches (Kleining, 1994), because our question has not been addressed enough in previous studies mentioned above. First, we collected primary and secondary data from various information sources including company websites, press releases, online business journals, academic case studies, public seminars, presentations at academic meetings and so on (Yin, 2014). As stated by Eisenhardt (1989), we used a theoretical sampling to identify the informants for our multiple case studies. We intentionally chose companies from different industries, locations, length of history, manufacturing technology, etc. Based on the review and data collection, we developed a basic framework and series of theoretical propositions (Yin, 2014). For our study, we selected Japanese companies respecting “sanpo-yoshi” [good for three parties] philosophy. It is a belief that business should be good for sellers, buyers, and society. In fact, positive marketing is similar to this concept of “sanpo-yoshi” which is based on the family precepts of “Ohmi region merchants” in the Edo period (1600-1857) (Ogura, 1991; Usami 2015). Our selected “sanpo-yoshi” oriented companies aim for a harmonious relationship with all the concerning stakeholders and community (see Appendix for the list of selected companies). Figure 1 identifies five key parties covered in the “sanpo-yoshi” management and shows bilateral relations between the company and the five parties. First, “sanpo-yoshi” oriented companies try to build good long-term relationships not only with their customers by selling high-quality products at fair prices, but also with suppliers by buying a stable volume of products at fair prices. In addition, some companies provide their loyal customers with special experience concerning their own brands and their suppliers with technical assistant. In return, customers feel strong loyalty to the brand and suppliers offer a stable supply of high- quality raw materials at fair prices. Moreover, “sanpo-yoshi” companies take an active interest in their employees and the community where they operate because their confidence contributes to sustainable development of the companies. Shareholders for short-term returns, however, are unlikely to give heavy weight to social activities by their investee companies. Therefore, companies whose stocks are unlisted or occupied by long-term shareholders are more favorably inclined toward “sanpo-yoshi” management. Research propositions Based on the case studies of “sanpo-yoshi” companies in Japan, we argue that the enforcement of marketing in the steady-state economy can be tied to three factors: (1) management factors, (2) competitive factors, and (3) financial factors. Within these factors, twelve research propositions are developed for testing in the future research (Eisenhardt and Gaebner, 2007). These factors and propositions are summarized in Figure 2. Management factors are divided into two subcomponents: decision-making and employment factors. First, decision-making factors basically mean that the independence of management from the investors seeking short-term profits enables the management to enforce steady-oriented marketing. The most feasible method is corporate governance by founders or his/her family, although it is not a requirement. For instance, Kagome Co., Ltd. ended the family business operation in 1996, and around 180,000 individual “fan shareholders” accounting for 55.4% (Nikkei, 2017) are supporting the management with a long-term perspective. Second, employment factors indicate that the companies are likely to enforce steady-oriented marketing when they maintain high labor productivity and excellent human resources. In particular, it is more important for companies having many female employees with accumulated experience and know-hows to prevent those employees from quitting the job because of pregnancy or child rearing. Competitive factors are associated with the conditions of the steady state economy surrounding the companies. If the companies have maintained high market share in a mature market for many years, they can afford to enforce “sanpo-yoshi” oriented marketing for sustainability. In terms of financial factors, equity ratio shows the soundness of management, which has positive effects on the enforcement of marketing in the steady state economy. Moreover, ROE measures a company’s profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money which its shareholders have invested. Finally, payout ratio provides valuable insight into a company’s dividend policy. Higher payout ratio indicates that the company is sharing more of its earnings with the shareholders. Implications The findings of this research contribute to the academics by providing a new framework for the marketing in the steady state economy. Further research can empirically test the proposed model in various countries to investigate if this framework is culturally specific to Japan or not. This research also provides practical implications for managers. For sustainable business and better society, companies should keep their eyes on the five elements presented in our research. Thus we can take the very first step for the marketing in the steady state economy.

Ever since the notion of a sharing economy was highlighted by Time Magazine as one of the ten ideas that will one day change the world, there has been a significant increase in scholarly attention dedicated to investigating the impact sharing economies will have on individuals, organizations and society as a whole. Particularly, sharing economy has revolutionized the landscape of the tourism industry through Airbnb (Fang, Ye, & Law, 2016). Academic research has focused on studying consumption practices and behaviors from a recipient perspective, but relatively little attention has been given to understand what impacts sharing economy has, from a sharer point of view (Fagerstrøm, Pawar, Sigurdsson, Foxall, & Yani-de-Soriano, 2017). Specifically, the existing literature has yet to explore in what ways and to what extent sharers are engaged with sharing economy platforms, and explore what consequences accrue from engaging in sharing economy activities. As a result, this paper seeks to fill this gap by proposing a framework drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), in conjunction with a tourism well-being perspective to examine how sharers’ perception of extrinsic rewards indirectly influences their well-being through the mediating role of engagement in tourism sharing economy activities. Data from Airbnb hosts in London were analyzed through PLS. The findings show that hosts’ engagement with Airbnb fully mediates the relationship between extrinsic rewards and their wellbeing. In other words, extrinsic rewards from using the sharing platform have a positive effect on sharers’ engagement in sharing economy activities (Tussyadiah & Pesonen, 2016; Guttentag, 2015). In turn, engagement in sharing economy activities has been found to have a positive effect on the sharers’ well-being (Kim, Uysal, & Sirgy, 2013; Ganju, Pavlou, & Banker, 2016). The paper has some important managerial implications.

In recent years, there has been increased attention on the portrayal of women in the media. Photoshopped images of unrealistic female forms have been perceived to have negative impacts on the self-esteem of those exposed (Groesz 2002). Based on the idea that seeing unrealistic body images can put undue pressure on women and impact their self-esteem, some governments have gone as far to propose and or pass legislation that ban or require disclosures on such images in advertising. For example, multiple attempts have been made to pass the Truth in Advertising Act in the U.S., which would severely restrict the ability to digitally alter ad (Navamanikkamm 2017). Meanwhile. France passed a law in 2017 mandating that if a model’s physical person has been digitally altered in an ad it must include a disclaimer indicating that the ad has been retouched (Lubitz 2015). Recently, Israel out of concern about eating disorders at a societal level, passed legislation requiring a disclaimer in any ad whether a model is photoshopped to look thinner. The Israeli law also mandates that a threshold body mass index be met for a model to be included in an ad. With the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority also banning some campaigns due to exaggerated retouching, it is clear that photoshopping of models in advertising is under scrutiny (Sweney 2017). Several companies have also taken a stand on photoshopping of ads. These include Aerie Lingerie, CVS Drugstores, Dove, and Britain’s ASOS, all of whom has committed to having realistic images in their ads and reducing or eliminating retouching (Horwath 2016; Zillman 2017; Bomey 2018). In spite of the increased attention being paid to photoshopping of ads by regulators, companies, and some in the public, research on the topic has been relatively sparse. This paper aims to summarize what is known about the societal and managerial implications of digital retouching and offers future research directions designed to make advances in these areas. To this end, this paper begins by reviewing work in three areas related to photoshopping of ads. The first topic addressed is whether edited images of unrealistic standards have a negative impact on the viewer. Secondly, we examine what is known about the implications of including disclosures and disclaimers on the consumers psyche, (i.e. do these warnings negate the implied negative consequence of the edited images). Finally, the impact such disclosure labels have on ad effectiveness and purchase intention is considered. To ensure the full scope of pertinent material was covered, articles were targeted via databases such as ABI/ Inform, Business Source Premier, EBSCO and Google Scholar. Because of the paucity of articles, no time limitations were placed on the search. A variety of combinations of relevant search terms were used (e.g., retouching, advertising, body image, women, photoshop etc.). As key articles were identified, the sources they cited were also reviewed in relation to the purpose stated above. Our review of the literature finds a virtually universal consensus finds that idealized imagery, often characterized by very thin or “ideal” models is directly correlated to an increased risk of body dissatisfaction (Groesz 2002). Several of these studies draw on social comparison theory (Gulas 2000; Myers 2009) is commonly used as a theoretical explanation underlying this effect, with experimental studies being used to provide empirical evidence. Prior studies have tested several types of disclaimers. These studies have generally found that disclaimer do not mitigate the negative impact that the exposure to idealized image has on the consumer (Cragg 2017) Based on this research, apparently, women feel social pressure to live up to idealized images even if a disclaimer is included in the ad. However, it should be noted that only a limited number of studies have tested this effect, and additional types of disclaimers from different sources need to be tested before drawing firm conclusions. As for advertisement effectiveness, specifically product attitude and purchases intent, studies have found that advertisements using “normally attractive models” in comparison to “highly attractive models” tend to produce better results (Tsai and Chang 2007). Notably, the presence of a disclaimer does not appear to either increase or decrease the effectiveness of ad based on the extant research (Semaan, Gould and Kocher 2012; Schirmer et al., 2018). The literature does raise some questions about the needed prominence of a disclaimer to have an impact, suggesting that often times “fine print messages” are largely unnoticed in relation to a more prominent alternative (Black & Watson 2013). Notably, there is some evidence that including a “retouch-free” versus a “retouched” disclaimer does increase attitudes toward the brand and purchase intention (Cornelis and Peter 2017). The literature reviewed has limitations such as uncorroborated studies, limited sample sizes, and narrowly focused demographics in some studies. While it has generally been established that highly attractive model usage and idealized retouched imagery has a negative effect on consumer body image, there is insufficient research on the implications of disclaimers and disclosers. It is suggested that additional research is needed on the effects of various disclaimer types directly related to various levels of image re-touching (as opposed to product warnings) on consumer buying behavior and ad effectiveness (see Schirmer et al., 2018). There is some evidence that consumers are accepting of minor photoshopping of ads, such as changing the background or “fixing” a blemish, but that more major retouching such as making a model appear to have different facial features, thinner legs, or larger breasts is viewed as problematic. As such, future experimental research should focus on different levels of retouching. There is also a clear need to test different wording of disclaimers as well as disclaimers from different sources (e.g. government vs. non-profit, vs. company itself). Future research should focus on a wide cross-section of women. It should also test multiple product categories, including those beauty related vs. not beauty related.

Although pricing strategies have significant effects on brand performance and have been growth drivers of the luxury industry for decades, there is only little research on luxury pricing strategies. Most academics and managers believe that there is a ‘democratization of luxury’ since the 1980’s. Today, luxury is regarded as accessible for almost anyone. On the other hand, researchers and consumers still consider ‘high prices’ as one of the most important luxury characteristics. To resolve this paradox, this paper analyzes ‘expensiveness’ as a key feature of luxury products: Is luxury expensive or has it really democratized? It outlines the different types of luxury with reference to their ‘expensiveness’. Based on a literature analysis about research on pricing in luxury marketing, the paper presents eight indicators of ‘expensiveness’. After discussing how the Veblen, Snob and Bandwagon effects break the law of demand, analyses of real data follow with some case studies about the price development of luxury products in different countries and product categories. They show that the method of price comparison by Fourastié can provide brand managers a more realistic picture about the ‘expensiveness’ of their products for their target customers. The paper concludes with some major lessons learned.

본 연구는 국민건강보험공단의 장애와 건강통계 자료를 분석하여 장애인 건강검진 수검률을 살펴보고 건강검진에 따른 문제점과 향후 개선방안을 제시하고 건강검진 문진조사 결과를 바탕으로 장애인의 건강관리 형태 등을 소고하고자 한다. 연구대상은 장애인복지법 제2조에 따른 신체적, 정신적 장애로 오랫동안 일상생활이나 사회생활에서 제약을 받고, 2015. 12. 31. 기준 등록한 장애인2,479,080명중 건강검진과 건강형태 조사에 참여한 장애인으로 한정하여 정책적 의견을 제시하였다. 결론으로 장애인 건강검진은 첫째, 장애인에 적합한 건강검진 서비스를 준비하기 위해서는 장애인 당사자들의 의견이 필요할 것이다. 둘째, 장애유형 및 중증도별 건강검진 항목 개발이 필요할 것으로 생각된다. 셋째, 장애 인건강검진 의료장비 및 편의시설에 대하여 고민해 보아야 할 것이다. 넷째, 서비스 제공자에 대한 인력확보와 교육이 필요할 것으로 생각된다. 다섯째, 장애인의 이동권을 확보할 수 있도록 하여야 할 것이다. 장애인의 건강형태는 첫째, 장애인 건강증진을 위한 각 영역별 전문가 협의체를 구성하여야 할 것이다. 둘째 장애인 건강증진 프로그램과 이를 운영하는 시설 현황분석이 필요할 것으로 생각된다. 셋째, 장애인건강권 및 의료접근성 보장에 관한 법률에 나와 있는 중앙장애인 보건의료센터에서 장애유형 및 중증도별 표준화된 건강증진 프로그램 개발이 필요할 것으로 생각된다. 지금까지 장애인 건강검진과 건강형태에 대한 내용을 살펴보고 이에 따른 정책적 의견을 제시하였다. 따라서 향후 연구로 본 연구에서 제시하고 있는 과제를 바탕으로 세부적인 연구들이 추진되길 바라며 장애인의 건강과 관련된 프로그램의 인과관계가 지속적으로 밝혀져야 할 것이다.

Binary Ti-Al alloys below 51.0 mass%Al content exhibit a breakaway, transferring from parabolic to linear rate law. The second Al2O3 layer might have some protectiveness before breakaway. Ti-63.1 mass%Al oxidized at 1173 K under parabolic law. Breakaway oxidation is observed in every alloy, except for Ti-63.1 mass%Al. After breakaway, oxidation rates of the binary TiAl alloys below 34.5 mass%Al obey almost linear kinetics. The corrosion rate of Ti-63.1 mass%Al appears to be almost parabolic. As content greater than 63.0 mass% is found to be necessary to form a protective alumina film. Addition of Mo improves the oxidation resistance dramatically. No breakaway is observed at 1123 K, and breakaway is delayed by Mo addition at 1173 K. At 1123 K, no breakaway, but a parabolic increase in mass gain, are observed in the Mo-added TiAl alloys. The binary Ti-34.5 mass%Al exhibits a transfer from parabolic to linear kinetics. At 1173 K, the binary alloys show vary fast linear oxidation and even the Mo-added alloys exhibit breakaway oxidation. The 2.0 mass%Mo-added TiAl exhibits a slope between linear and parabolic. At values of 4.0 and 6.0 mass% added TiAl alloys, slightly larger rates are observed than those for the parabolic rate law, even after breakaway. On those alloys, the second Al2O3 layer appears to be persistently continuous. Oxidation resistance is considerably degraded by the addition of Mn. Mn appears to have the effect of breaking the continuity of the second Al2O3 layer.

테러무기는 일반적으로 전통적인 무기와 대량살상무기, 그리고 비전통적인 무기 등으로 구분될 수 있다. 전통적인 무기에 해당하는 무기들은 총기류, 폭발물 등이 있다. 이러한 무기들은 일반적으로 가장 빈번히 발생하는 테러공격방법인 폭탄테러, 무장공격, 그리고 인질납치 등에서 가장 많이 사용된다. 대량살상무기는 CBRN(Chemical, Biological, Radio logical, and Nucelar)을 의미한다. 즉, 화학, 생물학, 방사능, 그리고 핵등을 테러무기로 사용하는 것을 의미한다. 이와 같은 무기는 잘 사용되는 경우는 없으나 한번 사용되었을 경우 상당한 인명피해가 예상되며 그와 별도로 일반 대중들에게 심각한 심리적 공포를 안겨다 준다. 비전통적인 무기는 차량 등과 같이 일상생활에서 흔히 볼 수 있는 아이템이 살상무기로 이용되는 경우이다. 최근 들어 차량이 인명을 효과적으로 살상하는 무기로 빈번히 이용되고 있다. 테러예방활동에 있어 주요한 한 부분은 테러에 이용될 수 있는 테러무기를 효과적으로 관리하는 것이다. 이 논문은 테러공격에 이용될 수 있는 무기들에 대한 국내의 현행 법률규정의 현황을 점검하고 그 한계점과 개선방안을 제안한다. 잠재적 테러무기의 안전관리와 관련된 현행 법률들은 크게 직접적으로 테러방지에 관한 내용을 다루고 있는 테러방지법과 간접적으로 테러공격에 이용될 수 있는 잠재적 무기들을 다루고 있는 여러 관련 법률들로 분류할 수 있다. 이 논문은 이러한 여러 직, 간접 법률들의 현황을 정리, 소개하고 그러한 법률들의 한계점과 개선방안 등에 대해 논의하고 제안할 것이다.

최근 수년 동안 외국인 전투원의 증가가 서구사회와 국제사회의 중요한 이슈로 떠올랐다. 그 이유는 미국과 서구 유럽국가들을 중심으로 이라크와 시리아 등의 테러조직들이 점령하여 전투를 벌이는 갈등 및 위험지역에 외국인 전투원으로 자원하는 일반인들과 청소년들이 급증하였기 때문이다. 국제사회에서 테러집단으로 규정된 집단과 관련된 전투를 위한 외국인 전투원으로의 가담은 대다수의 국제사회에서 불법화되어있음에도 불구하고 지난 10여 년간 그 수는 전대미문으로 늘어났다. 현재ISIS 등의 테러집단이 근거지를 잃는 등 외국인 전투원의 유입이 줄어들 것으로 예상되고 있으나 여전히 외국인 전투원에 대한 정책적 대응이나 학문적 연구는 필요한 실정이다. 특히 불법 출입국루트 등에 대한 연구들이 필요한 실정이다. 최근 유럽 등에서 경험한 대형 살상의 테러사건들의 배후에 외국인 전투원들이 가담해 있다는 보고가 있듯, 자국 내 외국인 전투원들의 위험성은 상존하며 이들이 전투지역이나 과거 테러리스트 근거지 등을 여전히 여행하며 테러활동에 적극 가담할 위험은 아직까지 높다고 판단되기 때문이다. 따라서 이 연구는 최근의 외국인 전투원들의 현황에 대해 소개하고, 유럽의 프랑스와 네덜란드의 외국인 전투원에 대한 법률적 대응에 대한 분석과 소개를 하였다. 그리고 다양한 학문적 노력을 통해 분석된 외국인 전투원들의 유럽과 중동지역의 불법 이동 루트에 대한 분석결과를 소개하고자 한다. 이를 통해 외국인 전투원들에 대한 이해와 경각심을 높이고 학문적ᆞ정책적 관심을 높이는데 공헌하고자 하였다.

교회 분쟁을 교회 재판에서 해결하지 못하고 국가법원으로 가는 사례가 늘어가고 있다. 본 논문에서는 목회자나 교인들이 알아야 할 교회 분쟁 관련 법원의 판결들을 소개함에 중점을 두고, 이에 대한 몇 가지 제언을 하였다. 교회와 관련하여 어떤 분쟁이 벌어지고 있으며, 국가법원은 교회 분쟁에 대해 어떤 판결을 내리고 있는가를 신학자나 목회자들이 이해하고 분쟁을 사전에 예방할 필요가 있기 때문이다. 먼저 교회 재산과 관련하여 법원은 교회 재산을 총유로 보고 있으므로 일단 교회로 귀속된 재산에 대해서 개인은 소유권을 주장할 수 없다. 교회 분열과 관련하여 대법원은 2006년 판례 변경을 통해 분열은 인정하지 않지만 만약 2/3이상이 탈퇴한다면 기존 교회의 재산을 잔존교인이 아닌 탈퇴교인의 총유로 인정한다. 그러나 교회 재산을 다수결로 해결하는 것은 바람직하지 않고 잔존교인의 총유로 인정하는 것이 바람직하다고 본다. 또한 교회재산 분쟁시 정족수 산정을 위해 교인의 자격인정이 문제 될 수 있으므로 정관에 이를 명확히 규정하는 것이 필요하다. 두 번째로 교회의 권징에 대해서 법원의 기본적 입장은 관여하지 않는다는 것이지만, 개인의 신분상 지위와 관련한 권징에 대해서는 사법심사의 대상이 된다고 한다. 그러나 교회의 권징 관련 법원의 판결을 보면 일관성이 없다는 문제가 있다. 따라서 교회의 권징은 사법심사 대상에서 제외하되, 불법행위나 절차적 규정 위반이 있는 권징만 사법심사의 대상으로 할 것을 제안하고, 평소에 교회의 권징 관련 내용 및 절차를 미리 교인들에게 교육할 것을 제안한다. 마지막으로 법원은 예배와 인접한 시간만 예배 방해죄를 인정하는데 이를 확대해서 해석할 필요가 있고, 교회 재정과 관련하여 절도죄와 횡령죄 등의 문제가 발생할 수 있으므로 미리 관련 법적분쟁들을 보고 주의할 필요가 있다. 더불어 교회의 분쟁을 교회 내부에서 해결할 수 없다면, 국가법원이 아닌 교회의 분쟁을 전문적으로 해결하는 독립적 기구에 의해 도움을 받는 방안을 제안한다. 궁극적으로는 교회 스스로 자정과 자율적 규제를 강화하여 사법부가 개입할 여지를 주지 않는 것이 바람직하고, 사법부도 가급적 교회 분쟁에 관여하지 않고 교회 스스로 해결하도록 유도하여야 할 것이다.

아시아헌법재판소연합(Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions, 이하 AACC)은 헌법재판 관련 경험 및 정보교류를 확대하고 헌법재판기관 간 우호협력관계를 강화하여 아시아 민주주의 발전과 법치주의의 실현, 나아가 국민의 기본적 인권증진에 기여하기 위하여 2010년 7월 창설된 자율적·독립적·비정치적 기구이다. 2016년 8월 인도네시아에서 열린 제3차 총회에서는 새롭게 상설사무국을 대한민국, 인도네시아, 터키의 3개국에 나누어 설치하기로 합의하였는데, 특히 한국의 서울에는 AACC 연구사무국(AACC Secretariat for Research and Development, 이하 AACC SRD)을 두기로 결정하였다. 한국의 헌법재판소는 그동안 AACC의 설립과 발전에 중추적 역할을 해온 바, 이번에 AACC 연구사무국을 유치함으로써 동 기관을 아시아의 베니스위원회와 같이 만들어보겠다는 구상을 현실화하는 것이 새로운 과제로 대두되었다. AACC는 기본적으로 ① 아시아 국가의 헌법재판기관들 사이의 국제적 연대와 협력 강화를 지향하면서, 동시에 향후 중장기적으로는 ② 아시아 인권재판소와 같은 지역적 인권보장기구를 수립하는 방안을 모색하고 준비하는 목적을 가진다고 볼 수 있다. AACC의 목적이 위와 같다면, 대한 민국이 새롭게 유치한 신생기관인 연구사무국도 AACC의 기본 목적을 달성하는데 충실하게 조직되고 운영되어야 할 것이고, 특히 상설사무국 중에서도 연구 사무국이라는 특성을 고려하여, 아시아 인권보장체제의 발전에 따라 단계적이고 유연한 역할의 확대를 모색할 필요가 있다고 생각한다. AACC 연구사무국이 이와 같은 역할을 충실히 해낼 수 있으려면, 조직이 적정하게 구성되어야 하고, 인력이 적정하게 충원되어야 하며, 지속가능한 재정지원과 국내외의 법률적 근거가 뒷받침되어야 한다. 또한 대내외적으로 활발한 교류협력을 통하여 협력적 거버넌스를 구축함으로써, 아시아 인권공동체를 향한 아시아인의 의지를 확인하고 합의를 이끌어내는 적극적 역할을 수행해야 한다.

이 연구는 개화기 분묘를 둘러싼 소송에 관한 것이다. 우선 분묘를 둘러싼 분쟁을 해결하기 위한 법제의 제정과정을 살펴보았다. 특히 1900년 분묘소송에 관한 법제의 개정을 통해 전통법제에서는 명확히 구분되지 않았던 민·형사 구분이 본격적으로 시작되었다. 1895~1905년까지는 ≪大典會通≫의 분묘에 관한 규정들이 재판의 法源으로 적용되었던 것에 반해, 1905~1909년까지는 ≪刑法大全≫의 분묘에 관한 규정들이 재판의 法源으로 적용되었다. 특히 ≪刑法大全≫에서는 그 전시대의 법전과 달리, 양반이 아닌 평민들도 10보의 분묘한계 규정을 두었다. 그래서 개화기에는 양반이 아닌 평민들도 분묘에 관한 소송을 쉽게 제기할 수 있게 되었다. 또한 聽訟期限 규정을 두어 20년이 지난 분묘소송은 수리하지 않았다. 그리고 분묘소송에 관한 재판 실무를 알아보기 위해, 『舊韓末 民事判決集』에 등장하는 200여건의 분묘에 관한 민사판결을 분석하였다. 이 판결들을 통해 분묘에 관한 소송이 발생하였을 때의 민사실무에 대해 알 수 있었다. 첫째, 분묘 소송은 원토지소유자의 허락을 받지 않고 분묘를 만든 暗葬 혹은 勒葬의 경우에 시작되었다. 둘째, 분묘 관련 분쟁이 발생하면 당시 재판소의 판사들은 ≪大典會通≫ 및 ≪刑法大全≫의 규정을 충실히 적용하여 판결하였다. 셋째, 20년이 도과하면 더 이상 심리하지 않는다는 聽訟期限 규정은 분묘소송에서도 중요한 논거였다. 넷째, 분묘소송에서는 확정적인 법규범 이외에 앉아서도 서서도 안 보임(坐立具不現) , 情, 理 등 법원리 규범을 재판의 법원으로 원용하기도 하였다. 다섯째, 재판소에서는 당사자 간의 화해를 통해 분쟁을 해결하려는 노력을 하기도 하였다.