ShinYoung Hwang’s research while affiliated with Korea University and other places

The current app store market is dominated by major platform firms that control mobile operating systems, such as Apple iOS and Google Android. While Apple has maintained strict control over its app store, Google has opted for a more lenient policy, until March 2022, when it would enforce its proprietary billing systems onto all paid and in-app purchases. This study examines the impact of Google’s policy change on local Korean markets, especially the app store market, which features local app stores with a small but notable presence. By analyzing the responses of 18 managers, each of whom works for a different mobile content firm, this study examines specifically the probable strategies that mobile content firms can implement in response to Google’s in-app purchase policy change. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model, this study finds that Korea’s local mobile content firms are strongly inclined toward diverging away from Google’s in-app purchase policy, but only if there will be sufficient governmental protection in tandem with cooperation from other industry firms. This study is one of the first to examine the responses to this policy change; thus, this research presents an array of meaningful implications to a timely and sensitive issue.

Korean pop music, commonly referred to as “K-pop,” is a genre that is gaining significant visibility and attention from global listeners. Among various factors that contribute to K-pop's global appeal, this study focuses on social media, particularly online video platforms. Video platforms are important as they enable artists to communicate directly with fans through live videos and encourage grassroots participation from fans. This study specifically focuses on a niche K-pop video platform, V Live, to investigate the factors that contribute to the artists' V Live channel success. By examining factors related to K-pop artists, the artist's V Live activities, and V Live support factors, the study examines 289 K-pop artists' V Live channels using hierarchical regression analysis. The study found that high popularity and fan engagement rates are influenced by K-pop artists' video uploads and the support from V Live and entertainment companies. As more celebrities and K-pop artists use online video platforms to communicate with fans, collaborative and strategic support is needed from not only artists and entertainment companies but also from platform operators to enhance K-pop's global reach.

Mobile instant messenger (mIM) service providers are extending their online services to the offline platform. Asia's largest mIM service providers, LINE and Kakao, are brining life to its signature characters such that they appear not only on the text screen but also on offline character flagship stores. This study investigates mIM users' motives in visiting the store and identifies the role of mIM characters in facilitating users' loyalty toward the mIM service provider. To comprehensively understand users' motivations in visiting the offline flagship store, the study conducted a focus group interview and used the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to identify seven key motivations. The empirical findings are drawn from 332 Korean respondents that use the mIM service and have experience in visiting the character flagship store. The study finds that users who actively use mIM services and emoticons are likely to visit the store due to the identified factors. A virtuous cycle of loyalty from online to the offline platform, and vice versa was also found. Findings of this study confirm that mIM character flagship stores are a strategic way for mIM service providers to communicate with users and create their unique brand identity.

Mobile instant messaging (mIM) services are a critical tool that has transformed people's means of communication and ways of living. By using smart devices that enable users to be connected anytime and anywhere, mIM users can exchange real-time messages that enhance their interpersonal relationships and social belonging. To continuously retain and attract users to their mobile platforms, mIM service providers are extending their business models to provide online-to-offline (O2O) services. This study investigates the extent to which mIM user satisfaction affects loyalty toward and satisfaction with O2O services delivered on mIM mobile platforms. The antecedents to user satisfaction are also measured by evaluating consumers' perception of O2O and mIM service quality performance. The empirical findings are drawn from 335 Korean respondents that use Korea's dominant mIM application, KakaoTalk, and its related O2O services. The study finds that mIM satisfaction positively influences O2O satisfaction. Attitudinal and behavioral loyalty are also observed among users satisfied with O2O services. By using cooperative approaches to enhancing the perceived service quality of both new and existing services, mIM service providers are encouraged to create value-added services and secure their sustainable competitive advantage.

The increasing penetration of broadband and multiscreen availability has encouraged the development of premium video consumption through over-the-top (OTT) services. Netflix, the leading global OTT provider, is aggressively expanding its international operations and has ambitiously entered the Asian market. To prepare for the shift that the streaming service giant will bring, a proper understanding of consumer acceptance and intent to pay for OTT services is crucial. Therefore, this empirical study uses conjoint analysis to investigate the key attributes and to examine consumers’ marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for OTT services. We identified recommendation systems, resolution, and viewing options as important product attributes of OTT services that influence the WTP of Chinese and Korean consumers. The most important attribute for Chinese consumers of OTT services was resolution, followed by the recommendation system and viewing options. For Korean consumers, the recommendation system was ranked as the most valuable attribute, followed by viewing options and resolution. The overall WTP of Chinese consumers was 22.6 yuan (3.4 USD) per month, while Korean consumers’ intent to pay amounted to a total of 3530 won (3.1 USD) for OTT services.