In this paper, we consider the impact of COVID-19 on Korean cosmetics firms. The research framework (i.e. OEM/ODM Business Model) shows sensing customer requirements, translating them through a fusion complex design lab, digital technologies (e.g. Big Data, AI, Supply Chain Technologies), and applying manufacturing capabilities for achieving sustainable competitive outcomes. It examines how digital technologies influence the ODM business model. The research methods include a literature review, an analysis of internal documents, and field interviews with top executives. It also focuses on the model’s response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution opportunities such as the IoT/AI. The case study covers both prior to the COVID-19 and post pandemic world contexts. We propose propositions based on our research model and discuss relevant lessons to other industries in terms of designing cross-functional creativities, implementing organizational flexibility, and achieving market expansion through operational speed and network partnerships.

Purpose: Culture is recognized as a pivotal variable in country of origin (COO) research. The purpose of this paper is to assess culture from an individual perspective and to examine the extent to which individual cultural orientations have similar associations with 33 manager- and consumer-related variables between two culturally opposite countries: the USA and South Korea.Design/methodology/approach: An online survey is used. The sample size is 540 for the US sample and 572 for the Korean sample. The correlational similarity between the cultural orientations and other variables is analyzed in three ways and confirmed invariant in the majority cases of each analysis.Findings: Individual cultural orientations are measured by Cultural Value Scale (Yooet al., 2011), a 26-item five-dimensional scale measuring Hofstede’s typology of culture at the individual level. The three-faceted similarity test of each of the 165 pairs of correlations between the USA and Korea samples (i.e. 33 variables × 5 dimensions of individual cultural orientations) shows that the majority of the correlations are significantly similar between the two countries.Originality/value: This is a first study in examining the invariance of the relationships of all five dimensions of Hofstede’s culture at the individual level to a variety of variables. As the invariance is found to be a norm, the role of culture in the COO phenomena can be studied at the individual level in a country and be expanded to other countries.

Previous studies have concentrated on comparing price dispersion and price level between offline and online channels. The primary objectives of this study are to (a) investigate the relationships between offline price dispersion and a company's performance, (b) examine the relationships between online price dispersion and a company's performance and (c) investigate the effect of price dispersion between offline and online channels on a company's performance. The findings show that a decrease in online price dispersion has a positive impact on a hotel performance. Therefore, to enhance hotel performance, hotel marketers should manage pricing strategies for multiple online channels; in addition, hotel companies should pursue rate parity policies across different online channels. Conversely, the results show a positive relationship between offline price dispersion and hotel performance. It is suggested that customization and bundling strategies for offline channels enhance the overall profitability of hotels. The findings advance knowledge of consumers' purchasing behaviour and sellers' pricing strategies.

In this study, we examine the consumers’ attitudes toward Gmarket online shopping in Korea. We use a model to explain that consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping are influenced by psychological, personal, and technological characteristics. We hypothesize that three major behavioral beliefs; perceived trust (psychological), perceived benefits (personal), and perceived website quality (technological) influence consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping. A questionnaire was designed and administered by surveying the Gmarket online shoppers in Korea. A total of 338 valid responses were collected and Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The findings indicate that consumers’ online shopping attitudes are a function of perceived benefits, trust, and perceived website quality. We found that 57.9 percent of the variation in online shopping attitudes results from perceived benefits, trust, and perceived website quality. Trust was found to be the most important predictor of consumers’ online shopping attitudes. We offer academic and practical implications that are useful in designing e-marketing strategies for competing in the online shopping cyberspace market in Korea. We recommend for the replication of a similar model in other parts of the world like Uganda (Jumia), China (Taobao), Japan (Rakuten), and the United States of America (eBay).