Timo Mandler, Fabian Bartsch, Tinka Krüger, Kyung Ae Kim and C. Min Han
This research investigates if perceived brand globalness (PBG) can help mitigate the adverse effects of consumer animosity on brand evaluations and purchase intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates if perceived brand globalness (PBG) can help mitigate the adverse effects of consumer animosity on brand evaluations and purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze survey data from Chinese consumers (N = 395) and South Korean consumers (N = 420) using multi-group structural equation modeling. In both countries, the authors use Japanese products as stimuli, ensuring high comparability levels between the studies.
Findings
The authors empirically demonstrate that PBG can mitigate the negative consequences of consumer animosity by weakening the spillover effect between product–country image and brand evaluations. However, the authors find the mitigating effect of PBG only in China, not in South Korea.
Originality/value
By highlighting PBG's role as an actionable moderator that firms can manipulate to attenuate the negative consequences of consumer animosity toward a brand's country of origin, this work adds to the much-needed debate about how animosity-induced effects can be mitigated in times of global conflicts and tensions.
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C. Min Han, Kyung Ae Kim and Hyojin Nam
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how corporate philanthropy (CP) can affect consumer perceptions of Japanese multinationals, for which there exists strong…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate how corporate philanthropy (CP) can affect consumer perceptions of Japanese multinationals, for which there exists strong animosity in Asia, and how this animosity can be attenuated.
Design/methodology/approach
The study first examines Japanese firms in China (Study 1) and then Japanese, European and local firms in Korea (Study 2).
Findings
The results suggest that CP activities can have a positive effect on the consumer recognition of company localness and they can also attenuate company animosity for foreign multinationals. In addition, the findings suggest that Japanese multinationals can benefit greatly from CP activities in Asia than for domestic and other foreign firms.
Research limitations/implications
The study found that consumers do not have ethnocentric attribution biases in evaluations of CP activities by foreign multinationals, as suggested by attribution theory (Hewstone, 1990; Nisbett, 1971).
Originality/value
There is limited evidence supporting the effects of CP activities by foreign multinationals from a country of origin for which there exists strong animosity.
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Sunghyun Sung, Yeonghwan Song, Wonrae Kim, Ohyung Kwon and Kyung-Young Jhang
This study aims to investigate the relationship between melt pool dimensions and acoustic emission (AE) signal magnitudes obtained during laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between melt pool dimensions and acoustic emission (AE) signal magnitudes obtained during laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process of austenitic stainless steel. Specifically, by varying laser power and scan speed, the widths, depths and aspect ratios of melt pools were compared with AE signal magnitudes across a frequency range of 100–200 kHz.
Design/methodology/approach
Experiments were conducted under different laser powers at a fixed scan speed and scan speeds at a fixed laser power. Melt pool dimensions were measured from cross-sectional optical images, and AE signals were obtained using a piezoelectric AE sensor installed beneath the build plate. Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) was applied to AE signals, and the magnitudes of frequency components were obtained.
Findings
A strong correlation between melt pool dimensions and STFT magnitude was obtained. Pearson correlation coefficients between melt pool dimensions and STFT magnitudes were above 0.9 and the p-values were below 0.05. Increasing the laser energy enlarged the volume of melt pool and intensified the oscillation of melt pool. When scan speed exceeded 1,100 mm/s, STFT magnitude showed a slight increase owing to the increase in the vapor pressure.
Originality/value
Previous studies used AE signals to detect defects, but this study found a correlation between STFT magnitude and melt pool dimensions in L-PBF process. It was also found that STFT magnitude was more affected by vapor pressure at higher scan speeds. Monitoring STFT magnitude can help to understand melt pool dynamics, maintain process consistency and identify irregularities in real time.
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Eunyoung Han, Kyung Kyu Kim and Ae Ri Lee
The purpose of this paper is to investigate which exchange structure, direct or generalized exchange, better promotes community solidarity in online communities (OCs)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate which exchange structure, direct or generalized exchange, better promotes community solidarity in online communities (OCs). Furthermore, it examines the moderating effects of activity intensity on the relationship between exchange structure and community solidarity in order to resolve the conflicts in extant literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model is developed based on the social exchange theory (SET). It also accommodates social structures as determinants of exchange structure, such as organizational identity orientation (OIO) and distributive justice norms. Data in this study were collected from 376 OCs through an e-mail survey.
Findings
Generalized exchange has stronger effects on community solidarity than direct exchange. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the impact on community solidarity between generalized exchange and direct exchange at high-activity intensity levels, whereas no significant differences were found at low-activity intensity conditions. OIO significantly influences exchange structure. Additionally, equality norm significantly influences generalized exchange, whereas need norm significantly influences direct exchange.
Originality/value
In information systems research, there have not been any attempts to identify the determinants of exchange structure in OCs. Furthermore, only a couple of studies have empirically investigated the relationship between exchange structure and OC solidarity, and yet they found conflicting results. This research makes contributions to an enhancement of theoretical precision of the SET in two ways: by empirically examining the determinants of exchange structure, and by introducing a third variable, activity intensity, as a moderator of the relationship between exchange structure and OC solidarity.
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This study aims to investigate how the consumer values of individualism and collectivism (IC) affect consumer animosity toward foreign brands in emerging Asia.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how the consumer values of individualism and collectivism (IC) affect consumer animosity toward foreign brands in emerging Asia.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys were conducted with Korean consumers on their animosity toward Japanese brands.
Findings
The study found that the IC value can precede consumer animosity and also moderate the effects of consumer animosity on purchase intentions. When horizontal and vertical dimensions of IC were examined, collectivism and vertical individualism were found to have strong effects on consumer animosity. In addition, both horizontal and vertical individualism negatively moderated the consumer animosity effects.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that future consumers in Asia and perhaps other emerging countries as well may be less affected by consumer animosity in brand choice as they become more Westernized and individualistic.
Originality/value
This study may enhance the understanding on changing consumer animosity and behavior in emerging countries in general.
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Taegoo (Terry) Kim, Joanne Jung‐Eun Yoo, Gyehee Lee and Joungman Kim
The study aimed to test the antecedents and consequences of emotional labor (EL) acting strategies in the hotel industry. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to test the antecedents and consequences of emotional labor (EL) acting strategies in the hotel industry. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of emotional intelligence (EI) on the relationships among EL acting strategies, emotional exhaustion (EE) and service recovery performance (SRP).
Design/methodology/approach
The survey was administered in five‐star hotels in Korea. Frontline employees of the hotels participated in the survey and a total of 353 returned questionnaires were used for data analysis.
Findings
The research confirmed the importance of EI in the context of EL. The paper provided empirical evidence that EI affected the EL acting strategies and their consequential behavioral outcomes.
Practical implications
The study suggests that hospitality managers must find ways to elevate employees' EI level. Performance management processes should incorporate identification and positive reinforcement of EL acting strategies that enhance SRP and customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
This study explored the under‐researched subject of EL and its role within a hospitality industry context. The study is among the first to examine EI as an emotional resource, EL acting strategies, EE and SRP as a form of job‐related performance simultaneously.
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Kyung-Tae Lee, Jin-Bin Im, Sang-Jun Park and Ju-Hyung Kim
Though daycare centres are built to facilitate children's social and physical growth, divergent stakeholder perceptions yield conflicts while managing risks for each space due to…
Abstract
Purpose
Though daycare centres are built to facilitate children's social and physical growth, divergent stakeholder perceptions yield conflicts while managing risks for each space due to the minimal guidelines in the Republic of Korea. Due to the unclearly defined knowledge and experience gap between representative stakeholders, teachers have difficulties in operating it with high satisfaction. This study therefore was conducted to systematically identify which parts of performance should be increased to preferentially increase end-user satisfaction in limited resources.
Design/methodology/approach
This research conducted quantitative analysis gradually. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) grasped the perceptions of construction practitioners and end-users after identifying space composition and representative risks of daycare centres. Based on the factors influencing perception differences, principal component analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were conducted to determine which space improves the performance preferentially to increase overall end-user satisfaction.
Findings
As the utilisation of indoor spaces increases after COVID-19, improvement of indoor spaces except for indoor playroom is necessary, especially, advancement of the quality of teachers' rooms.
Practical implications
Outputs by reflecting the end-user experiences support to understand which spaces are managed from the limited resources.
Originality/value
Theoretical framework for daycare centre was established in Korea where guidelines were insufficient, and differences in perception of each risk of stakeholders were identified. Moreover, gradual statistical analysis was set to construct end-user-focused centres by extracting where the performance of space should be improved in prior.
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Seoyoun Lee, Younghoon Chang, Jaehyun Park, Alain Yee Loong Chong and Qiuju Yin
This study examines how users' multidimensional representational fidelity factors affect sociability and cyberself engagement in the Metaverse platform; that is, how they interact…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines how users' multidimensional representational fidelity factors affect sociability and cyberself engagement in the Metaverse platform; that is, how they interact with newly defined self-images as their personas in the environments. It investigates how representational fidelity serves platform users to perform social roles and increase their sociability by establishing a new cyberself, thus influencing continuous platform use.
Design/methodology/approach
This study surveyed 314 users of the Metaverse platform Horizon, where users can create a virtual agent avatar, meet people in the same online environment in real time, and interact with a sense of three-dimensional immersion. Data were analyzed using partial least squares regression models.
Findings
User socialization significantly influenced the intention to use the Metaverse platform. Representational fidelity was a crucial variable for sociability, and activity representational fidelity was the most influential aspect among the four other elements. Platforms should consider how to enable users to create and use activities that faithfully represent their personas.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study is that it introduces representational fidelity based on representation theory into the context of virtual persona in the Metaverse platform. This study extended representational fidelity to the socialization perspective by utilizing the integrated model of user satisfaction and the technology acceptance model. Through the results, this study emphasized that users' sociability significantly influences their intention to use the Metaverse platform. Finally, this study provides a feasible guideline on how practitioners could design and strengthen their platforms so that users can represent their cyberselves faithfully.
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This chapter introduces the Smart Tourism Cities Competitiveness Index (STCCI), an innovative benchmarking tool developed in collaboration with the Seoul Tourism Organization and…
Abstract
This chapter introduces the Smart Tourism Cities Competitiveness Index (STCCI), an innovative benchmarking tool developed in collaboration with the Seoul Tourism Organization and the Smart Tourism Research Center at Kyung Hee University. The STCCI evaluates cities on smart tourism using a comprehensive framework that covers five key dimensions: attractiveness, accessibility, digitalization readiness, sustainability, and co-partnership, further detailed into 17 categories and 51 specific indicators. The application of STCCI to the Gulf cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha reveals their strengths and areas for enhancement in the realm of smart tourism. Dubai shines in attracting visitors and embracing digital technology, while Abu Dhabi leads in online visibility and the accessibility of tourism information. Doha is recognized for its superior accessibility. Despite these strengths, each city faces unique challenges that need addressing. The STCCI not only provides a deep dive into the current state and potential growth of smart tourism infrastructures in these cities post-pandemic but also positions them on a global scale in terms of competitiveness in smart tourism. The index suggests strategic improvements, supporting the evolution of these cities into advanced smart cities in the Gulf region, characterized by innovation, development, transformation, and prosperity. This chapter contributes valuable perspectives for ongoing smart cities research and development across the Gulf, emphasizing the significance of this approach in guiding the future of urban tourism in a smarter, more connected world.
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C. Min Han and Hyojin Nam
The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and cosmopolitanism (COS) may affect Asian consumers’ perceptions of out-group countries and their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and cosmopolitanism (COS) may affect Asian consumers’ perceptions of out-group countries and their products, doing so by examining similar vs dissimilar countries across countries of origin. Given the strong inter-country rivalries that exist among Asian countries, the authors propose two alternative hypotheses, drawing from social identity theory and realistic group conflict theory.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypotheses, the authors examine consumer perceptions of both Western countries (dissimilar out-groups) and Asian countries (similar out-groups) within China (Study 1). In addition, the authors investigate how CET and COS affect consumer perceptions of Asian countries in Japan and in non-Asian dissimilar countries, and compare the effects between the two regions (Study 2).
Findings
The findings indicate that CET shows greater negative effects on perceptions of a country and its products, when the country is from a similar out-group than when it is from a dissimilar one. On the other hand, COS showed equally strong positive effects among consumers for both similar and dissimilar out-group countries.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that Asian consumers feel a sense of intergroup rivalry with other Asian countries, and, as a result, exhibit a greater degree of ethnocentric biases toward these countries and their products than they do toward Western countries and products. Also, the results suggest that COS may transcend national differences and inter-country rivalries in consumer consumption tendencies.
Originality/value
The study examines inter-country similarities as a moderator of CET and COS effects, which has not been extensively researched in the past. In addition, the study discusses the concept of intergroup rivalry among neighboring countries and examines how it affects consumer perceptions of out-group countries and their products in Asia, where strong inter-country rivalries exist.