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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare the impact of firm reputation on consumers' evaluation of e-tailers' market response outcomes (satisfaction, trust, and loyalty) in two cultures, the USA (individualism, low uncertainty avoidance, low context, and high-trust society) and South Korea (collectivism, high uncertainty, high context, and low-trust society). Design/methodology/approach - Two sets of data were collected, one in the USA and the other in Korea, using a mall intercept method. Males and females over 18 who had online purchase experience were chosen as respondents. Findings - The results with 385 usable questionnaires (182 from the USA and 203 from Korea) revealed that firm reputation contributes to customer loyalty by increasing customer satisfaction, and this effect is stronger in Korea than in the USA. However, contrary to the expectations, no cultural differences were found in reputation-trust and trust-loyalty links. That is, firm reputation leads to customer loyalty through trust in both cultures and the impacts are the same across cultures. Research limitations/implications - Further validation of the findings with other cultural settings merits attention. Practical implications - The firm reputation-satisfaction-loyalty link is stronger in Korea than in the USA. While it may be premature to conclude the link is stronger in all Asian markets, international managers should carefully consider this finding when establishing operations in Asian markets. Originality/value - This study is one of the first systematic cross-cultural examinations of how firm reputation functions in an e-tailing context increase market response outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that examined how customers in the USA, France, and Korea perceived and classified a set of 13 services based on multidimensional scaling (MDS). Design/methodology/approach - A MDS framework was used to map service classifications and actual services in the USA, Korea and France. Results from each country were then compared to the other two countries to determine similarities and differences. Findings - Results from this research suggest that there are two underlying dimensions that explain approximately 80 percent of the total variance in service perceptions and classifications. Underlying dimensions of the classifications across the three cultures were virtually identical. Differences among the countries were based on relative positioning of classifications and/or services on the underlying dimensions. Research limitations/implications - Evidence from diverse cultures implies that consumers perceive services in a somewhat simplistic, two-dimensional fashion rather than the complex set of classifications proposed by researchers. Although the complex classifications may be of use to service providers in organizing the delivery of services, the presentation and positioning of those services is along a much simpler framework in the minds of customers. Originality/value - This is the first time consumer-based perceptions of services have been examined systematically across cultures using a MDS approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine cross-cultural differences in gender role portrayals in web ads in Korea and the USA on the basis of Hofstede's masculinity dimension. Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative content analysis was employed to obtain a numerically-based summary of different themes and roles portrayed by women and men in 400 web ads. Findings - A greater percentage of Korean ads featured characters in relationship themes, featured women as a main character, and portrayed them in family and recreational roles. To a large extent, the results validate the use of Hofstede's taxonomy, supporting the application of "masculinity" framework into the determination of appropriate advertising appeals-related to gender roles. Practical implications - International advertisers who are planning a global campaign for their gender-related consumer products can benefit by locating the target country's position on Hofstede's masculinity index and using it as a guideline for creating visual images of main characters in the ads. Originality/value - This study adds a new contribution to an international account of web advertising in maintaining a comprehensive understanding of contemporary gender role portrayals. It could benefit international advertisers with both practical and theoretical implications, for no systematic studies have ever touched the gender-role issue with web advertising yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The objective of this study is to investigate to what extent advertising appeals in Hong Kong and Korea are different, and whether the differences between the two countries can be attributed to the differences in nations' cultural characteristics. Hypotheses are drawn in relation to the two dimensions of Hofstede's framework - uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity. Design/methodology/approach - A sample of 803 prime-time television commercials from the two countries was analyzed using Cheng and Schweitzer's classification of advertising appeals. Findings - The results show that femininity is an important variable for explaining differences in advertising between Hong Kong and Korea. Both Hong Kong and Korean advertising show no difference in values of high uncertainty avoidance, although an appeal of high uncertainty avoidance was used more often in Korean advertising. However, values of low uncertainty avoidance are more prevalent in television commercials in Korea, a country of high uncertainty avoidance, than Hong Kong, a country of low uncertainty avoidance. It is also found that the correlation between product categories and cultural values is society-based. Originality/value - This study reveals that Hofstede's framework does explain cross-cultural differences between Hong Kong and Korea and provides empirical evidences for the impact of value paradoxes on advertising in both countries, suggesting that Hofstede's framework and the value paradoxes provide a possible theory for testing the relationship of the society and its advertising content within a culture as well as across cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the price factor, which is used more frequently by customers to select products. The purpose of this study is: to establish validity and reliability for multidimensional aspects of the price construct; explore how the U.S. and Korean students are different or similar in their perception of multidimensional price cues, and to use countries' retail environments to explain the differences. So the measurement of the constructs is approached from an etic view, the measurement of importance of price cues is approached from an emic perspective.

Reports on Korean importer perceptions of the American and Japanese industrial goods exporters. Marketing opportunities in Korea; Criteria by which exporters are selected; Background on literature regarding organizational buying.