Ethnographic Heritage as a Branding Strategy: A Case Study of Yogurt in Bulgaria and Japan

Abstract

This article explores the various ways in which ethnographic images are deployed in branding strategies by Bulgarian and Japanese companies to frame industrial food as cultural heritage. Examining the history and marketing strategies of yogurt in Japan, I demonstrate how international marketing and cooperation has influenced the definitions, meanings and values of yogurt. In Japan, companies turn to ethnographic images of Bulgaria to sell their products, emphasizing visions of rural life over Bulgarian yogurt-making technology. At the same time, the fact that Bulgarian yogurt has turned into a symbol of health and wellbeing in one of the world’s economic powers is a source of national pride for consumers in post-socialist Bulgaria. The branding strategies of yogurt show how companies transform foods into culturally meaningful products, thereby doing much more than making profitable commodities of them. In educating and offering consumers new lifestyles, they change established systems of consumption and influence people’s imaginations.     

A Cultural Analysis of South Korea's Economic Prospects

Abstract

This study analyses cultural effects on economic development in South Korea. It introduces the concept of transaction costs as an operational intermediary between culture and economic development. Using this approach, it is found that culture affects economic development through its impacts on transaction costs in the static case. In the dynamic case, culture affects the economy through its impacts on the creative capacity of citizens. To assess the role of culture in future economic development, recent changes in Korean culture are examined. These include rising individualism and declining sense of community and trust; weaker appreciation of cooperation, compromise, and acceptance of dissent, and rising inclination towards confrontation; and the failing rule of law and rising perception of injustice. These all raise transaction costs. In addition, the future orientation is fading, as suggested by decreasing savings and investment rates, and by decline in the fertility rate. In view of these recent changes, Korean culture will have a negative effect on the future economy, compared to its positive influence in earlier decades from the 1960s. Culture is therefore not ceteris paribus. Even if all else remains the same, the prospects of the Korean economy will be tainted by the influence of culture.     

The Retirement Consumption in Korea: Evidence from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study

Abstract

This paper examines the retirement consumption in Korea using the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study. This paper reports a significant post-retirement consumption fall among elderly households. The empirical results of this paper suggest that a reduction in work-related expenses is an important factor to explain the observed post-retirement consumption fall. In addition, this paper finds that the post-retirement consumption growth rate varies depending on each household's pre-retirement wealth level. The findings of this paper provide empirical evidence on retirement consumption in an emerging market with no matured public pension programmes.     

Building an Entrepreneurial Economy: The Case of Korea 1998–2005

Abstract

This paper examines how entrepreneurship takes place in an economy where traditional structural settings are not favorable to entrepreneurial activities. Specifically, it investigates the case of Korea during 1998–2005, when the national economy experienced fairly dramatic upsurge of start-ups and related changes. The paper argues that a national economy may achieve significant structural changes when diverse conditions are in place, including not only intentional efforts, e.g. governmental policies, but factors of serendipity triggering potential disruption to the economy, e.g. an external shock such as the Asian financial crisis in 1997. During the observation period, Korea went through notable changes in terms of entrepreneurship. Although limited, the Korean economy looks at possibilities of having small and medium-sized companies co-evolve with large ones such as chaebols.     

Some Reflections on U.S. Treaty Commitments

Abstract

The world oil price has risen significantly since the late 1990s and reached a record high in 2008. The recent oil price hike raises concerns regarding the possible negative effects of the rising oil price on the economy as in the 1970s. We investigate the effects of the oil price hike on the Korean economy using a Bayesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DGSE) model. We explicitly model the small open economy nature of the Korean economy and its oil usage and estimate the constructed model within a unified Bayesian framework. We also examine possible changes in the effects of world oil shocks on the Korean economy using counterfactual simulations. We find the adverse effects of world oil shocks as well as their importance in Korean business cycles have diminished due to reductions in the relative usage of crude oil in the economy, while world oil shocks themselves have changed relatively little over time.     

Consumption,Credit, and Macroeconomic Policies: Theory and Evidence from the United States

Abstract

The paper examines determinants of private consumption in the USA. The empirical model includes disposable income, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, the interest rate, and the real effective exchange rate. Anticipated movements in these determinants are likely to affect planned consumption, while unanticipated changes determine cyclical consumption. Fluctuations in private consumption are mostly cyclical with respect to changes in disposable income and the consumers’ sentiment index. In contrast, an increase in the interest rate decreases both planned and cyclical consumption. Fiscal policy has a direct negative effect on cyclical consumption, which is not dependent on the interest rate. Monetary growth, in contrast, increases liquidity to finance both planned and cyclical private consumption.     

消费者对绿色食品认知与购买行为研究——基于哈尔滨市的调查

基于哈尔滨市消费者绿色食品消费的调查资料,考察了消费者对绿色食品的认知水平和购买行为,并利用Logis-tic回归模型分析了影响消费者对绿色食品认知水平的主要因素。     

Performance of Domestic and Foreign Banks: The Case of Korea and the Asian Financial Crisis

Abstract

This paper examines the performance of banks, domestic and foreign, in Korea before and after the Asian financial crisis, examining how the profitability of those banks differed and identifying factors that explain why those differences existed. The performance of Korean banks deteriorated dramatically in 1998 with most banks recovering somewhat in 1999. Foreign banks did not experience the same negative effect on their performance as a rule. Overall, the domestic Korean banks suffered more severely from the Asian financial crisis than foreign banks. Several possible explanations exist. First, foreign banks, unlike domestic Korean banks, were not subject to credit allocation directives from the Korean government to selected, favoured industries. Second, foreign banks, since they relied for governance on the mother bank in the home country, achieved higher efficiency and better asset and liability management. Finally, foreign banks rely more heavily on fee-for-service income rather than loan revenue.     

体验经济模式下旅游消费行为研究

与传统旅游消费不同,体验经济模式下的旅游消费行为具有重视体验需求、目的明确、过程感知、不可复制性等特征,生成该行为的因素是个体心理、媒体、产品及事件等因素。组合运用剧场策略、情感策略、定制策略及广告策略能激发消费者体验式消费欲望,促生体验式旅游消费行为。     

企业促销活动如何影响消费者行为:理论综述

文章将消费者对促销活动的反应过程分为三个阶段:促销影响消费者感知、消费者感知影响消费者对促销的态度、消费者对促销的态度影响消费者行为,据此回顾了行为学习理论、认知失调理论、归因理论、价格感知理论、感知风险理论、展望理论、态度行为关系理论等有关的消费者行为理论对消费者针对促销活动反应的解释.最后分析了现有的消费者行为理论对于发展促销研究框架与指导企业促销实践的意义,并提出了在现有理论基础上进行后续研究的方向.     

国际营销领域研究综述:多视角的评析

文章对国际营销领域研究进行梳理,发现该领域研究重点从如何在国外市场政治经济等制度环境中有效扩展业务向如何在全球化时代有效回应消费者需求转变;研究目标从如何构建公司国际营销管理流程和方法向如何理解和应对不同文化背景中的消费者行为和偏好转变;影响因素则从显性的经济法律等社会制度向隐性的文化因素转变;研究方法从简单的思想碎片式和定性分析到分析技术复杂的实证研究。     

中日汽车消费政策的比较研究

目前我国汽车消费正由卖方市场向买方市场,以公款购车为主体向以私人购车为主体转变。借鉴发达国家经验,优化汽车消费环境是促进个人汽车消费的关键。本文从汽车税费、汽车金融服务、汽车保险、汽车召回、汽车维修服务、汽车报废等方面对中日汽车消费政策进行了比较分析。     

电子商务中消费者心理与行为分析

对电子商务中影响我国消费者网上消费的心理因素进行分析的基础上,描述了消费者网上消费行为的具体表现,并提出了我国企业在电子商务环境背景下应采取的相应对策。     

Norway's Interwar Tanker Expansion – A Reappraisal

Abstract

This paper studies the ownership structure in the Finnish print media business in the 20^th century. It pays particular attention to the extent of family ownership in this branch, to the strategies of the owning families in order to keep control of their firms and to how the owners managed professionalisation. Finally, it asks whether media companies have had other goals (e.g. political, cultural, public service) beside pure economic ones and whether such goals have been connected to family ownership. This study shows that family ownership has been a persistent feature also in the largest Finnish media companies, although the ownership structure has undergone some transformations. For example, cultural foundations have become important owners in this branch. The owning families have also been active in top management until today. Family ownership and the cultural foundations appear to have been significant for preserving cultural goals, but, on the other hand, have to some extent restricted expansion, internationalisation and diversification. One important factor influencing the Finnish media business has been the bilingualism of the country, which is dealt with in detail.     

Notes on the producer society

Summary The author criticizes economists for their uncritical acceptance of consumers’ revealed preference and tries to explain the preferences manifest in the United States by tracing them to cultural influences, especially the Puritan Ethic, and to economic factors, such as producers’ domination and economies of scale. Differences between American and European behavior patterns are sought mainly in comparative time budgets and Hawtrey’s distinction between defensive and creative consumption is revived as a framework suitable for such analysis. These notes constitute an early version of what has since become a much more ambitious work with a more analytical approach, trying to use behavioral psychology to fill in gaps in the economist’s understanding of consumer behavior, and to be published as a book.     

How the Rapid Development of VoIP Technologies Affects Consumer Welfare and the Market

Abstract

The impact of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) growth on other telecommunication services, such as landlines and mobile telephony, has gained significant interest in Korea recently. An emerging alternative to landline telecommunications, VoIP is experiencing explosive growth in demand and is providing significant economic utility to consumers. The rapid growth of smart phones has also created a considerable amount of controversy regarding the potential impact of VoIP on the mobile phone market. This study provides quantitative estimations of consumer surplus for landline, mobile and VoIP services in the Korean telecommunications market using monthly call data from January of 2006 to June of 2009, a period when VoIP services grew rapidly. Empirical analyses are conducted to estimate consumer surplus based on the demand functions of each telecommunication service. Additional analyses are conducted on consumer surplus change as well. Policy implications for the rapid growth of VoIP and its impact on consumer surplus change are also discussed.     

基于SEM模型的消费者品牌信任对茶叶购买行为的影响研究

通过调研获取江西省浮梁县370个茶叶消费者相关数据,基于计划行为理论和KAP理论,构建结构方程模型(SEM)实证研究品牌信任、消费认知与购买行为三者之间相互作用关系。研究表明：消费认知在品牌信任对消费意愿、购买行为作用中扮演着部分中介作用;消费意愿在品牌信任、消费认知对购买行为作用中扮演着部分中介作用;消费认知对购买行为具有主导作用,而品牌信任对消费意愿具有主导作用;消费认知对品牌信任具有正向显著影响,而购买行为对消费意愿具有正向显著影响。基于此,从增强茶叶消费者消费认知和提升茶叶消费者品牌信任两方面提出引导茶叶消费者购买行为的对策建议。     

Dynamic consistency and monopoly

A wide variety of papers study the time consistency issues and commitment problems associated with imperfectly competitive durable goods manufacturers who sell their output. Using a simple two-period model the authors show that this sort of commitment problem may occur even if the monopolist produces non-durable output. The model assumes consumers maximize their utility through the choice of a non-durable consumption good and saving through an asset that provides future returns and consumption flow. The analysis indicates that non-durable goods manufacturers with market power will wish to announce future prices that are sub-optimal (dynamically inconsistent) when the period is reached due to the impact on consumers' wealth constraint and current purchasing behavior. Thus, the so-called durable-goods monopoly commitment problem may also occur in non-durable goods industries. The model suggests that any type of intertemporal linkage may lead to time consistency and commitment problems for imperfectly competitive firms.     

Transmission of Stock Prices and Volatility from the Influential Major Markets on the Emerging Market: A Case Study of the Korean Stock Market

Abstract

This study investigates how the 1997 crisis has changed the Korean market by focusing on price and volatility spillovers from the US, Chinese, and Japanese markets. Using the exponential general autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (EGARCH) model, new information on stock prices originating in the US market was transmitted to the Korean market for all periods. The price spillover effect from the Japanese market to the Korean market became stronger from the crisis period. Asymmetry in the spillover effect on market volatility was more pronounced in the Korean market after the financial crisis.     

Battling the informal settlement challenge through sustainable city framework: experiences and lessons from Harare,Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

This study examines the efficacy of adopting the sustainable city framework as an urban planning agenda with a view to addressing the dilemma of informal settlements in Harare, Zimbabwe. Data were collected through document review which was triangulated with key informant interviews. Thematic and content analysis was then used to analyse the data. The results of the study show that informal settlements in Harare are a result of a multiplicity of factors which include political economy, uncoordinated planning, invasion of land by land barons and inappropriate planning ideologies. The planning approaches to address informal settlements also tends to be too harsh at times when evictions are used though there are some instances where it is commendable-regularisation by UDC. The study recommends the adoption of planning approaches that conform to the local realities in Harare as well as considering the sustainable cities framework.