Current perception threshold in diabetic sensory polyneuropathy with normal routine nerve conduction study

Park, Kyung Seok,Kwon, Yong Chul,Youn, Minjung,Park, Yong-Shik,Hong, Yoon-Ho,Sung, Jung-Joon The Korean Society of Clinical Neurophysiology 2017 Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology Vol.19 No.2

Background: Routine nerve conduction study (NCS) can only be used to evaluate the function of large fibers, and the results of NCS are often normal in patients with distal sensory polyneuropathy. The measurement of the current perception threshold (CPT) has been reported to represent a variety of peripheral nerve fiber functions. This study was performed to investigate the value of measuring CPT in patients with diabetic sensory polyneuropathy who have no abnormalities in routine NCS. Methods: Twenty-seven diabetic patients with sensory polyneuropathy and normal routine NCS and 18 age-matched control subjects participated in this study. The CPT was measured on the unilateral index finger and great toe of each subject at frequencies of 5 Hz, 250 Hz, and 2,000 Hz. Results: CPT values were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group, especially with stimuli at the lowest frequency of 5 Hz (p < 0.05). There were significant correlations between the CPT values obtained at three different frequencies in the patient group, whereas the correlation was only significant in the pair of 250 Hz/5 Hz (both in the hands and feet), and in the pair of 2,000 Hz/250 Hz (in the feet) for the control group. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the CPT test, especially at a stimuli frequency of 5 Hz, may be a useful screening tool for diabetic polyneuropathy in patients who show no abnormalities in routine NCS.

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS IN IN-STORE SHOPPING: FOCUSING ON SENSORY EXPERIENCES AND MENTAL IMAGERY

Minjung Park,Minjeong Kim,Junghwan Kim,Jungmin Yoo 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2017 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2017 No.07

Shopping at bricks-and-mortar stores is considered highly experiential. An ability to experience and physically interact with a product is a key benefit of shopping at offline stores. In an online shopping context where sensory experience is absent, researchers have looked at how mental imagery as an alternative to in-store sensory experience impact consumer decision-making (Yoo & Kim, 2014). However the role of mental imagery has been largely overlooked in the context of offline store shopping. While it is true that shopping at offline stores facilitates sensory experience, evidence from cognitive neuropsychology literature supports that visual perception impacts visual mental imagery (Bartolomeo, 2002). Therefore, it is reasonable to posit that sensory experience in stores is related to mental imagery. Yet the relationship between actual sensory experience and mental imagery in the context of store shopping has not been studied. To fill a gap in the current literature, this study aims to examine the process by which sensory experience and mental imagery facilitate purchase decision-making in the context of offline stores. Based on the model of recursive relationships among consumers’ emotional, cognitive, perceptual and behavioral responses (Scherer, 2003) and a review of previous literature, this study posits that actual sensory experience and mental imagery related. It is further posited that both actual sensory experience and mental imagery influence consumers’ affective (anticipatory emotion) and cognitive responses (e.g., decision satisfaction, perceived ownership and decision satisfaction). This study employed an online survey in Korea. Apparel shoppers who shopped and purchased apparel at brick-and-mortar stores during the last six months were recruited. To facilitate a retrieval of in-store experiences, a series of questions about their specific shopping trip and purchases were asked at the beginning of survey. The current study consists of measurements adopted from the existing literature with adequate reliabilities. All the items were measured using a 7-point Likert-type scale. A total of 455 respondents completed the online survey questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were examined to assess reliabilities of the measures, and reliability coefficients were acceptable for all constructs (.78 ~ .92). Results of the SEM revealed that all the model-fit indexes exceeded their respective common acceptance levels, suggesting that the proposed model fitted the data well (?2 = 627.38, df = 175; NFI = .92; IFI = .94; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .075). All the direct relationships among variables were significant except for the effect of sensory experience on perceived ownership, the effect of mental imagery on decision confidence, and the effect of perceived ownership on behavioral intention. This study provides new insights into consumer in-store shopping experiences and theoretical and practical implications. Sensory experience and mental imagery are complementary in facilitating consumer in-store shopping experiences. In addition to the importance of sensory experience, this study provides empirical evidence to support the vital role of mental imagery in the context of in-store shopping. Visualizing a situation through vivid mental imagery combined with actual sensory experience will lead consumers to positive shopping outcomes. Further research is warranted to better understand how to optimize actual sensory experience and mental imagery to offer excellent in-store experiences.

SOCIAL COMMERCE: THE EFFECTS OF TIME PRESSURE, PRODUCT POPULARITY, AND WEBSITE REPUTATION ON PURCHASE INTENTION

Minjung Park,Jungmin Yoo 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2016 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2016 No.7

Background and Purpose of Study: Social commerce refers to a form of electronic commerce based on Social Networking Service (SNS) and has grown substantially since the advent of Groupon in 2008. The growth of social commerce was accelerated with the increased popularity of SNS, where consumers share product information and reviews and the information is spread to others through SNS in real time (KB financial group, 2015). Social commerce can be divided into three types: (1) online group buying, (2) online shopping linked with the SNS, and (3) online shopping in SNS. The first type of social commerce is the most common type in Korea and the current study conducted an experiment based on the online group buying format. In the group buying social commerce, consumers gather together to purchase a product with a cheaper price. Placing a large order facilitates price promotion, (Yuan, & Lin, 2004) and buyers benefit from the cheaper price through the group buying (Zeng, Huang, & Dou, 2009). Group buying websites provides consumers with two types of information: time left for the promotion (time pressure) and the number of product sold (product popularity), and the overall purpose of this study is to examine the effects of time pressure, product popularity and website reputation on purchase intention. Hypotheses Development: Consumers make a purchase on social commerce websites because they can get a product with a cheaper price through group buying. Thus, this study is based on the assumption that all products are under price promotion. According to prospect theory, consumers are more likely to be sensitive to losses than gains. Consumers initially perceive a price promotion as a potential gain, but as the expiration approaches, they are more likely to perceive the promotion as a potential loss, which consequently increase purchase intention (Inman & McAlister, 1994). Also, a statement indicating product popularity, such as ‘the best-selling item’ increases purchase intention (Jeong & Kwon, 2012). Signaling theory provides a useful insight into understanding the effects of website reputation. Since consumers use a website reputation as an indicator of quality (Kirmani & Rao, 2000), they generally respond more positively to well-known websites than unknown websites (Shamdasani, Stanaland, & Tan, 2001). Therefore, based on the literature review, the following hypotheses are developed.H1: High time pressure has a greater impact on purchase intention than low time pressure. H2: High product popularity has a greater impact on purchase intention than low product popularity. H3: Well-known website has a greater impact on purchase intention than unknown website. H4: The effect of time pressure on purchase intention differs as a function of product popularity. H5: The effect of time pressure on purchase intention differs as a function of website reputation. H6: The effect of product popularity on purchase intention differs as a function of website reputation. Method: This study’s design is a 2 (time pressure: high vs. low) x 2 (popularity: high vs. low) x 2 (website reputation: well-known vs. unknown) between-subjects factorial design. This study includes three pretests: (1) to select high versus low time pressure, (2) to select the number of product purchased (product popularity), and (3) to select well-known and unknown social commerce websites. Based on the results of the pretests, eight mock websites simulating social commerce websites were developed for the main experiment. The data were collected via a research company. Invitation emails with a URL were sent to potential participants, and they were guided to shop the website and answer the questionnaire. The measure of purchase intention was adopted from the existing literature with adequate reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha >.70), and the scale items used a 7-point scale. Manipulation checks showed that manipulations of time pressure, product popularity, and website reputation were successful. Results: A total of 453 female online shoppers participated in the online experiment. An exploratory factor analysis revealed one factor of purchase intention, and the reliability.93, indicating adequate internal consistency of the scale. Hypotheses were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed main effects for product popularity [F (1, 445) = 10.34, p < .05] and website reputation [F (1, 445) = 72.03, p < .05] on purchase intention, supporting H2 and H3. With regard to H4 to H6 predicting interaction effects, ANOVAs showed significant interaction effects of time pressure by product popularity [F (1, 445) = 5.53, p < .05], time pressure and website reputation [F (1, 445) = 4.59, p < .05], and product popularity and website reputation [F (1, 445) = 9.15, p < .05] on purchase intention. Thus, H4 to H6 were supported. Conclusions and Discussion: The study offers academic and managerial implications. The findings of the study provide empirical support for the signaling theory and prospect theory. The results suggest that high popularity and high reputation are significant factors influencing purchase intention. When consumers perceive a product as being popular on a social commerce website, they have greater purchase intention than when they do not perceive the product popularity. Also, when consumers shop on a well-known social commerce website, they have greater purchase intention than when they shop on an unknown website. When the product popularity is high, high time pressure is an important factor enhancing purchase intention. When a website is well-known, high time pressure increased purchase intention. However, when a website is unknown, high product popularity increased purchase intention. These findings of the study contribute to the literature in social commerce. Based on the website reputation, social commerce websites need to incorporate appropriate marketing tactics, such as time pressure and product popularity to increase consumers’ purchase intention.

Establish a Model for Detecting Fake News Using Machine Learning; Focusing on User Behaviors and Social Networks

Minjung Park,Sangmi Chai 한국지능정보시스템학회 2022 한국지능정보시스템학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2022 No.6

The Value of Personal Information : An Exploratory Study for Types of Personal Information and Its Value

Minjung Park,Sangmi Chai 한국경영정보학회 2018 Asia Pacific Journal of Information Systems Vol.28 No.3

Utilization Patterns of Korean Medicine: An Analysis of the National Health Insurance Cohort Database from 2002 to 2013

Park, Sunju,Oh, In-Hwan,Jang, Bo-Hyoung,Park, Minjung,Shin, YongCheol,Moon, Kanghee,Ko, Seong-Gyu Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers 2016 Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine Vol. No.

The Effects of Webpage Background and Store Brand on Consumers’ Responses in Online Shopping

Park, Minjung(박민정) 한국생활과학회 2009 한국생활과학회지 Vol.18 No.6

The effect of Self-consciousness and Materialism on Compulsive Buying and Conspicuous Consumption of American Female College Students

Minjung Park(박민정) 한국생활과학회 2009 한국생활과학회지 Vol.18 No.3

THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF BRAND-CONSUMER INTERACTIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ON PERCEPTIONS OF LUXURY FASHION BRANDS

Minjung Park,Hyunjoo Im,Hye-Young Kim, 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2017 Global Fashion Management Conference Vol.2017 No.07

Despite the positive outcomes of brand-consumer interactions on social media documented in the literature, an important question still remains: Are active brand-consumer interactions always beneficial to luxury fashion brands? This study argues that such interactions may undermine the core perceptions of the brands by making consumers feel too close to the brands. Drawing upon construal level theory of psychological distance, the purpose of this study is to examine the negative effects of brand-consumer interactions on perceptions of luxury fashion brands (i.e., social perception, uniqueness perception, quality perception) in a social media context. Two experimental studies were conducted. The purpose of Study 1 was to test the hypothesis that luxury brands, compared to mainstream brands, will be perceived as more psychologically distant and abstract. Study 1 used a 2 (brand category: luxury vs. mainstream) x 2 (brand replicates) mixed-model design in which the brand category was a between-subject factor and the brand replicates were a within-subject factor. Fifty-nine subjects recruited from Amazon MTurk participated in the study. The results of Study 1 revealed that luxury brands are inherently psychologically distant than mainstream brands. The purpose of Study 2 was to test the impact of brand-consumer interactions (i.e., high vs. low) and the mediating role of psychological distance on the three perceptions of luxury brands (i.e., social perception, uniqueness perception, quality perception) on social media. A single factor between-subjects design was used, and a total of 74 participants were recruited from Amazon MTurk. To manipulate the level of consumer-brand interaction (high vs. low), two versions of a luxury brand’s mock Facebook pages were created. For the high interaction condition, the brand responded to consumers’ posts in a friendly way and displayed the images of user photos. For the low interaction condition, the brand did not respond to consumers’ posts and displayed no images of users. As predicted, the results showed that participants indicated lower brand perceptions when the brand’s social media page displayed a high level of interactions than a low level of interactions. Moreover, formality, a measure of psychological distance, partially mediated the relationship between brand-consumer interactions and all the three brand perceptions. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that active consumer-brand interactions on social media do not necessarily benefit luxury fashion brands, rather they can damage consumer perceptions of the brands. This study provides important implications that luxury fashion brands should maintain a sacred distance on social media; otherwise it will undermine important perceptions of the brands such as status signaling, exclusivity, and quality.

Advertising and Market Structure in the US Mutual Fund Industry

Park Minjung 한국국제경제학회 2020 International Economic Journal Vol.34 No.2

This paper empirically investigates the role played by advertising in determining market structures in various segments of the US mutual fund industry. Segments with intermediaries or sophisticated customers exhibit low advertising elasticity of demand, low advertising expenditures, and low market concentration. They also experience further market fragmentation over time. On the contrary, segments which cater to less sophisticated customers without intermediaries exhibit advertising-sensitive demand as well as high advertising expenditures. Those segments exhibit high market concentration and their market structure becomes further concentrated over time. These findings shed light on the impact of consumer characteristics on firms' optimal advertising and resultant market structure.