Young Wook Song

Product orientations and the development strategies of new convergence products: moderating effects of corporate capabilities

This research examines the causal linkage among product orientation, the degree of convergence, development strategies, and performance of the new convergence products (NCP), through the establishment of a structural equation model that builds a sound theoretical foundation for NCP development and performance. This research identifies several significant findings. First, the study proves the technology-push, demand-pull and competitive pressure as a product orientation of NCP development. Second, explorative and exploitative learning and vertical collaboration are of importance and positively influence the proficiency of product development process to increase NCP performance. Third, changes of the proposed relationships in this study are contingent upon the corporate capability. Compared to firms with lower capability, firms with higher capability tend to have technology-push and demand-pull as key product orientation of NCP development as well as strengthen the vertical collaboration of NCP development.

A Cross-national Study on Customer Loyalty Process of South Korean and Chinese Mobile Telecommunications Users

Fast changing, unprecedented growth of mobile telecommunications users elicits the importance of customer loyalty. This research proposes a new model labeled ‘customer loyalty process (CLP),’ to explore how mobile telecom users become loyal to their service providers. It clarifies the concepts and integrates logical linkages among variables that are frequently mentioned in mobile telecom service marketing discipline ? i.e. service quality, switching barriers, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The CLP is used to empirically test Korean and Chinese mobile telecom service. Through factor analyses, the research refines the concepts and measurement items of variables in the model. More specifically, second-order confirmatory factor analysis is used to extract and clarify the sub-dimensions of two of its variables ? i.e. service quality and switching barriers. The findings provide a strong support for the model except for the direct causal relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty where the relationship is only significant through the mediating role of switching barriers. The study identifies notable disparities between Korean and Chinese markets, particularly on the perceptions of interpersonal relationship and customer loyalty, and the causal relationship between service quality and switching barriers. It provides several theoretical and empirical insights in enhancing the understanding of mobile telecommunications service in Korea and China.